28 May 2008: Planned Ipswich Line Closure weekend 14th - 15th June 2008

[ozbob]

Media Release 28 May 2008

SEQ:  Planned Ipswich Line Closure weekend 14th - 15th June 2008 causes community concern

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport users has backed calls by the Ipswich Mayor Cr Pisasale and Ipswich Turf Club general manager Brett Kitching to move the track closure on the Ipswich line on the weekend of 14th to 15th June to another weekend.  This closure will have a severe impact on the Ipswich Cup Race Meeting which is being held at Bundamba on the weekend of the proposed line closure.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

?There have been previous line closures on the Ipswich line for maintenance weekends which have impacted severely on a number of community events in the last couple of years.  People are becoming very sensitive to these impacts.?

?In May 2007 when the Ipswich Show was on, that weekend that was chosen to close the railway lines from Corinda to Rosewood.?

?The Oxley Village Street Fair in 2007 was also ruined in a similar fashion.  The weekend that the Fair was on the railway was closed for routine track maintenance; the chaos caused by buses disrupted the fair and kept many citizens away. As a result of the disruption it appears that the annual Oxley Village Street Fair has now been abandoned.?

?In May 2007, RAIL Back On Track suggested to the Minister for Transport that a community database could be set up where various groups could register their events and this would help to plan track closures that would have less of a negative impact on community events (1).?

?It appears that no progress has been made with that suggestion.?

?Last August, during the River Fire weekend there was a closure of the Ferny Grove line. This is possibly the busiest weekend for public transport in south-east Queensland and calls for the reversal of the closure of the line were not successful (2). As a result major disruption was experienced by citizens attempting to get to the River Fire Festival. In fact, many people missed much of the celebrations as a result.?

?I have noted in the past that planned track closures have been cancelled at the last minute due to inclement weather.  There is clearly some flexibility and calls to defer the closure on the Ipswich line are reasonable.?

?Calls from the Ipswich Community for a cancellation of the closure of the Ipswich railway line for the Ipswich Cup weekend should be supported!?

?A community event database should also be set up so that closures can be planned in a more informed manner.?

?We all appreciate the need for closures to allow track maintenance and upgrades, but surely it can be done in a more empathetic manner with regard to the community.?


References:

1.  http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=83.msg202#msg202

2.  http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=193.msg580#msg580

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Ipswich line has another closure clashing with another major community event. This time for the V8 races.

-->  http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=1152.0

Surely a community events database can be put in place?

Admin