State Government can’t rule out privatised rail services under sweeping public transport review

Adelaide’s public transport system could be heading for the auction block as the State Government refuses to rule out privatising trains and trams after defending selling the bus network.

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The privatisation of Adelaide’s train and tram network is being considered as part of the State Government’s major overhaul of public transport services.

A Government spokesman told The Advertiser on Tuesday night that privatisation could not be ruled out after Transport Minister Stephan Knoll failed to answer a direct question on the matter in State Parliament.

The Opposition has warned such a move could push up fares and lead to service cuts.

Since winning office last year the Liberal State Government has undertaken a sweeping review of the state’s public transport network, including cutting some low patronage bus routes and releasing new tenders it says will improve services and patronage.

The Government spokesman refused to rule out privatising rail services in the pursuit of creating the best network.

“Ever since we came to government we’ve been looking at ideas from across the globe to improve our public transport network,” he said.

“We are still early on in the process to reform our public transport network and no decisions have been made.”

South Australian Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government Stephan Knoll. Picture: AAP Image/Sam Wundke

The Opposition asked Mr Knoll in State Parliament earlier on Tuesday if he would “rule out privatising one or more of Adelaide Metro’s train or tram services, or contracting out the operations of any of the tram or train network services”.

“What we have at the moment is a privatised bus network,” Mr Knoll said.

“It has been in private hands for a long time. Again, if this was not a good way to do business, then the former government had three iterations of contract to change that.”

The Liberals privatised the metropolitan bus network in 2000 when it was last in power.

Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas said “public transport should remain in the hands of the public”.

“We think it would be a retrograde step to hand over the operation of trains and trams to the private sector,” he said.

“A reduction of services, a reduction in the frequency of services, the capacity of services, the price of the service, all of these things could be (affected).”