25 Apr 2011: SEQ: Cross River Rail should be expedited

[ozbob]

Media release 25 April 2011

SEQ: Cross River Rail should be expedited

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 calls for the Cross River Rail project to be implemented as soon as possible.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Cross River Rail has a number of advantages besides the obvious ones of peak rail capacity.  It is obvious that there is difficulty in writing a timetable for the north-side, with the timetable starting 6th of June having trains to Caboolture and Nambour all stopping to Northgate, which is clearly undesirable.  Speeding these trains up by allowing the all stopping service to be provided by other trains such as for the Shorncliffe line would become easier with Cross River Rail."

"However the major advantages come on the south side.  Currently it is a 12 minute run from Park Rd to Central, a distance as the crow flies of little over 3km.  If Cross River Rail is even moderately well executed, it will improve on this enormously as well as avoiding the slow turn from Dutton Park.  The Albert Street station will also be a significant benefit in that the walking time for most city destinations will be significantly reduced as compared to the existing location of Central."

"It is reported (1) that current plans involve the Kuraby trains running via South Brisbane while Beenleigh and Gold Coast trains run via Cross River Rail.  This plan reduces the advantages of the Cross River Rail project.  An alternative would be that the Kuraby trains run via Cross River Rail with Corinda via South Brisbane running every 15 minutes to provide service on the bypassed stations and increase the network effect of the system.  Such a plan would also allow all trains through Kuraby to leave from the Albert St station rather than dividing the effective frequency."

"All of this ignores that the Cross River Rail project is required for capacity reasons, and delaying it will result in a calamitous congested network in peak later in a few more years.  This would be further exacerbated by the planned Kippa-Ring line."

"These advantages should be sufficient reason to reverse the decision to delay the Cross River Rail, and implement it as soon as possible, rather than as late as possible.  RAIL Back On Track believes Cross River Rail can be completed for less than the $8 billion originally forecast even with a quadruple track capability on the Roma St to Woolloongabba section. In any case, competition for Infrastructure Australia funding will now be more intense considering both Melbourne and Sydney have major rail projects in train.  Any further delays with moving ahead with Cross River Rail could mean missing the train at Albert Street Station and gridlock for the next 50 years."

Reference:

1. http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com/2010/11/cross-river-rail-service-forecast.html

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Cross River Rail discussion thread --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2034.0

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

7th May 2011

Priorities need a re-think

Greetings,

The constant calls for more road solutions are just ignoring the real need to get bulk freight off the roads and back on to rail.  The road trauma, the cost of the constant damage of road trucks is simply out of control.  Looming oil fuel price rises mean we must turn our attentions to rail for a transport future.

Infrastructure Australia needs to rethink its priorities.

The project with the most benefit and impact immediately in south-east Queensland is Cross River Rail.  This project must be brought forward.

Best wishes
Robert

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

========================

Media release 25 April 2011  re-released 7 May 2011

SEQ: Cross River Rail should be expedited

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 calls for the Cross River Rail project to be implemented as soon as possible.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Cross River Rail has a number of advantages besides the obvious ones of peak rail capacity.  It is obvious that there is difficulty in writing a timetable for the north-side, with the timetable starting 6th of June having trains to Caboolture and Nambour all stopping to Northgate, which is clearly undesirable.  Speeding these trains up by allowing the all stopping service to be provided by other trains such as for the Shorncliffe line would become easier with Cross River Rail."

"However the major advantages come on the south side.  Currently it is a 12 minute run from Park Rd to Central, a distance as the crow flies of little over 3km.  If Cross River Rail is even moderately well executed, it will improve on this enormously as well as avoiding the slow turn from Dutton Park.  The Albert Street station will also be a significant benefit in that the walking time for most city destinations will be significantly reduced as compared to the existing location of Central."

"It is reported (1) that current plans involve the Kuraby trains running via South Brisbane while Beenleigh and Gold Coast trains run via Cross River Rail.  This plan reduces the advantages of the Cross River Rail project.  An alternative would be that the Kuraby trains run via Cross River Rail with Corinda via South Brisbane running every 15 minutes to provide service on the bypassed stations and increase the network effect of the system.  Such a plan would also allow all trains through Kuraby to leave from the Albert St station rather than dividing the effective frequency."

"All of this ignores that the Cross River Rail project is required for capacity reasons, and delaying it will result in a calamitous congested network in peak later in a few more years.  This would be further exacerbated by the planned Kippa-Ring line."

"These advantages should be sufficient reason to reverse the decision to delay the Cross River Rail, and implement it as soon as possible, rather than as late as possible.  RAIL Back On Track believes Cross River Rail can be completed for less than the $8 billion originally forecast even with a quadruple track capability on the Roma St to Woolloongabba section. In any case, competition for Infrastructure Australia funding will now be more intense considering both Melbourne and Sydney have major rail projects in train.  Any further delays with moving ahead with Cross River Rail could mean missing the train at Albert Street Station and gridlock for the next 50 years."

Reference:

1. http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com/2010/11/cross-river-rail-service-forecast.html

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Media release 25 April 2011 re-released 13 July 2011

SEQ: Cross River Rail should be expedited

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 calls for the Cross River Rail project to be implemented as soon as possible.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Cross River Rail has a number of advantages besides the obvious ones of peak rail capacity.  It is obvious that there is difficulty in writing a timetable for the north-side, with the timetable starting 6th of June having trains to Caboolture and Nambour all stopping to Northgate, which is clearly undesirable.  Speeding these trains up by allowing the all stopping service to be provided by other trains such as for the Shorncliffe line would become easier with Cross River Rail."

"However the major advantages come on the south side.  Currently it is a 12 minute run from Park Rd to Central, a distance as the crow flies of little over 3km.  If Cross River Rail is even moderately well executed, it will improve on this enormously as well as avoiding the slow turn from Dutton Park.  The Albert Street station will also be a significant benefit in that the walking time for most city destinations will be significantly reduced as compared to the existing location of Central."

"It is reported (1) that current plans involve the Kuraby trains running via South Brisbane while Beenleigh and Gold Coast trains run via Cross River Rail.  This plan reduces the advantages of the Cross River Rail project.  An alternative would be that the Kuraby trains run via Cross River Rail with Corinda via South Brisbane running every 15 minutes to provide service on the bypassed stations and increase the network effect of the system.  Such a plan would also allow all trains through Kuraby to leave from the Albert St station rather than dividing the effective frequency."

"All of this ignores that the Cross River Rail project is required for capacity reasons, and delaying it will result in a calamitous congested network in peak later in a few more years.  This would be further exacerbated by the planned Kippa-Ring line."

"These advantages should be sufficient reason to reverse the decision to delay the Cross River Rail, and implement it as soon as possible, rather than as late as possible.  RAIL Back On Track believes Cross River Rail can be completed for less than the $8 billion originally forecast even with a quadruple track capability on the Roma St to Woolloongabba section. In any case, competition for Infrastructure Australia funding will now be more intense considering both Melbourne and Sydney have major rail projects in train.  Any further delays with moving ahead with Cross River Rail could mean missing the train at Albert Street Station and gridlock for the next 50 years."

Reference:

1. http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com/2010/11/cross-river-rail-service-forecast.html

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

30th November 2011

Cross River Rail, crunch time ...

Greetings,

Crunch time for Cross River Rail.  Let's not pretend any longer.  The bus jam in Brisbane is already out of control.  A failure to address the capacity constraints through the Cultural Centre Bus station and associated bus paths is now impacting severely.  A restricted use of the new Eastern Busway section is another sign of the failure.

There is an important lesson that needs to be learned in Queensland.  Buses are buses, trains are trains, buses are NOT trains, and trains are NOT buses.

A rail revolution is truly needed.  This is alluded to in Connecting South East Queensland 2031, but can we really wait till 2031?

Time is running out, fast ...

Best wishes
Robert

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

========================

Media release 25 April 2011 re-released 13 July 2011 re-released 30 November 2011

SEQ: Cross River Rail should be expedited

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 calls for the Cross River Rail project to be implemented as soon as possible.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Cross River Rail has a number of advantages besides the obvious ones of peak rail capacity.  It is obvious that there is difficulty in writing a timetable for the north-side, with the timetable starting 6th of June having trains to Caboolture and Nambour all stopping to Northgate, which is clearly undesirable.  Speeding these trains up by allowing the all stopping service to be provided by other trains such as for the Shorncliffe line would become easier with Cross River Rail."

"However the major advantages come on the south side.  Currently it is a 12 minute run from Park Rd to Central, a distance as the crow flies of little over 3km.  If Cross River Rail is even moderately well executed, it will improve on this enormously as well as avoiding the slow turn from Dutton Park.  The Albert Street station will also be a significant benefit in that the walking time for most city destinations will be significantly reduced as compared to the existing location of Central."

"It is reported (1) that current plans involve the Kuraby trains running via South Brisbane while Beenleigh and Gold Coast trains run via Cross River Rail.  This plan reduces the advantages of the Cross River Rail project.  An alternative would be that the Kuraby trains run via Cross River Rail with Corinda via South Brisbane running every 15 minutes to provide service on the bypassed stations and increase the network effect of the system.  Such a plan would also allow all trains through Kuraby to leave from the Albert St station rather than dividing the effective frequency."

"All of this ignores that the Cross River Rail project is required for capacity reasons, and delaying it will result in a calamitous congested network in peak later in a few more years.  This would be further exacerbated by the planned Kippa-Ring line."

"These advantages should be sufficient reason to reverse the decision to delay the Cross River Rail, and implement it as soon as possible, rather than as late as possible.  RAIL Back On Track believes Cross River Rail can be completed for less than the $8 billion originally forecast even with a quadruple track capability on the Roma St to Woolloongabba section. In any case, competition for Infrastructure Australia funding will now be more intense considering both Melbourne and Sydney have major rail projects in train.  Any further delays with moving ahead with Cross River Rail could mean missing the train at Albert Street Station and gridlock for the next 50 years."

Reference:

1. http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com/2010/11/cross-river-rail-service-forecast.html

Contact:

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

[Matt]

If Israel lobbs a few nukes into Irans uranium processing facility,and this scenario is becoming more likely, the only transport that will be still running here will be rail, as it runs on our own coal, oil supplies will most likely be cut off for the forseeable future.
Get on track.

[Fares_Fair]

If Israel lobbs a few nukes into Irans uranium processing facility,and this scenario is becoming more likely, the only transport that will be still running here will be rail, as it runs on our own coal, oil supplies will most likely be cut off for the forseeable future.
Get on track.

That would be unnecessary and indeed 'overkill' with no pun intended.
Israel has said it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons in the middle east.
Conversely it refuses to confirm or deny their existence.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Stillwater]

Consider this.

You are a senior public servant in the Department of Transport and Main Roads and you know that some time in March-June 2012, probably for a period of five weeks, you, your colleagues, and your department as a whole will be in what is known as the 'caretaker period' of government.

The caretaker period starts immediately the writs are issued for the state election.  The governor signs the writs, or decree, for the election to be held on a date recommended to her by the premier.  From that time until the day new ministers are sworn in, the public service becomes somewhat detached from the government of the day and takes no part in supporting the government's political campaign.  Departments continue to administer legislation and public servants continue the process of keeping government 'ticking over'; all but most essential advice is stopped between department and ministerial offices.

Here is an explanation of the caretaker convention:

http://www.premiers.qld.gov.au/publications/categories/policies-and-codes/handbooks/cabinet-handbook/caretaker-conventions/basic-conventions.aspx

An explanation of the period of the caretaker convention's application:

http://www.premiers.qld.gov.au/publications/categories/policies-and-codes/handbooks/cabinet-handbook/caretaker-conventions/caretaker-period.aspx

The caretaker convention requires that no new contract or no major commitment to new projects is made through the government administrative processes because a possible new government may be in power within weeks, and it appropriate that new contracts and major expenditure items be put to the incoming government, be that the existing government, or a new one.

Now, back to our public servant.

You have a boss and a government that wants your department to 'bring about' the $8 billion CRR project and you have a possible future boss that wants to put you to work on an as yet vague set of tasks that you read in the Press as involving extra platforms, longer platforms at two stations and a better signalling system, oh and possibly a metro that will require you to pick some of your brightest engineers and planners to form a team to work up options.

So, what do you do?

Of course, you will do what's requested of you by the minister and government.  The minister would want you to wrap up the business case for CRR and get it off to IA.  (In the caretaker period, this would not be able to happen.)  That way the minister can say, 'Queensland has done all it can to progress CRR.  My government has a plan and we are confident that IA will see the vision and marvel of our bold rail revolution.' Etc etc

But, it is Christmas, and bureaucracy (like everywhere else) has key staff on holidays and departments shut down for a week.  They don't get up to speed until mid-January.  And that is when incumbent governments facing an election have the public service prepare that last bit of advice; maybe even call up that team of engineers to do a rough cost of a metro system so you can beat the LNP over the head with the findings – that sort of thing.

But that is about it.  Public servants call the caretaker period the 'land of the long lunch' because they know they can rest a bit but will be super busy and working the overtime immediately upon election of a new government, whatever its political flavour.

However, with Christmas coming, followed by the departmental shutdown, a little burst of activity, then the caretaker period, that public servant will be looking to go slow; going through the motions, if you like – not pushing any big thing in case you have to unravel it beyond the election.

Unless the transport minister has done a deal with her federal counterpart to have the CRR business case considered by IA asap in February, there is a 50-50 chance it will never happen.  And consider our hapless little public servant if an LNP minister becomes his or her boss.  All that work will have to be scrapped and we start all over again.  Yes Minister, its a race against time.