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About the project

The existing railcar depot facilities on North Terrace, Adelaide will be relocated to make way for the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. The relocation of the Adelaide Railcar Depot also provides the opportunity to establish improved and purpose-built railcar facilities to support the $2 billion investment in Adelaide’s public transport system.
Railcar maintenance, washing, stabling and refuelling facilities will be relocated from North Terrace in Adelaide to Dry Creek.  This site will become the major maintenance and re-fuelling facility for the existing TransAdelaide diesel rollingstock fleet.  The depot has been designed to enable its conversion to accommodate the electrification of the network and procurement of new electric rollingstock.  

The project will see the construction of:

> Over 11 kilometres of railway track within the depot with connections into the Gawler line and the capacity to stable over 70 railcars.
> Associated earthworks and drainage, roads, landscaping, fencing, lighting and security
> 3.5 km of perimeter fencing
> 12 buildings of  over 15,000 square metres total area, which provides:

• A new maintenance facility of over 8000 square metres, housing railcar workshops, pits and train lift machinery along with office administration facilities.
• Automated railcar wash, railcar interior cleaning platform, roof and bogie wash building.
• Refuelling and ‘A Service’ building, storage facilities and waste disposal.
• Operations building for TransAdelaide staff.

New Dry Creek Depot

The decision to establish the main depot on land near the Dry Creek train station was made after a thorough planning process. The 10 hectare site is bounded by the Adelaide to Gawler main line to the northwest, Churchill Road North and Railway Terrace to the south east and Stock Road to the north.  The main access point to the new depot will be via Dean Harvey Drive.

This site has been identified as the new depot after assessment of various factors including:

> impact on rail operations
> land use and site suitability
> minimising environmental and community impacts.
 

Concept plan of new Railcar Depot at Dry Creek

The relocated depot at Dry Creek will include:

> A new maintenance facility with:

• 3 connections to the Adelaide Gawler mainline
• Automated railcar wash facilities
• Under carriage & roof wash facility
• Internal cleaning platform
• Dust-free electronic maintenance room
• In-ground pits for under-carriage maintenance
• Hoists and other heavy plant and maintenance equipment
• Storage areas for parts and supplies
• Trade waste treatment and management system.

> Amenities for operational staff
> Re-fuelling facilities
> Mechanical waste management systems
> Recycling of water for re-use 
> Railway sidings (tracks) for storage of trains

Ecologically Sustainable Design

An important aspect of the relocation of the current Railcar Depot is the ecologically sustainable design of the new facility at Dry Creek. Design features include:

> use of the City of Salisbury’s recycled water program (aquifer storage and recovery of stormwater) to provide much of the site’s water requirements, including train washing activities.
> design according to the most up-to-date standards in trade waste management, fuel storage and energy use
> a native landscape scheme to be implemented at the site.

Dry Creek site August 2008

Artists impression of new railcar depot at Dry Creek