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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-29 Daily Xml
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GAWLER RAIL LINE

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (14:47): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy questions about the Gawler rail line.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: I have asked a number of questions in this place over many months relating to the Gawler rail line, particularly the lack of timeliness and the overcrowding of these services. These questions have been referred to the Minister for Transport in another place. I am yet to receive any response.

The poor situation was highlighted by a constituent recently, who related an incident about a TransAdelaide employee announcing to passengers that their peak hour service had arrived in the Adelaide rail yard on time. However, due to delays in other services leaving Adelaide station, the train was forced to stand waiting in the yard for at least another 10 minutes.

I can relate a similar exercise recently, where a train—not at peak hour, but midmorning—was probably on schedule to come in ahead of time, but because of the congestion of trains, obviously late from other destinations coming out of the station, our train sat out in the yard for some considerable period.

One of the flow-ons from that situation, as I have said in this council before, is that so many rail commuters find themselves forced to catch at least one train ahead of what they would normally need to catch just to make sure that they arrive at their destination on time. My questions are:

1. Will the Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport give an undertaking to emphasise to her colleague in another place the extent of the continuing inconvenience to rail passengers and to seek answers to my earlier questions?

2. Will the minister also indicate to her colleague that the schedule introduced on 27 April last year, and slightly amended in November and January, is clearly not working?

3. Why did the most recent timetable changes apply only to weekend services?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (14:50): I thank the honourable member for his important questions. I will refer them to the Minister for Transport in another place and bring back a response. I remind honourable members that spending on the South Australian government's infrastructure capital program is now at unprecedented levels. DTEI's capital works program is $1.1 billion for the 2009-10 year, and that is up $160 million a year from eight years ago. We are spending more than $160 million more than this lot opposite us. Some $3 billion will be spent over the next four years on transport alone. I know the honourable member is very keen to see things happen at Gawler, but what this government has done and has committed to doing is unprecedented.

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