Monday, January 1, 2018

QR Hits Rock Bottom

Can things get any worse for SE Queensland commuters? Commuters in Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne are enjoying summertime full peak services, and 15 minute off-peak services (or better) even on weekends - with standing off-peak observed loads even on Xmas day in Perth. In the meantime, Brisbane commuters are struggling to get to work and play with slashed peak services, half-hourly weekday off-peak, and hourly weekend services. The service (the worst of any rail system in Australia and New Zealand) is so appalling, that many regular commuters have taken to driving instead, with some trains almost deserted. Not since the days of diesel hauled train services in the 1970s, have Brisbanites had to endure such terrible train services. There have even been cases of passengers being stranded at Landsborough for hours on end due to failed bus connections. Critical hospital and emergency service workers have been arriving to work late. Hospitality workers have had to leave up to an hour earlier to get to work. Shoppers have abandoned Brisbane's CBD for suburban shopping centres. The Pacific Highway has been at a standstill for 4 consecutive days due to commuters shunning public transport. Queensland Rail (QR) keeps spouting the same spin "throughout the summer period we usually experience a drop in patronage, and we want to ensure we deliver a reliable service for our customers while also effectively managing our resources" which sounds like a broken record on repeat. QR's ongoing lack of drivers Rail Fail is a major embarrassment to Queensland, and is causing severe repetitional damage to Brisbane and SE Queensland. at home and abroad.

The New Generation Rollingstock (NGR) train project (managed by Department of Transport and Main Roads) is an absolute disaster, with the poorly designed "illegal" trains being forced into service by QR in a desperate effort to avoid Commonwealth Games catastrophe. The first two NGR trains have reportedly been moved into storage, with rumours that they may even be cannibalised for spare parts. Not enough NGR trains have even been ordered to maximise use of the existing train network. Given that the current ALP government has stated that they will not buy more foreign manufactured trains, then expect huge delays in the procurement and construction of new rollingstock whenever anyone in authority belatedly realises that there is a lack of trains again in the early 2020s. BrizCommuter is already predicting that there will be a lack of immediate service improvements when Cross River Rail opens due to lack of drivers and trains.

As predicted by BrizCommuter in late 2016, the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018) is looking like it will be a dogs breakfast regarding transport. Commonwealth Games workers and volunteers are in the process of receiving their rosters, and in some cases making the final decision as to whether they can actually work or not. Unfortunately, QR have not released the timetables or even expected service frequencies so that these workers can plan how they will get to work. In fact QR are still in "planning" stages, leaving commuters in the dark as to how their train services will be affected. At this point in time, just 4 months out from GC2018, the following is unknown:
  • Gold Coast Line peak and counter peak frequency - this was touted to be 8tph in both directions, which is looking highly unlikely due to lack of trains, drivers, and tracks on the Beenleigh/Gold Coast line corridor. 
  • Peak and off-peak service provision on other lines - everyone knows QR will have to axe services due to lack of drivers and trains, but which services, and by how much? Connecting services need to be frequency enough to make people use the Gold Coast Line to get to the games - this is looking doubtful.
  • Whole line closures - there have been rumours of closures of the Shorncliffe, Redcliffe Peninsula, and Springfield Lines during GC2018. QR is stating that no line closures have been "planned", but are avoiding the yes/no answer to the question. 
With workers and volunteers in the dark as to how to get to work for GC2018, BrizCommuter is expecting many dropouts between now, and possibly even during the games. This could impact the success of the GC2018 games, especially as some volunteers are critical to venues being open and athletes being in the right place at the right time. Spectators and workers may give up on using public transport, and just drive to the park and ride locations instead. This will add to congestion on the M1 Pacific Highway, which is likely to resemble a car park during GC2018. Transport for GC2018 is looking very troublesome and is likely to be a major embarrassment to Australia. 

BrizCommuter is also not expecting the return of the 333 axed train services due to Rail Fail during 2018, as QR's net driver increase is currently around the zero mark. Expect Fridays to still confusingly have a different timetable to the rest of the network. The Queensland Government, TransLink, and QR will likely continue to hide train patronage, loading, and Rail Fail recovery statistics to avoid the awful truth. Some axed services may never return! 

Is there any positive from Rail Fail? It would be hoped that if there is major embarrassment to Queensland and Australia during GC2018, that this may encourage a knee-jerk investment in public transport. However, as it seems that Queensland politicians have their head buried in a sea of spin and delusion (in particular, the LNP who wanted to dump Cross River Rail), expect SE Queensland's public transport to be a disaster for years to come. Things have reached rock bottom, and it will take a heavy crane to lift that rock! 

11 comments:

  1. well you did re elect a labor govt. Good luck commuters!!

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    1. Rail Fail was caused by a recruitment freeze and driver trainer sackings under the LNP Newman government!

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  2. Labor was re-elected for many reasons, but there was one certainty, the Lnp public transport policy was much worse. Our current problems stem all the way back to the Bligh Government, for those who don't know their history.

    I am of the opinion that the re-election of the Labor government means they will take that as an endorsement of we did a good enough job, so steady as she goes.

    As for the Comm Games, I think they probably have a fair idea of the timetables, but do not want to release them now because some line or lines are going to get it in the neck. Cue outrage.

    If a line has to go, then surely it should be Redcliffe for trains and return it to a massively increased bus service, like it was before the line was opened?

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  3. Given the reliance on park-ride in inner brisbane, surely this will create mayhem for all those who don't cycle/walk/transfer to a train station, and some of those may have to actually get their local bus (GASP!) instead! I'd imagine they'd be reducing shorncliffe and doomben, and possibly beenleigh lines, and doing their usual bus-passengers over to another line. I don't remember when they were doing this last, I think it was the shorncliffe line they were bussing pax to the Caboolture lines.
    It would be hilarous if the entire Sandgate park 'n ride all attempted to board the 'every 40 mins in peak' 310 to the city! what would the virginia depot do in that instance?

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  4. You might like to go back to your first post - 8 years ago. Interesting to reflect on how everything has unfolded since the comparatively "good-old-days".

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    1. There has been very little improvement in the 8 years of this blog. There are now fewer peak direction gaps of more than 15mins, apart from on the annoying different Friday timetable that has gaps of 24mins, 30mins, and even 60 minutes depending on which line you are on. Daytime off-peak frequencies have improved on some lines from 30mins to 15mins, but due to random services axed due to Rail Fail it is not a "turn up and go" service, but a "turn up and hope" service. Weekend and public holiday hourly services are a step back to the 1970s. Overall, Brisbane still has the worst train service in Oceania (even worse than Adelaide and Wellington).

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  5. As predicable as night follows days, instead of reducing fares to all day off peak fares for an off peak service, the Qld Labor Government decides to increase fares.

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  6. Sydney Trains are now in meltdown

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    1. That's a completely different situation. In Sydney trains have a shortage of drivers, and ageing fleet and years of under investment while Brisbane has..... owww snap.

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    2. Give me Sydney's train service any day over Brisbane. 7 day/week 15 minute off-peak service for starters!

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  7. Just found your blog after it took me 45 minutes to get from Albion to the CBD, yet again. I missed a work meeting as a result. QR are the worst. So completely useless and unreliable. Before building new lines all over the place and buying new trains they should just get the ones they have working properly first.

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