Make Sunshine Coast trains pick-up or set-down services in metro areas?

[HappyTrainGuy]

Yeah. MBRL is needed if you want to pull it off though. Petrie-Northgate can not get that kind of patronage by itself to justify it.

[somebody]

Yeah. MBRL is needed if you want to pull it off though. Petrie-Northgate can not get that kind of patronage by itself to justify it.

I see where you are coming from.  In many other places in the world there could be a reduction in the frequency on the CAB line to compensate without the MBRL, but that would never happen here.

[ozbob]

I think there will be major improvements in interurban rail services to a lot of destinations in the years to come.

Don't agree with your pessimism at all RTT.  Typical Queensland mindset. 

[somebody]

- SW line, apart from a minor issue with spacing in rails, population is there and growing, but it would fall under the banner of CityTrain, not IMU even if it were to reach Beudesert. Another $1-2B issue that needs track capacity to make it viable. I would suggest that a DMU railcar connection with Beenleigh services would be viable and changing trains for similar elsewhere is not usual, including the Souther Highlands in NSW. However there will be a thousand and one reasons many will throw at this suggestion why this won't happen.

Yeah, that could happen but the DMU could not go further north than Moorooka, and probably not further than Salisbury.  Suggestions to run into Roma St are just stupid.  It cannot get back out!

[ozbob]

DMUs between Rosewood/Ipswich and Helidon/Gatton, with a coordinated bus to Toowoomba would work well.  Locals are pushing for a return of rail.  There are considerable trip generators now with the uni and gaol, plus the expansion in residential.  The roads are a nightmare.

Situation is analogous to the Stony Point line in Vic in some ways.  They manage to do it of course.  DMUs running into the sparks at Frankston.  They have used loco hauled passenger cars as well in the past.   

[Arnz]

- NCL, Clearly the bridesmaid compared to the GC line with all stopper shuttles connecting with all stopper suburbs, irrational timetable but there have been some minor improvements in recent years but alot more to come. yes one day this will be seperate to the SCL, but as the state is about $3B short of that project and still needs to resolve the issues to handle the extra trains in the city its for now just one line. A 2nd govt department won't see the SCL built sooner or duplication of the NCL to Nambour.

By minor improvements the "irrational timetable" went from inconsistent frequency to every 90 minutes in the off-peak/weekends.  The irrationality still remains on the weekend with the "3 hour" headways between express services on the weekends.

Weekday is a little better for frequency, but counter-peak trains were converted to shuttles to squeeze in a extra peak train in each direction, the former shuttle timeslots in the previous timetable were converted to expresses.  Out of the 16x inbound and 18x outbound services during the weekdays, there are really only 2x shuttle train services during the weekday and they operate in the counter-peak.

As for the weekends, Sure there is a train every 90 minutes, but every 2nd one is a shuttle (3hrs between expresses).

http://translink.com.au/resources/travel-information/network-information/timetables/120723-sunshine-coast-line.pdf

[somebody]

Generous to call the shuttles in the weekday counter peak.  Too kind even.

[somebody]

Do SA or WA have any of these sorts of restrictions?

[somebody]

Single/double track has nothing to do with stop restrictions.  Southern Highlands is duplicated all the way, as is South Coast to Unanderra except for a short section around Coalcliff IIRC.

[ozbob]

The Queensland mindset is not directed at you, it is something we have stated here many times.  It is the can't do attitude which characterises much of the transport planning and thinking in this state, particularly relative to modern jurisdictions.

[somebody]

Simon is concerned on how they will get back, my comment to this is they don't

Two trips per day per direction then.  Is it worth it?  None of the stations exist.

[colinw]

- SW line, apart from a minor issue with spacing in rails, population is there and growing, but it would fall under the banner of CityTrain, not IMU even if it were to reach Beudesert. Another $1-2B issue that needs track capacity to make it viable. I would suggest that a DMU railcar connection with Beenleigh services would be viable and changing trains for similar elsewhere is not usual, including the Souther Highlands in NSW. However there will be a thousand and one reasons many will throw at this suggestion why this won't happen.

There is no rail spacing issue, as the ARTC has dual gauged the track as part of the recent upgrade. The 3'6" just about makes it to Bromelton now. 3rd rail is in most of the way down there, although in true Australian fashion the project has been half finished then forgotten about.

I agree completely with ozbob about the "no can do" attitude that prevails in QLD planning, and seems to be pervasive even in forums.  We're not as bad as South Australia at it, but in recent years seem to be coming a close 2nd in the negativity stakes. 

I agree with rtt_rules about Gympie North services.  Ideally they would go around the northern end of the loop via Banks Pocket to old Gympie.  Needs about 4km of track upgrade & electrification. Longer term this service should be about 4 trains per day to/from the old Maryborough station, not that awful station out in the sticks at Maryborough West.

[Stillwater]

Plenty of room to operate regular passenger services from one end of the Gympie North station, while MVHR operates The Rattler from the other end, share the carpark and take advantage of regular route buses running past Gympie station to link in with passenger rail to/from Brisbane (or shuttle to Nambour, there to connect with SCL trains).  An innovative 'can do' government could even contract station manning and cleaning etc to MVHR staff to provide that organisation with an additional financial stream.

'But we have no money' the government will cry.  There's plenty of disused railway land where the old Gympie shunting yards were.  Part of its is used by MVHR, but the rest could be sold off.  Gympie Station is about 500m from the centre of town, so the land would make a good urban renewal project.

This state government can't see for the spray of blood coming off their cost-cutting slice and dice fiscal swinging blades to look at things like that.  Let's hope their bloodlust cools.

I gave blood at the Red Cross last week ..... and fully expected that the slice of fruit cake donors get with a cup of tea afterwards in the recovery area (staffed by volunteers, Mr Newman) would have disappeared from the menu - a victim of cost-cutting.

Treasury is running the show right now.  Everything is seen in terms of cost, not cost-benefit.

[somebody]

Treasury is running the show right now.  Everything is seen in terms of cost, not cost-benefit.

As they were before the election.

[somebody]

And many would disagree with your view of the InterCity services in Sydney.

Had a look at the stats from the ticketing data.  Patronage growth over the 10 years from 2001 to 2011 is:

Line	2011 patronage	2001 patronage	Growth
Southern Highlands	495451	457191	0.0840000000000001
Blue Mountains	2582848	2703666	-0.0449999999999999
Central Coast	6468539	7392570	-0.125
South Coast	3220602	3418863	-0.0579999999999999

Ouch!