Re: Why hasn't Adelaide been electrified?

["Garry R. Ford" <garry@merddyn.apana.org.au>]

Lachlan Smith wrote:

> Does anyone know if the electrification of Adelaide's suburban network has
> ever been proposed? If not, why not? I have often wondered this, as
> Adelaide's network is more extensive than Perth's, and only marginally less
> extensive than Brisbane's, and both of these have been electrified, leaving
> Adelaide as the only major centre without an electrified system.

You must use a very sloopy ruler Lachlan to come up with Brisbane being only
marginally bigger system than Adelaide.

Admittedly there is some duplication of track where two routes converge in the
inner city, but if I leave out the Yerrongpilly-Corinda route, and the
Exhibition Loop as well as the Eagle Junction - Doomben section I think that is
more than sufficient compensation for the duplications. In what is recognised
as the Suburban service area:

Ferny Grove to city 16.1 km
Caboolture to City 49.6 km
Shorncliffe to City 20.7 km
Cleveland to City 37.3 km
Beenleigh to City 41.1 km
Wulkuraka to City 47 km

The city is taken as Central.

Inaddition the further 10 kms to Rosewood is really Suburban as to is the 43.9
km extra to Robina which is worked as a suburban service rather than an
interurban one. Urban growth along the line is continuous in areas served in
blocks of five acres or lease.

Likewise the line to at least Nambour a further 55.3 km is through continuous
urban growth almost now and state forrests. Headways are nbot as good as the
GoldCoast line which has standard suburban headways.  Only the line to Gympie
North a further 68 km is truly interurban in character.

So lets see - recognised suburban - 213.6 kms approx.
plus semi-suburban of 109.2         - 322.8 kms approx.

I rest my case.

These figures are the official figures and are in route kms not wire and are
not completely accurrate because of the aforementioned adjustments from
Northgate to City, Yerrongpilly to City  where there has been doubling up of
route kms from the timetable.

If you really want a more accurate figure that is easily calculated from the
working timetable rather than the public one.

Cheers

Garry