SA’s chief public health officer says people should avoid using public transport after pictures emerge of overcrowding on Adelaide trains
South Australians are being urged to avoid using public transport where possible after pictures emerged this week showing hundreds of commuters packed into Adelaide trains. But there are concerns over mixed messages from authorities.
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South Australia’s chief public health officer says people should avoid using public transport where possible because it’s impossible to ensure social distancing.
“Look I think before we released some of the restrictions earlier this week, certainly in the last month, public transport has been very lightly used, there has not been many people on it,” Professor Nicola Spurrier told radio FIVEaa.
“Just catching public transport, there’s no problem with that but it’s just that you cannot social distance on it,” Dr Spurrier said.
“I think it would be much safer to avoid getting on any transport where you can’t do the social distancing,” she said.
“Now I know that in Adelaide there may not be alternatives for many people and one of the things is we don’t want a whole lot of cars on the road and then, having more issues from that perspective and then of course it’s expensive to park in the city, so we’re definitely working with our Department of Transport.”
The state’s deputy chief public health officer Michael Cusack cast further confusion over public transport when he said social distancing should remain on services, even amid the exemption that has been granted.
Dr Cusack said he had not seen any photos from Adelaide’s public transport network, despite them circulating widely on mainstream and social media over the past couple of days.
Dr Cusack said he had seen images from London’s public transport system.
“I haven’t seen those (SA) pictures, but speaking in general terms we would need to take a look at that with respect to the frequency of services and number of carriages to ensure there can be social distancing,” he told ABC radio.
“Particularly when you see the images on the London underground, on the tube, where there are very congested trains, those instances clearly highlight a significant risk.
“It would be preferable in the first instance to not have those contacts in the first place.
“All the things we have talked about in terms of social distancing still hold when you are on a train.
“I think we need to work through that and how we can have people further apart so that there are less close contacts.”
Images emerged on Wednesday showing of passengers standing shoulder-to-shoulder in train carriages, including on the Gawler line.
SA Health guidelines urge people to maintain a minimum social distance of 1.5m, while enclosed spaces should have no more than one person per 4sq m.
Cafes are only allowed to serve people outdoors and customers are limited to a maximum of ten at any one time.
Services on the Gawler, Outer Harbor and Belair lines have been reduced due to mechanical problems on some trains, making it busier on those that are running.
Angry commuters have raised concerns that the packed conditions could lead to a second wave of COVID-19, if there are further cases in South Australia.
However, Transport Minister Stephan Knoll told parliament on Wednesday hat the Government was handling the situation.
“This morning (Wednesday) we had officials from the chief public health officer’s office ride with departmental staff on some of the peak services, and it is very clear that the Gawler line is the line that is taking most of the pressure at the moment,” Mr Knoll said.
“As a result of that, and a briefing that I received about 15 minutes ago, the public health advice has not been for the Transport Department to do anything different from what it is doing.
“The observation from this morning is that … there is quite a density of passengers towards the front of the train, because when you get to the Adelaide Railway Station, if you get off at the front of the train, you have less to walk to get out of the train station, and with less density on the back of the train.”
Mr Knoll said as Thursday morning an extra two carriages would be put back on the Gawler line, “especially during those morning and afternoon peaks”.
“And we will do as we have consistently done over the course of this pandemic; that is, if the advice from the public health officials changes, then we will follow that advice,” he said.
A problem with the drivetrain in some of Adelaide Metro’s diesel fleet was discovered after a mechanical incident last Wednesday morning.
Only 28 of Adelaide Metro’s 70 diesel trains are currently operating, sparking a backlash from some passengers.
“I believe Adelaide Metro will single-handedly be responsible for the second wave of COVID-19 by its poor form of lessening services and carriage numbers,” commuter Dan Foster wrote on Twitter.
Another commuter, Sandy, was also unimpressed: “Could someone explain to me why @AdelaideMetroSA doesn’t have extra carriages on their ‘reduced services’? Carriages were packed and people were allowed to cram on the train. Not good enough,” she posted on Twitter.
The department is sourcing parts locally and from interstate to fix the carriages.
This work will be completed under warranty.
The Government hopes to have sufficient materials by Friday so it can start restoring the fleet to service.
Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas said now was “not the time for us to have trains chock-a-block”.
“What we’ve seen on both the Outer Harbor line and the Gawler line are very crowded trains at the exact time that we should be doing the opposite,” he said.
“People still need to be observing social distancing (but) they also need to be able to get to work, which is why (Premier) Steven Marshall should really reverse his cuts to public transport, put on ice his program of privatisation, so we can actually see public transport operating in a fashion that is consistent with the health requirements.”
