Article: More trains, now!

[ozbob]

From South West News click here!

25 June 2008 page 11

More trains, now!

SOUTHWEST, June 25: Passengers on badly over-crowded trains from Ipswich and Oxley are desperate for more peak hour rail services, the community action group Rail Back on Track says.

Spokesman Robert Dow said 50 additional three-car, peak time trains were needed to solve the problems.

Mr Dow said congestion on rail services was set to get worse when work began on the Hale Street link and Queensland Rail (QR) needed to act immediately.

"Services on the Ipswich line are stretched beyond capacity," he said.

Mr Dow said additional trains should leave Ipswich to pass through Oxley from 6am.

"Ramping up rail in a high frequency capacity, fed by integrated feeder buses, will go along way to relieving the westside's road congestion problems," he said.

The specifics of times and stations the additional services should start from was not something he wanted to get in to, Mr Dow said.

A spokeswoman for Minister for Transport John Mickel said QR timetable changes planned for September would "focus predominantly on the heavily patronised Ipswich line".

"Any changes to the timetable need to be conducted in close concert with TransLink and need to be completed in the context of a changes to the timetable," the spokeswoman said.

"The next edition of the timetable scheduled for September will only incorporate minor changes aimed at alleviating heavily patronage on isolated lines such as the Ipswich corridor."

[ozbob]

This was taken from another earlier article. We have now the exciting news of a further 58 three car sets in the last budget.
Thanks for the support South West News!

Caboolture and Ipswich are looking like getting a few more services, and hopefully Shorncliffe in September.

[brad C]

If the spin from the Ministerial 'spokesperson' is any indication of the September changes, then LOL.
What happened to all the input from the 'Meet the Managers' or was that also an exercise in spin. I gained the impression that there was genuine empathy from the interviewers, and yet the statement "Any changes to the timetable need to be conducted in close concert with TransLink and need to be completed in the context of a changes to the timetable," the spokeswoman said." seems to indicate the bureaucratic brick wall has not been demolished.
There is certainly a need for a reveiw of the Ipswich-Caboolture corridor and Shorncliffe services all of which were totally neglected in the March revision.
It also appears that 2 x SMU 260 units have entered revenue service this week so one can expect that by September there should at least be supplementation of the fleet to the extent of offering additional services.
Brad C

[stephenk]

There is certainly a need for a reveiw of the Ipswich-Caboolture corridor and Shorncliffe services all of which were totally neglected in the March revision.

The March timetable was mainly to un-enhance other services around the enhanced Gold Coast Line service. As the Ipswich/Caboolture/Shorncliffe Lines do not usually share tracks with the Gold Coast Line, then it wasn't in such need of rewriting at that time.

[Arnz]

There is certainly a need for a reveiw of the Ipswich-Caboolture corridor and Shorncliffe services all of which were totally neglected in the March revision.

The March timetable was mainly to un-enhance other services around the enhanced Gold Coast Line service. As the Ipswich/Caboolture/Shorncliffe Lines do not usually share tracks with the Gold Coast Line, then it wasn't in such need of rewriting at that time.

The Beenleigh Line, Gold Coast Line, Ferny Grove lines had duplication/triplications to their lines respectively, so it was no suprise that the March timetable changes focused on those lines, considering they are operationally paired together atm, and GC services share the South Coast track with the Beenleigh line.

Have to agree that Ipswich and Caboolture lines could do with a tiered service, perhaps when the North Coast Line upgrades are completed, perhaps pair up Rosewood and Nambour as a 1tph off-peak service (obviously stopping only at the Major Stations, eg Petrie, Northgate for Nambour and Corinda, Redbank for Rosewood etc) , obviously increasing to 2tph in peak times.

That way Ipswich and Caboolture commuters get a frequent express service into the City each hour (provided by Rosewood and Nambour trains), followed by an outer commuter service (all stops to Petrie/Darra then express into the city), then the suburban all-stops services starting halfway (eg Mango Hill/Petrie to Darra/Richlands).

[Mozz]

On the understanding that I might take this thread off topic somewhat, could I ask what why Corinda is stilll considered a significant stop on the Ipswich line. Oxley and Darra I would suggest have higher passenger numbers particularly given their catchment areas (forest lake, centenary suburbs etc).

I understand that Corinda has the loop off to Tennyson and it is quite a huge station in terms of infrastructure re lines, lifts, overbridge etc but in terms of trains straight up and down the Ipswlch line there are more significant stations in terms of utilisation by the commuting public I would suggest.

While I am on this line of thought - what is the future of gailes station. The new roadworks on Ipswich motorway have really driven the final nail in the coffin of this station - by removing any real connect to the east side (Camira/Gailes etc).

[mufreight]

Gailes will become more accessible with the completion of the road overpass over both the highway and the railway that is presently under construction, it would seem that parking may prove to be a problem as there is not room on the northern side of the lines for the number of car spaces that existed on the southern or highway side.

[Mozz]

Thanks for the reply, but it seems the station now has significantly less carparks, the same small number of houses/industry within walking distance and is quite close in terms of distance from both wacol and goodna stations. Maybe it's time to consider the future with respect to timetabling, why have most every train on the line stop at this station given the above information.