1.
Adelaide Metro
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Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. Adelaide Metro began in 2000 with the privatisation of existing government-operated bus, the Glenelg Tram, the only of Adelaides tramways to survive the 1950s, was also integrated into the current system. Despite this, almost 80 percent of Adelaides metropolitan buses still run on diesel instead of more environmentally friendly fuel like biodiesel. Adelaide Metro has faced criticism for punctuality issues, unreliable services, ageing buses, the complaints increased since the system switched to a private operator in October 2011. The Adelaide Metro received 7,562 feedback reports–more than 40 a day–in 2012, in order to counteract these problems and increase accountability, performance data will now be published weekly as opposed to quarterly by the Adelaide Metro. This will highlight how trains and buses are performing in terms of punctuality and service, the 2014 service figures indicate that the system performed slightly better in 2014 than it did the previous year. The Adelaide Metro is a brand introduced in April 2000 following the round of tenders privatisation of formerly government-operated bus services. Previously, the transport system in Adelaide has been known under several names. Adelaide removed all tramlines during the 1960s leaving only the Glenelg line and this tramline was extended in 2007 by the Department Of Transport, Energy & Infrastructure, and again to the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in 2010. In July 1994, the STA was abolished and government public transport services were transferred to TransAdelaide, in 1995-96, there was a partial tendering of the bus services. TransAdelaide retained three contract regions, Serco won two contract regions, and Hills Transit a joint venture between Australian Transit Enterprises and TransAdelaide, one, Services were run and marketed under each operators name, presenting a disjointed network to the public. The 2000 round of tenders saw the end of TransAdelaides direct operation of bus services in its own right, although it retained the train and tram services. The Adelaide Metro brand was applied across all operators, appearing to the public as a unified network, with common livery, timetable designs. The largest element of Adelaides public transport system is a fleet of diesel, the majority of services terminate in the Adelaide city centre, suburban railway stations or shopping centre interchanges. A major component of the Adelaide Metro bus service is the O-Bahn guided busway to Modbury carrying around 9 million passengers a year. From opening in 1986 until August 2011 it was the worlds longest busway, with a length of 12 kilometres and remains the worlds fastest busway with a maximum permitted speed of 100km/h. Serco had previously informed the Minister for Transport that it was not willing to continue to operate the bus services for a five years on the terms contained in the then existing Contract. Serco had made a submission to the Department of Transport & Urban Planning proposing to operate the bus services in the areas on new terms
2.
Commonwealth Engineering
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Commonwealth Engineering was an Australian engineering company that designed and built railway locomotives, rolling stock and trams. Commonwealth Engineering was founded in 1921 as Smith & Waddington, in the Sydney suburb of Camperdown building bodies for motorcars and it was reformed after the Depression as Waddingtons Body Works and moved to Granville. The Government of Australia took control of the company during World War II to produce materials in the Granville factory, the government purchased a controlling stake in the company in 1946 and changed the name to Commonwealth Engineering. In 1949 a factory was established in Rocklea, Queensland and this was followed in 1952 a plant in Bassendean, Western Australia and in 1954 by another in Dandenong, Victoria. In June 1957, the government sold its shares, in November 1982 Comeng was taken over by Australian National Industries. The Granville factory closed in 1989 and has been demolished, the site, which sat between the Great Western Highway and Main Western railway line west of Duck River, has been replaced with new developments that include high rise housing and light industry. The Dandenong plant was sold in 1990 to ABB Transportation and is now operated by Bombardier Transportation while the Bassendean facility was sold to A Goninan & Co
3.
Granville, New South Wales
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Granville is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Granville is located 22 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, South Granville is a separate suburb with the distinguishing feature of a light industrial area. Lisgar, Redfern, Heath and Mona Streets form the border between Granville and South Granville. The Duck River provides a boundary with Auburn, to the east, Granville was named in 1880, after the British Colonial Secretary, the Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville. The area evolved primarily after 1855, when it became the stop of the first railway line of New South Wales. The Sydney-Parramatta Line ran from Sydney terminus, just south from todays Central railway station to the Granville area which was known as Parramatta Junction. This led to the development of area, which attracted speculators. In the early days of European settlement, timber was harvested to fuel the engines in Sydney. By the 1860s, the supply of timber was exhausted, the remainder was used by scavengers who made a living by collecting firewood. Wattle bark found use with tanners and the bark from stringybark trees was used for roofing of huts, in 1862, a major estate, Drainville, became subject to a mortgagee sale and subdivided for villa homes, and small agricultures. At the end of the decade a Tweed Mill was established, in 1878, the locality received its own post office, which was then part of the stationmasters house. In 1880 Parramatta Junction was renamed to Granville, after the British Colonial Secretary, Granville Leveson-Gower, the place then had a population of 372, of which 176 were male and 196 female. In this era some German settlers, Joseph Klein and P W Merkell, tried to establish vineyards in the area, more farmers discovered the limitations of the local soils and fruit growers complained about the damage from flying foxes. Thus, the practical use for the grasslands, which replaced the original bushland, was for dairy cattle. The Granville Municipality was formed in 1885 and the council carried on the government of the area until 1948. On Anzac Day of 1974, Granville was partially severed by flooding of the Duck Creek stormwater channel due to rain that fell over the area. 135 millimetres of rain fell between 11.30 pm and 12.30 pm at Guildford, with the ensuing flood doing major damage through Granville, the nearby RSL underwent damage and many of the clubs old photographs and honour boards were destroyed. 83 people perished, making it the worst rail disaster in Australian history, Granville has a mixture of residential, commercial and industrial developments
4.
TransAdelaide
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It took over these responsibilities from the State Transport Authority. TransAdelaide operated local bus services in Adelaide until 22 April 2000, all metropolitan bus routes have since been transferred to private companies Light-City Buses, SouthLink and Torrens Transit. TransAdelaide continued to rail services under the Adelaide Metro brand. TransAdelaide was abolished on 31 August 2010 with its staff and functions were transferred to the newly created Office of the Rail Commissioner, TransAdelaide operated all suburban railway services in Adelaide on the Belair, Gawler Central, Grange, Noarlunga Centre, Outer Harbor and Tonsley lines. All were maintained by Bombardier Transportation at a depot adjacent to Adelaide station. TransAdelaide also operated the Adelaide-Glenelg tram line, TransAdelaide inherited some Redhen railcars from the State Transport Authority. The final units were retired in October 1996, the H class tram were the mainstay of the Glenelg Tram line for 75 years since the line was converted from railway to tramway operation and electrified in 1929. Formerly operated by TransAdelaide, all of the class have been replaced by new Bombardier Flexity Classic low-floor trams
5.
MAN Truck & Bus
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MAN Truck & Bus AG is the largest subsidiary of the MAN SE corporation, and one of the leading international providers of commercial vehicles. MAN Truck & Bus also produces diesel and natural-gas engines, the MAN acronym originally stood for Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG pronounced or ), formerly MAN AG. Trucks and buses of the product brand MAN and buses of the product brand Neoplan belong to the MAN Truck & Bus Group, on 1 January 2011, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge was renamed as MAN Truck & Bus to better reflect the companys products on the international market. From 1967 until 1977, MAN collaborated with Frances Saviem, selling their light to medium duty trucks with MAN badging in Germany, after the end of this, a deal was struck with Volkswagen which lasted until 1993. Production of a truck using the Volkswagen LT body started in 1979 and it was available with four engines and four wheelbases over its lifetime, there was also a 4X4 version called 8.150 FAE. FAE means forward control cab, all-wheel drive, single tyres so the F nomenclature means forward control cab and this series is usually referred to as the G90, from the most common model, but also as the G-series. In the United Kingdom it was marketed as the MAN MT series. The original lineup in the UK consisted of the 6.90 and the 8.90, several models of the MAN-VWCV and the VWCV LT ranges were marketed in Spain by Enasa as Pegaso Ekus, in a typical badge engineering operation. MAN-VWCVs were built in Volkswagens Hanover factory until other Volkswagen models took priority, MAN-VWCV Range 6.90,8.90,6.100,8.136,8.100,8.150,9.136,9.150 &10.136. F & FAE are sometimes on the end of some of these model numbers, the company is a part of the Shaanxi Automobile Group. Quezon City, Assembling of trucks and buses at MAN Truck and Bus Center assembly plant in Novaliches, HX LX / FX SX LE / L2000 ME / M2000 FE / F2000 CLA TGL, with hybrid trucks. TGM TGA TGX / TGS - variant of TGS model was used for Dakar Rally TGE - A Volkswagen Crafter With A MAN Badge
6.
Cummins
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Dongfeng Motor Corporation is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhan, China. Traditionally one of the Big Three Chinese automakers, Dongfeng is currently in the top four in terms of output along with Changan Motors, FAW Group, in addition to commercial and consumer vehicles, it also manufactures parts and cooperates with foreign companies. Counting six global automakers as partners, it has more Sino-foreign joint ventures than any other Chinese carmaker and these partnerships allow it to produce and sell a variety of foreign-brand products in China including those of Citroën, Honda, Kia, Nissan, Peugeot, and Renault. Other brand names associated with Dongfeng include Fengshen, Infiniti, Luxgen, heavy-duty commercial vehicles and buses are sold under the eponymous Dongfeng brand although c.2015 the Dual Sparrows logo started appearing on consumer products as well. The company was the second-largest Chinese vehicle maker in 2014 by production volume manufacturing over 3.5 million whole vehicles that year, commercial vehicle production that year was higher than all other domestic manufacturers at nearly 450,000. Dongfeng has two listed subsidiaries—Dongfeng Motor Group Co and Dongfeng Automobile Co Ltd. Some sources may refer to the company as Dong Feng, use an acronym like DFM, or use the name in conjunction with others when referring to a subsidiary, joint venture, or other associated enterprise. Known as Second Automobile Works until 1992, Dongfeng, or East Wind in Chinese, was founded in 1969. Its origins lie in a dictate of Chairman Mao Zedong, as part of his Third Front strategy, traditionally manufacturing commercial vehicles, by 2001 these made up about 73% of Dongfengs production. By 2012, that figure had reversed, and 73% of manufactures were passenger cars, however, the percentage of consumer offerings was likely lower as passenger car counts may include microvans, tiny commercial vehicles that are popular in China. Post-1985, further reforms took place that allowed Dongfeng greater autonomy, by the mid-1980s, its assets had tripled from those initially given to it by the state in 1981, and management was desirous of even greater production capacity. But in 1995, the company was experiencing financial difficulties as was the case with many Chinese automobile manufacturers at this time, the situation was still dire in 1998 precipitating a 1999 restructuring of the company. This state owned enterprise has come into conflict with authority at both the national and provincial levels, the Chinese partner in many Sino-foreign joint venture companies, Dongfeng initiated most of these cooperative efforts with foreign firms in the early 2000s. But its first was established in 1992 with French PSA Group, known as Dongfeng Citroën Automobile Company, it was the forerunner to the current Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile Limited. By 2003, Dongfeng had established joint ventures with Kia Motors, Honda, as of 2011, it had more Sino-foreign joint ventures than any other Chinese automaker, and the 2013 creation of a partnership with French Renault means it retains this title today. In 2009, it sold 1.9 million vehicles ranking second among domestic automakers, at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show, Dongfeng displayed an electric vehicle concept car, a physical representation of its vow to bring an electric car to market by 2015. In 2010, the company sold 2.72 million units and it reported 1.72 million sales of passenger vehicles that same year. 2011 production figures put the company in place, in terms of production volume, in its home market
7.
Track gauge
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In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network. There is a distinction between the gauge and actual gauge at some locality, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, the nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as four-foot gauge wagons, say and this nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. Track is defined in old Imperial units or in universally accepted metric units or SI units, Imperial units were established in United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. In addition, there are constraints, such as the load-carrying capacity of axles. Narrow gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. Broader gauge railways are generally expensive to build and require wider curves. There is no single perfect gauge, because different environments and economic considerations come into play, a narrow gauge is superior if ones main considerations are economy and tight curvature. For direct, unimpeded routes with high traffic, a broad gauge may be preferable, the Standard, Russian, and 46 gauges are designed to strike a reasonable balance between these factors. In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is standardization, once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one and this is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a number of gauges predominate worldwide
8.
Adelaide
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Adelaide is the capital city of the state of South Australia, and the fifth-most populous city of Australia. In June 2016, Adelaide had a resident population of 1,326,354 million. South Australia, with a total of 1, the demonym Adelaidean is used in reference to the city and its residents. Adelaide is north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, on the Adelaide Plains between the Gulf St Vincent and the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges which surround the city. Adelaide stretches 20 km from the coast to the foothills, and 94 to 104 km from Gawler at its northern extent to Sellicks Beach in the south. Named in honour of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen consort to King William IV, Colonel William Light, one of Adelaides founding fathers, designed the city and chose its location close to the River Torrens, in the area originally inhabited by the Kaurna people. Lights design set out Adelaide in a layout, interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares. Early Adelaide was shaped by prosperity and wealth—until the Second World War, it was Australias third-largest city and it has been noted for early examples of religious freedom, a commitment to political progressivism and civil liberties. It has been known as the City of Churches since the mid-19th century, as South Australias seat of government and commercial centre, Adelaide is the site of many governmental and financial institutions. Most of these are concentrated in the city centre along the boulevard of North Terrace, King William Street. Today, Adelaide is noted for its festivals and sporting events, its food and wine, its long beachfronts. It ranks highly in terms of liveability, being listed in the Top 10 of The Economist Intelligence Units Worlds Most Liveable Cities index in 2010,2011,2012 and 2015. It was also ranked the most liveable city in Australia by the Property Council of Australia in 2011,2012 and 2013, prior to its proclamation as a British settlement in 1836, the area around Adelaide was inhabited by the indigenous Kaurna Aboriginal nation. Kaurna culture and language was almost completely destroyed within a few decades of the European settlement of South Australia in 1836, however, extensive documentation by early missionaries and other researchers has enabled a modern revival of both language and culture. South Australia was officially proclaimed as a new British colony on 28 December 1836, the event is commemorated in South Australia as Proclamation Day. The site of the capital was surveyed and laid out by Colonel William Light. Adelaide was established as a colony of free immigrants, promising civil liberties and freedom from religious persecution. Wakefields idea was for the Government to survey and sell the land at a rate that would maintain land values high enough to be unaffordable for labourers and journeymen
9.
Railways in Adelaide
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The rail network in Adelaide, South Australia, consists of six lines and 81 stations, totalling 125.9 km. It is operated by Adelaide Metro, and is part of the city-wide Adelaide Metro public transport system, all lines around Adelaide were originally broad gauge 1,600 mm. Rail services around Adelaide are provided by a mixture of private & government-owned organisations, the Department Of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure owns and operates the suburban passenger rail network. This comprises five lines from Adelaide railway station on North Terrace in the CBD, the Department Of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure also owns and operates the Glenelg Tram. Adelaides Tram Network is the only fully Government owned and operated tram network in Australia, the ARTC lines bypass the city to the west and do not enter the CBD. The ARTC network extends from Adelaide towards Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, freight trains are operated by a number of private operators, who have access agreements with rail network owners such as ARTC. The largest of these is Pacific National, which handles the majority of traffic and has the largest locomotive fleet. Other logistics companies also operate trains to and from interstate destinations. Australian Railroad Group is a consortium that owns the remaining broad-gauge lines beyond the Adelaide suburban network. These are a handful of lines used mainly to move bulk grain and stone from the Barossa Valley, ARG also operates standard-gauge branches to Apamurra, Loxton and Pinnaroo and an isolated narrow-gauge line from Port Lincoln into Eyre Peninsula. These transport seasonal grain traffic to ports for export, gSR’s trains are the Indian Pacific to Sydney and Perth, The Ghan to Alice Springs and Darwin and The Overland to Melbourne. The frequencies range from one to four trains per week, there have been no intrastate regional passenger services in South Australia since 1990. There are several heritage railways in South Australia run by volunteers, the closest is SteamRanger at Mount Barker and Goolwa. A more distant line, well outside the Adelaide area, is the Pichi Richi Railway, in 1856, the first steam train ran between Adelaide and Port Adelaide, stopping at Bowden, Woodville and Alberton. Soon after, a 40 km line was built from the Town of Gawler to Adelaide to cater for the agricultural, the South Line, through the Adelaide Hills, opened to Aldgate, then Nairne in 1883, and extended to Bordertown in 1886. Most of the lines around Adelaide were built before 1900, despite the earlier geographic expansion, by 1920 the infrastructure and rolling stock of South Australias railways had become run down, inadequate and outdated. Many of the practices, such as train control and signalling, were backward by the standards of the time. However the 1920s saw substantial and expensive improvements in most facets of the SAR’s operations under the leadership of Railways Commissioner William A. Webb, Webb was an American who had substantial operational experience with US railroads, and served as Commissioner between 1922 and 1930
10.
Budd SPV-2000
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The Budd SPV-2000 is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit railcar built by the Budd Company between 1978 and 1981 for use on North American commuter railroads. The design was a successor to Budds popular Rail Diesel Car and it did not prove a success, Budd built 31 cars and they proved mechanically unreliable. Budd announced the design in 1976, at the time it contemplated multiple unit operation of up to six cars with a top speed of 120 miles per hour. Power would be provided by 360 horsepower General Motors diesel engines, popular Science depicted a tapered cab similar to the power car of the Advanced Passenger Train, the SPV-2000 would enter service with a more traditional blunt-end operators cab. Budd said that SPV stood for Special Purpose Vehicle, and emphasized the designs suitability for both intercity and commuter rail service, the body shell of the SPV-2000 was very similar to the Amfleet passenger coach, which in turn was based on the Metroliner electric multiple unit. The SPV-2000 featured operator cabs at both ends and 86 seats in 22 rows, there was an accessible toilet at one end and a small space to store luggage at the other. Metropolitan Transportation Authority cars could seat 109, Budd unveiled the first SPV-2000 in Philadelphia on February 9,1978, and then sent it on a demonstration tour around the United States. Budd eventually sold SPV-2000s to four customers, the Federal Railroad Administration, ONCF, the Connecticut Department of Transportation, in 1978 Los Angeles County Supervisor Baxter Ward proposed using SPV-2000s on the former Pacific Electric line to Long Beach, California, but nothing came of this proposal. The SPV-2000s were considered for a resumption of Cape Cod rail service via Braintree, Massachusetts and an SPV-2000 made a run in August 1979. Beyond the 30 cars it sold, Budd constructed the demonstrator and 14 incomplete shells, the Federal Railroad Administration purchased a single SPV-2000 in 1981 and converted it into a track geometry car which it designated T-10. The T-10 remained in service with the FRA until 2000 when it was replaced by newer equipment and it was then sold to Caltrain. Budd sold six SPV-2000s to ONCF for use on King Hassan IIs royal train, under King Mohammed VI, Hassan IIs successor, the train has fallen into disuse. The New Haven–Springfield Line cars were leased to Amtrak and painted in Amtraks Phase III livery, the cars proved mechanically unreliable and were often pulled by locomotives, leading to the derisive sobriquet Seldom Powered Vehicles. Amtrak withdrew them on January 12,1986 and placed conventional locomotive-hauled Amfleet trains on the route, the cars saw some use on the Metro-North Railroad, most were stored in New Haven. In 1994 the remaining 11 were de-powered and converted to coaches for use on Shore Line East commuter service and these were dubbed Constitution Liners and are no longer in regular service. The MTA purchased ten SPV-2000s for use on its Hudson Line between Croton–Harmon and Poughkeepsie, the SPV-2000s made their first runs on October 17,1981. This run was coordinated with the re-opening of the New Hamburg station, problems with the SPV-2000s developed quickly, and a 1982 New York magazine article characterized the cars as defective. The MTA SPV-2000s are all out of service, one is preserved at the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum in Willimantic, railroads of Cape Cod and the Islands
Media related to 2000 class railcars at Wikimedia Commons