Article: Concert transport hits sour note

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Concert transport hits sour note

Concert transport hits sour note
Article from: The Courier-Mail

By Noel Mengel

November 27, 2009 11:00pm

THOUSANDS of people had to walk for 45 minutes to see the Pearl Jam concert at QSAC Stadium on Wednesday after being stranded at a suburban railway station.

Transport to the venue was strained with a crowd of more than 35,000. About 50,000 will attend two sold-out AC/DC concerts at the same venue on February 25 and 27.

The first show is on a Thursday, with the huge crowd forced to commute to the venue through peak-hour traffic.

TransLink and venue operator Stadiums Queensland would review transport arrangements for the AC/DC concerts, a TransLink spokesman said yesterday.

Fans going to Pearl Jam were told at Roma St station there weren't enough shuttle buses and to continue to Banoon, the closest station to the venue in Brisbane's south.

Public transport to the event was free for people who had bought a ticket to the concert. The TransLink website said shuttle buses would be running to QSAC from 4.30pm from a number of stations, including Bowen Hills and Roma St.

Fan Matt Dyall said yesterday: "When we got to Roma St at five o'clock, we were told there weren't enough buses and to continue to Banoon and to get a bus from there.

"We were jam-packed in those carriages and when we got to Banoon there were at least another 1000 people waiting and from what we could see there was only one bus.

"The police said the best thing to do was to walk. It took 45 minutes more to get to the venue and by that time we had missed half of (support act) Ben Harper."

The Pearl Jam and AC/DC concerts moved to QSAC because of football commitments at Suncorp Stadium, which is well served with public transport.

Some AC/DC fans have expressed concern after complaints about transport and sound quality at the Pearl Jam concert.

[stephenk]

Another case to show that Translink can't organise a p%ss up in a brewery.

Not enough shuttle buses. Not enough trains home after the event - hourly frequency is not acceptable!

Although not Translink's fault, but the fault of 1970s politicians, the QSAC stadium is in a terrible location.