Overheard two Adelaide Metro employees this week talking about a proposal to open a Woolworths on the Railway Station concourse.  I think this might be around where the drivers' staff room is at present, rather than where the old ticket counters used to be.

The guys were debating whether a Woolworths would do well there - one thought it would, the other thought not.  If it was a convenience store type operation, I think it would do a roaring trade in the busier times of day.   Watch out for the housos trying to push WW trolleys onto the train!!

Overheard two Adelaide Metro employees this week talking about a proposal to open a Woolworths on the Railway Station concourse.  I think this might be around where the drivers' staff room is at present, rather than where the old ticket counters used to be.

The guys were debating whether a Woolworths would do well there - one thought it would, the other thought not.  If it was a convenience store type operation, I think it would do a roaring trade in the busier times of day.   Watch out for the housos trying to push WW trolleys onto the train!!

This could work well, so long as it was something more along the lines of a Woolworths service station without the forecourt and with a well-tailored range using the smaller space well. You can see this at major stations in the UK, they have Tesco and Sainsbury outlets at the stations which are nothing like their huge full-sized stores.

I would agree with making better use of the station facility and bringing in more cash to support ticket revenue and taxpayer funding. It's a pretty sleepy place most of the time.

Who needs a keep sake for a trip anyway, all I want to do is go between two places with as least fuss as possible and my Metrocard lets me do just that. Best idea since sliced bread actually. Way better than using card tickets all the time and then having to get rid of the ticket after the time is up. As for ticket machines that only take coins a good way to get rid of the coins that seem to mount up in your pocket, wallet or purse though. But the machines could be converted to take notes though up to a certain point. You always get someone that wants to by a single trip ticket with a fifty or a hundred dollar bill.

I thought the new system would be worse than the old one it replaced, not so miles better in my opinion and much quicker boarding times as well if you have the card out ready to validate as you get on, you still get people that get to the validator and then have to do a search of themselves to find the card though. Meanwhile holding every one up.

Overheard two Adelaide Metro employees this week talking about a proposal to open a Woolworths on the Railway Station concourse.  I think this might be around where the drivers' staff room is at present, rather than where the old ticket counters used to be.

The guys were debating whether a Woolworths would do well there - one thought it would, the other thought not.  If it was a convenience store type operation, I think it would do a roaring trade in the busier times of day.   Watch out for the housos trying to push WW trolleys onto the train!!

WW would do very well there, especially if they made it some sort of upmarket version of their old Rundle Mall 'Variety' store pre the current supermarket incarnations which was sort of a Woolworths/Big W mash up.

Overheard two Adelaide Metro employees this week talking about a proposal to open a Woolworths on the Railway Station concourse.  I think this might be around where the drivers' staff room is at present, rather than where the old ticket counters used to be.

The guys were debating whether a Woolworths would do well there - one thought it would, the other thought not.  If it was a convenience store type operation, I think it would do a roaring trade in the busier times of day.   Watch out for the housos trying to push WW trolleys onto the train!!

When you've got your groceries home just leave your trolley in the park at the end of your street, why not everybody else does !

When you've got your groceries home just leave your trolley in the park at the end of your street, why not everybody else does !

They may do that over in your convict colony, but here in SA we would take the trolley inside and put it to some good use instead of littering in a park

And we wouldn't let a mini-Woolworths have trolleys either.

They may do that over in your convict colony, but here in SA we would take the trolley inside and put it to some good use instead of littering in a park

And we wouldn't let a mini-Woolworths have trolleys either.

Shopping trolleys make great BBQ grills in Salisbury.

They may do that over in your convict colony, but here in SA we would take the trolley inside and put it to some good use instead of littering in a park

And we wouldn't let a mini-Woolworths have trolleys either.

That made me laugh.  Indoor uses for shopping trolleys?  What like?  Portable TV stand so you can wheel it into your bedroom at night?

At least down at the park it becomes an outdoor art installation.

Pisstake: How much is the AdMet charge in fare for a fully laden shopping trolley onto a train?
I have not ridden the train in many years, just occasionally pass ARS... but it must happen that people take the train from outer suburbs to Broadmeadows (northern Adelaide suburbs-not to be confused with Broday Melbourne)... and then take their groceries home, but leave the trolley in the garage far away from its home, or as mentioned above, leave it in the park/street/creek...?
On another vein, how much will AdMet fares go up this time round?
$10 for a daytrip, $3.60 for a 2 hour, $2.20 for an interpeak?

Pisstake: How much is the AdMet charge in fare for a fully laden shopping trolley onto a train?

A trolley has four wheels which makes it the equivalent of two bikes, so it should be 2x concession tickets before 9am and during 3-6pm on weekdays, free at all other times.

10/10... Justapassenger!

A trolley has four wheels which makes it the equivalent of two bikes, so it should be 2x concession tickets before 9am and during 3-6pm on weekdays, free at all other times.

That's my theory on gophers! Except interpeak I'd still charge at least one ticket.

That's my theory on gophers! Except interpeak I'd still charge at least one ticket.

Just wondering how you would cope when you are old Aaron probably be the first to complain about being charged like this. I do have to admit though that some of the owners do go overboard with some of them. Was on a train the other day and this one barely made it under the doorway opening it had a top like a Fred Flintstone type of car on it, mirrors all over it and a large aerial on it as well, most probably has a CB on it as well, no it was not the flag holder either that was separate from this one.. A basic gopher is alright but these ones should pay their fare though.

Agree with you David Peters, we all get old and maybe you'll feel differently about having a scooter when you are eighty and your knees are shot.  I bought a scooter for my now-deceased grandmother years ago but my old man refused to let me give it to her because he claimed she wasn't mentally competent enough to operate it.  The reality was she was stuck at home most of the day and needed someone to drive her to the shops - the scooter would have given her some independence but I actually think my old man liked to keep her in her flat as they could keep an eye on her that way... or perhaps (as I often thought) he actually liked her being dependent on him.

That's my theory on gophers! Except interpeak I'd still charge at least one ticket.

Thanks for your kind and considerate comment Aaron.

I have a gopher and live independently at little cost to the community because of it. I am a constitutionally very healthy 84 year old with a tertiary educated enquiring mind that I think is reasonably sound still, and I haven't long relinquished an unpaid volunteer job of more than 30 years duration. With one gammy knee making walking a not very enjoyable experience (though I can and do walk distances of over a kilometre quite often), and arthritic shoulders stopping me from driving a car, I am restricted in my ability to carry heavy bags of groceries home. I'll let you into a little secret. We oldies don't feel a day older than 25 inside, though our bodies tell us otherwise. There are many, many active retirees like me. I am not unique.

If and when you reach my age, and haven't been afflicted by or succumbed to Alzheimer's disease or macular degeneration or diabetes or all three by then, you'll want the same right to continue your life with its wide range of interests as I now do.

I still go as far as Gawler to research and write articles for an internationally read magazine and web-site. I try to avoid peak period travel and sit on my gopher during the journey if seats are scarce. I've paid my share of taxes, including substantial amounts of my never very large salary to educate other peoples' kids like you. Please allow me to make the most of what relatively little time I have left. I'll be most grateful for your generosity.

After seeing this thread, this memory came back to me:

I can remember Adelaide Station having fruit & veg stalls on the Concourse just near the entrance to the ramp. I re-call my mum buying bananas there just before we caught a Brill Railcar set to Kapunda.

Maybe they should bring the fruit & veg stalls back - Just a thought.

After seeing this thread, this memory came back to me:

I can remember Adelaide Station having fruit & veg stalls on the Concourse just near the entrance to the ramp. I re-call my mum buying bananas there just before we caught a Brill Railcar set to Kapunda.

Maybe they should bring the fruit & veg stalls back - Just a thought.

Next you will want the Cafeteria back as well, Hmmmmmmm not a bad idea at all really, I used to love those square railway pasties as a kid. Yum!

On another vein, how much will AdMet fares go up this time round?
$10 for a daytrip, $3.60 for a 2 hour, $2.20 for an interpeak?

Where do you get these figures from? The increase to the Daytrip is the only one that makes any sense. Both the others would be reductions.

Where do you get these figures from? The increase to the Daytrip is the only one that makes any sense. Both the others would be reductions.

It was a guess made a few days before the budget was released. My guess is that he was thinking of the Metrocard rates for the other two.

The budget papers didn't reveal the full schedule of Metroticket and Metrocard prices, but they did include the standard full-price tickets.

A full-price single Metroticket (all times, two hours) will be changed from $4.90 to $5.00 (2.0% increase) and the full-price Metrocard rate from $3.19 to $3.29 (3.1% increase).

My guess is that all the other tickets in the schedule will receive similar proportional increases in the 2-3%, including the Daytrip from $9.70 to a nice round (and heavy, if you have to use coins in an on-board vending machine) $10 and the interpeak Metrocard rate from $1.75 to $1.80. All should be revealed on the Adelaide Metro website soon, with the new fares taking effect in three weeks.

Dragging this topic back to the layout of the station, the budget also included $3 million over two years for the installation of escalators at the North Terrace end of the concourse and improvements to access at the Torrens end to make for a usable links to the Riverbank precinct and new footbridge where you currently leave the station and find yourself in the Festival Centre's loading docks.

I wish they'd think twice about putting escalators in at Adelaide station, they've had nothing but trouble with the ones here in Victoria.  I think the State Government has a new directive that any station revamps should specifically avoid them if possible; the ones at North Melbourne station are only a few years old and yet they're constantly broken.

So has there been any announcement on Adelaide Station renovations?  Are they actually going to put a Woolies in there?  I would think the location would be a tad difficult - I can't imagine where they would have a loading dock for truck access if the Woolies goes where the old ticket offices are.  For my 2 cents I think it would actually be really popular with commuters, as long as they don't ruin the concourse with obstacles like they have done with Southern Cross station here in Melbourne.

I wish they'd think twice about putting escalators in at Adelaide station, they've had nothing but trouble with the ones here in Victoria.  I think the State Government has a new directive that any station revamps should specifically avoid them if possible; the ones at North Melbourne station are only a few years old and yet they're constantly broken.
I would hope that the escalators would be at least as reliable as those in shopping malls, and they would be a decided improvement on the steep stairs there at present. The old full width ones were not so steeply graded and had shallow risers so that I once was able to run up them three steps at a time.

So has there been any announcement on Adelaide Station renovations?  Are they actually going to put a Woolies in there?  I would think the location would be a tad difficult - I can't imagine where they would have a loading dock for truck access if the Woolies goes where the old ticket offices are.  For my 2 cents I think it would actually be really popular with commuters, as long as they don't ruin the concourse with obstacles like they have done with Southern Cross station here in Melbourne.
Spencer Street (aka 'Southern Cross' – I always thought that that station was in W.A.) might be impressive at first sight, but it has multiple faults. The attached bus station is a bleak and comfortless mess. Seats are metal (very comfortable on a chilly day – ??) and its a very long two level  hike to the suburban platforms which have very unsatisfactory signage at the top of their escalators, confusing even to someone who lived in Melbourne for many years as I did, as well as the above-mentioned obstacles.

We need to remember that Adelaide has a Central Bus Station and Interstate rail terminal which are both very, very much more comfortable and welcoming than are Melbourne's.

On a nostalgic note, the Adelaide Station concourse, even with its bitumen floor, was a very exciting place with its newspaper and fruit kiosks and milk bar, its flashing signs and internally manually operated destination board. Passengers really knew that they had arrived in a city when they disembarked into this 13 platform terminal with its luggage trolleys pulled by little motors (still used in the Christmas Pageant to pull floats). The cafeteria afforded by far the best and cheapest dining for young university students with its devilled sausages and railway pies baked nearby in the SAR bakery which were far superior to those of the VR. Coles and Johnny's cafeterias were close seconds. And don't get me started about a city crowded with trams and trolleybuses and a bustling Rundle street with its theatres and brilliant neon signage at night. Not all is progress.

I wish they'd think twice about putting escalators in at Adelaide station, they've had nothing but trouble with the ones here in Victoria.  ...

Even more relevantly, the escalators at the southern end of the underpass leading out of Adelaide Station spend most of the time with at least one of the four out of action. Ignoring experience from interstate is one thing, ignoring experience on home turf - inside the same facility at that is plain stupidity.

Having said that, the sets further up inside Station Arcade are rarely out of action. Maybe the fact that there are businesses depending on having convenient access instead of just a public-operated job scheme (aka Adelaide Metro) might have something to do with it.

Are they actually going to put a Woolies in there?  I would think the location would be a tad difficult - I can't imagine where they would have a loading dock for truck access if the Woolies goes where the old ticket offices are.

Stock would have to be moved in rollcages from the northern entrance, which would be comparable to the distances that nightfill workers run rollcages from the loading dock to shelves in conventional full-sized supermarkets.

Just for an exercise in comparison, the full length of the concourse is about 110 metres. Woolworths at Aberfoyle Park (a medium-sized Woolworths) is roughly 60x40 metres in size, while the large Foodland at Pasadena is about 50x90 metres. What these places don't have is a straight run across a station concourse, the nightfill crews have to weave around all sorts of obstacles.

Is the former ticket office location the only spot a new convenience store could go? What is behind the eastern side of the concourse north of where the ramp comes down? Wasn't there space that was rented by State Opera or something behind there at one point?

Next you will want the Cafeteria back as well, Hmmmmmmm not a bad idea at all really, I used to love those square railway pasties as a kid. Yum!

I can still hear the cups & saucers breaking in the kitchen!

Just wondering how you would cope when you are old Aaron probably be the first to complain about being charged like this. ..............

Dave, you're very close to it now, can't be too much longer - I Gotcha!

I had a boan to pick with you, I saw what you posted on Theresa's Facebook!

For the moderators: What ever Dave & I say about each other is just, "Tongue in cheek".

Delete this if you like - Now back to the topic.........

Dave, you're very close to it now, can't be too much longer - I Gotcha!

I had a boan to pick with you, I saw what you posted on Theresa's Facebook!

For the moderators: What ever Dave & I say about each other is just, "Tongue in cheek".

Delete this if you like - Now back to the topic.........

Hell now I am in the hot seat, Dad.