Article: Rail deadlines are way off track

[Fares_Fair]

Article: Rail deadlines are way off track
Maroochy Journal, p11
Friday, November 25, 2011
by Sherine Conyers

http://paper.questnews.com.au/QST_MJL/mjl011.pdf

Fed Up: Weary commuters have had enough of the Sunshine Coast's second-rate rail service and infrastructure deadlines.

ANGRY commuters have
kicked off a campaign to ''fix the
bottleneck'' on the Sunshine Coast
railway line.

Palmwoods commuter Jeff
Addison said it was time to
fix the narrow gauge,
severely congested railway
track, which resulted in
44 per cent of daily services
between Nambour and Caboolture
being rail buses.
''The goal is to get the
Sunshine Coast rail duplication
happening much
sooner than the current 20
year delivery date of 2031,''
he said.
''As a Sunshine Coaster
you have a population of
over 330,000 behind you and
you travel on one of the
weakest links in the Queensland
Rail network.''
Mr Addison said commuters
felt like they had hit
a brick wall with the State
Government. They will
lobby all levels of government
to support the much needed
upgrades.
''There is a real fear that
with the 2018 Commonwealth
Games coming, the
Sunshine Coast will again be
left in the infrastructure
backwater for another six
years,'' he said.
''Why are they deliberately
ignoring the infrastructure
needed on the Sunshine
Coast?
''I'm sure there is going to
be another round of commuter
anger when more fare
hikes hit in January.''
The campaign launch
comes amid the release of
railway crime figures for the
Sunshine Coast line, which
commuters fear will worsen
if staff are taken away from
train stations.
Between Elimbah and Yandina,
76 offences were committed
in 2010, up from 67 in
2009.
The offences included assault,
good order offences,
property damage, theft, robbery,
unlawful use of motor
vehicles, stealing and entering
with intent to steal from
vehicles.
Nambour recorded the
highest number of offences
with 4 0 , followed by
Landsborough at 22.
QR has proposed a redeployment
of staff from
stations with low patronage
and low ticket sales as one
of a number of suggested
productivity initiatives relating
to current industrial
relations negotiations.
Rail Back on Track
spokesperson Robert Dow
said no staff at stations
would lead to a ''culture of
railway crime'' which would
end up costing the State Government
more money to reverse
the problem.
A Transport and Main
Roads spokesperson said the
Landsborough to Nambour
tail line was listed under the
annual 20 year Queensland
Infrastructure Plan.
''Our commitment is not
only to start construction on
the Landsborough to Nambour
upgrade by 2031, but
also the line between Beerwah
and Maroochydore.
''Ahead of this, we expect
to deliver the Beerburrum to
Landsborough rail duplication
by 2021.
''The new alignment does
not run through the existing
locations at Eudlo,
Palmwoods and Woombye
and these stations may become
redundant.''

[Stillwater]

Something has to give.  'Temporary' station platforms have been added to four stations south of Nambour and three north of Nambour.  Just how long must a temporary platform stay in place before it becomes permanent?

It is unlikely that the materials used to build these temporary platforms will be able to withstand normal wear and tear for the next 20 years.  Will another lot of temporary stations have to be built in four or five years time, when the current ones will have reached their use-by date?  And so we then replace them once again five or six years after that, before the track duplication is supposed to go ahead?

What faith can anyone put in current promises of Beerburrum-Nambour duplication and Beerwah-Maroochydore CAMCOS by 2031?  It seems just yesterday that the save government was promising heavy rail to Maroochydore by 2020.  It was a 'locked-in' guaranteed commitment.  The betting is the timeline will be pushed back after the election once the government does its sums and realises its additional financial outlays for the Commonwealth Games.

Another article about train line delays will appear in the Maroochy Journal and another government spin doctor will refer us to the 'new and improved' Transporting Queensland to the Future 2050 document (or whatever name the government wants to give its transport infrastructure plan).  And there the Sunny Coast major rail projects will sit as 'planned for completion in 2049-50.'

More temporary platforms to replace temporary platforms.  More 'dances of the trains', more track failures, more overhead wiring issues.

I suppose one good thing coming out of all of this is the extent to which Sunshine Coast rail commuters (many of whom ride a bus while the driver makes train noises .... chugga chugga, whoo-hoo) have developed strong abdominal and sphincter muscles while suppressing the body's natural responses to an active and healthy bladder.

[#Metro]

Something has to give.  'Temporary' station platforms have been added to four stations south of Nambour and three north of Nambour.  Just how long must a temporary platform stay in place before it becomes permanent?

It is unlikely that the materials used to build these temporary platforms will be able to withstand normal wear and tear for the next 20 years.  Will another lot of temporary stations have to be built in four or five years time, when the current ones will have reached their use-by date?  And so we then replace them once again five or six years after that, before the track duplication is supposed to go ahead?

What faith can anyone put in current promises of Beerburrum-Nambour duplication and Beerwah-Maroochydore CAMCOS by 2031?  It seems just yesterday that the save government was promising heavy rail to Maroochydore by 2020.  It was a 'locked-in' guaranteed commitment.  The betting is the timeline will be pushed back after the election once the government does its sums and realises its additional financial outlays for the Commonwealth Games.

Another article about train line delays will appear in the Maroochy Journal and another government spin doctor will refer us to the 'new and improved' Transporting Queensland to the Future 2050 document (or whatever name the government wants to give its transport infrastructure plan).  And there the Sunny Coast major rail projects will sit as 'planned for completion in 2049-50.'

More temporary platforms to replace temporary platforms.  More 'dances of the trains', more track failures, more overhead wiring issues.

I suppose one good thing coming out of all of this is the extent to which Sunshine Coast rail commuters (many of whom ride a bus while the driver makes train noises .... chugga chugga, whoo-hoo) have developed strong abdominal and sphincter muscles while suppressing the body's natural responses to an active and healthy bladder.

You can't catch a piece of paper. No matter HOW glossy it is.
I will believe it when I see it printed in the timetable.

[Set in train]

Tell you what, that Jeff Addison bloke does a good job 

[Mr X]

Another article about train line delays will appear in the Maroochy Journal and another government spin doctor will refer us to the 'new and improved' Teleporting Queensland to the Future document

Fixed   :conf

[Stillwater]

It is really laughable when you consider what a Labor state government has promised for the people of the Sunshine Coast, yet failed to deliver.  Here is an extract from a government media statement issued in 2007:

Mr Lucas said the State Government was delivering a range of significant transport projects and services on the Sunshine Coast, including $6.4 billion for the region from the South East Queensland Infrastructure Program and Plan (2007-26).

The projects include:-
• $1.66 billion on Sunshine Coast major road networks
• $1.2 billion for the CAMCOS rail project
• $1.2 billion on the North Coast rail line (Caboolture to Beerburrum to Landsborough, and Landsborough to Nambour)
• $856 million on Sunshine Coast Motorway works
• $160 million on the Caloundra to Maroochydore quality bus corridor and public transport stations
• $60 million on cycle networks
• $12 million on transport infrastructure investigations, including $6 million on the Nautilus Project, and
• $12 million on TransLink station upgrades.

"We're also spending $18.4 million this financial year on school transport services for Sunshine Coast students," Mr Lucas said.

In one respect, Mr Lucas was correct .... the state government was delivering a range of significant transport projects for the Sunshine Coast, but now it's not.

http://www.mysunshinecoast.com.au/articles/article-display/suntran-study-encourages-better-transport-habits-for-sunshine-coast-region,8282

It's the dis-honouring of the promises that takes your breath away.