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Railway Digest article on CityTrain

Started by somebody, November 22, 2009, 15:32:02 PM

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somebody

Some of you would likely be interested in a fairly damning article on pages 4 & 5 of the November Railway Digest titled "QR CityTrain - still basking in the glory of 1979".

It makes these points:
30 minute off peak frequency
2 man crew is an anachronism
Station guards shouldn't be necessary either
Wheelchair conversion reduced seats in IMUs
The excuse that 15 minute frequency would make it "too hard for freights" is not acceptable
High costs per pax-km
EDIT: Translink has added another layer of beauracracy

mufreight

#1
Unfortunately while the article has many valid points it fails to address reality.
Yes the 30 minute frequency on some lines discourages the use of passenger rail.
Ywo man crews are a necessicity until such time as platforms are raised to carriage floor level to enable the disabled to access trains without the assistance of the guard.
Current rollingstock is not configured so as to enable safe one man operation and with the current rate of network infrastructure failures would pose high safety risks.
Yes the manner of the wheelchair conversions was overkill.
Yes the excuse used to justify not reducing train frequency from 30 minute headways to 15 minute headways is unjustifiable bull when three freight movements and a light engine movement can and have been slotted in between passenger services operating on a 30 minute headway on the Ipswich line on a regular basis.
Translink, no further comment needed, a waste of effort and money to employ ineffectual incompetent otherwise unemployable bureaucrats or political mates would just about sum it up.

stephenk

Quote from: mufreight on November 22, 2009, 16:07:50 PM

Yes the 30 minute frequency on some lines discourages the use of passenger rail.

Understatement of the year!
Evening peak service to Enoggera* 2007 - 7tph
Evening peak service to Enoggera* 2010 - 4tph
* departures from Central between 16:30 and 17:30.

somebody

Quote from: mufreight on November 22, 2009, 16:07:50 PM
Current rollingstock is not configured so as to enable safe one man operation
I must say, that even I think this is not the end of the world.  What % of CityTrain's budget actually goes to crewing?  I'd think it's substantial, but far from the majority.

#Metro

#4
Quote"QR CityTrain - still basking in the glory of 1979
Welcome to Queensland: Banana Republic. We still think of 1982 Commonwealth Games and Expo 88, time to move on!
QuoteHigh costs per pax-km
Did they quote a figure and give a comparison?
Negative people... have a problem for every solution. Posts are commentary and are not necessarily endorsed by RAIL Back on Track or its members.

somebody

Quote from: tramtrain on November 22, 2009, 18:56:06 PM
Did they quote a figure and give a comparison?
No.  But I have read that the buses cost $250m p.a. to run while having 114m trips/year but the trains cost $500m/year for 60m trips/year.  But trains trips can be longer.  I'm also not sure if that's the subsidy or total cost.

somebody

Caught a train to Glass House Mountains yesterday.  Really think I can see what they are talking about on the point which I didn't mention: slow train running.  While the train got up to (I'd say) 90km/h at some points, it had to slow down for no apparent reason at several points.  We also had to wait for some time out of Bowen Hills because a freight train was resting in front of us, and no announcements were made as to why we were waiting.  I'm still not sure what was holding up the freighter either.

Having seeing loads on the Caboolture line, it seems pretty obvious that it would support a 15 minute frequency, I'd think the whole way.

Also I'd think that the handful of EMU units with only half their axles powered could have been given a traction upgrade so that the timetable wouldn't have to cater for them. 

somebody

One further comment on the title of the article: "QR still basking in the glory of 1979"

What glory?  They only really caught up to where a large portion of the rest of the world was half a century ago, and even saying that ignores the limitations of the narrow guage.  Melbourne & Sydney had electric trains since 1919 & 1926 (not completely sure which way round), and New York & London from near the turn of the century.

#Metro

Maybe it was a typo. Perhaps it should say 1879?
Negative people... have a problem for every solution. Posts are commentary and are not necessarily endorsed by RAIL Back on Track or its members.

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