Staged 15 minute frequency rollout?

[SurfRail]

So here's the deal - how could we realistically roll out a 15 minute network over time, taking into account the usual Queensland FUD factors?

Assuming the FG trial all pans out well, then how about the following?

I am ignoring rollingstock requirements for now because (a) new trains will be popping up in the next 2 years or thereabouts; and (b) there are plenty of available trains to do most of this in the off-peak, especially on the limited basis set out before the new trains start arriving.

1. Early 2013 - Ferny Grove extras extended to Yeerongpilly on current ad-hoc basis.

2. Mid 2013 - Sector 2 timetable review implemented - optimisation of running and departure times on all Merivale Bridge services.
(a) Ferny Grove frequency maintained and improved to be an even 15 minute service for at least "Perth" hours (6am-7pm 7 days)
(b) Ferny Grove extra trains extended from Yeerongpilly to Kuraby, or as far in that direction as is possible, with commensurate changes to Gold Coast stopping pattern to make this easier (eg all GC trains stop at Kuraby instead of other stations between Beenleigh and South Bank)
(c) Doomben line upgraded to half-hourly 6am-7pm 7 days, all services routed to Manly.  All Shorncliffe services routed to Cleveland.  Even 15 minute frequency on the corridor from Eagle Junction to Manly.

3. Late 2013 - Springfield opens at 15 minute headways with all services continuing to Petrie.  Ipswich and Caboolture trains remain at 30 minute headways but run express all day long.

4. 2014 - Airport line starts running at 15 minute minimum headways for most of the day.

5. 2016 - Kippa-Ring line opens.  15 minute service from Petrie extends to Kippa-Ring. 

By this point, the following sections of the network are running at 15 minute frequencies from 6am-7pm every day
- Ferny Grove all stations to city
- Kippa-Ring and Petrie all stations to city
- Airport line
- Springfield and Darra all stations to city
- Kuraby all stations to the city
- Manly all stations to the city

By this point, the following sections of the network are not running at 15 minute frequency (outside the peak)
- North of Petrie
- Northgate to Shorncliffe
- Eagle Junction to Doomben
- West of Darra to Ipswich and Rosewood
- South of Kuraby (Beenleigh receives 4 trains per hour but not evenly synced)
- Manly to Cleveland

Extending the frequency further into the night will require more funding, probably more efficient trackwork and maintenance procedures, and (I suspect) getting longer trains through the metropolitan area from the north so as to reduce after-hours movements.

I suspect the only improvement possible beyond this point without extra tracks is to get 15 minute frequency on the Caboolture to Ipswich express route with some creative scheduling.  Everything else will need track amplification, and the Sunshine Coast and Rosewood lines do not require that kind of intensity of service in the off-peak.  I would suggest the next step following Ip-Cab would be to fix the Cleveland line, then the Shorncliffe line, so this route can run by itself, and run the Doomben line as a 15 minute shuttle to Roma Street or somewhere over the Merivale Bridge.  This really only leaves south of Kuraby, which (it appears) requires CRR and a fourth track from the CRR portal to Kuraby, plus perhaps additional trackage south of there.

The end goal should be 15 minute off-peak frequency everywhere except north of Caboolture and west of Ipswich (which might mean west of Wulkuraka).  I don't see this happening on current trends until some time into the mid 2020s.

Anybody else have any thoughts on that which go beyond "I want it now"?  (Because I certainly agree with that...)

[somebody]

I think the Caboolture line is being left too out in the cold in waiting until 2016.  Should be Strathpine/PET/CAB ASAP.  Once MBRL comes on, CAB should be BH, EJ, NG, PET then all to CAB if on a 30 minute timetable.

[colinw]

I think most of the above is workable except possibly extending the FG extras to Kuraby.  I don't think that can happen without either impeding Gold Coast trains excessively, or building extra track capacity & crossovers south of Yeerongpilly.

Perhaps the FG extras should extend to Corinda instead, tying the network back together (but what is the freight impact of doing that?)

Half hourly to Doomben might cause some problems as well, although if you look at the Saturday timetable you'll see that Doomben does manage to sustain a half hourly timetable with through running to/from Cleveland for a couple of hours around the times the racecourses open & close.  A full time 2TPH Cleveland and Doomben pairing is attractive, but is likely to be fragile due to the marginal turn-around at Doomben and the large distance of single track south of Manly.

Re-opening the loop at Ascot, or just biting the bullet and duplicating the 3.4km from EJ to Doomben would of course fix that, as and at the Cleveland end reliability would be improved by partial duplications on the Cleveland line (Thorneside to Wellington Point).

I also think we should remain open minded about the "Melbourne" option, i.e. 3TPH / 20 minute frequency, with some core sections like Darra to Petrie picking up a metro like 6TPH / 10 minutes.

[#Metro]

The Ipswich Line needs to be done up ASAP - 4 trains/hr to Ipswich, express

[HappyTrainGuy]

Petrie would struggle to be able to support a 15 min frequency during construction of MBRL as the whole Petrie area will be changing due to associated works for the station, earthworks, additional park and ride facilities stabling and track removal, overhead bridges, connection links to the MBRL spur, bridge duplication works (Lawnton side), realignments and associated speed restrictions from roughly the Anzac Road overpass-Lawnton Station. Nothing will be happening to Strathpine any time soon and that goes for terminating services there due to future works at Petrie and available track paths.

[somebody]

Nothing will be happening to Strathpine any time soon and that goes for terminating services there due to future works at Petrie and available track paths.

What do works at Petrie have to do with Strathpine terminators?  The middle road is hardly heavily used out of peak.  Sure, it could impact on NBR/GYN/Traveltrain/freight timetables, but so what?

[Arnz]

Nothing will be happening to Strathpine any time soon and that goes for terminating services there due to future works at Petrie and available track paths.

What do works at Petrie have to do with Strathpine terminators?  The middle road is hardly heavily used out of peak.  Sure, it could impact on NBR/GYN/Traveltrain/freight timetables, but so what?

Track access fees for the freight operators (QRN and PN).  I would think the revenue from that would have some priority over taxpayer subsidised passenger services (it brings in income).

[SurfRail]

Strathpine would be a reasonable compromise - maybe even as far as Lawnton.  There isn't that much at Petrie itself that requires 15 minute frequencies.  As an interim measure, maybe the bus network could be reoriented on Bray Park/Strathpine until Kippa-Ring is open.

The problem with any of this is the need to upgrade infrastructure, which is basically required on almost every line except the Airport and Ferny Grove.  There has been some colossal waste recently which we can't afford to repeat.

Shorncliffe, Doomben and Coomera River could be fixed with a single contract I think.  Do one, move onto the next one with the same team.  Cleveland will be longer term.

Ipswich is interesting because any proposed extra track capacity west of Darra I think might be a stranded investment if the Southern Corridor line from Ebenezer to Kagaru is built.  There would be virtually no need for any freight/coal to travel between Corinda and Rosewood with that open, although there would no doubt still be freight coming down to Sherwood and Moolabin/Tennyson from Normanby - but in the four track section rather than 2 or 3.

[HappyTrainGuy]

QR don't like to have trains stopped on the middle track for long periods of time as it really restricts how all 3 tracks Northgate-Petrie and the 2 tracks Petrie-Caboolture are utilised with the long 100kph sections of track. It might not seem that important in the general sense but when freight trains can be up to 15 mins faster and test trains/TravelTrains being anywhere up to 22-23 mins faster Caboolture-Bowen Hills Junction than all stoppers they'll quickly hunt anything down.

Hahaha. Bus network reorientated on Bray Park. Good one    It wouldn't be easy extending services from Petrie to Lawnton due to turnaround times, driver relief times and driver facilities which are available at Petrie and especially with the single lane congestion currently along Gympie Road that's expected to be around till late next year pending any delays due to weather IIRC. If they end up closing the Todds road level crossing that would put a nail in any services utilising Lawnton. Bray Park would be better than Strathpine in terms of bus stopping locations as there isn't enough space inside the station grounds - best place would be outside the library. TBH the only time I would expect to see trains terminating at Strathpine would be with an extra platform when MBRC starts to redevelop the area as a major bus-train interchange hub.

[somebody]

QR don't like to have trains stopped on the middle track for long periods of time as it really restricts how all 3 tracks Northgate-Petrie and the 2 tracks Petrie-Caboolture are utilised with the long 100kph sections of track. It might not seem that important in the general sense but when freight trains can be up to 15 mins faster and test trains/TravelTrains being anywhere up to 22-23 mins faster Caboolture-Bowen Hills Junction than all stoppers they'll quickly hunt anything down.

Still doesn't seem that important.

[SurfRail]

^ Agree, there is no way they can seriously expect us to believe you can't run a 15 minute all stopping pattern on 3 tracks with freight and (a very very limited number of) expresses.

What QR "likes" is really not relevant.  I'm sure they would "like" to not have to run trains after 9pm so they can spend more time on maintenance - not a relevant consideration.

[colinw]

^ Agree, there is no way they can seriously expect us to believe you can't run a 15 minute all stopping pattern on 3 tracks with freight and (a very very limited number of) expresses.

I see it with 10 minute or better frequency services & occasional freight every time I spend time at our office in Madrid. RENFE routinely achieves levels of service on shared passenger & freight infrastructure that we are gravely told is impossible here in Australia.

[ozbob]

The odd freighter runs on the Frankston line Melbourne  - 10 minute pass frequency ...

[colinw]

The Madrid example is with a network topology that is very similar to Brisbane and Melbourne. Radiating branch lines, some of which are suburban services on freight carrying main lines to elsewhere and others are passenger only terminating branches, with some single track at the ends. There's a bit of triple and quad track on the main lines, but not everywhere. Not all junctions are grade separated. Like Melbourne there is a loop in the inner city, but like Brisbane there is an inner city tunnel section through the CBD which was only a double track tunnel until recent years, but is now quad track thanks to new tunnels. The four tracks that now run from Atocha (equivalent to Roma St) to Chamartin (sort of equivalent to Bowen Hills or Valley) carry a volume of traffic that far exceeds what Brisbane manages, indeed they hit Brisbane equivalent levels with the original two tracks through the 1930s tunnel.

[colinw]

By all means please do share them.  Self interest here: Kuraby is my local station and I'd love to have a 4TPH service.  Annoyed me no end when the triple line was built and the service stayed much the same as before, but a few minutes slower to the city than when I first moved to the area. I must be naive, but I always thought infrastructure led to service improvement, maybe not in Queensland eh?

[somebody]

I also think we should remain open minded about the "Melbourne" option, i.e. 3TPH / 20 minute frequency, with some core sections like Darra to Petrie picking up a metro like 6TPH / 10 minutes.

The problems with this idea are:
(a) Requires an effective quad cross Manly-Cleveland-Manly with little options for recovery of lost time.  Current effective triple cross has options for getting back to timetable
(b) Gold Coast chases down Beenleigh trains within 20 minutes
(c) IPS express vs RCH all stations requires conflicting moves to run at 10 minute frequency or at 20 minute frequency there is a frequency reduction Chelmer-Oxley
(d) Falling back to 40 minute frequency is ugly.

Does seem like it would be a nice idea for Shorncliffe, but getting it to work south of the river pre-CRR is very problematic.

[colinw]

Thanks skinny6 - I'll have a play with those when I get time.

[somebody]

Nothing will be happening to Strathpine any time soon and that goes for terminating services there due to future works at Petrie and available track paths.

What do works at Petrie have to do with Strathpine terminators?  The middle road is hardly heavily used out of peak.  Sure, it could impact on NBR/GYN/Traveltrain/freight timetables, but so what?

Track access fees for the freight operators (QRN and PN).  I would think the revenue from that would have some priority over taxpayer subsidised passenger services (it brings in income).

Perhaps you should tell the legislation which says that passenger has priority over freight that first.

[Arnz]

I was referring to revenue, not operational priority on tracks (Where it's usually Traveltrain > Suburban/Intercity > Freight). 

Qld Gov could run 15 mins to Zillmere/Strathpine within a month or two for example, both stations having been terminus points in the past, but going by past history, the pen pushers would think revenue from track access from the private freight operators would be worth more than subsidised passenger services.

[somebody]

I was referring to revenue, not operational priority on tracks (Where it's usually Traveltrain > Suburban/Intercity > Freight). 

Qld Gov could run 15 mins to Zillmere/Strathpine within a month or two for example, both stations having been terminus points in the past, but going by past history, the pen pushers would think revenue from track access from the private freight operators would be worth more than subsidised passenger services.

I think you have endorsed that point of view.

[Arnz]

I was referring to revenue, not operational priority on tracks (Where it's usually Traveltrain > Suburban/Intercity > Freight). 

Qld Gov could run 15 mins to Zillmere/Strathpine within a month or two for example, both stations having been terminus points in the past, but going by past history, the pen pushers would think revenue from track access from the private freight operators would be worth more than subsidised passenger services.

I think you have endorsed that point of view.

Not necessarily. 

I'm more in favor of the Petrie or don't bother approach.  They have the turnback facilities to do so, and plenty of capacity outside of peak across the Petrie Bridge to so.  In peak hour some trains terminating at Petrie can easily turnback to form counter-peak services to maintain 15 minutes.

May need some minor creative scheduling in the afternoon peak if a Nambour counter-peak shuttle gets extended into Roma Street, but that's for another thread.

[somebody]

Why?  There's nothing at Petrie other than some bus connections.  Will the bus connections meet every train?  Hardly likely.

[Arnz]

Lobbying for extra 680 short runs to Petrie (or even the whole way to Chermside if they had the money/political will) alongside the existing 680s that continue to Chermside to support the 15 min frequency at Petrie would be a start. 

Or alternatively synching the 680 and 682 (Petrie-North Lakes short run), although it would only benefit North Lakes residents.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Haha and what do you think Strathpine is like. Hourly buses all day between Strathpine, Warner, Bray Park, Lawnton and Petrie with just woeful rail-bus interchange facilities with next to nothing around. Massive industrial complex to the south, poor access to the west, poor access facilities across Gympie Road. It gets its patronage from park and riders. Its got a westfield but its just sh%t and its a good 900m walk away. Catch the 680 to Chermside or North Lakes for a better shopping experience instead of that danky place. There is North Lakes just up the Road. Plenty of shops along Anzac Ave. Plenty of housing around. Bray Park students, Lawnton students, Petrie students, Dakabin students all use it as a major interchange point. Either run them to Petrie or don't bother at all. Every bus that currently services Petrie meets a train. Its the bus network lacking in this instance.

Zillmere never had electric terminators. Only morning starters IIRC. Some outbound express trains usually picked up passengers there but would not stop to let passengers off. Similar to Toombul, Strathpine and Petrie. Most terminated at Strathpine or ran to Petrie.

[somebody]

The Westfield can't be that bad and the 680 isn't the best example because it serves Strathpine and Bald Hills, even if not that well.  Strathpine is actually busier than Taringa on 5:30am-20:30 weekday entries in 2010.

[Arnz]

Westfield Strathpine has the usual Coles, Target, Woolworths and a 8 cinema complex built in the late 80s (also screaming for refurbishment). 

Smaller than North Lakes, but sufficient enough for the residents of the area.  Just not something to drive to if you're from elsewhere, most head up the road to the Westfield centres at North Lakes or down to Chermside.

[SurfRail]

I see it with 10 minute or better frequency services & occasional freight every time I spend time at our office in Madrid. RENFE routinely achieves levels of service on shared passenger & freight infrastructure that we are gravely told is impossible here in Australia.

But we are the Spain of Australia.  Or so we are told.

[HappyTrainGuy]

The Westfield can't be that bad and the 680 isn't the best example because it serves Strathpine and Bald Hills, even if not that well.  Strathpine is actually busier than Taringa on 5:30am-20:30 weekday entries in 2010.

Oh please have a visit to westfield strathpine. Please have a visit. You'll love the bus interchange 

680 services Bald Hills just fine. 327 can be better to help out on the other side of the railway line/ Gympie Road.

[somebody]

The Westfield can't be that bad and the 680 isn't the best example because it serves Strathpine and Bald Hills, even if not that well.  Strathpine is actually busier than Taringa on 5:30am-20:30 weekday entries in 2010.

Oh please have a visit to westfield strathpine. Please have a visit. You'll love the bus interchange 

680 services Bald Hills just fine. 327 can be better to help out on the other side of the railway line/ Gympie Road.

It's not just about Strathpine it's also all the stations from Strathpine to Virginia.  I agree that the urban form around some of them isn't very pretty, but in spite of this the statistics show far more people using the services than on the Ferny Grove line, by a factor of 2.5 against the whole line.  Done properly, it would also allow a slightly faster service beyond Strathpine.  Better than a kick in the teeth.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Virginia limited - industrial long walk to access with potential to the south west/south east, Sunshine limited - large industrial complex on both sides, Geebung limited - large industrial complex to the east with poor feeder access to the south and west, zillmere has some merrit but still liited in whats around, carseldine - sort of limited. very poor connections bus wise and road layout wise. Bald Hills once again somewhat limited in the general sense. Do it properly and run it all the way to Petrie. Bray park is surrounded by property. So too is Lawnton. Petrie is a major interchange hub. Get the buses running and link in bracken ridge to carseldine. then your on to something. Current state is jujst limited

[somebody]

But in reply 4 you said that Petrie would struggle with MBRL works.  I'm looking at what is feasible now and into the future.

[somebody]

- FG to Corinda is only practical outcome without four tracks to Kuraby
-3rd track south of Kuraby is only required for more peak hour services than 4 GC and 4 BL + 4 Kuraby (assuming four tracks to Kuraby) So not required for 15min

4tph to Beenleigh is doable with 2tph to Gold Coast, as long as the timings are done right, thats what my models suggest anyway. I think 4tph to Kuraby is the practical solution on current infrastructure.

Might be a hard sell.  It requires the middle track to become an effective single track used for passing manoeuvres.

[DayboroStation]

I personally cannot see any move to a 15 minute frequency from Petrie this side of the MBRL being completed. This is not because it is unachievable (trains already run more frequently than this during the AM peak), but more do to with lack of initiative and forward planning by Translink. In fact, I'm sure they'll be using the pending construction of the MBRL as an excuse NOT to make any changes to frequency at this stage.
In saying that, though, I definitely support the idea of 15 minute off-peak frequency to/from Petrie (and from Kippa-Ring when the MBRL is completed), and a 30 minute off-peak express frequency to/from Caboolture. In my opinion, the express pattern for off-peak Caboolture trains would be express from Strathpine to Bowen Hills, stopping only at Northgate and Eagle Junction. I have included Lawnton/Bray Park/Strathpine (the other 2 are obvious) for the following reasons: (1) They support a large population base, including the fast-growing Warner Lakes area west of Strathpine, and (2) Most residents living in the Strathpine-Lawnton catchment area have little option other than catching a train to the city (the bus service is too infrequent), (3) Workers commuting to Lawnton-Strathpine who live between Dakabin-Caboolture would not need to change trains at Petrie, and (4) Off-peak Caboolture trains would only be half full if Strathpine-Lawnton passengers were bypassed.

[colinw]

Might be a hard sell.  It requires the middle track to become an effective single track used for passing manoeuvres.

Um, isn't that kind of operational flexibility the whole point of building a 3rd "relief" line and bi-directional signalling?

As things stand, all we got from the S2K triple line was a slightly more reliable peak Gold Coast service, and sod all improvement to offpeak services either to Beenleigh or Gold Coast. A worthwhile way to spend nearly $300M?

Failing to use it also makes a mockery of the new track layout at Kuraby which facilitates passing moves and turning back suburban trains using Platform 2.

[somebody]

(4) Off-peak Caboolture trains would only be half full if Strathpine-Lawnton passengers were bypassed.

50% seated load off peak is a substantial amount of passengers.

Might be a hard sell.  It requires the middle track to become an effective single track used for passing manoeuvres.

Um, isn't that the whole point of building a 3rd "relief" line and bi-directional signalling?

Perhaps I'm taking a grumpy pill, but I thought it was to do less with more.

Being a bit more circumspect, it does allow more flexibility with peak operations.

Indeed, it is difficult to see why the S2K triple was built at all, several years after it's done.  They could also have used it to stop using the dual gauge and free up more freight paths, but that would have required changing the timetables, and we can't do that in Brisbane, can we?

[colinw]

Perhaps I'm taking a grumpy pill, but I thought it was to do less with more.

That is certainly the outcome of all the money & concrete that has been chucked at the Gold Coast & Beenleigh Lines.  Gold Coast at least benefits with greater reliability & better peak service (if slower), but over all we have a slower service little different in frequency to before all that extra track was built.

At least the FG duplication has resulted in a quarter hourly service, even if half baked in that it won't achieve the full patronage boost without running in the evening and on weekends.

Reading the above, that is not to say that I am against these upgrades.  The Gold Coast ones in particular were critical for the longer term growth of the service, although their potential won't be unlocked until that darn bridge is duplicated.

The Beenleigh line bit (S2K) however is clearly half baked, in that it did not facilitate any meaningful upgrade of the suburban service, so for the users of stations along the upgraded section it was a bitter disappointment.

[HappyTrainGuy]

But in reply 4 you said that Petrie would struggle with MBRL works.

In other works you just have to wait until the Petrie works are complete before seeing a frequency boost.

[Arnz]

But in reply 4 you said that Petrie would struggle with MBRL works.

In other works you just have to wait until the Petrie works are complete before seeing a frequency boost.

You could do it now and if required during the upgrade boost send the trains somewhere else. Hell they could terminate to Petrie and run empty to Cabulture and return if they had to. I say empty so no timetable requirements if they get lumped behind a freighter etc.

Of Springfiled 15min now, but 2nd train paired with Doomben?

Narangba has a third track if people insist on dead running past Petrie during the MBRL construction works.

Doomben goes against sectorisation.  Sectorisation has been locked in for all services except the twice a day Gympie North ICE (uses the suburban tracks except for the morning peak weekday inbound using the mains).

[somebody]

But in reply 4 you said that Petrie would struggle with MBRL works.

In other works you just have to wait until the Petrie works are complete before seeing a frequency boost.

I don't agree with that.

In other words, you are saying we should just accept the mediocrity foisted on us by QR and TL.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Pretty much. But it gives them time to focus on making a proper bus and road network to feed into and support the railway line across multiple councils and operators. Pubicly list dates. Start advertising increasing service frequencies coming soon. Show that changes are coming by changing supporting bus routes. Community meetings to discuss the bus changes etc.

Virginia.... not much can be done to increase patronage there. Same with Sunshine.

Geebung is going to be changing as we know it which will be affecting the 325 to now go past the stations front door making for an easier interchange. It also has the option to send some services directly from the Aspley interchange to the railway line at Geebung. The fastest option between the two is the 2 hourly 336 Chermside Community bus at something like 9-10min that goes via Zillmere Road. Running the 336/337 every 15 minutes during peak hour would be a huge advantage not just for interchanging at the station but for feeding into and from other interchanges and points of intrests such as shopping centres and nearby schools. The big group of appartment complexes  to the north are going to make way for the overpass and associated underpass to Geebung. One house has already been demolished and some have already packed up and moved.

Zillmere is always going to be handicapped with that large industrial complex to the west and the fact no one likes to be in that area at night because of the grubs that lurk around. There is a new apartment block going up at the intersection opposite the the station which is good. The 326/327 are infrequent and do wild tours on their way to Taigum.

Carseldine is in a very good position in the future but its still very limited currently. Hourly 335 feeding between Taigum, the 328 looks good for a peak hour only service but even then could be better managed by boosting the 335 frequency and extending the 340 to Boondall via the new estates to the north east. Maybe keep the 328 off peak but keep the current Taigum-College Green leg and also send it through the back streets to North Boondall to Provide an interchange there. Making it a hail and ride could also draw some more patronage as locals don't have to walk to bus stops and can then simply hop off at either Boondall Stations/Taigum interchange (would tie in nicely with a frequency boost on the Sandgate line awell). The old refurbished QUT facility to the south west will be good but the bus network needs to be up to scratch as does the rail network. When Norris Road is extended to Carselgrove Ave a bus route should be sent up that way even if it was a reversed 330 route to Terminate at the Carseldine station.

Bald Hills..... another limited station. To the north is just difficult to provide a bus service for. That being said I can't see why a service similar to Chermsides 336/337 community bus can't be provided from the north to the shopping complex to the south just before Roghan Road.

Strathpine is a b**ch of a place for rail bus interchanges. The MBRC wants to redevelop the whole train station/council office buildings into a proper rail bus interchange (losing a very very large portion the park and ride) along with redeveloping properties to the west for TODs, making the whole area DDA compliant and providing better links for people to access the station from the current properties in the north west. They also want to have 5 platforms which would also mean moving the station north a tad bit to get off the curve and remove the level crossing. There is a westfield near by but its pretty much just a local shopping centre. When you think Westfield you think of massive and popular places like north lakes and chermside but its not. Its the Roma Street transit centre of Westfield basically. To access Westfield from the station its a bit of a walk if you don't cut through the centrelink/servo/parking lot and even then the footpaths aren't they great with the new old new old cut up footpaths.


Bray Park and Lawnton are the biggest underdogs. Bray Park is the perferred bus-rail interchange station. They are surrounded by property/some apartment complexes and they have bus interchange facilities/bays for multiple buses but the one thing that really really lets them down is the bus feeder network running hourly all day. That's it. Hourly. Peak hour - Hourly. They start running early but they cut out way to early. If you leave the city on the 6pm train most of the bus services have stopped by the time you get there. Security surrounding the stations such as improved street lighting would also help go along way at attracting people there during the nights. The Francis Road overpass will once again change the busnetwork in the surrounding area. Lawnton has some spare property up for grabs directly opposite the main entrance but it could be risky building a TOD there if an extra track is decided to be put through (I reckon they'd make it a one way street that loops around via Gympie Road).

Petrie could have more patronage but once again the current bus network surrounding it is still poor. That too goes for some Redcliffe services.

Narangba and Burpengary... bloody brilliant weekday feeder network. Only problem I have is the operating hours with the 5.45-6.20pm trains being the last trains usable out of the city and the weekend timetables.

All that won't happen over night. Trains every 15 minutes would get some limited patronage but the bus networks and frequency are the real hindrance up this way. As it is most buses that interchange with a train meet a connecting service. On the other hand trains only meet with a connecting service 50% of the time. That goes down to 0% after 8pm