The State Government yesterday signed a contract with Bombardier Transportation Australia as part of a $269 million deal to upgrade the network and boost the system’s carrying capacity by 540 people.

Transport Minister Pat Conlon also released images of the trains, which will be painted blue and travel at a maximum 110km/h.

The 66 new A-City railcars will be operational within two years and the first in Australia to meet tough new national safety guidelines.

Mr Conlon said the new railcars would be assembled as 22 three-car trains and specially designed for Adelaide’s upgraded electric network.

They will seat around 240 passengers and provide standing room for another 300.

“The A-City will be the first railcar in Australia to use an advanced best practice crash protection system now in use in Europe and will be a wide body train providing more room for passengers,” Mr Conlon said.

Other features will include enhanced security systems, airconditioning and disability access and a passenger emergency intercom at each doorway.

They will also be fitted with a smartcard ticketing system.

The 66 new railcars will be complemented by an on-going program to refurbish 70 vehicles while converting 54 to electric propulsion.

“Our new fleet will service an electrified network and be the backbone of a state-of-the-art, modern and integrated public transport system, delivering the best train, tram and bus services,” Mr Conlon said.

The Government’s multi-billion-dollar overhaul of public transport was dealt a blow last month when $61 million was pulled from the planned O-Bahn extension to help rebuild Queensland in the wake of natural disasters.

The Federal Government announced almost $1 billion in cuts to infrastructure projects to help fund the $5.6 billion rebuilding program.

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Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and state counterpart Pat Conlon said the $10.2 million project development contract for electrification had been awarded to Laing O’Rourke.

Mr Albanese said the company had over 30 years experience designing and constructing electrified rail systems nationally and overseas.

“The Adelaide rail electrification project will deliver long lasting benefits for the Adelaide transport network: modernizing the lines, benefiting the environment and enhancing lifestyle in Adelaide” he said.

“It is also delivering jobs and bringing international companies to SA.”

The system will cover over more than 100 kilometres of track from Gawler to Seaford, and Adelaide to Outer Harbor.

Mr Conlon said the next phase of the project would deliver about 100 jobs.

“This work represents the nuts and bolts of electrification the poles and wires and signalling and communication systems required to run a state-of-the-art electric rail system complete with brand new trains,” he said.

“In around two years electric trains will be part of a multi-billion dollar network providing faster, more efficient, greener, more frequent and safer bus, train and tram services.”

The first electrified services will run on the new Seaford rail line in 2013, and on the Noarlunga and Gawler lines later that year, with electrification of the Outer Harbor line to be completed in 2015.

The electrification project includes provision of a 25,000 volt overhead wiring system to the metropolitan passenger rail network.

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The new trains will have a top speed of 110km/h with faster acceleration and deceleration and performance that leads to significant power savings.

They will feature an array of on-board technology including Smartcard ticketing capability and CCTV while also being fully disability accessible.

They will also be designed to meet Adelaide’s extreme heat demands both in operation and in customer air-conditioning.

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Transport Minister Pat Conlon today said final negotiations were underway with Bombardier Transportation Australia to provide the new electric railcars.

“This is a key component of the State Government’s $2.6 billion investment in the city’s public transport, an investment that is progressively transforming it into a state-of-the-art system, he said.

“We are reaching the end of a worldwide search for the best possible new rolling stock and we are confident we have identified a supplier and a vehicle of the highest order.

“Our electrified rail network, serviced by these fast, efficient, reliable and modern trains will be the envy of cities around Australia and indeed the world.

“These new electric trains will be quieter, cheaper to operate, require less maintenance and offer improved reliability over our existing diesel fleet.”

Adelaide’s new fleet of trains is expected to begin arriving in 2012 and enter passenger service the following year after testing on the new $291 million Seaford rail extension.

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Mr Conlon this afternoon declared the sort of electric train the government will be purchasing to roll out on the extended and electrfied network would be “rated for over 100km/h”.

“They may not do that (speed) everywhere, but they’re rated to do 100km/h,” he said.

Mr Conlon’s comments came after the four-month closure of the Gawler line between the city and Mawson Lakes received its first real test when morning peak commuters took to substitute buses for their journeys.

About 35 calls had been made to the AdelaideMetro infoline by 12.30pm today in relation to the closure or the substitute bus services but Mr Conlon said the alternative transport services had run relatively smoothly.

“There’s always an inconvience to these things but in the circumstances we think it went about as well as it could’ve done,” he said.

“It’s better to have some inconvenience for four months than inconvience in some places at some times for four years.”

Mr Conlon said lessons had been learned from the closures of the Belair and Outer Harbor lines for upgrades, when some commuters complained of poor passenger comfort, longer travel times and substitute bus timetables that did not match well with train arrival and departure times.

“We learn from every one we do,” he said.

“We try to keep to a timetable but not so strictly that they (buses and trains) don’t match up. We’ll learn from last time and do better this time.”

The first stage of the Gawler Line upgrade involves:

UPGRADING the base layer;

INSTALLING new gauge-convertible concrete sleepers;

IMPROVING stormwater drainage;

REFURBISHING or replacing rail;

CONNECTING the new Dry Creek railcar depot to the Gawler line.

The government will then work on upgrading and extending the Noarlunga Line, before returing to finish work on the Gawler line north.

“What we will have when this is completed – other than the Belair Line, which we can’t electrify for engineering reasons – will be a vast metropolitan network…with some tram additions, that will deliver people comfortably and efficiently to where they want to go,” Mr Conlon said.

“We’re going to go from an under-invested system to, I think, the best public transport system in Australia.”

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Another 14 electric trains will be bought for the Seaford line extension, adding to the existing search for 50 trains to run on Adelaide’s electrified rail network.

The Government last committed to new trains in 1990 when then Transport Minister Frank Blevins announced the purchase of 50 over an eight-year period for $225 million.

Transport Minister Patrick Conlon can expect to get his new trains rolling for the 2013 opening of the Noarlunga to Seaford extension.

Another $3.3 million in new funding will beef up security across the Adelaide metro system, with 20 security guards on trains leaving Adelaide station from 6pm. There are now only two guards.

TransAdelaide’s budget for graffiti removal also will be boosted. Maintenance crews remove graffiti from the state’s rail system on a two or three-day cycle.

This will jump to daily checks after a trial on the Gawler line showed a 50 per cent drop with daily removal.

Premier Mike Rann said $1.1 billion would be spent on transport in the next financial year.

“That is almost six times the amount allocated under the last Liberal Government Budget,” he said. “It will continue to expand and accelerate the 10-year revitalisation of the public transport system.”

The cost of purchasing new rail cars and additional operating costs of $23 million will be partly offset by Federal Government grants.

South Australia’s rail upgrade program will cost $1.5 billion over the next four years, helped by $585 million of funding announced in this year’s Federal Budget.

Treasurer Kevin Foley also must find room for existing transport promises in his Budget, including the $42 million cost of providing additional free public transport for seniors, $37 million in train refurbishments and any State contribution to the extension of O-Bahn bus priority.

Mr Rann said the promotion of transport projects underscored the government’s approach to boosting economic activity through infrastructure spending.

“Rather than putting the brakes on, we are supporting and securing jobs through infrastructure projects and building for the future,” he said.

Funding will also be provided for increased track inspections for new rail lines to improve the timeliness of services.

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