Article: Reports into Queensland Rail funded by the Department of Transport ...

[Golliwog]

Courier Mail: Reports into Queensland Rail funded by the Department of Transport and Main Roads identify 30 faulty switches on Ipswich line and 100km of "high risk" Citytrain track

DELAYS to critical safety work on the Citytrain network have created a risk of derailments and service disruptions.

Two independent assessments undertaken last year at the request of Queensland Rail identified numerous issues including 30 faulty switches on the Ipswich line and 100km of "high risk" track throughout much of the network.

But although the Department of Transport and Main Roads funded the reports, the previous state government refused to pay for repairs, estimated to cost $80 million.

QR has now had to borrow $52 million to begin the "critical asset replacement program" with work not expected to finish until mid-2013.

Already the network has experienced several major disruptions this year and new Transport Minister Scott Emerson has ordered another safety audit.

In a letter to DTMR dated March 30, 2012, Queensland Rail's Network Business Group manager Tim Ripper flagged the possibility of closing tracks if the work was not undertaken.

"The purpose of the project is to address assets that have been identified to have degraded to a point where there is significant risk of failure on the network," he wrote.

A summary of the assessments obtained by The Courier-Mail noted the switches - which enable trains to move from one track to another - had degraded to "a high state of risk" and needed to be replaced.

"These turnouts (switches) present a high likelihood of impact on network operations and passenger safety should a failure and subsequent derailment occur," read the summary.

The assessments also found 100km of rail was at a "high risk of failure" in some of Brisbane's busiest corridors including Bowen Hills to Ferny Grove, Roma St to Corinda and Northgate to Caboolture.

Mr Emerson said QR was poorly managed under the former government. "The results of the current audit will ensure taxpayers receive value for money when it comes to rebuilding confidence in our train network," Mr Emerson said.

Queensland Rail chief network officer John Pistak said they undertook foot patrols several times a week as part of a rigorous safety program.

"If any of our teams raise concerns over the safety of a section of track, I would implement speed restrictions or close it to rail traffic and this would take precedence over our on-time running performance," Mr Pistak said.

Robert Dow from commuter advocacy group Back on Track said the findings of the assessments confirmed what he had long suspected.

"It does seem there's been a maintenance deficit. We always suspected there was a lack of funding," he said.

What makes me lol though is the graphic they have to go with it. It highlights in red the sections of track that are at risk. Turns out, the section of track between Park Rd and UQ Lakes and onto the Ipswich line is at risk....

I assume they meant Tennyson....

[HappyTrainGuy]

What I find amusing is the photo of a sticky break pad and the 100km of high risk lines. All they have done is listed every corridor haha.

[ozbob]

QR has now had to borrow $52 million to begin the "critical asset replacement program" with work not expected to finish until mid-2013.

Well done Queensland Rail on bypassing the previous government's gross ineptitude and moving forward with the necessary works.

[ozbob]

Minister for Transport and Main Roads
The Honourable Scott Emerson
24/05/2012

Labor's financial mess hit rail funding

The delay of crucial work to replace ageing points and tracks is yet another sign that Labor was unable to manage a critical piece of infrastructure.

Minister for Transport and Main Roads Scott Emerson said Labor had left public transport users with a network which lacked reliability, affordability and frequency.

"Queensland Rail was poorly managed, leading to major network disruptions and the worst on-time running performance in almost three years during the January to March 2012 period," Mr Emerson said.

"In 2011 the former Transport Minister and current Leader of the Opposition was told of the need to replace 30 sets of points and 100kms of transposed track.

"Labor was in such a mess that they were unable to afford to replace assets that had degraded to such a point that they presented a significant risk to the network.

"Queensland Rail is currently undertaking that replacement work and I'm assured that with additional inspections and track work the network can continue to operate safely."

The information on failing points and tracks, along with all Queensland Rail reports and studies, will be included in the independent audit which was announced last month.

"The audit will find out what went wrong, what circumstances led to the system reaching such an unreliable state and what needs to be done to stop similar failures occurring in the future," Mr Emerson said.

"The LNP is a passenger-focused government that is committed to growing patronage.

"We will also be tackling the worst public transport affordability ever by introducing free travel after nine journeys in a week, from 25 June.

"Also during the election campaign we outlined our plan to improve the frequency of services through a trial on the Ferny Grove line.

"In addition to this from June 18 more than 2000 additional bus services will be added to the northern suburbs of Brisbane."

The report into the performance of the South-East Queensland train network will be finalised by 30 June.

[ozbob]

Transposing rail has been a well established practice in railways world wide.  Rail on the outside of a curve is moved over to the inside.  A way of recycling.  As loads and trains increased it is losing favour, as it can cause wearing to wheels and so forth. Not particularly risky as such, but under some circumstances could reduce contact area with rail and cause some slippage.  Increasingly it seems rail operators are moving away from transposing rail.

A number of points have been replaced on the Ipswich line in recent times.  Not sure if there is that many left now to replace.

[colinw]

Ok, so some rails & points need replacing.  Fine.

But this is just an exercise in political point scoring, which the CM has swallowed hook line & sinker as part of their "Bash QR" agenda.  And the dumbos can't even get the map of the rail network right, or even the correct term for a set of points ("switch" indeed, what is this, Texas?)

Meanwhile, the serial failure to do anything about the NCL, and the disappearance without a trace of Phase 2 timetables goes without a single mention.

What passes for the print media in Brisbane is an equal partner in the "culture of mediocrity & failure" that pervades this 3rd rate joke of a state.

[Stillwater]

What this episode shows is the behind-the-scenes bureaucratic battle between DTMR and QR over funding for essential infrastructure.  There would appear to be no doubting the QR engineering assessment that:

assets have degraded to the point where there is significant risk of failure on the network

switches have degraded to "a high state of risk" and need replacing

the (degraded) switches present a high likelihood of impact on passenger safety should a failure and subsequent derailment occur

100km of rail is at a "high risk of failure".

Mr Emerson, the politician, has gone for the cheap shot -- it's all Labor's fault.

However, this is a matter that goes beyond politics.  The Minister has shown that he is completely aware of the issues surrounding deficient points and poor track.  That being the case, the current LNP Government is extremely vulnerable to any legal action brought against the minister and the government in the event of death or injury arising from this faulty infrastructure failing while a train is running over it.

Mr Emerson must realise that any derailment or major operational incident that occurs on his watch, now that he is fully informed of the situation, would require him to resign office under the high standards Mr Newman says he expects of his ministers.  Westminster conventions would require the minister to offer his resignation immediately such an even occurred.

After all, if Mr Newman can dismiss a minister for a few speeding fines (Mr Gibson), Mr Emerson would be facing not only political sanctions, such as dismissal from office, but possibly criminal sanctions as well.

A judge would take a dim view of a minister standing in the dock on a charge of criminal negligence causing death and/or injury and hearing the words 'I'm not guilty, your honour, it was all Labor's fault'.

Mr Emerson has a responsibility to act immediately to have the necessary repairs made and faulty points replaced and the government must ensure that the upcoming budget contains the necessary funding for work to proceed quickly.

The LNP must shake off its Opposition thinking and realise that it is in charge now.  Things that happen on its watch are the LNP's responsibility.  While the wear and tear occurred when Labor was in power, it is the LNP that is fully aware of the situation, through these safety reports, and it is compelled to take swift and comprehensive action.

[#Metro]

What this episode shows is the behind-the-scenes bureaucratic battle between DTMR and QR over funding for essential infrastructure.  There would appear to be no doubting the QR engineering assessment that:

This is confusing. Clear lines of accountability and responsibility and roles need to be established.

assets have degraded to the point where there is significant risk of failure on the network

switches have degraded to "a high state of risk" and need replacing

the (degraded) switches present a high likelihood of impact on passenger safety should a failure and subsequent derailment occur

100km of rail is at a "high risk of failure".

Reading this ^ is worrying.

It took a major accident for Toronto's TTC to get its act together ---> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Russell_Hill_subway_accident
Let's hope that some lessons are learned here. It would be political death if a serious accident were to occur on the QR system, and even worse if it happened
in the core section.

The Province and Metro commit to a "State of Good Repair" funding policy; repair to take precedence over new works (see Sheppard line); future capital funding based on the State of Good Repair. The jury indicated that underfunding since the mid-1980s has contributed to the deterioration of the system and had jeopardized the safety of the Toronto Transit Commission.

[ozbob]

I think there are some exaggerations here.

100 km track that could fail?  Why?  Transposed rail?   Any track can fail, transposing of rail has been done for a long long time.

Points could fail?  All slow speed, if they did fail this is what happens --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=181.msg433#msg433

None the less, there has been an increasing maintenance deficit, clearly confirmed by the fact that Queensland Rail had to borrow $52M, to address what they consider is essential maintenance.  Doesn't this strike anyone as rather odd?

[#Metro]

Yes, but when something goes wrong, it goes into the State Secret Bin ---> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=181.msg433#msg433

Queensland Rail report on Corinda derailment under wraps
Article from: MX

Julia Phipps

December 20, 2007 03:30pm

AUTHORITIES are refusing to release an incident report on a passenger train derailment at Corinda more than four months after the accident.

Queensland Rail has only released a brief statement about the investigation and Transport Minister John Mickel has refused to speak about it.

After inquiries from mX, Queensland Rail released limited details of the August 4 accident, which was blamed on poor communication.

Two carriages of an Ipswich-bound service came off the track at 8.20am, shortly after it left Corinda station.

Thirty passengers had to be evacuated, but no one was injured. After the accident, QR was criticised for not keeping passengers informed.

On Wednesday, the ministers office said it had not seen any incident report, but a spokesman for Mickel said today he had seen the report but would not release it.

QR issued a two-sentence statement on Monday explaining the incident, but refused to release the report.

A thorough investigation into the incident highlighted a need to improve the existing communication process used when trains travel through track worksites, the statement says.

As a result of the investigation and a detailed analysis of standard operating procedures, we have improved communication protocols for instances that require trains to be rerouted during track work.

The secrecy comes after Mickel issued a media release on Monday heavily criticising QR for not being upfront with commuters and demanding it provide better services for commuters.

[Golliwog]

Colinw, I agree about this article being a heck of a lot of political point scoring and the CM doing what it does best and having a bash at part of the government. Hopefully they pull their act together as a paper though. I mean, highlighting the busway as the Tennyson line. Really? And if you add up the lengths of track they've highlighted in red, you get 200km of track, not the 100km they mention. And I disagree that this shows the QR has been mismanaged. Poorly funded, yes. But mismanaged, no.

[HappyTrainGuy]

You get alot more than 200km when you take into account multiple running lines and sections of actual rail. THe Virgina-Caboolture section is made up of ~130km of actual lines or 260km of track (Not including track for the sidings at Sunshine/Petrie or these 'switches')

[ozbob]

Interesting old patent for a rail transposing machine - historical Jan 1969

RAIL-TRANSPOSING MACHINE
United States Patent 3635164
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3635164.html

... It has been known for many years that the lifetime of track rails can be considerably increased by reversing their positions after considerable wear. This is true, at least in part, because the rails tend to wear individually according to their particular placement. Generally on curves, the rails on the low side of the curve tend to flatten out due to the increased train weight, while the rails on the high side tend to narrow down due to the wearing action of contact with the wheel flanges. Similar effects can be observed on rails at other locations where the load, and hence the wear, on one rail differs from the load on the other rail. Transportation of the rails can thus considerably increase the useful life of the rails and is an economical and worthwhile expedient.

[ozbob]

4BC Drive host Gary Hardgrave  followed up with an interview on these matters this afternoon.

Put it into a proper perspective, explained what transposed rail was and the fact that it was rather surprising that Queensland Rail had to borrow $52 million ...

[SurfRail]

Labor's financial mess hit rail funding

Sooner or later they will realise the electorate will eventually switch right off when they lead with this on anything.  Give it until the budget.

[p858snake]

Yes, but when something goes wrong, it goes into the State Secret Bin ---> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=181.msg433#msg433

Queensland Rail report on Corinda derailment under wraps

I wonder if any organisation (eg: news station) has ever tried to FOIA for that.

[david]

QR has now had to borrow $52 million to begin the "critical asset replacement program" with work not expected to finish until mid-2013.

Well done Queensland Rail on bypassing the previous government's gross ineptitude and moving forward with the necessary works.

I suppose the question now is will the Minister cough up the $52 million that was borrowed?

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Trains still face rocky path

Trains still face rocky path
May 25, 2012 - 3:00AM

Trains are stilling halving their speed around Taringa station due to safety concerns.

Fear of rocks falling on train tracks at Taringa is still causing trains to halve their speed between Indooroopilly and Toowong.

Nervous drivers have been given instructions to slow from the regular 80km/h to 40km/h, after a rock fall onto the line almost 12 months ago.

However no long-term fix to the problem has ever been completed.

The first major restoration work to eliminate future rock falls will now take place at Taringa in a fortnight.

This follows confirmation yesterday of a report in The Courier-Mail that there are 30 faulty switches, including 14 on the Ipswich line and nine at Roma Street on Brisbane's CityTrain network.

Queensland Transport had to borrow $54 million for urgent repairs on the network after a departmental recommendation that the funds be made available was axed at a mid-year budget review.

Trains are also being forced to run slow for about 100 metres at Dinmore, closer to Ipswich, because of one of these faulty turnout switches.

In a letter to the Department of Transport and Main Roads on March 30, 2012, Queensland Rail business manager Tim Ripper said it was possible that some sections of rail were so poorly maintained there was "significant risk of failure on the network".

A spokesman for Transport Minister Scott Emerson confirmed these details last night and said the facts were slowly being revealed as investigations into the causes of major rail interruptions continued.

The report into the performance of the CityTrain network will be finished by June 30.

Meanwhile, rail lobby group Rail Back on Track said the train slowdowns were one of three signs the train network was under maintenance pressure.

Spokesman Robert Dow said six-car trains were now commonly being reduced to three cars and some of the trains were approaching 30 years old.

"Three-car trains is an example that they are having trouble turning out full trains," he said.

"The other problem I have noticed is that trains are running around with graffiti on them a lot longer than they used to."

Mr Dow said Rail Back on Track did not have any safety concerns, but was worried service was falling.

"You do have some speed restrictions and I think you have seen some indirect evidence of the loss of reliability in terms of the track faults," he said.

Mr Emerson yesterday criticised the record of Queensland Rail.

"Queensland Rail was poorly managed, leading to major network disruptions and the worst on-time running performance in almost three years during the January to March 2012 period," he said.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/trains-still-face-rocky-path-20120524-1z7qy.html

[ozbob]

The first major restoration work to eliminate future rock falls will now take place at Taringa in a fortnight.

Be good to see this speed restriction finally kicked into touch ...

[somebody]

The first major restoration work to eliminate future rock falls will now take place at Taringa in a fortnight.

Be good to see this speed restriction finally kicked into touch ...

How long has it been there?  Over a year, to my knowledge.

[ozbob]

The first major restoration work to eliminate future rock falls will now take place at Taringa in a fortnight.

Be good to see this speed restriction finally kicked into touch ...

How long has it been there?  Over a year, to my knowledge.

Yes,  I posted this last June, and had been there for while then ..

Inbound on EMU84 ex Goodna, on the mains, subs closed Indooroopilly, giant emu-bob underway.  Still have the speed restriction on approach to Taringa.

Passed UP grain on the UP sub, third freight train I seen this morning on the UP sub, good.  Also a 1720 UP at Goodna with flat, Lander car, flat  followed shortly after by the pipe train.  Busy morning on the Ippy ...

[petey3801]

Nervous drivers have been given instructions to slow from the regular 80km/h to 40km/h, after a rock fall onto the line almost 12 months ago.

Ahh, good to see the Courier Mail live up to their normal BS.

A little bit of homework would tell them:
1) Most drivers don't even know why the damn restriction is there!
2) Normal speed through the restricted section is 60km/h (restriction ends at the start of the 80km/h section)
3) The speed restriction is 25km/h, not 40!

How long has it been there?  Over a year, to my knowledge.

Around 18months or so now I believe. By memory, November 2010 it was implemented.


Dinmore is a pain... It's generally rectified during closedowns, which is was last closedown over the weekend... Restriction gone, then back again yesterday. At least it's 40km/h instead of the normal 25km/h this time (hey, this is probably where the CM screwed the pooch... The Dinmore restriction is currently 40 in an 80 zone...).

[O_128]

Ozbob are they serious about the 14 faulty switches on the Ippy line? Isn't this what the hundreds of line shutdowns are to rectify.

[ozbob]

Ozbob are they serious about the 14 faulty switches on the Ippy line? Isn't this what the hundreds of line shutdowns are to rectify.

Best I can tell most of the points have probably been replaced, it was an old report.

Still some issues at Dinmore, other than that not sure about any particular points issues.

[colinw]

What I want to know is when is QR going to fix the faulty track from Dutton Park to the UQ Lakes station on the Ipswich line. 

I know its faulty, because the Courier-Mail's map told me so.

[petey3801]

Ozbob are they serious about the 14 faulty switches on the Ippy line? Isn't this what the hundreds of line shutdowns are to rectify.

Best I can tell most of the points have probably been replaced, it was an old report.

Still some issues at Dinmore, other than that not sure about any particular points issues.

By what i've heard on the grape vine, all the turnouts at Ippy are being replaced with 40km/h points (some have already been done, but no alterations to speed boards as yet).

[Golliwog]

Ozbob are they serious about the 14 faulty switches on the Ippy line? Isn't this what the hundreds of line shutdowns are to rectify.

Best I can tell most of the points have probably been replaced, it was an old report.

Still some issues at Dinmore, other than that not sure about any particular points issues.

By what i've heard on the grape vine, all the turnouts at Ippy are being replaced with 40km/h points (some have already been done, but no alterations to speed boards as yet).

What speed were they originally, just out of interest?

[HappyTrainGuy]

25kph.

[ozbob]

From the Queensland Times 26 May 2012 page 8

Trains crawling along old track on borrowed funds