Article: No more trains till 2009

[ozbob]

From the Sunshine Coast Daily click here!

No more trains till 2009

12:00a.m. 26th December 2008

| By Mark Bode

Queensland Rail has been slammed over its decision to close the Petrie to North Gympie service from Boxing Day until New Year?s Day.

The service has been suspended so work can be completed on the 13.7km track duplication between Caboolture and Beerburrum.

The new line was originally to be closed on Boxing Day and reopened Wednesday but its launch has been delayed a extra day.

Sunshine Coast Commuters Association chairman Terry Cullen said the decision to close the service for the Christmas holiday period showed QR was clueless to the needs of the public.

?A passenger rail service over weekends and holiday periods is very important to Sunshine Coast residents,? he said.

?This closedown is also covering work days, so commuters will also be affected.?

Mr Cullen said QR had once again shown its contempt for the public by pushing ahead with the line closure without engaging the community.

?This is a poorly managed project operating in its own vacuum,? he said.

While work is being carried out, buses will run instead of trains to connect services.

Transport minister John Mickel defended the decision to carrying out the work now.

?This has been scheduled for a traditionally quiet time to ensure minimal impact on customers, and crews will work through the festive season to ensure the new track is ready for its first train service,? he said.

Mr Mickel said the Caboolture and Beerburrum track duplication was a major milestone for the $298 million project.

He said it was an important step towards improving rail services for the north-coast region.

Mr Mickel said the duplication was on track to be completed well ahead of the original target date of mid next year.

QR Passenger executive general manager Paul Scurrah said the complexity of the work required the line to be closed longer than the usual three-day commissioning period.

He said although the new tracks had been constructed, the tracks, overhead wiring and signalling needed to be connected into the QR rail network.

?The commissioning work is highly specialised and extremely time-sensitive,? Mr Scurrah said.

Comment:  The major commissioning has to happen at some time, and this is possibly the quietest time for the next month or so.
Yes, it is inconvenient but necessary.

[Arnz]

Have to agree there Bob.  There is substitute buses to take you to your destination, there shouldnt be a problem.  Not to mention it is the quietest time of the year with most commuters on Holidays and less students around considering the new year is around the corner.

Yes it is inconvienent, but at the same time necessary for all future rail services.

[mufreight]

Mr Cullen seems to be against anything that QR does having no idea whatsoever as to what is involved in bringing this new section of line into operation.
No doubt he will again decry and denigrate the improved services and shorter running times that will be possible as a direct result of this work being brought into service and complain even more when work on the next section between Beerburrum and Landsborough is carried out.
one could easily gain the impression that Mr Cullen is more interested in distributing destructive vitriol than constructive comment.
There is little point in condemning the manner in which something is done unless one has a constructive and practical alternative and I for one have yet to hear a single constructive or practical word from this man on any subject.
In any case Mr Cullen has got his facts wrong again train services are scheduled to resume on the 31st which is I believe is still in 2008.