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Adelaide commuters brace for rail closures

Train lines across Adelaide will be closed in January as the city’s railway station undergoes a major upgrade, and its effect on rail passengers in becoming clearer.

The worst affected customers can expect to add more than an hour to their daily commute as replacement buses cover their journey to the city.

Commuters on the Outer Harbor and Grange lines will get on a substitute bus at Woodville, while the Gawler line will terminate at North Adelaide.

Those disruptions will last for a month while the Adelaide Railway Station undergoes work, but the entire Belair Line will be closed until mid-2013, while the Noarlunga and Tonsley lines will be out of action until September, with substitute buses replacing those services.

Transport Department chief executive officer Rod Hook said the closures will have an impact on people’s commute.

“You’d expect that somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes would be a normal addition to travel time,” Mr Hook said.

But not for those people living in Eden Hills.

On a weekday morning the trip currently takes 23 minutes to reach the city, but when substitute buses are rolled out, it will take just over an hour - 38 minutes longer.

There is some good news for passengers though, with those affected by the changes being given free travel in January, costing the department about $1million.

The new timetables will be available next week.