12 Jan 2013: SEQ: Perth train system - lessons for Queensland

[ozbob]

Media release 12th January 2013

SEQ: Perth train system - lessons for Queensland

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 a recent report that has Perth trains powering ahead of Brisbane (1).

TransPerth trains are:

- Cheaper and better value than Brisbane

- Operate 15 minutes to all stations, on all lines, all day

- Operate the same type of new trains as Brisbane's, bought from the same factory

- Now carry 10 million more passengers than Brisbane, in the same urban format as Brisbane

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Perth has less people than Brisbane, and indeed its regional cities are not as developed as ours, like the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, and Ipswich."

"Years of corner-cutting in rail network design has left our system riddled with choke-points to the extent that it is not possible to run a basic 15 minute train service in both directions at the same time on many parts of the train network. Perth does this with ease."

"The lack of service isn't necessarily due to having fewer stations or less coverage in the network. Perth's train system is far smaller (70 stations, entire network); Brisbane (85 stations)* has more infrastructure than either Perth or the entire Toronto Transit Commission Subway system (69 stations) which carried 300 plus million passengers on trains. Brisbane also operates significantly more bus routes than Toronto does."

"Our network is complex, expensive and infrequent."

"The quality of our transport system is directly factored in by prospective businesses and prospective employees. When they look at our train system, when they think about moving to Queensland, what will they see? A high fare, low frequency, low span service. As competing cities, such as Auckland NZ radically upgrade their network, we are going to be at a comparative disadvantage."

"So what is the solution? The bus review is a great start, but fares must be reviewed also. A Frequent Network of BUZ buses and Train-Upgrade Zones (TUZ) where trains come every 15 minutes, all day, just like Perth does now is a must have. There are many inner parts of the train network where this is possible without significant investment or infrastructure.  For example trains presently terminating at Park Road which run from Ferny Grove, could be extended to Yeerongpilly, or even Corinda via Tennyson."

* QR Stations within BCC boundaries counted only.

References:

1. http://mams.rmit.edu.au/ov14prh13lps1.pdf

2. Streetcars have been included in the comparison for Toronto against the number of
Brisbane Transport Bus services

3. TTC Subway Ridership
http://www.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_Planning/Subway%20ridership%202011-2012.pdf

4. SEQ: TransLink versus TransPerth
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9472.0

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