Article: Figures 'prove' trains on time

[Fares_Fair]

Article: Figures 'prove' trains on time
Maroochy Journal p12
Friday December 16, 2011
by Sherine Conyers

Please note the caption under the picture is an error.
No meeting has been requested with the Minister over this.

[somebody]

Delayed train every day, should be title of the article!

[ozbob]

Couriermail Quest --> Figures 'prove' trains on time

PS.  There is a blog on the article too ... go for it!   

[somebody]

Hmm, perhaps it's always been the case.

[ozbob]

Couriermail Quest --> Figures 'prove' trains on time

PS.  There is a blog on the article too ... go for it!   

Quite an active blog for a Couriermail Quest article ...

[Fares_Fair]

Couriermail Quest --> Figures 'prove' trains on time

PS.  There is a blog on the article too ... go for it!  

Quite an active blog for a Couriermail Quest article ...

41 comments thus far ... it seems to resonate with many.

[#Metro]

QR's response was an officious defense of its service, confirmed it would not be providing an extra morning nor afternoon train service on the Nambour line, insisted their trains (including standing in the luggage compartments which apparently was my choice) were safe and they had no obligation to provide seats for the full fare charged and unbelievably took the opportunity to push propaganda of how much it was spending on other lines for which it inferred I should be grateful that QR could spend such vast sums to improve train travel. When my yearly ticket ran out and the option was a significantly higher priced gocard for the same sub standard service, I opted to drive. QR doesn't get it.

It's like they live in a denial bubble?!

Heloo!! You're apples are rotten!

[#Metro]

"Events outside the control of Queensland Rail are not included in the data, such as cars breaking level crossing infrastructure or trucks striking bridges." What a crock. If the train is late, the train is late. Can I tell my employer some QR sob story ? No. Shock horror, availability measured in any industry includes events outside of your control. Would you accept not having electricity or a phone line and have the carrier tell you well because it was caused by a car crash "it didn't happen" ?? If you can't use the service, its a failure. period.

Comment 21 of 44

Interesting.

[Stillwater]

In respect of the Maroochy Journal article, it is interesting to see the extent to which the general public on the Sunny Coast have an understanding of the issues.  Lol, perhaps Translink will have to employ social networking moles to push propaganda at bloggers.

[ozbob]

Yes, when one looks at the condition of the rolling stock, eg. ICEs, they are not well turned out most days.  The IMUs have been pushed hard this year, not much reserve at all, even with Santa's IMU thrown in to battle.

I think the refurbished EMUs are looking good and tidy.

No more trains now for at least two years. It does make one wonder if we will see a triumphant return of steam on the 4.30pm Nambour flyer  before long ...   

[Stillwater]

There would appear to be no plan to refurbish or upgrade the ICEs.  People with greater knowledge than I say a lack of parts is part of the problem and, as a consequence, the ICEs will be retired before time.  The solution they suggest is to take four ICE cars out of service, raid 2 for parts and make them slaves to traction units, reconfigure them to include four 'plug doors' in the two slaves (no plug doors in traction units), put that four-car unit back into service, then progressively upgrade the remaining ICE car sets using the recovered parts.  At the very least, the floor carpet could be shampoo-ed, broken seat recliner mechanisms fixed and the toilets and luggage bays steam cleaned.  Oh, and drain the rainwater from between the panes of glass in the double-glazed windows -- it makes the passengers seasick.  lol

[#Metro]

Gotta love the PR department sweating out this one.

Let's see:

1. "TransLink data says that the trains are running on time more frequently"
True. But it is also true that the trains were slowed down significantly, and half the services are actually buses. LOL.

2. Anything that increases travel time is a degradation of service - the service actually costs more in terms of time.
(Of course an unreliable service is also a degradation, but in BOTH cases it is a degradation).

3. "On time running standards are the most stringent in Australia".
True, but it still doesn't mean anything. What people care about is the customer experience, and the metrics explicitly designed
not to capture that. Everyone KNOWS the Sunshine Coast line is crapola. If your data can't pick that up, it means your metrics
have not been designed to be sensitive enough to measure it, not that it 'doesn't exist'. Talk about peeing on someone's leg
and telling them that it's raining. Of course, note the the GC and SC line trains the metric has been padded to allow an extra
2 mins - the standard has been relaxed (as has the overcrowding statistic). What's the point of measuring stuff if you just move
the goal posts every time the data looks bad?

4. Events out of the Control of QR are not included in the data...
BUT they should be, just reported separately. This is a function of the network design and also random events as well and that needs
to be cataloged. The government DOES have control over many things- level crossings for instance- which could be removed.

5. Prudent timetable design...
Oh please. The timetable wasn't 'designed' -- the track itself has infrastructure limitations which FORCE this kind of timetable
to be produced. They would have liked to design a proper time table, but they couldn't because they didn't build the track to
facilitate that!

[ozbob]

Yes, it was kind of fun watching the waves between the window panes  on my last ICE journey.

[ozbob]

Not looking too bright is it?

Sector 2 is not going to do a great deal, all will be on hold anyway is my bet. Election will be mid year, this means nothing much will happen for 2012.  Limp along, I predict more unit failures as time proceeds.  

They might have to buy back the SX sets they flogged off.  Trouble is the are flogging off all the locos.  Maybe some 3900s could be recovered for suburban use.

Yes, not looking too bright.

[Arnz]

Yes, when one looks at the condition of the rolling stock, eg. ICEs, they are not well turned out most days.  The IMUs have been pushed hard this year, not much reserve at all, even with Santa's IMU thrown in to battle.

I think the refurbished EMUs are looking good and tidy.

No more trains now for at least two years. It does make one wonder if we will see a triumphant return of steam on the 4.30pm Nambour flyer  before long ...  

I do agree in regards to IMU utilisation, not to mention units taken out of service for repairs on the units with out of order toilets and the upcoming fitting of ATP onto the IMU100s.  

If the daytime Gympielander has to be substituted at the last minute, it's at the expense of another Nambour or Gold Coast roster where a 6-car IMU may be normally scheduled.  Every 3rd GC service seems to be a SMU too.

Lol @ the 4:30pm Nambour flyer.  We call it one of the "slow expresses" (9 stops skipped).  That train usually comes empty from Ipswich stabling to form the service too (scheduled as a IMU but it's 60% IMU/40% SMU).

[Fares_Fair]

Yes, it was kind of fun watching the waves between the window panes  on my last ICE journey.

Ah yes, the ocean view seats in the ICE set.
I found them to have a calming effect, only thing missing is the skinny goldfish.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Fares_Fair]

Gotta love the PR department sweating out this one.

Let's see:

1. "TransLink data says that the trains are running on time more frequently"
True. But it is also true that the trains were slowed down significantly, and half the services are actually buses. LOL.

2. Anything that increases travel time is a degradation of service - the service actually costs more in terms of time.
(Of course an unreliable service is also a degradation, but in BOTH cases it is a degradation).

3. "On time running standards are the most stringent in Australia".
True, but it still doesn't mean anything. What people care about is the customer experience, and the metrics explicitly designed
not to capture that. Everyone KNOWS the Sunshine Coast line is crapola. If your data can't pick that up, it means your metrics
have not been designed to be sensitive enough to measure it, not that it 'doesn't exist'. Talk about peeing on someone's leg
and telling them that it's raining. Of course, note the the GC and SC line trains the metric has been padded to allow an extra
2 mins - the standard has been relaxed (as has the overcrowding statistic). What's the point of measuring stuff if you just move
the goal posts every time the data looks bad?

4. Events out of the Control of QR are not included in the data...
BUT they should be, just reported separately. This is a function of the network design and also random events as well and that needs
to be cataloged. The government DOES have control over many things- level crossings for instance- which could be removed.

5. Prudent timetable design...
Oh please. The timetable wasn't 'designed' -- the track itself has infrastructure limitations which FORCE this kind of timetable
to be produced. They would have liked to design a proper time table, but they couldn't because they didn't build the track to
facilitate that!

Nice analysis TT, very apt and to the point.  
Well done.
You should post it under the story as a comment if possible.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.