20 January 2014: Sunshine Coast train timetable assessment

[Fares_Fair]

Last updated: 8.58am Thursday 14 November 2013
Source: http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-notices/1046/details

On Monday 20 January, new services will be added to the Sunshine Coast and Caboolture lines to improve the frequency and efficiency of the City network.
At the same time, minor timetable changes will be made to the outbound Gympie North services.

Sunshine Coast line

Additional services

Two new peak express services will run between Nambour and Brisbane's CBD:

Morning Nambour 5.07am All stations to Caboolture, express to Northgate, then all stations to the CBD Central 6.53am
Afternoon Central 4.22pm All stations from the CBD to Bowen Hills, express to Caboolture (stopping only at Northgate), then all stations to Nambour Nambour 6.10pm

Timetable changes

The current 4.34pm Nambour express service will depart Central station 6 minutes later at 4.40pm.

The departure time of 2 Gympie North services will change, as a result of the timetable changes on the City network:
•the morning outbound service will depart Central station 4 minutes earlier at 9.33am - arriving at Caboolture at 10.18am and Gympie North at 12.39pm.
•the afternoon peak outbound service will depart Central station at 5.51pm - arriving at Nambour at 7.44pm and Gympie North at 8.48pm.

[Fares_Fair]

The following information is subject to discussion and/or review.

SUNSHINE COAST TRAIN TIMETABLE

SOUTHBOUND WEEKDAYS
30 train services from Nambour x 5 days per week = 150 trains per weekdays
3 of the above 'train' services are buses that run from Nambour to Landsborough (6 stations).
2 of the above train services originate from Gympie North
13 of the above train services are actually Rail buses = 65 trains? per weekdays

SOUTHBOUND WEEKENDS
26 train services from Nambour (14 on Saturday and 12 on Sunday)
3 of the above services originate from Gympie North (2 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday)

SOUTHBOUND RAIL BUSES
Rail buses now comprise 13/30 weekday services or 43.33 % weekday services
There are no rail buses on weekends

TOTAL SOUTHBOUND SERVICES: 150 + 26 = 176 services.

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NORTHBOUND WEEKDAYS
32 train services to Landsborough and/or Nambour x 5 days per week = 160 trains per weekdays
2 of the above 'train' services are Rail buses that run to Landsborough
2 of the above train services' destination is Gympie North
13 of the above train services are actually Rail buses = 65 trains? per weekdays

NORTHBOUND WEEKENDS
23 train services to Nambour (11 on Saturday and 12 on Sunday)
3 of the above services to Gympie North (1 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday)

NORTHBOUND RAIL BUSES
Rail buses now comprise 13/32 weekday services or 40.63 % weekday services
There are no rail buses on weekends

TOTAL NORTHBOUND SERVICES: 160 + 23 = 183 services.

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NOTE:
I have NOT included ANY Caboolture to Brisbane (Southbound) and Brisbane to Caboolture (Northbound) trains shown on Sunshine Coast timetable as (and I assume) these would be counted as Caboolture line services. They appear on the timetable to give passengers options for an all stops train if required.

TOTAL TRAIN SERVICES PER WEEK (Including 26 Rail Buses): 176 + 183 = 359 'train' services per week between Brisbane and Nambour/Landsborough.

RAIL BUSES COMPRISE 43.33% + 40.63 % = 83.96 %/2 = 41.98 % of all services (Caboolture to Nambour) between Brisbane and Landsborough/Nambour

[Fares_Fair]

Timetable Study Data - SOUTHBOUND Trains (All times from) Nambour to Roma St.
In order of Fastest to Slowest

[Fares_Fair]

Timetable Study Data - NORTHBOUND Trains (All times from) Roma St. to Nambour
In order of Fastest to Slowest

[Stillwater]

For the record, FF, what is the speed of a SCL train -- fastest and slowest -- in km/hr?

[Fares_Fair]

Sunshine Coast (Nambour) to Brisbane (Roma St) Average Train Speeds:

Entire Timetable (weekdays and weekends):

Slowest Train Average speed = 36.6 km/h (22.7 mph) - Weekday from Roma St at 7:03am

Fastest Train Average speed = 59.4 km/h (36.9 mph) - Weekend, the Gympie North train between Roma St & Nambour

[Stillwater]

Thanks FF

I think a kangaroo can hop faster than 37 km/hr.  (Just checked, Eastern Grey kangaroo can do 55 km/hr, lol.)

[Fares_Fair]

Thanks FF

I think a kangaroo can hop faster than 37 km/hr.  (Just checked, Eastern Grey kangaroo can do 55 km/hr, lol.)

Ah yes, macropus giganteous. Are any available?.. bet they don't get stuck under bridges either.

I didn't realise how slow our services really are, it's pretty abysmal.

Any idea how fast a hare can run?
Probably too hot here for a polar bear... hey

We should compile a list of all the animals that can outrun our trains. 

[HappyTrainGuy]

Many a time a kangaroo has returned to Brisbane riding shotgun on a train 

[Stillwater]

It makes for a wonderful introduction to a story:

The next time you hop on a train at Nambour headed for Brisbane, the statistics say a kangaroo making the same journey will get there before you.  Your train will be approaching Toombul station (indicative only) as the furry traveller munches on grass at the Roma Street Parklands, having finished its dash to the city.

[Old Northern Road]

That 7.03am service is a railbus. You can't include that. Sunshine Coast line is pretty damn fast compared to the other lines.

Gold Coast - Outbound 65km/h / Inbound 68km/h
Sunshine Coast - Outbound 58km/h / Inbound 57km/h
Caboolture - 47km/h
Springfield - 43km/h
Airport - 40km/h
Ipswich - 40km/h
Beenleigh - 36km/h
Cleveland - Outbound 35km/h / Inbound   36km/h
Shorncliffe - 34km/h
Ferny Grove - 31km/h
Doomben - 26km/h

Doomben is now officially the slowest train line in the country 

[petey3801]

Gold Coast - Outbound 65km/h / Inbound 68km/h
Sunshine Coast - Outbound 58km/h / Inbound 57km/h

Yep. When a fair amount of the Gold Coast run is >100km/h (mostly 130-140km/h south of Beenleigh) and it's only a slightly faster journey time than the Sunshine Coast, with a lot less stops, the SCL isn't doing too bad! Still not great, but still not bad.

[Fares_Fair]

That 7.03am service is a railbus. You can't include that. Sunshine Coast line is pretty damn fast compared to the other lines.

Gold Coast - Outbound 65km/h / Inbound 68km/h
Sunshine Coast - Outbound 58km/h / Inbound 57km/h
Caboolture - 47km/h
Springfield - 43km/h
Airport - 40km/h
Ipswich - 40km/h
Beenleigh - 36km/h
Cleveland - Outbound 35km/h / Inbound   36km/h
Shorncliffe - 34km/h
Ferny Grove - 31km/h
Doomben - 26km/h

Doomben is now officially the slowest train line in the country 

Doomben is 9.9km (2 zones) long.


The 7:03am is one of our regular services from Roma St to Nambour as shown on our timetable - of course we can and WILL include it !

EDIT:
PS I am more than happy to state that a rail bus is part of the mix, I do not intend deceiving anyone but the fact is this is what it is - and 1 of 26 to boot.

[Fares_Fair]

Sunshine Coast (Nambour) to Brisbane (Roma St) Average Train Speeds:

Entire Timetable (weekdays and weekends):

Slowest Train Average speed = 36.6 km/h (22.7 mph) - Weekday from Roma St at 7:03am

Fastest Train Average speed = 59.4 km/h (36.9 mph) - Weekend, the Gympie North train between Roma St & Nambour

[Fares_Fair]

Gold Coast - Outbound 65km/h / Inbound 68km/h
Sunshine Coast - Outbound 58km/h / Inbound 57km/h

Yep. When a fair amount of the Gold Coast run is >100km/h (mostly 130-140km/h south of Beenleigh) and it's only a slightly faster journey time than the Sunshine Coast, with a lot less stops, the SCL isn't doing too bad! Still not great, but still not bad.

A train/rail bus that takes 2 hours and 52 minutes to get 104.9km is why the Sunshine Coast deserves much better.
How long is the slowest Gold Coast train?
That's not Queensland Rails fault at all - I think they do a remarkable job in providing the services that they do on an antiquated (123 years old) grade and alignment north of Beerburrum.
The Government needs to step up to the mark.

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily Letter of the day 22nd January 2014 click here!

Lack of regard for Coast train users

TRANSLINK has reviewed its train timetables and increased some Brisbane services, especially at peak hours.

This must be after much inconvenience to commuters and overcrowding in the past, especially at peak hour.

The Gold Coast will receive trains every 15 minutes, instead of half-hourly, as will many Brisbane lines.

What is most noticeable is the complete dismissal of any consideration of the Sunshine Coast line service.

What part of that doesn't TransLink understand? The lack of reliable and frequent services north of Brisbane, beyond Caboolture, seems to be disregarded and discounted.

Apparently, TransLink in their infinite wisdom and with much deliberation have considered all but the Sunshine Coast in their review of services.

To add insult to injury, the fares have increased yet another 7.5%. This, at a time when world oil supply has impacted our fuel price, is making escalating transport costs a luxury most cannot afford, but nevertheless, must endure.

The Sunshine Coast is a popular tourist destination as well as home to a million taxpayers, who deserve regular, affordable and reliable public transport.

TransLink decisions must be fair and equitable across all the south-east. Talk to a brickwall?

E. ROWE

Marcoola

[ozbob]

[ozbob]

^ oh good    Time for another quick beer at the Royal George ... 

No notification on the TL website etc.     Photograph of notification on stations Sunny Coast line ..

[Fares_Fair]

This Nambour to City train service is a rather odd situation as none of it's changes have ever been publicly announced on social media or on their websites ... none!

It originally departed Nambour at 5:53pm (pre-January 2014 timetable) and arrived at Roma St at 8:10pm. Journey time: 2 hours 17 minutes.

Under the 20 January changes it moved 14 minutes earlier to depart Nambour at 5:39pm arrive Roma St at 7:56pm.  Journey time: 2 hours 17 minutes.

Now today the 'quiet' placement of posters at stations (assumed plural) giving a Nambour departure time of 5:59pm and an arrival time at Roma St of 8:26pm (assumed time, it's not actually shown on the poster). Central Station arrival time of 8:24pm is on the poster.  Journey time: 2 hours 27 minutes.

None of this was ever mentioned by TransLink in any of their public website pronouncements, and I raised it here in an RBoT post and in my 'ad hoc' rail email publication.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the mysterious trial of a longer freight train along the North Coast Line as mentioned in a recent RBoT post by someone else ?

As a further observation it runs express from Caboolture to Petrie to Northgate, but now takes 10 minutes longer !!
Our Sunshine Coast train journey times are being extended by stealth, as if they aren't long enough already!!!

[Arnz]

As this particular Nambour to City service is a counter-peak service, it is subject to the "Dance of the Trains" between Nambour and Landsborough due to the amount of peak-direction trains & the Tilt Train.

[ozbob]

Party poopers!         

We had a saying in the Army ' Great coats on, great coats off ....  '

Via Fares_fair

[Stillwater]

More consultation required methinks -- before changes are put into place.