Letters to QR

[ozbob]

4 July 2007

QR Passenger Services Group
GPO Box 1429
Brisbane QLD 4001
Australia

Dear Sir/Madam


RAIL ? Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) is a web based community organisation for the promotion of rail throughout Australia. We would like to propose the following timetable changes on the TransLink Citytrain services to Ipswich to help move commuters from cars to rail.

Ipswich highway is arguably now the most dangerous and congested road in Australia.  It seems almost daily, sometimes many times a day, traffic is brought to a standstill with accidents and traffic overload.  As road works are undertaken it is only going to get worse, much worse. The Ipswich highway runs virtually parallel to the railway line to Ipswich.  It is time that an active program was undertaken to encourage commuters to leave their cars behind and relax on the train.

In order to encourage commuters some timetable improvements are needed. In the morning there is too big a gap between the 5.41 am and 6.14 am services from Ipswich to Caboolture.  The 6.14 am service is often overloaded by the time it reaches Oxley and rarely runs on time as a result. An additional service leaving Ipswich at 5.59 am to Bowen Hills would be a major improvement.

Also in the afternoon there is presently a service from Central to Redbank that leaves Central at 4.12pm.  This train has a light passenger loading as it follows the 4.06pm Central to Ipswich.  The next service is a 4.21 pm Central to Ipswich, which is then followed by the 4.38 pm Central to Ipswich.  The 4.38 pm Central to Ipswich is experiencing chronic heavy passenger loadings; it would help if the 4.12 pm Central to Redbank service was re-timetabled to leave Central at 4.30 pm.  This would allow for more passengers to use the 4.38 pm service to Ipswich in reasonable comfort.?

Presently during the week days there is a fifteen minute frequency of service of trains from Corinda to the City.  It would be within the present crew and train service capacities that instead of terminating the trains at Corinda these could be terminated at Darra.  This is only two stations past Corinda. This would then give a fifteen minute frequency from both Oxley and Darra.  Both these stations have high passenger loadings, and by feeding buses into these stations it would enable commuters' fast and safe access to the City and beyond.  The unused platform at Darra needs to be reopened as well.

As the new trains are progressively introduced, another way of increasing capacity would be to increase the unit train length on some express services from 6 car to 9 car.  This would require some modification at some stations but would require no additional train staff. To complement these improvements education campaigns promoting the benefits at a personal and community level of using the rail service are needed.

We would also like to extend an invitation to QR to visit our website at http://backontrack.org .

Thank you for your consideration. 

Yours sincerely,

Administration
RAIL Back On Track

admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

No reply received to this letter, as of 3rd September 2007.

[SteelPan]

Ozbob,
Not only is it outright RUDE of QR not to have, by now, taken the time to at the very least, acknowledge your letter, it just shows how arrogant and out-of-touch they are.  Luckily though, they are just about out of time.  At some point before too long, with a new broom sweeping through the pre-historic staffed senior exec offices at QR, we will see QR Citytrain most likely go to form part of a beefed up Translink and a new day dawn for SE Qld/Brisbane public transport - IF we can just make sure QT are not the governing body, as they are as backward as QR in future thought and outlook and indeed QT was really the reason for so many of QR's problems in the end. QT is, as we all know, very ANTI rail and a left-over from 1950's style state wide transport based government bodies.  Interesting times ahead and I sense the pressures on SE Qld will force real change.

[ozbob]

A simple acknowledgement would have been the normal courteous business response for sure SteelPan.
We are realistic enough to know that all timetable suggestions cannot be implemented. 

I think this non-response stands as a testament to the dislocation and disconnect between the QR management, TransLink, Government and the Minister, and the poor suffering commuters. 

Yes indeed, time for changes.  QT are desperately trying to cover up the failure to implement accessible stations on the Darra to Springfield line for example (see --> http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?board=19.0). Fancy building a railway line without the appropriate railway stations.  It just goes from bad to worse ...

Attacks directed at proper suggestions to make the line accessible to commuters just demonstrate the reality of QTs failures and isolation from the community, the community that they are there to support. 

The mess that it is transport in SEQ generally is a great demonstration of the mediocrity of QT.

Best wishes
Ozbob

[SteelPan]

Well OzBob  we can start to say GOODBYE to the old guard at QR Citytrain.
YES, it's time to move on from elec-tri-fi-ca-tion actually putting an inner city rail bridge in, to allow Soutside services to form part of the wider network.  Just maybe the 21st century has arrived in SE Qld!  Let's hope so.
You may just get another station or 2 on the Springfield line yet!

[ozbob]

28 October 2007

QR Passenger Services Group
GPO Box 1429
Brisbane QLD 4001
Australia

Dear Sir/Madam


We would like to propose the following timetable changes on the TransLink Citytrain services to Ipswich to help improve services and ease congestion.

Trains from Ipswich / Rosewood in morning peak should run express from Darra to Roma St, with stops at Corinda and Toowong.  Shuttle services should run at 10 minute intervals all stations from Darra to Central and hence via Exhibition loop all stations back to Darra.  These shuttles could be 3 car units.  This would also provide a service to the Exhibition loop using the Exhibition station year round.  The addition of a station at Normanby would be very convenient and would also help relieve pressure on the inner city buses.

In the afternoon / evening peak just reverse this.

People coming in from stations past Darra would have a convenient quick congestion free trip to the CBD. This would help relieve Ipswich Highway congestion. Folks on the inner stations would have a frequent service, and not have the congestion issues as of now. 

This approach could be extended to the northern line with shuttle services running from Northgate, and the longer haul services express from Northgate to Bowen Hills.
This could be a model for other lines.


We would also like to extend an invitation to QR to visit our website at http://backontrack.org .

Thank you for your consideration. 

Yours sincerely,


Robert B Dow
Administration
RAIL Back On Track

admin@backontrack.org

[rockape]

you wanna know why QR haven't replied yet they are too busy laughing, firstly 9 car sets - you know how mny millions to upgrade even a few stations to meet that demand not to mention trying to upgrade central and roma st you have to be kidding.  And as for crewing the reason the guard is predominantly in the rear unit it to stop the train if it happens to come apart.  this is whay they always have to get permission to work from the front unit if the rear is unsuitable and then ht e units eventually come out of traffic, not to mention the logistical nightmare of trying to work with three units.  your other point of going to darra however is probably a good one, however you have to look at the turnaround time, what time the train gets back to the city , connection times how many other services it is going to put out running it that tad bit later, for instance you are abel to connect with the ferny grove service, you change the timetable then they have a half hour wait for the next service, you change that service then what other services are affected.  its not as simple as clicking your fingers and changing everything

[ozbob]

Hi Rockape,

Welcome.  QR suburban trains the guard is usually in the middle driver compartments of the 2 x 3 car sets albeit rear unit.

Re nine cars, might happen one day :-) No harm in looking at options for the longer term. 

A nine car express service could run now from Ipswich, Corinda, Platform 3 Roma St.
No one expects millions to be spent on whims but in the longer term capacity will have to be increased somehow as population pressures continue to build.  Someone has suggested (seriously) looking at double deckers too here before.  Obviously with present loading gauge bit of problem but there are some 3'6' gauge double deckers running in Japan I think.

No one expects instant changes, but there are some changes coming apparently.  Time will tell.

Cheers
Ozbob

[monkey]

As the new trains are progressively introduced, another way of increasing capacity would be to increase the unit train length on some express services from 6 car to 9 car.  This would require some modification at some stations but would require no additional train staff. To complement these improvements education campaigns promoting the benefits at a personal and community level of using the rail service are needed.

Just reading this old post...

Increasing from 6 car to 9 car could actually be made to physically work at most stations I think...

If a 9 car train was to pull up with 2 cars beyond the station, that'd leave the trailing car of the first 3 car set alongside the platform, and the two leading cars of the last 3 car set alongside the platform.

The downsides I see though:

(a) Would require passenger intelligence as passengers would have to walk from the cars alongside the platform to other cars (in the first and last 3 car set), and passengers de-training at intermediate stations should stay in the car they boarded to expedite the de-training.  Passengers in the first 2 cars, and last car should be those de-training at places like Central where there's typically a 5 minute layover.

(b) Emergency egress may be an issue (I'm not sure how QR handle that now, so it's hard to say).

(c) Are the signalling blocks at the stations long enough to do this?  Thinking of my local station, I expect the leading car or two would in fact have to stop beyond the departing signal (causing SPAD's).  That would require signal relocations.

The other obvious option is to use 9 car trains for express services and just lengthen the necessary platforms.

I wonder if the existing SMU's can work in a 9 car configuration?  ie, is it as simple as coupling up another 3 car set and plugging in the associated cabling?

[mufreight]

On the subject of timetabling,
yes the gap in the timetable could be readily fixed with a service departing Ipswich at 5.56am runing all stations to Corinda 6.29 then express to Indoorpilly 6.34, express to Toowoong 6.38 and express then to Roma Street arriving there at 6.43 and Central at 6.54.  Such a service would provide some relief there are also other gaps that could be resolved in a similar fashion with the alternative of a 49 minute trip instead of the current 54 minute trip.
On the subject of 9 car sets, it would be more cost efficient to run 6 car sets on shorter headways and spend the money that would otherwise be needed to extend platforms and revamp the signaling system to cater for 9 car sets on expanding the track capacity, four tracks Corinda to Darra, a third track as far as Booval and four tracks from there to Ipswich.
Yes 9 car sets can be run and I believe as could a 12 car set but beyond that there could be problems with the current demands on the control circuts.
Double deckers, yes if they raise the height of the overhead and vertical clerances overall, tunnels, bridges and all other over rail structures which would be rather expensive and would effectively slow up trains by needing longer station dwell times.