Adelaide’s new electric trains are currently being assembled with the first due for delivery next year.
Called the A-City Class 4000, the trains will be the most modern in the country, including the first rail vehicle to meet stringent new international crash specifications as found in Europe and Great Britain.
Cool.
Coming with new hi power aircon too, apparently!
Good point, wifi should be in there... They've just started retrofitting some busses and I think trams with wifi hotspots. I'm excited about that, but I don't personally commute via public transport.
heres a good link (with a pretty reasonable map) to our rail transport network. 4 main routes. a couple of branchlines, a tram, and sorta related - an O-bahn! http://www.railpage.org.au/railmaps/adelaide.htm
summary
Quote:
Whilst Adelaide was originally a well-planned city, local authorities are beholden to the motor industry, and this has dramatically marred the development of adequate rail transport. Adelaide has the worst metropolitan rail service in the nation, and is the only major city in Australia without electric train services. In contrast to all other cities there are no plans for any development of the services and in fact there are even mild threats of service reduction and route curtailment.
Suburban trains are operated by Transadelaide. All trains are operated by air-conditioned diesel railcars, and run over four main routes and two branch lines. The services operate regularly throughout the day, but are infrequent at night and on weekends. All trains operate to and from what was formerly Australia's grandest station - Adelaide Station which was modelled on New York's Grand Central terminal. Tragically, the grand station is but a shadow of its former self since having been converted into a casino, and the trains which once majestically arrived and departed at the grand concourse that was the front entrance to the city now slink in and out along an unpleasant covered-over set of tracks, almost as if the railway is something of which to be ashamed. Long-distance interstate trains have been banished from the grand terminal, and they now arrive and depart at a mightily unremarkable location called "Adelaide Terminal" in the industrial suburb of Keswick.
There is however a tantalising remnant of a wonderful electric street tramway system - the 'Bay Tram' runs between Victoria Square and the bayside suburb of Glenelg. Until 1958, an extensive network of electric tram routes served the city, ... The one remaining line has survived (largely through neglect), and is now one of the great rides back in time. It is operated by wonderful 1929 vintage American style interurban tramcars, Australia's oldest public transport vehicles in regular service. If you do nothing else in Adelaide - ride the tram to Glenelg and experience one of the great experiences of the immediate postwar era!
Works are being coordinated to complete the track upgrade of Adelaide’s rail network (including the city rail yard), electrification of the Noarlunga and Tonsley lines, building a rail underpass at Goodwood to improve travel times, accelerating works on the Adelaide Convention Centre expansion and improving facilities at Adelaide Railway Station.
This video is of the progress on the City Rail Yard (all passenger trains operate from and terminate at the Adelaide Railway Station)
Cool video, not sure about their choice of music though
Who's getting new trains? We are!
Trainwreckology - Study of impending failure and the "I told you so" - that follows
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