Queensland Parliament Estimates Hearings - 2017/2018

[ozbob]

I have received this correspondence from the Finance and Administration Committee.

==============

3rd August 2017

RE: Request for correction of Record of Proceedings (Hansard) 18th July 2017

Good afternoon Mr Dow,

I refer to my email below. The committee received and published a letter from the Auditor-General providing additional information to the committee with respect to your organisations' request for an audit of the new generation rolling stock trains. It has been published as a related document to the transcript.

Please refer to the Committee's website here.

Kind regards

Committee Secretary
Finance and Administration Committee 
______________________________________
QUEENSLAND PARLIAMENTARY SERVICE
Parliament House
Cnr George and Alice Streets Brisbane Qld 4000                             
Ph: 07 355 36637
mailto:fac@parliament.qld.gov.au

Sent to all outlets:

21st July 2017

Further Update: Request for correction of Record of Proceedings (Hansard) 18th July 2017

Good Afternoon,

I have been contacted by the Queensland Audit Office.  They have confirmed that we did request an audit for the NGR project (and other things).

They have clarified that the QAG at the time the question was asked in Estimates was not aware that we had in fact requested an audit.

A letter explaining the circumstances will be sent to note this for the record of proceedings, that is an audit had been requested, albeit denied.

However fortunately later in Estimates on the 19th there was this short exchange.

Page 41 ... https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/hansard/2017/2017_07_19_EstimatesIPC.pdf

Ms TRAD: I wish they had negotiated the commercial contract for the New Generation
Rollingstock with the disability community before they signed off on specifications— )

This off hand comment by Ms Trad actually confirms what we were principally after with our audit request in March.  Was the design that Queensland went with for the NGR trains actually DDA compliant or not?  Appears they were not.  A manufacturer will only build to the design specifications submitted in our opinion.

Best wishes,
Robert

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

Sent to all outlets:

20th July 2017

Update: Request for correction of Record of Proceedings (Hansard) 18th July 2017

Good Morning,

To update you all.  I was advised by the Speaker's Office to forward my concerns direct to the Finance and Administration Committee.

Which I have done on the 19th July 2017, and have received an acknowledgement of receipt.

For interest the following story has been published in the Queensland Times  --> Dow calls for Hansard change after estimates answer

I am no constitutional lawyer, however I understand that misleading Estimates is the same as misleading Parliament, therefore it is not unreasonable to request that the record of proceedings (Hansard) be corrected in our view.

The New Generation Rollingstock ( a.k.a Not Going Right) trains project is an abject disaster!

Best wishes,
Robert

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

[ Attached: https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=12854.msg195397#msg195397 ]

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

4th August 2017

A gain of 60 new drivers?

Good Morning,

Is this good news or just more spin?

Couriermail --> Next Generation Rollingstock, train drivers on track for Commonwealth Games
(article text below)

Is there really a gain of 60 new drivers, or is this just a statement to the effect that 60 of the present train crew will be qualified for New Generation Rollingstock - NGR (a.k.a. Not Going Right) trains?  If it is a real gain then this is good news. No reason a full service timetable cannot be rolled out by late January 2018 then is there?  We have had enough of the worst train frequency in all of Oceania! The first wave of cancellations associated with #railfail happened on 30th September 2016. Public has been suffering cancellations, delays and reduced service since then .. 308 days ago!

Quote from the article:

Ms Trad said major progress had been made on fixing the faults but issues remained.

"We are completely focused on making sure these trains can get into passenger service well before the Commonwealth Games," she said.

Too right faults remain.  The NGR trains are not DDA compliant.  This will take months yet to resolve in our opinion.

In a related matter.  Yesterday I received advice from the Finance and Administration Committee Queensland Parliament that the record has been corrected with respect to the fact the we did request an audit into the NGR project and other matters.

Quote from the FAC correspondence:

The committee received and published a letter from the Auditor-General providing additional information to the committee with respect to your organisations' request for an audit of the new generation rolling stock trains. It has been published as a related document to the transcript.

The QAG letter can be viewed here > http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/committees/FAC/2017/Estimates2017/Est-cor-21Jul2017.pdf

The NGR project botch demands a thorough investigation.  It is a scandal that a public transport advocacy group has to battle for the masses whilst our elected representatives do very little but obfuscate in the main.  Today is 531 days since NGR 701 was towed out to Wulkuraka by the way!

Best wishes,
Robert

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

Reference:

Couriermail --> Next Generation Rollingstock, train drivers on track for Commonwealth Games

   

ALMOST 60 new train drivers will be on the job before the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games next year.

    Transport Minister Jackie Trad said there would be enough train crews to operate New Generation Rollingstock trains in service during the Games.

    "We will have almost 60 new train drivers behind the wheel of the trains, making sure we have got enough drivers in order to meet the transport task of the Commonwealth Games," she said.

    Ms Trad said the Cabinet's Commonwealth Games subcommittee had been briefed on the progress of driver training.

    A shortage of drivers was the major factor in last year's rail fail which forced the cancellations of hundreds of services and caused the Christmas Day network meltdown.

    The New Generation Rollingstock trains have been plagued with problems, forcing the State Government to announce in February it was not accepting further delivery until the issues were resolved. It has previously said the new trains would be in service by the end of the year.

    Ms Trad said major progress had been made on fixing the faults but issues remained.

    "We are completely focused on making sure these trains can get into passenger service well before the Commonwealth Games," she said.

    The former Newman government ordered 75 of the new trains – built in India by Bombardier – at a cost of $4.4 billion, including maintenance.