Adelaide Metro
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Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of the South Australian capital of Adelaide and the brand name of the Public Transport Division of the Department of Transport, Energy and Infrastructure. It is an intermodal system with services provided by bus, tram or commuter rail throughout the metropolitan area. The services, although contracted to four separate operators, are fully integrated under Adelaide Metro and share a universal ticketing system, marketing, and common livery and signage.
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[edit] History
The Adelaide Metro was formed in 2001 following the privatisation of the bus services.[1] Previously, the public transport system in Adelaide was operated by and known as TransAdelaide. Before 1994, the system was operated by the State Transport Authority.
[edit] Services
[edit] Buses
- See also: Buses in Adelaide
The focus of Adelaide's public transport system is the large fleet of diesel and natural gas powered buses. The majority of services terminate at the city-centre or at a suburban interchange. Buses get priority on many roads and intersections, with dedicated bus lanes and 'B'-light bus only phases at many traffic lights.
The Adelaide Metro buses are owned and operated by:
- Torrens Transit - north-eastern, inner north, inner south, eastern, western and north-western suburban bus network.
- Australian Transit Enterprises, trading as SouthLink – the far south and far north
- Transitplus - regional bus services and the Adelaide Hills
[edit] Commuter rail
- See also: Railways in Adelaide
Adelaide has a large and under-utilised suburban rail network. It is the only diesel suburban network in Australia. It is operated by TransAdelaide and has 70 diesel-electric 3000/3100 railcars and 24 2000/2100 diesel hydraulic railcars[1], primarily 3000 Class railcars.
There are six rail lines, all terminating at Adelaide Railway Station in the CBD, and all broad gauge. They are:
- Gawler: heading north and terminating at Gawler Central station, Gawler, this is the most frequented line in the network and is 42 km long.
- Noarlunga Centre: heading south and terminating at Noarlunga Centre, 30 km long.
- Tonsley: a 4-km branch off the Noarlunga line to Tonsley Station.
- Outer Habor: Heading north-west and terminating at Outer Harbor Station, 22 km long.
- Grange: branching off the Outer Harbor line to Grange Station, 6km long.
- Belair: heading south-east and winding though the Adelaide hills to terminate at Belair, 22 km long.
[edit] Light rail
- See also: Trams in Adelaide
![Adelaide Flexity tram 101 in service on Glenelg Tram line, circa March 2006.](../../../upload/thumb/3/30/Adelaide_Flexity.jpg/240px-Adelaide_Flexity.jpg)
Adelaide's once extensive tram network was dismantled in the middle of the 20th century leaving only the Glenelg Tram running 12 kilometres 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, but travels on roadway in the city from the terminus to South Terrace and along Jetty Road in Glenelg.
The line is to be extended from Victoria Square down King William Street and along North Terrace to terminate near Morphett Street bridge. The extended line will have stops adjacent to key city points, including Rundle Mall, the Adelaide Railway Station and the CityWest campus of the University of South Australia. A plan to create a city loop by extending the line through either Morphett or Gray streets, Currie Street, and Grote Street to rejoin the line in Victoria Square has also been proposed.
The line is operated by TransAdelaide from Glengowrie depot, using 11 Flexity trams on weekdays and some heritage H-Class trams on weekends, holidays and special occasions.
[edit] Interchanges
[edit] Ticketing
The Adelaide Metro ticketing system is uniform and standardised across all modes of transport and all operators. The system is branded as Metroticket. It is an automated system which uses magnetic stripe tickets to encode conditions of ticket validity. The system was developed by Crouzet-SA (France). It was introduced on 27 September 1987.
Passengers are required to insert tickets into validating machines on every bus, train and tram. The machine examines the ticket for time validity and then magnetically encodes and prints the relevant information on them. Information is only printed on the ticket if a new fare is used.
Metrotickets are available in three types, and each are sold at Regular fare, Concession fare, and Student fare ('2-Section' tickets are available only as a Regular fare):
- Singletrip ticket (one journey)
- Multitrip ticket (ten journeys)
- Daytrip ticket
Singletrip and Multitrip tickets are available as Zone and 2-Section tickets. 'Zone' gives unlimited transfers within two hours of the initial validation; '2-Section' gives travel over two 'sections' (approximately 3 km), with no transfers.
Singletrip and Multitrip tickets are available as all-times and interpeak tickets. 'All-times' gives travel at any time, 'interpeak' between 9.01am and 3.00pm on weekdays (excluding public holidays).
Daytrip tickets give unlimited travel and transfers until 4.30am the following day, with free travel for two children aged under 15 on weekends, public holidays and during school holidays when accompanied by a parent or guardian.
[edit] Accessability
[edit] Future development
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Morgan, Peter. "A new deal on the buses", The Advertiser, 2000-04-21. Retrieved on December 26, 2006.