Discussion - peak loading patterns.

[ozbob]

It would be interesting to read comments on different points of view on peak loading patterns on various lines.

For example the Ferny Grove line which is about 16km long has a later peak, and of shorter duration than say the Ipswich or the Cleveland line.

I am not convinced that the timetable actually takes into account the various demographic factors and the loading patterns as it should.  I think it was one of the reasons the new Ferny Grove timetable was butchered, and the fact it is often paired with a line that has different peak patterns viz., Beenleigh.

The Caboolture line has different loading characteristics again. It is very heavy early peak loadings and this extends across most of the peak.  There are lot more passengers getting off and on for the run into the CBD than say the Ipswich line which tends to accumulate to a very heavy load by CBD.

For these reasons I think running inner region shuttles is a smart strategy.  Darra to Shorncliffe and return, every 15 minutes.  Long haul runs on the north and western line then essentially express from Northgate and Corinda respectively.

Just some ideas.  What's yours?

[stephenk]

I'm not too sure if the Ferny Grove Line has a late peak. People tend to get the trains in the morning based on what time they will get to work. Thus is makes sense that as the FG Line is a relatively short line, then on average people will board the trains a bit later than on other lines.

It appears to busiest on the trains that get into Central between 07:32 and 08:12, although some trains until the 08:50 arrival at Central can get busy.

Currently the most crowded train is the 07:17 ex Mitchelton which operates after a 23 minute gap for stations Alderley-Windsor. This is closely followed by the 07:06 ex Ferny Grove which operates after a 21 minute gap for stations Ferny Grove-Enoggera.

The train which appears to have the largest number of passengers boarding at Enoggera is at 07:50 on the 07:46 ex Mitchelton. This was the infamous train from the first day of the new timetable, but after QR quickly re-wrote the timetable, it is not too crowded (it now starts at Mitchelton).

Currently there are now no trains in the morning peak which are so full that people are unable to board at later stations such as Wilston and Windsor. On the old timetable there were 3, the first being an all stations after a large gap (07:05 ex Ferny Grove), one because it was a 3-car train (07:21 ex Mitchelton), and the latter because it as an all stations train between two gaps (for stations Alderley-Windsor) caused by expresses and large gaps on either side. (07:27 ex Enoggera).

After QR made the changes in the first few days after all the complaints, it could be said that from an overcrowding point of view the new timetable has improved things in the morning peak. However, I still think that the gap between the 06:45 and the 07:06 ex Ferny Grove (exp)/07:17 ex Mitchelton services is too long. This could be improved by adding a 06:56 ex Ferny Grove, making the 07:06 ex Ferny Grove all stations, and removing the 07:17 ex Mitchelton. The 08:07 ex Ferny Grove (exp) should stop again at Gaythorne and Enoggera, as expresses did on the old timetable. This would add some passengers to a train which seems to carry more air than people.

The Ferny Grove line timetable is very messy, caused by the mixture of expresses, and Mitchelton reversals. I suggested at the Meet The Managers event that the expresses should be eliminated entirely as the line is not long enough to warrent an express service (the evening expresses have a similar journey time as the all stations anyway!). Then run all stations trains approx every 10mins during the peaks. This would eliminate the service gaps which can be up to 24 mins to some stations during the peaks, and make the service much more attractive. I was told that removing the expresses may upset some people who travel to Ferny Grove (they might get home 1 minute later!).

Slightly OT - I found out at the Meet The Managers event that despite the journey times on the single track section between Keperra and Ferny Grove being 3-3.5mins, there is a 2 minute release on the starting signal at Ferny Grove (I can only assume this is due to the level crossing as other switches at single track sections on QR seem to change in less than 20secs?). This restricts the single track section to a train each way at approximately 10mins.