Trams hit spotlight in latest public transport pitch
First the Liberals offered 50c fares, then the state government countered with slicker train timetables. Now, there are new tram promises to butter up city folk ahead of next year’s state election.
Greens leader Robert Simms today unveiled his team’s transport policy to get city trams travelling all the way to North Adelaide and Norwood, claiming his party has completed the costings and would fight to get work underway.
Simms said the plan would cost about $759 million, based on the Labor Party’s 2018 costings adjusted by 30 per cent for inflation, and including about $60 million to upgrade the Adelaide Bridge over the River Torrens.
“Sadly, during this term Labor has focussed almost exclusively on roads and infrastructure for cars at the expense of any major public transport expansion,” he said.
“With the population of North Adelaide on the rise with the new 88 O’Connell Street development, now really is the time to put the tram extension back on the agenda.”
The latest pitch to voters ahead of next March’s election followed the state government’s announcement yesterday that it would update the timetable for the Gawler line to save commuters 20 minutes over five return trips a week, countering the Liberal Party’s promise of 50c fares for all public transport rides.
The SA Greens also committed to 50c fares in April after an Adelaide City Council push for the move, backed by Kelsian boss Graeme Legh in an exclusive interview with InDaily.
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Under the Greens plan announced today, the North Adelaide loop along King William Road and O’Connell Street would get four new stops at Adelaide Oval, the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Archer Street and Piccadilly Cinema and be phase one of an eventual expansion to Prospect.
The free travel zone would extend to North Adelaide as well as the currently free Botanic Gardens to Entertainment Centre route, which hosted more than 7.4 million journeys in the 2022-23 financial year.
Norwood would have five new tram stops: the corner of Rundle Road and East Terrace, Rundle Street in Kent Town, Sydenham Street, Norwood Oval and Norwood Place.
The Greens – a minority party who would have to persuade the government to back its plan – also proposed the government buy 12 new trams to service each route every 10 minutes.
The Adelaide City Council have been advocating for an extended tram network to North Adelaide and Prospect for years, and it was a feature of recent discussions about upgrading O’Connell Street.
Any tramline extension to North Adelaide was likely to hinge on an upgrade of the state heritage-listed bridge, which the Adelaide City Council is responsible for maintaining.
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The government has not committed to a tram extension, and no funding support for a bridge upgrade has been announced in the budget estimates.
However, Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis – former Transport Minister – recently told InDaily that if the government did back the extension, “whatever we have to remedy to get the tram over the bridge we will do”.
The cost of a “significant asset renewal” of the bridge was estimated at $63 million by the council, but Koutsantonis said his understanding was that “only minor improvements” would be needed to allow the tram extension.
Simms said the Greens were urging both Labor and Liberal parties to match their commitment.
Independent candidate for Adelaide, and former Greens member, Keiran Snape also promised a tram line extension to North Adelaide when he announced his run in June.
Snape said more voices calling for the tram extension was a win for grassroots campaigners in the area.
“I firmly believe that a tram extension to North Adelaide should be a non-partisan issue, and so I certainly welcome a commitment from the Greens,” he said.
“I’d also issue a challenge to the Labor Party to match this policy announcement. Let’s get it done.”
When InDaily asked the Transport Minister’s office in August if the government would commit to the tram, a spokesperson said “there are no current plans to extend light rail”.
“The State Government is currently building three major overpasses along the Adelaide tram corridor, which will see the removal of three level crossings, and is also focused on bringing our tram services back into public hands in line with our 2022 election commitment,” the spokesperson said.
The Greens’ plan is based on the former Weatherill government’s 2018 election promise, and Simms said it’s “a drop in the ocean” compared to ongoing infrastructure projects.
“They need to see a plan to expand the tram network and encourage public transport use,” he said
“We are in the middle of a climate crisis, and we need to be doing everything we can to reduce the cars on our roads and reduce emissions.”
