Gawler Rail Line shutdown

[jibb]

Latest news on the Gawler line reopening later in the year,is that there will be very few if any new electric trains ready to operate the service,so the diesel trains will continue to operate the service until the new trains arrive.

[The Phonj]

Which from memory is not much different to when the Noarlunga line reopened after the electrification project on that line.

[PD2/20]

Latest news on the Gawler line reopening later in the year,is that there will be very few if any new electric trains ready to operate the service,so the diesel trains will continue to operate the service until the new trains arrive.

There will be several of the existing electric fleet available for the Gawler Line. As work has to be done to electrify the Dry Creek Depot, it makes sense not to have a large number of electrics occupying the stabling facilities before the service resumes. A staged introduction as on Seaford also gives a chance to train drivers on the electrics.

[SBD]

Latest news on the Gawler line reopening later in the year,is that there will be very few if any new electric trains ready to operate the service,so the diesel trains will continue to operate the service until the new trains arrive.

There will be several of the existing electric fleet available for the Gawler Line. As work has to be done to electrify the Dry Creek Depot, it makes sense not to have a large number of electrics occupying the stabling facilities before the service resumes. A staged introduction as on Seaford also gives a chance to train drivers on the electrics.

Passengers will love having been on substitute buses for a year, then getting back on diesel trains instead of shiny new electric trains like they see in Adelaide station.

Perhaps the Gawler line should be served with only electric trains, and if there aren't enough, put some diesels back on the Seaford line. That helps to rebuild goodwill with the Gawler line passengers.

[Merc1107]

Perhaps the budget over in SA is a bit tight, but it seems a bit ridiculous they'd go to the bother of electrification, with the caveat being there are no electric trains coming in time for the completion of works.

[jibb]

Transport Minister Wingard announced this afternoon that the Gawler Rail line electrification completion has been put back to well into next year.
He blamed the delay on the Corona virus,saying workers had returned their homes interstate and overseas.
New trains woul,d be ready for service by the time the electrification was complete.

[PD2/20]

Transport Minister Wingard announced this afternoon that the Gawler Rail line electrification completion has been put back to well into next year.
He blamed the delay on the Corona virus,saying workers had returned their homes interstate and overseas.
New trains woul,d be ready for service by the time the electrification was complete.

The minister's media release https://www.premier.sa.gov.au/news/medi ... 9-pandemic has completion in early 2022. In the release overseas workers are not mentioned, only interstate workers.

[jibb]

The Labor Party claim that the Gawler Line will now not open until April 2022?

[1whoknows]

If the trains will be ready for the opening, a little further delay sounds like a good thing.

[Lt. Commander Data]

Transport Department chief executive Tony Braxton-Smith told parliament’s budget and finance committee this morning the latest updated project cost was now $842.43 million.

“The 127 million increase is principally due to COVID-19 impacts,” he told the committee.

“The budget previously was $715 million which was a budget reset in late 2020,” he said.


Braxton-Smith said the new cost included $175 million for 12 new three-car electric trains.

He defended the cost blowout, telling the committee the $615 million price tag announced by the former Labor Government “could hardly be taken as a lifetime comparison”.

“You have to bear in mind that when it was originally procured, the electrification was procured only through to Salisbury and without any electric trains,” he said.

“Any other previous budget was not based on what you would call a reliable cost estimate.”

The State Government this morning announced the project would now not be completed until April, with a full shutdown of the state’s train network also required for two days next month.

Transport Minister Corey Wingard said the Gawler line would reopen in April following the completion of commissioning activities of the signalling system.

The train line, which services the northern suburbs around Playford and Salisbury, has been closed for electrification works since December 2020.

The project was first announced in 2008 by the Rann Government.

The Marshall Government attributed the latest delays to border restrictions making it difficult to access skilled workers interstate.

Wingard, who last year stated the project would be completed in late 2021 or early 2022, apologised for the “further short delay” but said the State Government was doing “all that we can” to get the line running again.

The transport minister also announced that the final stage of works will necessitate “impacts” to “the entire Adelaide Metro Network during the period 18-21 February, with all lines closed on 19 and 20 February”.

Opposition transport spokesman Tom Koutsantonis labelled the latest delay “sheer incompetence” and called the cost blowout “a scandal”, demanding Wingard now be sacked.

“This is stunning incompetence from the Marshall Liberal Government which is costing taxpayers nearly a quarter of a billion dollars,” he said.

“(Premier) Steven Marshall now has no choice, the public deserve better – he must sack Corey Wingard, who has overseen the cost blowout and ongoing delays.

“Long suffering residents of the northern suburbs have been without a train line for more than a year and still don’t know the exact date of when services will resume.”


Marshall hit back this afternoon, telling reporters “we’re a quarter of a billion dollars over Labor’s budget”.

“This was a very shoddily-constructed contract delivered just a couple of days before they went into caretaker,” he said.

“The detailed design work wasn’t there on this important project.

“I think you should ask the former government how that could happen.

“The shoddy work in preparing the documentation for that contract has left South Australia extraordinarily vulnerable to these cost increases. And then on top of that we’ve had some very significant issues associated with COVID especially in terms of getting some very specialised talent into South Australia.”

Responding to Labor’s calls for him to sack Wingard, Marshall said: “I take advice from a lot of people, not from the Opposition.”

Asked when full services would resume on the Gawler line, Braxton-Smith said the department was “yet to finalise the precise date” because of “uncertainties”.

“But we have a target of the last week of April so it is late April when we expect to commence revenue services and have a timetable,” he said.

“That’s still to be determined. That will be a function of the progress of the project in the intervening period and how quickly we can get the training done of the drivers that are necessary in order to run a timetable.

“So introduction of services available to the public is last week of April and the final setting of the initial timetable will be done, I would say, in the last four weeks having taken account of the extent to which there are impacts on train driver availability by virtue of COVID-19 outbreak and the ability to sustain revenue services on the remainder of the network and drive test trains and train the remaining drivers.

“So it is foreseeable that there may be a staged introduction of services if we are further impacted by COVID outbreaks.”

Braxton-Smith told the committee there were issues with the original design and construct contract entered into by the previous government in 2018.

“The contract that was executed included incomplete schedules for scope and standards that had not been agreed with the contractor,” he said.

“It had been tendered in mid-2017 with only a high level concept design several years old rather than the fully developed reference design and a detailed specification to a standard customarily used for a design and construct contract.

“This subsequently gave rise to delays in finalising an agreed specification and scope and approved design for construction and an achievable delivery program.”

Braxton-Smith said the project budget was “reset” in late 2020 to $715 million “with an increase of $100 million in total which includes $175 million for 12 new electric trains that were ordered in June 2019”.

Braxton-Smith said work has progressed on the upgrade “however further challenges arose in the course of 2021”.

“In addition to adverse weather and latent ground conditions, most significantly there was a liquidation of a major component supplier – SA Structural Steel – and the impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak and the management response to it across the state and in other states,” he said.

The transport boss said the project was particularly impacted by the COVID outbreak “because there are a range of highly specialised competencies needed to perform signalling work and electrical infrastructure work”.

“Workers for these skills are not all available in South Australia,” he said.

Braxton-Smith said border closures and travel restrictions had also “resulted in significant program impacts”.

“In addition, due to the significant amount of rail construction projects across Australia, there is competing demand for these rail specialist resources which are in scarce supply,” he said.

https://indaily.com.au/news/2022/01/24 ... X-4w7-1RxU

The latest timeframe for the reopening of Gawler line is “late April”. Lots of the usual political fighting and nastiness quoted too

[jibb]

Now we have a new Transport Minister,lets hope he can find out when the Gawler line will start running again?

[PD2/20]

Now we have a new Transport Minister,lets hope he can find out when the Gawler line will start running again?

There has been significant progress in the last couple of months including the completion of the overhead stringing and the commissioning of the new signalling. The Gawler Rail Closure webpage on the Admet site outlines a programme of test trains which started on Tuesday and extends through to late April. This week several single diesel railcars have been running regularly throughout the day until late evening. It looks as if next month a shadow service timetable will be operated.

The bridge and crossing works at Ovingham since November were probably a factor in precluding an earlier resumption of the service and in recent weeks a variety of station and pedestrian upgrade works had been occurring.

[hillsbus]

I presume there will be a new timetable issued for the Gawler line when it reopens? This may lead to new northern suburbs feeder bus timetables too?

[jibb]

Coverage tonight on 9 news of 1st test train testing new line, reported that services will commence late April ,with full timetable in operation from early May.

[loungeman76]

I see on the SA Infrastructure & Transport page (Saturday 2nd April) on FB that all Gawler bus substitute services will be free from Monday 4th April through to the beginning of the train services.

[TT]

It’s also on the Adelaide Metro website, hidden away under the “Service disruptions >Gawler Rail line closure” tab.

[nscaler69]

Adelaide Now website ransom fee story:

"Gawler line delays push completion date to end of June
Commuters will be offered free buses from Monday after yet another cost and completion date blowout on the trouble Gawler line."

Note first line, delayed again.

[Lieselta]

Mali is framing this as the previous gov again not telling the truth about the re-opening date for political purposes. It adds up to be fair to him.

[Aussie Daddy]

It's reopening on Sunday 12 June, at last. Yey!

https://www.adelaidemetro.com.au/about- ... ay_12_june

[Lieselta]

Does anyone know if the services on opening Sunday will be electric operated?

[PD2/20]

Does anyone know if the services on opening Sunday will be electric operated?

Last week test trains were running to a full timetable with 6-7 electric and 2-3 diesel sets off-peak and around 5 electric and 7 diesel sets at peaks.

[Lieselta]

Does anyone know if the services on opening Sunday will be electric operated?

Last week test trains were running to a full timetable with 6-7 electric and 2-3 diesel sets off-peak and around 5 electric and 7 diesel sets at peaks.

Thanks for the info, I doubt DIT will make the PR disaster of the first service being diesel anyway.

[PD2/20]

Last week test trains were running to a full timetable with 6-7 electric and 2-3 diesel sets off-peak and around 5 electric and 7 diesel sets at peaks.

Thanks for the info, I doubt DIT will make the PR disaster of the first service being diesel anyway.

There are enough electrics to completely cover the weekend service. I haven't heard anything about a public launchof the Gawler electrification. There was a public event at Seaford when the electrics started in 2014.

[The Phonj]

I think the Seaford event/launch was more about the extension of the railway to Seaford than electric trains running on the line. Nothing like something to cut a ribbon at for pollies.

[wisp]

The electrified Gawler line did actually open this morning.

No pollies or mainstream media in attendance at Gawler for the first service. No celebrations either. Just a few real passengers and a few onlookers.

The first two services were EMUs: 4006 on the first, 4004 on the second.

First service at Gawler:
http://tessa.wisp.fastmail.com.au.user. ... ationB.jpg