RBoT 2011 Survey Summary for Caboolture/Sunshine Coast lines

[Fares_Fair]

RBoT 2011 Survey Summary for Caboolture/Sunshine Coast lines.

Comments comprised 16.56% (1 in 6) of all those received.

In chronological order from the survey (not importance):
I have added the explanations or notes in italics.

1. No reductions in staff at stations.

2. Long distance trains must have toilets.

3. Operational restrictions (unspecified) on the Sunshine Coast Line are a joke.

4. Rail frequency is appalling.

5. Offpeak services are truly third‐world.

6. Fares continually increasing is making PT more unaffordable.

7. New rail time table is a kick in the face to Nambour line commuters, slower and more packed services that leave earlier to arrive later is shameful.

8. Delays to services north of Beerburrum caused by single track. (dance of the trains etc.)

9. Conjunctive use of the single line for passenger and freight services doesn't occur in other areas of the network.

10. Construct a Light Rail Line from Sunshine Coast University to Sunshine Coast Airport.

11. I would like to see more express trains from and to the Sunshine Coast.

12. How can the ACCC allow the 15% increase for each & every year for 5 years?

13. Express trains are mostly all stops now.

14. The cost of Rail Transport in Queensland is far greater than anywhere else in Australia.

15. I stand for more than half of my journey to home and my journey is 2 hours in each direction.

16. The timetable for the Sunshine Coast line show how out of touch Translink is with the commuter ‐ longer periods of standing, more stops and greater overcrowding of the trains.

17. Buses are clean and comfortable however they really do need to have a GOOD look at their timetables/routes/frequency on the Bribie Island/Caboolture direct services.

18. Reduction in express services from the Brisbane CBD on the Caboolture line has impacted many passengers.

19. Please improve the Sunshine Coast line timetable, frequency, capacity, time, etc.

20. Withdrawal of express services to Northgate, opting for all stations services instead, has seen an increase in passengers, with overcrowding and many passengers standing, has decreased the level of passenger comfort, increased noise and increased travel time.

21. There is insufficient consideration for longer haul commuters especially to the Sunshine Coast.

22. Keep the ICE trains as they are by far the most comfortable and INCREASE their frequency on the Nambour and Gympie peak operations

23. Fares should be able to be bought weekly and monthly while keeping the intended 10+trips/week discount option.

24. I have to travel on the train all the way from Fortitude Valley to Beerwah every evening and I am sick of standing all the way to Petrie. (30 minutes)

25. Car pooling is becoming common becuase of poor timetabling and rising fares.

26. There is no seasonal tickets available and many do not want to buy a ticket or top up every week.

27. QR should offer free trips when trains run more than 10 minutes late.

28. The rail service to the Sunshine Coast is extremely poor, with too many stops.

29. There is no baggage room (no port racks) and the new trains are too uncomfortable for long distance trips which is what the Sunshine Coast commuters are travelling on.

30. With the reduction of express lines to Brisbane and the increasing frequency on which I have had to sit on the train floor corridors in business suits has resulted in my opting for alternative transport to Brisbane (I now drive my car).

31. Bring back express services for Sunshine Coast trains.

32. The Landsborough to Brisbane and return train service has deteriorated in the past 8 years since I have been using this service.

33. The trains often arrive late to either destination.

34. The trains are too full and now too slow.

35. We sit there not knowing what a delay is for. (no communication)

36. The impact of the longer trip on Sunshine commuters is significant as an already long trip has been made unnecessarily longer.

37. Longer trips creates added stress, life/work imbalance, tiredness and has lead to health issues at peak times of the year.

38. There should be more express trains from outlaying areas into the city. There are too many stops and it makes a long journey.

39. The trips are getting too expensive and it is fast becoming cheaper to drive and park in the city.

40. When exiting the trains the queue to touch off can be very long at both ends and requires a wait and patience to get through the one gate to leave the station.

41. Train services and facilities are shocking. Overcrowding, lack of toilets on long journeys. (Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast).

42. I find it extremely frustrating that I have to drive my car 15min to either Petrie or Bald Hills station just to catch the train each day. (poor bus services)

43. The ever increasing fares of the GoCard are a complete rip‐off.

44. Why does Brisbane have one of the most expensive public transport systems in Australia?

45. Go‐Card needs to offer quarterly, 6 monthly or 12‐monthly pricing options.

46. Newer trains now being used on the Sunshine Coast Line are very uncomfortable to travel on for the two hours it takes to get to and from the city.

47. The go card is not convenient to use for travel and you can only have a maximum amount of $250 loaded on to them, which means topping up every two weeks for those of us that live in the outer zones.

48. I recently topped my go card up at the machine at my local station and the top up was not added to my card ‐ I have been told by the Translink call centre that it will take 5 ‐ 10 days for them to investigate and credit my card with the amount and in the meantime I either have to find some more money to put on my card (not easy as it costs me more than $100 per week to travel).

49. Trains are rarely clean (chewing gum, food, etc.).  

50. "Express" trains are NOT express!! It's ridiculous to call them that.

51. The trips from the Sunshine Coast are longer now than they were 10 years ago!!

52. They have reduced services on the longer lines to benefit stations closer to the city.

53. Many of the services are overcrowded (C-M reported that 18 out of 46 were standing room on Caboolture line)

54. I have photographic evidence of people sitting on the floor of peak hour services on a daily basis.

55. It's a joke to introduce discounted fares after the 10th trip.

56. My car, for one, will be joining the other single occupant vehicles on the trudge to the city, clogging up our city roads and creating traffic chaos.

57. Sunshine Coast line is one of the weakest links in the Queensland Rail network, and this by the Governments own admission back in 2005.

58. It's such a disappointment that politicians from all parties today don't have any nation (or state) building "vision" when it comes to public transport.

59. The go card fare structures are too expensive.

60. We need a return to a daily fare to travel around Brisbane from the outer areas e.g. Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Ipswich ‐ not pay for every trip.

61. We need a simpler and affordable system for tourists and locals who are only occassional travellers.

62. A tourist 7 day or 14 day pass and a local one day card would be a great idea.  

63. The fare structure is abysmal when compared to the previous paper weeklies, monthlies and yearlies.

64. Off peak and Peak times need reviewing. There is no way that 2.00am can be considered morning peak. What about off peak incentives to kick in before say 6:30am and after 6:30pm.

65. After 7.30am, services between Morayfield and Dakabin are 20/30 mins apart whilst a 6‐12 min frequency still operates from Petrie with 25% occupancy rates on some services.

66. Please look at the Timetable/Service for the Nambour and Gympie North Timetables.

67. Reliable Toilets for every service on this line in order to allow efficent rest break for the elderly and other people alike.

68. Prefer the previous system of paper tickets for off peak ticket as it would be able to transfer many times without time limit as long as still in the off peak periods and counting from getting on
the transport, NOT including waiting time before transport comes.

69. Prefer the previous system of paper tickets for weekly & monthly tickets as it would be able to transfer many times & many days.

70. Don't need to worry about forgetting to touch on & off.

71. I find the trains especially at peak times are overcrowded and seeming to run slow.

72. I see a great number of people who do not swipe on or off with a Go card and they obviously do not have a paper ticket either.

73. The whole Go Card system is a joke as far as fare evasion goes.

74. I travel on the Caboolture line to Petrie. Since the change of timetable, it's ridiculous how you can get overfull trains and the next train will be virtually empty.

75. I drive to the station because there is no bus route to where I live.

76. On a seasonal note ‐ I was very surprised after a Christmas 'do' with colleagues I couldn't get home after 11.30pm.

77. I live at Bribie Island. The bus service to connect with the train at Caboolture is well run, but is not frequent enough.

78. Week‐end (bus) services stop running even earlier. Saturday night at least need to be extended.

79. In my 20 years of travel, journey time is longer, peak hour trains have more overcrowding, have more stops and even the seating on the new trains is less comfortable.

80. Peak hour trains to Caboolture and the Sunshine Coast realistically should be genuine "express" services stopping only at major stations & junctions ‐ seems strange that the "off peak" services
already do this isn't it ?

81. Consideration should be given for commuters to Landsborough & Nambour to be able to catch the 4.55pm northbound Tilt Train ‐ at least we'd fill the empty seats and provide additional revenue on that service.

82. Train takes too long to get to Caboolture in offpeak or counter peak direction!!!

83. Caboolture trains shouldn't stop at Albion or Wooloowin!  

84. Nambour to Roma St/Richlands service needs to consistently use the newer trains as we are on it for well over one hour.

85. There needs to be an extra service between the one that leaves Beerwah at 05:07 and 05:58. Thanks.

86. Its actually cheaper and easier to drive including fuel and onging costs rather than catch the train from the Sunshine Coast.

87. Poor and infrequent service.

88. Sunshine Coast has ordinary to poor public transport options.

89. More express trains are required for the Nambour Line ‐ not everyone who travels is a 'worker'.

90. Toilets required on all trains Cafe car would be fantastic inclusion for these long journeys.

91. New rail timetables have cut express services from Petrie to the City.

92. Rail travel time longer. (due to shortened express legs)

93. Would return to train travel in an instant if it was quicker and more cost effective.

94. Rail to Petrie out of the City is also substandard for those of us who finish after 5:30pm.

95. When I started commuting (2.4 years ago) I had a amonthly ticket which allowed unlimited travel and cost $75 per week. As from January the fare will be $116 per week an increase of over 50%.

96. Allowing free travel after 10 trips in not very helpful as I rarely go to Brisbane on the weekend.

97. I did a journey planner for a trip from Brisbane to Caloundra on a Sunday. The elapsed time for the trip was 4.5 hours! This makes a day trip to Caloundra via public transport completely unacceptable.

98. I travel from Narangba to Toowong Monday to Friday via the rail, then jump on a bus to the UQ. I find both services totally unreliable to get you from a to b on time without jumping off and on trains which can be late.

99. Four of us now who use the same system are now looking at car pooling to get into work on time.

100. We are being docked time for running late due to QR.

101. The airconditioning in the trains is far too cold.

102. Why do Sunshine Coast trains stop all stations Northgate to Bowen Hills in off peak when they are immediately followed by a Caboolture train doing the same thing?

103. Why can't the trains both off peak and peak run non‐stop Northgate to Bowen Hills?

104. Landsborough Station has insufficient seating and shade for passengers awaiting trains.

END

[Fares_Fair]

Major items identified by Caboolture/Sunshine Coast commuters who commented on the RBOT survey are as follows (in order of most mentions):

1. Express services need to return to reduce journey lengths, longer train times a disincentive:  22 comments  21.15%
2. Fares or Go card too expensive, and return of weekly, monthly, yearly tickets:                      21 comments  20.19%
3. Poor rail comfort, including air conditioning, carriage layout, bag racks, lack of seating etc.    19 comments  18.27%
4. Frequency or lack thereof of trains:                                                                                    10 comments   9.62%
5. Car pooling a better option:                                                                                                 6 comments   5.77%
6. Toilets on Sunshine Coast/Caboolture trains:                                                                         4 comments   3.85%
7. Single line track bottleneck:                                                                                                 3 comments   2.88%
8. Services perceived to have deteriorated over time:                                                                2 comments   1.92%
9. Infrequent or no bus connections:                                                                                        2 comments    1.92%
10. No communication:                                                                                                              1 comment    0.96%
11. Compensation for late train arrivals:                                                                                    1 comment    0.96%
12. Construct light rail from SC University to Airport:                                                                  1 comment    0.96%
13. Various other miscellaneous comments (uncategorised):                                                      12 comments

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Stillwater]

But a worthy work in progress.  Thanks FF.