Adelaide Metro's public transport roundels. Left to right: train, bus, tram, regional bus & coach
Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of the Adelaide area, around the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal system offering an integrated network of bus, tram, and train services throughout the metropolitan area. The network has an annual patronage of 79.9 million, of which 51 million journeys are by bus, 15.6 million by train, and 9.4 million by tram.[1] The system has evolved heavily over the past fifteen years, and patronage increased dramatically during the 2014–15 period, a 5.5 percent increase on the 2013 figures due to electrification of frequented lines.[2][3]
Adelaide Metro began in 2000 with the privatisation of existing government-operated bus routes. Services are now run by two private operators[dubious – discuss] and united with common ticketing systems, marketing, liveries and signage under the supervision of the state government's Department for Infrastructure and Transport. Since the 2010s, energy sustainability and eco-friendly transport has been a major focus for Adelaide Metro. Hence, the fleet has been progressively upgraded with electric trains and solar-powered buses–one of which, known as the Tindo electric bus, is 100% solar powered and the first of its kind in the world.[4][5] Despite this, as of 2016, almost 80 percent of Adelaide's metropolitan buses still run on diesel fuel rather than biodiesel or batteries.[6]
Currently, the Adelaide Metro encompasses seven different train lines, the sole Glenelg tram line, which is the only one of Adelaide's tramways to survive the 1950s and the only one to be integrated into the current system, with extensions added in the 2010s, and over 300 bus routes. [7]
History
The Adelaide Metro is a brand introduced in April 2000, following the second round of tenders privatisation of formerly government-operated bus services.[8][9]
The public transport system in Adelaide has previously been known under several names. The State Transport Authority was formed in 1974, combining the metropolitan rail operations of the former South Australian Railways Commission, and the bus and tram operations of the former Municipal Tramways Trust. Adelaide removed almost all tramlines from the 1930s to 1958 leaving only the Glenelg line. This tramline was extended in 2007 by the Department of Transport, Energy & Infrastructure (DTEI), and again to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in 2010. In July 1994, the STA was abolished and government public transport services were transferred to TransAdelaide, a publicly owned corporation.
In 1995–96, there was a partial tendering of the bus services. TransAdelaide retained three contract regions, Serco won two contract regions, and Hills Transit a joint venture between Australian Transit Enterprises and TransAdelaide, one.[10][11] Services were run and marketed under each operator's name, presenting a disjointed network to the public.
The 2000 round of tenders ended TransAdelaide's direct operation of bus services, while retaining the train and tram services. Serco won the North-South, Outer North, and Outer North-East contract areas. SouthLink won the Outer South contract area. Torrens Transit won the East-West contract area. City Free services and Transitplus, a joint venture between Australian Transit Enterprises and TransAdelaide, won the Hills contract area.[11] The Adelaide Metro brand was applied across all transport operators, appearing to the public as a unified network, with common livery, timetable designs and a city Information Centre.
Environmental Incentives
The State Government has pledged that the Adelaide Metro would use cleaner fuels like biodiesel and natural gas in an effort to make Adelaide a carbon neutral city. In 2016, nearly 80 percent of the Adelaide Metro buses ran on diesel, which is harmful for the environment due to the presence of sulfur.[6] In 2023, the state government announced that a feasibility study was underway to replace Adelaide Metro's ageing diesel train fleet with zero-emission technology.[12]
The largest element of Adelaide's public transport system is a fleet of diesel and natural gas powered buses. The majority of services terminate in the Adelaide city centre, suburban railway stations or shopping centre interchanges. As contracts are revised for privatised bus operations, more cross suburban routes are added to the network. In the past, bus routes were largely focused on moving passengers from the suburbs to the CBD.
A major component of the Adelaide Metro bus service is the O-Bahn guided busway to Modbury, carrying around 9 million passengers a year. From its opening in 1986 until August 2011 it was the world's longest busway, with a length of 12 kilometres (7.5 mi). It remains the world's fastest busway with a maximum permitted speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). Away from the O-Bahn, whilst there have been dedicated bus lanes and bus-only signal phases at some traffic lights provided for a number of years, a major improvement to bus priority and reliability arrived with the delivery in July 2012 of the CBD Bus Lane project.[13]
Adelaide Metro buses are split up geographically into six contract regions, with services operated by Torrens Connect, Torrens Transit, SouthLink and Busways. The current contracts began in July 2020 for a period of eight years, with an option to extend for two years.[14]
The Adelaide suburban railway network consists of seven lines operated by Keolis Downer under contract to the Government of South Australia since January 2021.[15][16] In 2023, the state government announced that rail services would return to public ownership in January 2025, fulfilling an election commitment by the South Australian Labor Party.[17]
Until 2014, the suburban network was the only one in Australia to operate solely with diesel railcars. Between 2013–2014, the full lengths of the Seaford and Tonsley lines were electrified, as well as the adjacent segment of the Belair line from Goodwood to its terminus at Adelaide.[18] Electric trains have run on the Seaford and Tonsley lines since 2014. Although the original plans were to electrify the remaining three lines, they were abandoned in 2012.[19] The Gawler line was electrified in 2022.
As at July 2019, the fleet consists of 70 3000/3100 class diesel railcars and 22 three-carriage 4000 class electric multiple units.[20] All remaining 2000/2100 class train cars were retired from service in August 2015.
Adelaide's rail lines all run into Adelaide railway station in the CBD. They are:
Adelaide to Bridgewater opened 1883, Belair to Bridgewater closed 1987. The Adelaide to Melbourne main line via Belair and Bridgewater was converted to standard gauge in 1995, leaving one broad-gauge track from Goodwood to Belair.
Woodville to Grange opened 1882. Grange to Henley Beach 1894–1957, now demolished. Services share use of the Outer Harbor line until branching at Woodville.
Adelaide to Port Dock opened 1856, Port Dock spur closed 1981, rebuilt 2024. Services share use of the Outer Harbor line until branching north of Alberton.
Adelaide's once extensive tram network was dismantled in the middle of the 20th century, leaving only the Glenelg tram running 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) between Victoria Square in the city-centre and Moseley Square on the beachfront at Glenelg. The majority of the line is on a dedicated corridor though the western suburbs, and travels on roadway in the city from the terminus to South Terrace and along Jetty Road in Glenelg.
A 2018 extension added stops adjacent to more key locations including the Festival Theatre, the Art Gallery, the University of Adelaide and the Adelaide Botanic Garden.[24] Construction this new junction, branch lines along the eastern end of North Terrace and King William Road and four new stops began in July/August 2017 and opened in October 2018.[25] There is no fare charged on certain sections of the line.
In July 2019, the government announced the provision of tram services would be contracted out.[32]Torrens Connect began operating the trams in July 2020.[33] As part of an election commitment, the government announced in 2023 that tram services would return to public ownership by July 2025.[17]
Interchanges
According to Adelaide Metro, interchanges "provide convenient connections between buses and trains. Many also feature Park 'n' Ride services and bike storage."[34]
Klemzig Interchange – Located in the inner north-eastern suburbs with bus connections to Oakden and the Circle Line. Intermediate station on the O-Bahn Busway
Mawson Interchange – Located in Adelaide's northern suburbs and interconnects train services on the Gawler line and bus services to areas around metropolitan Adelaide including Adelaide, Mawson Lakes and Salisbury
Smithfield Interchange – Located in Adelaide's northern suburbs and interconnects train services on the Gawler line with bus services to areas around metropolitan Adelaide including Munno Para, Craigmore and Andrews Farm
The Adelaide Metro ticketing system is multi-modal, meaning that one ticket can be used to transfer between trains, trams and buses, regardless of the service provider. In September 1987, the Metroticket system developed by Crouzet was introduced.[35][36] This used magnetic strip technology. In 2010, a contract to introduce the metroCARDsmartcard ticketing system was awarded to Affiliated Computer Services.[37] It was rolled out in November 2012.[38] The older system was phased out in 2015.
In 2021, as part of a staged upgrade to Adelaide Metro's ticketing system, contactless payments have been rolled out on all trams, allowing passengers to use debit and credit cards to pay for fares.[39] In 2022, this roll-out continued on O-Bahn bus services, and as of 2023, is now rolling out network-wide, including all remaining buses, and trains.[40][41]
In 2024, Adelaide Metro released the Adelaide Metro Buy & Go App, this app allows passengers to buy tickets to be used on Buses, Tram and train leaving the Adelaide Railway Station. The app will be rolled out to all train users by late 2025
^Bombardier Transportation was acquired by Alstom on 29 January 2021, during construction of the second batch of A-City trains. All of this batch were delivered by Alstom.
References
^South Australia Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (September 2019). "Annual Report 2018–19"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
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