Brendan Simpkins

MEMBER for Light Tony Piccolo met with constituents at the Gawler Railway Station on Tuesday morning in response to feedback on the State Government’s substitute bus service.

Works on the Gawler Line Electrification Project has resulted in the closure of the rail service from Gawler to Adelaide until October when the work is expected to be completed.

Currently, substitute bus services are available at a cost for rail commuters from Gawler to Adelaide.

However, Mr Piccolo said his office had been “inundated” with feedback about the service following a story published in The Bunyip on January 13.

“While a few people thought the service was acceptable many said it was not good enough with many regular train users abandoning the service altogether,” said Mr
Piccolo.

“Even though this is only a temporary alternative while the rail upgrade work is being done, local people deserve a better service than this.

“As people return to work and study for 2021 more pressure will be put on local public transport.

“I am asking the minister and department to take on board the views expressed by local people and improve the substitute service, to increase patronage and reduce congestion on our roads.”

Mr Piccolo was positioned at the Gawler Railway Station from 6am to 9am, speaking to members of the public on their morning commute.

He said the response from the public on the substitute bus service was “mixed”.

“Some said it was okay, most were not happy with it,” he said.

“One of the big things we have taken away from this morning is that the people want more express services to the city.

“They were also asking why the GA4, which is actually an express service, ‘why does it go down Main North Road, why can’t it go down the Northern Expressway to get to the city quicker’.”

Mr Piccolo estimated that services were down by about 90 per cent compared to when the rail line is operational.

He said that a drop in usage was to be expected, but not to the extent that it has.

School and university is due to commence over the coming weeks, and Mr Piccolo expressed concerns about how the service would cope with added demand.

“I had some parents this morning who were here just checking out the service and were concerned about how their children would to get to uni or school,” he said.

“The government needs to actually get some people out here and talk to the customers and improve the service.

Labor Party fights rail privatisation

SOUTH Australia’s Labor Party launched on Sunday an eleventh-hour bid to cancel the privatisation of the state’s rail network.

French-Australian transport company Keolis Downer is due to take over control of the network at the end of the month, however has been shrouded in controversy since it was awarded the contract in September.

New figures released to the opposition allegedly show Keolis Downer has failed to fill 149 key positions

These positions range from suburb train drivers to passenger service assistants, track inspectors and engineers.

It was also revealed the company had failed to receive accreditation from the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator.

Labor leader Peter Malinauskas alleged train users would suffer due to the operator’s shortfalls.

“It is now clear that the new private operator of Adelaide’s train network will not have staff in critical roles when it takes over operations on January 31,” he said

“Steven Marshall and Corey Wingard told us everybody would win from their privatisation plan – that is clearly not the case.

“Not only has Keolis Downer failed to fill key roles, they don’t even have accreditation from the national regulator.

“This privatisation is lurching from crisis to crisis and it is train commuters who will suffer.”

Transport Minister Corey Wingard last week played down any concerns, stating that the partnership with Keolis Downer would deliver “better and more frequent train services”.

Mr Wingard met with members of Rail, Tram and Bus Union and a representative from a breakaway group of local train drivers last week to discuss the transition.

He said it was made clear that the timeline will not be shifting and that the current offer on the table for drivers to transfer over to Keolis Downer will fail to change.

So far 83 drivers have accepted an offer of employment with Keolis Downer, and a further 88 remaining on Government payroll will be made available.

Mr Wingard said more than 1000 applications had been received for train driver positions with Keolis Downer.

“We’re all about getting people from A to B faster so they can spend more time with their families and doing what they love. Public transport should be a convenience,” he said.

“Keolis Downer has an exceptional track record of running successful public transport systems across Australia and around the world and I look forward to seeing our public transport patronage grow as a result.”

Meanwhile, Member for Light Tony Piccolo met with constituents at the Gawler Railway Station on Tuesday morning to ask if they were concerned about the upcoming privatisation.

“I would say about 95 per cent were worried about reduced safety, increased costs and reduced services,” he said.

“There is a very strong messaged to the government from the people who live in this area, they don’t want this service to be privatised.”

A petition was present for members of the public to sign which opposed the rail network’s privatisation.