The Government of South Australia announced it has taken control of the Adelaide’s train services, thereby concluding the contract with Keolis Downer. The return of train services to public hands, with trams to follow later this year, realises a major Government’s election commitment.
“This commitment is not a reflection of Keolis Downer’s capability as a service provider and we thank them for their cooperation throughout this process. However, the reality is, when you privatise a service, you pay for the private operator’s profit margin that’s built into the price for service. Taxpayer money should be re-invested to improve services,” the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Tom Koutsantonis, said.
The State Government announced in April 2024 that it had reached agreements with the private rail operators to bring train and tram services back into public hands in line with its pledge, which was made before the private contracts were ever signed. Under these agreements, the State Government will not pay any break fees.
As the government takes over Adelaide’s train services, “commuters will benefit from all revenue that will be re-invested into a safer and more reliable public transport system, rather than into company profits,” the Government of South Australia says.
“This is an historic day for South Australia. Bringing a privatised service back into public hands is a remarkable achievement, and one that will benefit South Australians each and every day,” Premier Peter Malinauskas said.
In 2020, Keolis Downer was awarded a EUR 1.3 billion contract to operate and maintain the capital’s commuter rail network and in February 2021, the private operator began Adelaide’s train services.
The rail network has a length of 131 km, 39 km of which are of electrified rail lines. 89 stations, four depots and six railway lines form South Australian capital’s network. It is operated by a fleet of 92 trains, 22 three-car trainsets operating the electrified lines, and 70 units make the diesel fleet. Starting 2021, 12 other electric trains have been added to the rolling stock fleet.
Share on:
