Article: Rail crush hour on wrong track

[ozbob]

From the Gold Coast Bulletin click here!

Rail crush hour on wrong track

Rail crush hour on wrong track

Leah Fineran and Thomas Chamberlin   |  December 17th, 2009

ALMOST three-quarters of Gold Coast commuter trains are overcrowded and the human crush is increasing, according to the latest transport figures.

Data obtained from transport authority TransLink show five of seven morning trains and half of all afternoon trains 'exceeded their design capacity' and many passengers were forced to stand for the 50-minute journey from the Gold Coast to Brisbane due to overcrowding.

The figures also show that more than 8000 passengers commute to and from Brisbane each weekday.

While the launch of the $365 million Varsity Lakes rail station on Monday and the addition of an extra morning and afternoon service is expected to ease some of the congestion, it will not be enough to solve the problem.

MP Alex Douglas said overcrowding would remain a problem until the Bligh Government took the situation seriously.

"We need more trains, duplicated tracks and faster repairs to keep more trains running more often," he said.

"Mass transport systems are the way of the future if we are to meet the population targets set by the State Government."

Queensland Rail boss Paul Scurrah said the new Varsity services would add 868 seats to the commuter run.

The new service departs Varsity Lakes at 6.02am, arriving at Brisbane Central station at 7.23am, while the new evening service departs Central station at 5.39 and arrives at Varsity Lakes at 7.03.

He said the new trains were the seventh new service added to the Gold Coast line in the past two years.

"There has been a massive investment made into the southeast corridor and we're looking at adding one new train a month or 35 new trains in the 64 train order," he said.

But commuter advocacy group Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said an extra four services were needed. "The Government is going to have to stand up and deliver especially as expectations increase following the sharp increase of ticket prices next year," he said.

From January 4, paper ticket prices will jump 40 per cent while GO Card prices will rise 20 per cent.

[#Metro]

If finance is a problem, perhaps they could "sell" the trains and do a lend-lease agreement like the BCC has done with their buses and ferries.
Rather than have to pay the full amount up front, they pay the interest, so that would be a fraction of the cost of a new train.
It means that we could have trains sooner rather than later... a bit like "rent to buy" schemes that home appliance rental stores have.

On the other hand, this does mean more debt in the long run.

[somebody]

If finance is a problem, perhaps they could "sell" the trains and do a lend-lease agreement like the BCC has done with their buses and ferries.
Rather than have to pay the full amount up front, they pay the interest, so that would be a fraction of the cost of a new train.
It means that we could have trains sooner rather than later... a bit like "rent to buy" schemes that home appliance rental stores have.

On the other hand, this does mean more debt in the long run.

The problem is that the state government can access debt more cheaply than the leasing company, one would expect.  So that doesn't sound smart to me.  The council could be different.

8000 daily commuters on the GC line?  Not in peak hour.  It's got a 3 in front of it.

[Jon Bryant]

The issue is that billions are being spent on infrastructure (aka roads) that will make the congestion situation worse and only a fraction on public and active transport that will decrease congestion. It is about which infrastructure to build.

[#Metro]

The problem is that the state government can access debt more cheaply than the leasing company, one would expect.  So that doesn't sound smart to me.  The council could be different.

Hmm. Good point. But if the QLD Gov can borrow money when there isn't enough taxpayer funds, then where/who does it get that money from?