27 Jul 15: SEQ: Ekka public holiday timetable mess causes headaches ...

[ozbob]

Media release 27th July 2015

SEQ: Ekka public holiday timetable mess causes headaches for passengers

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers has highlighted the confusion that occurs every year with variable holiday dates for the Ekka holidays.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"During Ekka time, different parts of SEQ have different public holidays on different days, with some parts of the network running a peak hour timetable, whilst others have routes and services cancelled under a public holiday timetable (1, 2)."

"Having bits and pieces of the network only a few kilometres apart running different timetables on the Monday and the Wednesday is a complete headache for passengers. As a region of over 3 million people, thousands of passengers commute daily to workplaces outside of their home council area. For example, residents in Logan and Redlands, who have Monday the 10th of August as a public holiday may still be expected to be at work, school or university in inner Brisbane, where Monday is a normal business day."

"Logan City Bus Service will be having a modified Monday-Friday timetable on 10th August (Ekka Regional Holiday) while the Redlands, Transdev, will be having a Sunday/Public Holiday timetable on the same day except with the inclusion of the usual peak routes, which means anyone who doesn't live on a peak hour route or near a train station will be without public transport, and those who do will have to pay full peak hour fares for a Sunday/Public Holiday timetable."

"Attempts to raise these issues have been ignored, and TransLink appears to have washed their hands of the issue. Passengers are apparently expected to put up with a disconnected network on these days, and pay full peak fares for the privilege."

"It's also illogical to make transport more difficult to use on a public holiday where the very aim is for people to be out and about and going to the Ekka!"

"We call on the Transport Minister and Translink to have some common sense, and put an end to this issue, which happens every year."

References:

1. http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11565.msg159168#msg159168

2. http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-notices/49716/details

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

[ozbob]

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