rail revitalisation
goodwood junction upgrade
September 2013
The Goodwood Junction Upgrade will
separate the existing freight and Belair
passenger lines from the Noarlunga line.
Construction of a rail underpass near
Victoria Street will lower the Noarlunga line
below ground level, with the freight and
Belair lines above.
The South Australian Government has committed
$110 million to separate freight and passenger
services at Goodwood. It’s the first stage of a joint
state and federal government funded $443 million
project.
Why is the upgrade needed?
At present, the interstate mainline has two points at
both Goodwood and Torrens Junctions where the
suburban passenger lines cross over, causing delays
to the interstate trains as they wait for the suburban
passenger trains to pass.
As a consequence of having to stop, the freight
trains decelerate and travel at reduced speed (down
to 20 km/h) through the adjacent signalised road
level crossings. This causes considerable delays to
road traffic (in particular Cross and Torrens Roads)
as vehicles queue waiting for the freight line to clear.
These delays are currently in the order of 5 minutes
each time. As the length of track available to store
these waiting freight trains is only marginal in relation
to their 1.5 km length, these delays increase to
approximately 16 minutes on occasions when the
waiting trains fail to clear the level crossing. As
interstate freight trains are now up to 1.8 km in
length, there will be further delays imposed on the
road network unless appropriate measures are taken
to accommodate these longer trains.
Without the Goodwood Junction Upgrade, delays for
freight trains would substantially increase. The
increased frequency of passenger trains associated
with the opening of the electrified Seaford rail and
increased customer demand, combined with
additional freight trains in the future due to economic
growth, are dependent on this essential upgrade.
What are the benefits of the
Goodwood Junction
Upgrade?
Reduced waiting times at the Cross Road, Leader
Street and Victoria Street rail crossings are some of
the road traffic benefits that this project will provide.
The extension of the Noarlunga line to Seaford, and
the delivery of the first electric rail services in
Adelaide on this line will provide improved journey
times, allowing trains to travel faster and more
smoothly.
These projects build the foundation for a system that
will deliver customers fast, frequent and more
environmentally-friendly public transport for
generations.
The Melbourne to Adelaide railway is the busiest
intermodal freight link in Australia. The line is a
significant carrier of freight, with over 7 million tonnes
of goods carried in 2011/12.
Based on estimates provided by the ARTC, the
number of freight train movements could increase
from around 80 per week currently, to between 100
and 150 by 2024.
Grade separation will significantly improve the
efficiency of transporting goods, i.e. typically 20 per
cent less journeys will be required on local roads to
transport the same tonnage of freight.
Freight train transit times will be reduced, and
delivery services will be more reliable, whilst goods
being transported by road will benefit by reduced
delay times at railway level crossings i.e. boom gate
activations at Victoria Street will reduce by
approximately 70 per cent due to the grade
separation of the Noarlunga/Seaford passenger line.
When complete the Goodwood Junction Upgrade
will:
> reduce train travel times - freight will be
separated from public transport rail
> reduce traffic waiting times at Leader Street,
Victoria Street and Cross Road rail crossings
> improve safety – freight trains won’t have to give
way to Adelaide Metro trains
> provide enhanced landscaping and lighting
> improve local cycle and pedestrian links,
including a new connection to the Greenways
cycleway between Cromer Parade and Victoria
Street
For further information
For further information please contact the Rail
Revitalisation Project team:
P: 1300 443 198
E: [email protected]
W: www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/RR