Flinders line patronage up

[Admet75]

Flinders Line in high demand as uni students return to campus
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17/02/2021 | Corey Wingard MP | Better Services
Patronage data for the new $141 million Flinders Railway Line shows the investment is already attracting more South Australians to use public transport with a 10.9 per cent increase in validations compared with the old Tonsley Line.

The new Flinders train line and new Tonsley and Flinders railway stations opened for passenger services on 29 December 2020, and are now operating under an enhanced timetable, developed after extensive consultation.

The Australian and South Australian governments jointly funded the project to extend the former Tonsley line to the Flinders Medical Centre and Flinders University precincts.

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Corey Wingard, said the patronage data for the first six weeks of service shows the investment is paying off.

“Despite public transport patronage being down across the board compared with pre-COVID times, the uptake on the new Flinders Line has been great,” Minister Wingard said.

“We’ve added more than 12,000 trips per year to the line including late night and weekend services.

“Between 29 December 2020 and February 9 2021, there were 55,229 validations made on board Flinders services (this includes on weekends, as per the new timetable). Excluding weekends, there were 46,467 validations made on board Flinders services, at an average of 1,499 per weekday.

“That’s compared with 40,551 validations made on board Tonsley services, at an average of 1,352 per weekday for the same period in the previous year.

“That’s a 10.9 per cent increase on the Tonsley weekday average at a time when patronage has been down across the Adelaide Metro network due to COVID-19.

“We’re rapt with this level of uptake for the new line, especially at a time when patronage has been affected by COVID-19, and I look forward to seeing more people make the most of this great service providing access to the Flinders educational and medical precincts.”

Member for Elder, Carolyn Power, said ensuring public transport is safe, affordable, reliable and accessible is fundamental to local communities and helps to make suburbs such as Clovelly Park, Tonsley and Mitchell Park an even greater place to live.

“We’ve already seen a positive uptake of the new line’s train services in its first six weeks of operation, which is a sign there was strong demand for the rail line extension even outside of the student demographic,” Ms Power said.

With many Flinders University students set to attend campus for the first time in 2021 in the coming weeks, many will experience the new and improved Flinders Line for the first time.

Flinders University President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Colin Stirling, said the rail line is a game-changer not just for the University but the whole of the southern health and education precinct.

“It’s easier and faster than ever for students, staff and visitors to get to our Bedford Park and Tonsley campuses, just 22 minutes end-to-end,” Professor Stirling said.

“Our domestic undergraduate enrolments are up 12% compared to the same time last year, and we look forward to welcoming many more students to campus through Flinders station.

“The rail link has been the catalyst for our Flinders Village development – planning is progressing for our flagship Health and Medical Research Building and we anticipate turning the first sod on this landmark project by the end of this year with work on student accommodation and amenities to follow.

Comment: Wingard’s comments should be take as a grain of salt given the government is not committed to extending heavy or light rail lines.

[Merc1107]

Everywhere we look there have been examples of patronage increasing where the amenities are improved, and the service made more useful for passengers... That should be reason enough to quell advocates of leaving a network in stasis.

[bigrobbo]

Weekend trips are up, I reckon, because the Seaford train is express from Woodlands Park. I know on a weekend I need to change trains at Woodlands

[Route 506]

Great news and not really a surprise given the new Flinders Terminus gives more purpose than the previous Tonsley terminus. I have travelled on it a couple of times and it had good numbers both times. This extension makes sense and proves the old saying build it and they will come. It would be great to see more Public Transport upgrades across our network.

[Tim Williams]

Do remember that the patronage on the old Tonsley line was very low, so one would expect a reasonable increase, but can you imagine how successful this Flinders line could have been if the terminus had of been adjacent to the bus interchange, instead of being over 1km from it - we do some strange things in Adelaide!!

[gunzel42]

It is only 700m by road and far less by pedestrian paths. And the railway station is closer to a number of the clinics than the bus stops are.

[Tim Williams]

When this line extension was originally envisaged, some years ago, it was planned to be a full bus-rail interchange and would properly serve the Flinders Medical Centre, by similarly being close to the main entrance. A lot of older people use hospitals and not all of them drive or are willing to try the expensive on site parking. So the current distance from the station to the entrance of the hospital and the hospice would be prohibitive for walking.

the originally planned bus-rail interchange was supposed to allow a good number of the buses from the south to the city (incl. Flagstaff Hill, Aberfoyle Park etc.) to terminate at this FMC interchange and passengers transfer to trains, thus significantly reducing the number of buses trundling all the way to the city and back. I should add that bus-rail interchanges will only work well if the buses and trains are adjacent.

Due to years of dithering and indecision, by the time the (compromise) line was built, it could not be built as originally intended as the land required had been used for other purposes - for example, I think that the large police station was built on the originaly proposed alignment.

This line extension we now have is really an opportunity lost - great shame!!

[Lt. Commander Data]

As FMC was opened about 10 years after the original Tonsley line, one has to wonder why it wasn’t put where Sturt Police station was built. Would have saved all this faffing later on

Hopefully a decent interchange can be bodged together eventually - there’s a big dirt car park near the station that’s used for parking at the moment

[The Phonj]

If I've read my history correctly, the Tonsley line was only really built as a siding to serve the then newly built Chrysler (later Mitsubishi) factory, with passenger service being provided for Chrysler staff, and for nearby residents that could utilise the (peak hour) return service. This may go some way to explaining why the two were not built within close proximity. Off peak service was only introduced in the early 2000's and only now has a (regular) night and weekend service been provided.

I also would surmise that the urban planning methodology of the time, whereby "Car is King" would have encouraged the planning of the university and hospital with plentiful carparks, with less consideration towards public transport.

[Eurostar]

I do recall a proposal to extend the Tonsley line to Marino

[Route 506]

Interesting observation on the Flinders/Seaford line with Edwardstown recently getting a new Orange shelter replacing the previous blue one. Several stations still have the blue paintwork from when the Noarlunga/Tonsley line were blue on the map. Bit of a mismatch now with some still blue, some orange. I assume over time they will be updated. Mile End has complete opposites with Seaford/Flinders platform with green and Belair blue. Just an observation