State Transport Authority (South Australia) - Chronology

Chronology

The following developments occurred in Adelaide’s public transport system during the STA era.

• 25 January 1976 The railway line was extended southwards from Hallett Cove Beach to a temporary terminus at Christie Downs. The opening of the rail line extension was the first public event where the new STA name and logo was prominently used.

• 1976 Smoking was banned on Adelaide’s buses.

• 4 February 1977 A new bus depot was opened at Morphettville in the south-western suburbs.

• 1977 to 1980 The STA took delivery of 307 new Volvo B59 buses. The Volvos updated and standardized the metropolitan bus fleet, which at the time comprised a wide variety of vehicle types and ages following buy-out of a number of private operators. The silver Volvo B59s were a familiar feature of Adelaide streets over the next 20 – 25 years. The last example was withdrawn from service in 2003.

• 31 October 1977 The Circle Line bus service was introduced.

• 1 March 1978 Non-metro railways were transferred to the Australian National Railways Commission.

• 2 April 1978 The extension of the railway southwards from Hallett Cove was completed and Noarlunga Centre station opened.

• 28 October 1978 Rail line between Glanville and Semaphore closed.

• Oct 1978 to Apr 1979 The wooden tramway bridge over the railway lines at Goodwood station was replaced with the current concrete structure. The wooden bridge had been built in 1929, at the time the Glenelg line was converted from railway to tramway.

• 4 February 1979 A zone-based fare system was introduced across Adelaide, with integrated rail and bus tickets allowing transfers between modes.

• 17 August 1979 Rail line between Woodville and Finsbury closed. Redhen railcar 429 worked the last regular passenger service.

• 1 February 1980 Rail line between Albert Park and Hendon closed. Redhen railcar 403 worked the last regular passenger service.

• 22 February 1980 The first 2000 class railcars entered public service, 2101, 2102 and 2001 ran its first passenger service on 22 February 1980 while 2103,2104 and 2002 were introduced shortly after. Delivery of the new trains continued until August 1981 when 2118 and 2012 were the final cars to be delivered. The initial branding as SuperTrain 2000 has not persisted, but the unofficial nickname of Jumbos has.

• 1980 The first of the PMC bodied Volvo B58 and B10M buses were delivered for services into the Hills and longer-distance suburban routes. The B58s and B10Ms were painted in a characteristic brown and custard colour livery, leading to their nickname "Brown Bombers". Known for their distinctively loud transmission whine, these buses were to become a familiar sight over the next 25 years, especially in the Adelaide hills and outer suburbs until their withdrawals between 2004-2006.

• 1981 New rail stations were opened in September 1981 at North Haven on the Outer Harbor line, and in November 1981 at Christie Downs on the Noarlunga line.

• 13 September 1981 Port Dock station closed to passenger traffic.

• 1982 The first of the MAN SL200 buses entered service. These were the last buses to be delivered in the classic all over silver livery (with white roof), which dated from MTT days. Originally, these buses were mostly used on shorter distance city routes.

Popular with bus enthusiasts partly due to their distinctive drivetrain whine, the last of these saw service in 2011.

• 18 May 1984 The few remaining Australian National (AN) country passenger trains and The Overland to Melbourne were transferred from Adelaide station to the new interstate facility at Keswick Terminal. Keswick Terminal allowed access by interstate passenger trains such as the Indian Pacific which used the newly opened standard gauge line from Crystal Brook. It also allowed AN to avoid paying access charges to the STA for use of Adelaide station.

• 1985 The ASER project, involving major redevelopment of the Adelaide Railway station got underway.

• December 1985 Salisbury Interchange on the Gawler line opened to provide improved bus – rail connections in the northern suburbs. Salisbury was the second purpose-built bus-rail interchange in Adelaide – Noarlunga Centre had been the first.

• 2 March 1986 The first 6 km stage of the O-Bahn Busway opened between the city’s eastern fringe and Paradise Interchange in the north-eastern suburbs. The O-Bahn is a unique public transport system, running on specially built concrete track with modified buses and combining elements of both bus and rail systems.

• 9 March 1986 Relocated Grange station opened to avoid level crossing on Military Road.

• 18 October 1986 The Glenelg tram depot was relocated from Angas Street in Adelaide city centre to a new purpose-build facility at Glengowrie, close to Glenelg.

• 1987 Rail line between Dry Creek and Northfield closed. Passenger services between Belair and Bridgewater also discontinued.

• 31 May 1987 North Arm Road, Wingfield and Eastern Parade stations on Port Adelaide-Dry Creek line closed to passenger traffic.

• 27 September 1987 A new Crouzet computerized ticket system was introduced across the STA bus, train and tram system. This was the basis of today’s MetroTicket system. Paper tickets were replaced by magnetic-stripe tickets, which are checked by an electronic validating machine each time a passenger boards a vehicle, and Weekly and Monthly tickets were replaced by 10-journey Multitrips.

• November 1987 The first of a new fleet of 3000-class diesel-electric railcars entered public service. These would eventually replace the Redhen railcars, which had been the mainstay of the suburban train service since the late 1950s.

• 1988 The ASER redevelopment project was completed at Adelaide station. The station platforms became effectively underground, with the Hyatt Regency hotel and Adelaide Convention Centre built above. The former main station building was re-opened as a casino.

• 29 May 1988 Port Adelaide-Dry Creek line closed to regular passenger traffic. Redhen railcars 372/373 worked the last passenger movement.

• 20 August 1989 The second stage of the 12 km-long O-Bahn Busway opened between Paradise Interchange and Tea Tree Plaza Interchange at Modbury. The final cost of the project was A$98 million, which included the new fleet of specially-modified buses, based at St.Agnes depot.

• 1990 Following rebuilding of the tracks and platforms in 1985 – 88, the Adelaide station concourse was refurbished.

• 1990 A 4-year project to renew outdated signaling on the STA railway system was completed. New signals were installed and all STA trains and rail lines were supervised from a computerized traffic control centre in Adelaide station yard.

• 17 February 1992 The first Transit Link limited-stop bus route, numbered TL1, was introduced between Aberfoyle Park and Adelaide. This initiative aimed to attract peak-hour motorists onto public transport by providing frequent, fast, limited-stop services, using high-quality vehicles and traffic priority schemes (e.g. bus lanes and bus-priority traffic signals) where practical.

• 1992 Driver-only operation was introduced on STA trains and guards were progressively withdrawn. This led to a significant increase in fare evasion, since there were no-longer regular ticket inspections, and there was generally nowhere on the trains or stations to buy a ticket if a casual traveler had not planned ahead and pre-purchased one from a retail outlet.
  The reduced supervision also helped compound a trend of increasing vandalism, disorderly behaviour and crime that had plagued the STA system (both bus and train) since the late 1980s. The transit police force was increased and Transit Officers replaced guards on some trains, but negative public perceptions about personal safety and difficulty in getting tickets and information resulted in decreased patronage of many services.

• 16 August 1992 A new bus depot was opened at Mile End and the Hackney depot was closed. Hackney had been the main depot in Adelaide since the first electric tram lines opened in 1909, and had subsequently been converted by the MTT for use by trolleybuses and diesel buses.

• 16 August 1992 The Transit Link concept was introduced on two new bus routes (TL2 to West Lakes and TL3 to Golden Grove and Elizabeth), and to express peak-hour trains on three of the main rail lines.

• 16 August 1992 Changes were implemented which reduced services on most bus and train routes at night and at weekends. Train frequencies were reduced from approximately every 45 minutes to hourly. On the bus network, a separate “Nights & Sundays” pattern of routes was introduced, which often combined one or more daytime routes into circuitous and one-way hybrid routes. The rationale stated at the time was that evening and weekend services were very poorly patronized and the changes were needed to free resources to operate the new Transit Link routes.

• 5 July 1993 A bus-rail interchange was opened at Smithfield on the Gawler line.

• 21 November 1993 The successful Transit Link concept was extended to five new bus routes, TL6 to TL10.

• 1 July 1994 The STA organization was dissolved as a result of the Passenger Transport Act 1994. The Passenger Transport Board and TransAdelaide assumed the functions formerly carried out by the STA.