K. Coulter: Duplication won't solve the problem.

[Arnz]

I get that timetables are a problem, but the 'expert' view of CAMCOS without Duplication borders on 'foam' territory (waiting at stations for a freight or another train to pass on a single track doesn't cut it for a interurban/intercity service). Also I don't think this 'expert' rode on the QR network to see the capacity problems on the 4 tracks from Northgate to the City.  Although there is capacity for off-peak/weekend trains to run express Northgate to Bowen Hills.

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/timetable-the-key-to-coast-rail-services-duplicati/2537334/?ref=hs

A MAN with more than three decades' experience in international railways says duplication is not the answer, as the pressure for a State Government rail commitment swells.

The duplication of the North Coast rail line through to Nambour has been the basis of much debate on the Coast for years; with Nicklin independent MP Peter Wellington having last week backed the ALP to help deliver what he said was a priority project.

DupIlkley resident Ken Coulter, a former booking agent and guide for international railways, including BritRail, Eurail, ThaiRailways and Amtrak, said he believed line duplication would do little to solve the problem, with timetabling and fare costs, as well as a Maroochydore rail service, of far greater priority.

"Trains should go to Caboolture, then express to Eagle Junction to connect with the airport terminal, then express to Bowen Hills and on to Central," Mr Coulter said.

"That would speed up Sunshine Coast trains by 20 minutes.

IF YOU WANT RAIL DUPLICATION ON THE COAST #ONTRACKSCD ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER AND TELL US WHY

"The service is just appalling; it's the timetable that's a problem, the duplication isn't going to make all that much difference."

While the LNP had committed to a rail line duplication to Landsborough prior to the State Election on January 31, the future of the project was plunged into doubt, as the election results remained unclear.

On Thursday Mr Wellington gave his conditional support to Labor, with the rail line duplication one of the priorities laid out in letters between him and ALP leader Annastacia Palaszczuk.

"The (Labor) government is actually going to have an investigation of the benefits from the duplication of the railway line," Mr Wellington said. They're saying it'll be considered on its merits.

"This is an opportunity for the (Sunshine Coast) council and the community, together with myself and other re-elected Sunshine Coast members... to together put forward the reason why duplication railway line is worthy of being prioritised as a nation-building project."

Mr Coulter disagreed.

He said that he could not understand why the focus was not shifted to fixing the timetables to better cater to Coast commuters and ensuring rail travel to and from Brisbane was made more affordable.

Mr Coulter was adamant Coast residents would be better served by having express commuter trains in and out of the capital city, and believed the CAMCOS proposal should be followed through on, with a line branching off the North Coast line at Beerwah, servicing Caloundra through to Maroochydore.

"I can't work out why CAMCOS and a train to Maroochydore hasn't happened," he said.

"For where we are in proximity to a major city, the services are abysmal."

He said creating some price incentive to use the rail service instead of driving, as well as cutting the all-stops service from Northgate into the city, treating trains from the Coast as inter-urban, enabling commuters to ride on faster, express trains, would be more effective than any rail duplication.

Mr Coulter said claims the duplication would give the Coast a freight advantage were negligible, given the reduction in freight being transported by rail in the region at present.

[Fares_Fair]

He is .. a former booking agent and guide.

All of my information is derived from State and Federal Government studies, Queensland Rail reports and University papers, e.g. by Dr Phillip Laird.
It has come out of detailed research, not personal opinion.

To also claim that it can be fixed by just changing the timetables borders on the ridiculous, his solution would eliminate half the trains (rhetorical guesstimate) between the City and Caboolture, causing massive crowding issues and degradation in their services. Simply an unworkable and selfish option.

There is a reason that it is not viable to Maroochydore, public transport passenger rail is subsidised to the tune of 3:1.
For every $1 a commuter pays, the State chips in $3.
It would also feed back into a congested line, one of the most congested in the nation in a BTCE report dated 1994.

Freight is where the money is and that what makes rail duplication viable and an income earning option for the state/nation.
I cannot believe they printed it.

[BrizCommuter]

Oh dear, obviously Mr Coulter doesn't quite understand that express trains cannot overtake all stations trains without building extra tracks. He doesn't have a clue.

[#Metro]

The general public cannot see the mechanics of how things work. They just see the results. It is very black box for them. Hence things like this get published.

Same thing with bus reforms. They don't put two and two together to make four.

[Arnz]

Seems a few have ripped into him on the facebook article and also pointed out the freight issue.

[pandmaster]

If there was ample track capacity and timetabling and fares were the only things holding the service back, why would there be any serious proposal to duplicate the line?

This bloke is hardly an expert. Shame on the Daily for publishing this.