Railway Digest Magazine October 2024 Back Issue

Sydney metro City and Southwest opens
During the small hours of Monday 19 August, as a full moon was setting over Sydney, hundreds of people from all walks of life left their homes and trekked to stations along what is now, from this day forward, the Sydney Metro M1 line. Drawn by the promise of being among the first to catch a train into history, they made their way to meet either the 4:38am train from Tallawong or the 4:54am from Sydenham. Among them was our correspondent, Owen Roberts.

Transforming the transport sector in Australia
In Australia, the transport sector currently makes up 19% of Australia’s emissions. As we move towards a sustainable transport sector, the integration of innovation, policy, and technology, along with data-driven insights, emerges as the linchpin of progress. Through strategic partnerships and visionary technological integration, we have the potential to meet our sustainability targets, as Paul King explains.

Port Dock Railway Station reopens after 43 years
At precisely 06:39 early on Sunday morning 25 August, Adelaide Metro driver Alecia Robinson eased hybrid railcar set 3136/3135 out of Adelaide Central Railway Station Platform 5 and into history! This was the first timetabled train service to run from the Adelaide CBD to Port Dock in central Port Adelaide since the line was decommissioned in 1981, 43 years ago. John Kirk reports.

The China Southern Type SDA1 locomotive
In September 2010, CRRC won a 100-million-yuan order to supply SCT Logistics with six 3150 kW locomotives, the first export of a Chinese-built locomotive to Australia. Further orders followed from SCT, Qube and Bradken, and today 30 units are in use on Australia’s railways. Peter Clark looks at this interesting, and sometimes controversial, locomotive.