4022 was in service this afternoon.  This is the first time I have observed this.  Prior to the Seaford closure it had been sitting on the South Yard hard standing and I believe it remained there during the overhead work.

Alex C

As a result 4022 is the only A-City that entered service with the whistles in the coupling area. All the others were retro-fitted

I also noticed that the doors on 4004 take much longer to close than the other sets. The sequence goes 'ding doors closing ding' then 3-5 seconds later the door actually closes.

One recent observation is that some of the A-City EMUs now seem to have the automatic door closure procedure in operation, same as the 3000/3100 DEMUs.  By this I mean if the unit is sitting at a terminal station with doors open, after a certain time the doors will automatically close - obviously a good idea when sitting on hot summer days!

I'm not sure what fraction of units have this enabled - I've experienced both this and the old "doors stay open until driver presses close button" in the past couple of weeks, or how it relates to different beeping sounds and other post-delivery modifications.

With all the EMU's delivered will this lead to more carriages on the Gawler line and an increased peak service for the inner stations?  
There's a lot of apartments going up on Churchill road and an a peak train frequency of every 30 mins, there's 9 trains per hour in the morning peak (740am-840am times taken from Mawson Lakes) but only 2 stop at Dudley Park and Ovingham wouldn't it be better to run a 15 min service?  all you need to do is make the 754 and 824 ex Mawson all stops.  
I know this the wrong thread but the 4000s have freed up carriages that can be put into these services, also maybe include North Adelaide in all stops so the new development at Bowden can use it.  As the inner suburbs increase in density they should get better rail and the development on Churchill Road is prefect for this.  
They could even try this around Edwardstown and Oaklands dedicated corridors of smaller apartment complexes of 3 to 6 stories (depending  on location - taller buildings only opposite / backing parks etc) this way you can increase density without losing the character of suburbs and using the rail corridor where in some places it's not very well aligned for urban growth like Hallett Cove, being so close to the gulf.

With all the EMU's delivered will this lead to more carriages on the Gawler line and an increased peak service for the inner stations?  
There's a lot of apartments going up on Churchill road and an a peak train frequency of every 30 mins, there's 9 trains per hour in the morning peak (740am-840am times taken from Mawson Lakes) but only 2 stop at Dudley Park and Ovingham wouldn't it be better to run a 15 min service?  all you need to do is make the 754 and 824 ex Mawson all stops.  
I know this the wrong thread but the 4000s have freed up carriages that can be put into these services, also maybe include North Adelaide in all stops so the new development at Bowden can use it.  As the inner suburbs increase in density they should get better rail and the development on Churchill Road is prefect for this.  
They could even try this around Edwardstown and Oaklands dedicated corridors of smaller apartment complexes of 3 to 6 stories (depending  on location - taller buildings only opposite / backing parks etc) this way you can increase density without losing the character of suburbs and using the rail corridor where in some places it's not very well aligned for urban growth like Hallett Cove, being so close to the gulf.

I have noticed that over the last sixth months that Grange line single car services have basically disappeared, with all services now two car sets

I have noticed that over the last sixth months that Grange line single car services have basically disappeared, with all services now two car sets

Being a regular Grange line user, i have also noticed that even at night and on the weekends most grange services are 2 car 3100 consists - i wonder if this is due to increased patronage or increased availability of railcars. Additionally i have noticed that now that we are reaching the tail end of the ARS convention centre works, most Grange trains now depart from platform 7 - which is the platform that 99% of grange trains left from during the 2000s.

I have noticed that over the last sixth months that Grange line single car services have basically disappeared, with all services now two car sets

Being a regular Grange line user, i have also noticed that even at night and on the weekends most grange services are 2 car 3100 consists - i wonder if this is due to increased patronage or increased availability of railcars. Additionally i have noticed that now that we are reaching the tail end of the ARS convention centre works, most Grange trains now depart from platform 7 - which is the platform that 99% of grange trains left from during the 2000s.

Although when I rode the Grange train a few weeks ago it was one car. From memory it was the 12.27 ex-Adelaide.

Is there any reason we aren't seeing 6 car consists being run in the weekday peak. I've noticed several services are extremely crowded, such as the 0744  and 0749 during the morning peak and the 1720 during the evening. I assume one of the obstacles is the short platform at Oaklands?

Is there any reason we aren't seeing 6 car consists being run in the weekday peak. I've noticed several services are extremely crowded, such as the 0744  and 0749 during the morning peak and the 1720 during the evening. I assume one of the obstacles is the short platform at Oaklands?

Lack of will within the department + lack of pressure from above.

Short platforms didn't used to be an obstacle for having a couple of peak trains formed by three car DEMU consists on the Belair line back before the patronage was run down by the two lengthy shutdowns. Coincidentally, that was also back when the late Bob Such would catch the train in to work every day. Those services simply had a conductor who would stop people alighting from the third car at Glenalta and Torrens Park.


Double consists can and do operate outbound services after major Adelaide Oval events. When they stop at Oaklands, they simply use the SDO system to prevent the doors on the rear two cars being opened.

DPTI just needs to do one of four things to allow inbound trains formed of double consists to stop at Oaklands.
1. Build the overpass - just firetrucking do it already!
2. Develop the necessary procedure to allow the train to safely call at the station using SDO, with the front car beyond the end of the platform and a conductor dispatching the train.
3. Use some cheap concrete panels to extend the front of the platform far enough that the rear of a double consist will clear the level crossing. We're only talking about 10 metres or so.
4. Grow a pair and stop pandering to the drivers clogging up the Morhpagonal choke point. They won't have an aneurism if they get to the next red light 20 seconds later.

It could be said item 2 was designed into the vehicle.

What's the headway limit on the network now? surely the network isn't at capacity.

It could be said item 2 was designed into the vehicle.

Some sort of SDO has been included and is used on post-football trains at Mile End, Marion, Oaklands and Hove.

I don't know if Bombardier's SDO system allows for the driving car to be off the front end of the platform, as opposed to requiring the driving car to be in the platform with only the rear of the train hanging off the back end of the platform.

I do know that the Bombardier SDO was so unreliable (apparently it relied on GPS, not trackside beacons) for one particular operator in England that they ended up turning it off and just using Unit De-Select which locks out the whole 3-car or 4-car EMU rather than just the cars hanging off the end of the platform.

It's also one thing to have a capability, but another to have staff with the training and confidence to use it.

What's the headway limit on the network now? surely the network isn't at capacity.

The average spacing of the ten trains an hour in the peak on the Seaford/Tonsley line is already quite close by Adelaide standards. Six minutes sounds like a lot, but that's also the official lateness margin.

The 'resignalling' in 2013 was a complete flop (an incomplete flop actually, it's still not complete yet) with over $110 million spent for no real change to capacity. The choke point is at the Adelaide end rather than further out on the network, in the morning peak it's common for trains to stack up at the signals approaching the station waiting for a route into the platforms.

Also see the previously mentioned point regarding pandering to the 1.17 people in each car at the level crossings along the route.