LNP: Brisbane Metro Plan

[ozbob]

ABC News --> Queensland Government block Brisbane City Council from land needed for $1.5b subway system

Brisbane City Hall says it will not let its plans for a $1.5 billion rapid transport system die despite the Queensland Government's refusal to hand over land at Woolloongabba.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad has put the brakes on the Brisbane Metro Subway System project after denying council access to the state-owned former Go Print site, which it was hoped could be used to house the bus fleet.

The site is also needed as a station for the $5 billion Cross River Rail project.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said he would fight on with other alternative sites.

"This is not a dead project," he said.

"If the Deputy Premier or anybody else is saying this is a dead project they need to explain to the people of Brisbane what they are going to do for bus commuters."

Ms Trad said the old Go Print site was on State Government land.

"We know this site, being only two kilometres from the city, is a fantastic opportunity for urban renewal and also to provide Queenslanders with a necessary piece of infrastructure," she said.

Ms Trad said she was happy to work with Cr Quirk on finding alternative sites.

"I've said to Graham that we want both projects to co-exist, and that's the work we need to do," she said.

"But the state is very firm in its position that the Go Print site should not be turned into a massive car park for buses ... we need this site as a station for Cross River Rail."

Labor's Opposition Leader in council, Peter Cumming, slammed the Council's actions.

"Quirk has sold Brisbane residents a pup with the Metro. This was a thought bubble put out by a panicked Lord Mayor in the heat of an election campaign," he said.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

3rd September 2016

This is what we would do for bus commuters Lord Mayor

Greetings,

Lord Mayor Quirk in an article on ABC News Queensland Government block Brisbane City Council from land needed for $1.5b subway system  asks the question

"If the Deputy Premier or anybody else is saying this is a dead project they need to explain to the people of Brisbane what they are going to do for bus commuters."

Simple Lord Mayor.  This is what we would do for bus commuters. Undertake the bus network reform that was meant to occur in 2013.  This will deliver more benefit than your half baked under-capacity under costed  'metro' pipe-dream for virtually negligible cost.  It will save billions of dollars.

It is time public transport planning was wrested from BCC control. They are incompetent and profligate.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

[ Attached: http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11952.msg179159#msg179159 ]

[ozbob]

Latest media: ' This is what we would do for bus commuters @Team_Quirk '
> https://t.co/Fx0UCc5RCO#qldpol pic.twitter.com/vxZmDJ8Ar6

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) September 3, 2016

[ozbob]

Labor's Opposition Leader in council, Peter Cumming, slammed the Council's actions.

"Quirk has sold Brisbane residents a pup with the Metro. This was a thought bubble put out by a panicked Lord Mayor in the heat of an election campaign," he said.

Finally, Cr Cumming nails it!

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

3rd September 2016

The ' Quirk Metro ' is a con and waste - confirmed

Good Morning,

As we have constantly pointed out the proposed ' Quirk Metro ' is an absurdity.

Finally the State Government has started to point this out.

Today's Courier Mail has this piece:  Brisbane Metro project dead in current form
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/brisbane-metro-project-dead-in-current-form/news-story/39352b58f6ee37c9dc852634ba416d01

The proposed ' metro ' has always been dead because it delivers less capacity than the inner core of the busways that it proposes to replace.  There are many other reasons why it will never happen.

One has to question why Brisbane City Council would waste big dollars on such an absurd proposal? The metro as proposed simply does not stack up.

Profligate waste to say the least in our opinion.

What is needed now is bus network reform.  A process that is essentially cost neutral and will deliver huge gains for public transport in Brisbane and SEQ.

Best wishes,

Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

==================================================

4th August 2016 resent 3 September 2016

Confronting the Quirk Metro con ...

Good Morning,

So Lord Mayor doesn't want to contribute to Cross River Rail*, but is apparently prepared to waste billions of dollars on a half-baked ' metro ' project that will wreck Brisbane's public transport?

Bus network reform does not cost billions of dollars and will dramatically improve public transport outcomes for Brisbane and with positive flow on effects for all of SEQ.

It is time the Brisbane media stopped swallowing the ' metro '  bull-dust and did some basic research.

Problems with the Quirk ' Metro ' as proposed:

1.  Delivers less capacity than the present busways - fatal flaw**.  Proposed metro is only a capacity of 9000 passengers/hour/direction.  Busways deliver 15,000 passengers/hour/direction.

2.  Is under-costed, grossly in our opinion. We challenge the Lord Mayor to sign a cost explosion indemnification agreement, guaranteeing that any cost overrun on the project ( over $1.5 BN) will be borne solely by BCC.

3.  Absolutely wrecks the inner-city busway network. Stops one station short of RBWH Hospital (to save costs?)

4.  Is very doubtful if Victoria Bridge can be used due to the significant weight of metro trains, track and electrical systems.  Use of Victoria Bridge precludes any further network improvements.

5.  Is not driverless as proposed. If changed to automatic then cost of stations etc. increases massively. Comparisons with Sydney Metro make this abundantly clear.

6.  State owns and controls the busway infrastructure.  It is unlikely that a State Government of any political persuasion would allow the busway system to be wrecked for a system that delivers less capacity than the current network!

7.  Proposed Quirk ' metro ' depot site is state owned and is actually earmarked for CRR.

The absolute minimum capacity for a train to reach the touted 30,000 passengers/hour quoted in the BCC election vote-bait material is 750 passengers per train. The Lord Mayor is suggesting trains with a capacity 2.5x lower, that is 300 passengers/train.

Bus reform http://tiny.cc/newnetwork is required, now. Bus network reform will allow time for a mature future vision and plan to be developed.

Bus network reform is essentially cost neutral, we do not have to waste billions of dollars on pipe dream schemes.

Start bus network reform today!

Best wishes,
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

* https://tenplay.com.au/news/brisbane/2016/8/3/premier-and-lord-mayor-butt-heads-over-river-rail-crossing

** Quirk ' Metro ' Capacity Calculation

1 hour = 60 minutes = 3600 seconds. World's best practise train throughput is a train every 90 seconds. 3600 seconds / 90 sec = 40 trains per hour.

Therefore 30,000 passengers/hour divided by 40 trains/hour = 750 passengers per train (absolute minimum).

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's Metro is 300 pax/train as proposed.

Run every 2 minutes (as announced in election) 30 trains / hour x 300 pax/train = 9000 passengers/hour/direction - a backward step for the network.

Even under the most extreme assumptions, the metro would have less capacity than the busway and be at capacity on opening day.

[ See Attached:  http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11047.msg177430#msg177430 ]

[ozbob]

Wake up Brisbane, you have been conned by the ' quack metro '
> https://t.co/TJZEUNKmKr#qldpol
done like dinner! pic.twitter.com/HKkdUVqzpZ

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) September 3, 2016

[#Metro]

It is time public transport planning was wrested from BCC control. They are incompetent and profligate.

Time to stop listening to BCC. DUMP!!

(NB: also bizarre how all media outlets, including ABC just parrot the idea that buses are going to be stored there. Hint: Trains are not buses.)

[ozbob]

LOL  the real significant issues are glossed over (e.g. lack of capacity, network dislocation, massive cost) and they think the project pivots on a stabling yard?

Yep, it is Queensland!   

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Jackie Trad derails Graham Quirk's Brisbane metro project

Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad has ruled out Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's plans to take over a crucial inner-city site for the Brisbane City Council's Metro project on Saturday.

The large piece of inner-city land is the former Go Print site, located on Stanley Street at Woolloongabba.

The state government's Cross River Rail would use land beneath the site and construct proposed apartments on the surface to offset costs, while the Metro project would entail an above-ground metro station on the site.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the Brisbane Metro, Cross River Rail and proposed high-rise development could all share the site, but Infrastructure Minister Jackie Trad disagreed.

"We have said since 2010 ... the old Go Print site ... which has a priority development application on it, will be used as a Cross River Rail station," Minister Trad said.

"We know that this site, being only two kilometres from the city, is a fantastic opportunity for urban renewal and also to provide Queenslanders with the necessary piece of infrastructure."

The Lord Mayor said 68 per cent of public transport commuters used buses and claimed he is a man with a plan, unlike the state government.

"We can't just keep putting more and more buses into the network, the delays are getting longer and longer and the only way we can fix that is by fixing the infrastructure for bus services."

In June, the Lord Mayor said he believed the state government would allow the council to use the site at Woolloongabba.

However, after Minister Trad made it clear that would not be the case, the Labor opposition leader in council Peter Cumming said the project was "dead in the water".

"Quirk has sold Brisbane residents a pup with the Metro. This was a thought bubble put out by a panicked Lord Mayor in the heat of an election campaign," Councillor Cumming said.

"The Go Print site was always pivotal to his plan and it was never in play."

However, the Lord Mayor refused to admit the project was "dead" and said there were other options.

"The Go Print site is one option, it was a preferred option but there are other options," Lord Mayor Quirk said.

But Councillor Cumming said the Lord Mayor needed to listen to what experts had been telling him for months.

"Quirk says he will continue to proceed with this failed Metro plan, throwing ratepayer money down the drain," Cr Cumming said.

Ms Trad said she was willing to work with Brisbane City Council and hoped both projects could co-exist.

"I have said to Graham that I want to see the business case, the state government wants to work with the Brisbane City Council around how we can deliver both projects."

"Both tiers of government understand that we need to be working together to deliver the best public transport solutions for Queenslanders."

[ozbob]

. @brisbanetimes The project 'derails' itself. It's nonsense! > https://t.co/TJZEUO1XBZ #qldpol#quackmetro pic.twitter.com/gOJtAbm2FZ

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) September 3, 2016

[Stillwater]

From Brisbane Times story:

Ms Trad said she was willing to work with Brisbane City Council and hoped both projects could co-exist.

"I have said to Graham that I want to see the business case, the state government wants to work with the Brisbane City Council around how we can deliver both projects."

So Ms Trad wants to impose the discipline of a business case on Cr Quirk and BCC re a dud Brisbane Metro, but she requests billions from Canberra for transport infrastructure without having to restrict herself and the state government to the requirement of a business case.  In the early days she wanted the feds to fund CRR III without presenting a business case.  I doubt if there is a business case for the Townsville Stadium.  And, as we know, the SCL Duplication business case is missing in action, despite the numerous studies done on that line over the years -- by both sides of politics.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

3rd September 2016

Quirk Metro dead: Here is what to do!

Greetings,

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk asks the question:

"If the Deputy Premier or anybody else is saying this is a dead project they need to explain to the people of Brisbane what they are going to do for bus commuters."

RAIL Back on Track gave Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government our New Bus Network Proposal in November 2014. Our proposal is here - http://tiny.cc/newnetwork

Here is a step-by-step guide on what to do:

1. DO NOT RENEW Brisbane City Council's bus contacts! It is madness to sign up a bus operator that has made public threats to axe bus services on the network.

2. BAN Brisbane City Council from operating public transport. Transfer all public transport operations, staff, and responsibilities to the State Government. Achieve this by altering The City of Brisbane Act (2010). Preserve all worker entitlements.

3. Bus Reform Taskforce. All members of the former Fares Review Taskforce should be recalled and reconstituted as a Bus Reform taskforce. Ex-Brisbane Transport director Neil Cagney should chair it. Ex-BCC Transport Policy expert Peter Quick should also be included.

4. Public Consultation.People should be able to send in their own bus network suggestions.

5. Bus Review. Do one area of the city first, and then move on to the next area. Leave the most difficult/complex reform area until last (Indooroopilly and Western Suburbs). Breaking Brisbane in four or so review areas seems about right.

6. Release a draft single network map comparing old and new networks side by side. Under no circumstances should single routes appear in isolation. A side-by-side journey planner for both the old and proposed new networks should be available.

7. Implement the new bus network. Superbuses carrying 150 passengers should also be introduced on main bus routes. Overseas, superbuses routinely run on surface streets without busway infrastructure.

Bus reform is not a cost cutting exercise. A new bus network will cost just as much as the old bus network. Its aim is to maximise patronage and guarantee basic coverage. Something that the current BCC bus network is failing to do.

The Queensland Government achieved excellent outcomes with the recent fares review taskforce. We need to apply that again here.

Best wishes,
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

References:

The ' Quirk Metro ' is a con and waste - confirmed
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11952.msg179169#msg179169

Brisbane Metro project dead in current form
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/brisbane-metro-project-dead-in-current-form/news-story/39352b58f6ee37c9dc852634ba416d01

Queensland Government block Brisbane City Council from land needed for $1.5b subway system
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-03/queensland-government-stop-brisbane-council-over-subway-plans/7811670

Jackie Trad derails Graham Quirk's Brisbane metro project
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/jackie-trad-derails-graham-quirks-brisbane-metro-project-20160903-gr83cq.html

[ Attached: http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11952.msg179166#msg179166 ]

[#Metro]

Brisbanetimes --> Jackie Trad derails Graham Quirk's Brisbane metro project

I encourage EVERYBODY on this forum to get on the Brisbane Times website and make a comment! This is getting ridiculous.

   

[ozbob]

Latest: @Team_Quirk Metro dead: Here is what to do!
> https://t.co/T9oDWotNvC#qldpol@QLDLabor @LNPQLD @QldGreens pic.twitter.com/B4OQL4yYaZ

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) September 3, 2016

[#Metro]

The Lord Mayor said 68 per cent of public transport commuters used buses and claimed he is a man with a plan, unlike the state government.

What garbage. The Lord Mayor is a man with a bunch of photoshop images. That what he has!

No business case, no engineering feasibility, no public consultation. No wonder it is dead!

So Ms Trad wants to impose the discipline of a business case on Cr Quirk and BCC re a dud Brisbane Metro, but she requests billions from Canberra for transport infrastructure without having to restrict herself and the state government to the requirement of a business case.  In the early days she wanted the feds to fund CRR III without presenting a business case.  I doubt if there is a business case for the Townsville Stadium.  And, as we know, the SCL Duplication business case is missing in action, despite the numerous studies done on that line over the years -- by both sides of politics.

Business cases have to be respected. Unfortunately, often when the unpopular answer or unwanted answer pops out, people go into denial mode and say things like "we can't quantify the benefits" or "this offers so much more than the BCR". The trouble is, if you claim that the benefits cannot be quantified, how does anyone know that any benefits actually exist?

BCRs and NPVs are project aids - ultimately decision can be informed by, but not decided by, the numbers. Where BCRs cannot or should not be used, alternative approaches exist.

Business case will make short work of Quirk's metro. It doesn't pass engineering feasibility as it stands - (9000 pphd is a reduction on current capacity).

[#Metro]

Graham Quirk now:

"We can't just keep putting more and more buses into the network, the delays are getting longer and longer and the only way we can fix that is by fixing the infrastructure for bus services."

Graham Quirk then:

Cnr Quirk said that council's review looked at the efficiencies of 235 of Brisbane's bus routes but "Brisbane's bus network does not require a radical overhaul" as was suggested with the sweeping changes outlined in Translink's original review.

Brisbane's bus network isn't broken and doesn't need a radical overhaul like the one proposed by Translink, which is why I've scrapped it now that the State Government has handed council control," Cr Quirk said in a statement.

Conclusion

Local government to blame for Brisbane's broken bus network
http://www.qt.com.au/news/no-trust-brisbanes-bus-network/2945739/

LORD Mayor Graham Quirk has demonstrated that he hasn't got what it takes to deliver a decent bus network for Brisbane.
The key problem is the bus network and the inability of Brisbane City Council and the State Government to fix it.



References

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/04/22/3742115.htm

[verbatim9]

Channel 7 News reported that the Metro will go ahead despite the Go print set back

[aldonius]

Some more capacity calculations:

The (population-weighted) average bus in the fleet has a total capacity of 63 (seated 45).

South Bank in peak (Platform 1 7:30 to 8:30, Platform 2 16:30 to 17:30) presently does about 163-164 buses per hour, so the present upper bound for capacity through South Bank is about 10,330.

Cultural Centre is higher thanks to West End services and Northside starters/terminators: over the same time periods, P1 (AM) does 223 bph; P2 (PM) does 197 bph.

Buranda is also higher (than South Bank), with Capt Cook & UQ services, although others also don't stop there. P1 (AM) does 213 bph; P2 (PM) does 159 bph.

Of course, the single busiest point on the busway network is the northern leg of Woolloongabba Junction, which presumably sees a peak flow upwards of about 240 bphpd.

[SteelPan]

oh Jackie would play politics with her own soul - literally - if it brought her 5mins "whatever"!  Let's hope, as rail backers, the Metro powers on.... heck, who knows, one day, good ol "Brissie" could be like umpteen other cities around the world and end up with both a modest underground and light-rail system....... wonders never cease!   

[ozbob]

Channel 7 News reported that the Metro will go ahead despite the Go print set back

LM Quirk can think what he likes.  It will not go ahead as proposed.  Simply does not stack up.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

4th September 2016

Time to move on with network reform Lord Mayor

Good Morning,

It is time for Lord Mayor Quirk to drop his flawed ' metro ' and allow the bus network reform process to begin.

If the State Government will not  give over the land which is ear marked for Cross River Rail there is no way they will give over the inner bus way core for such a flawed proposal. Particularly a project that costs billions of dollars and actually reduces capacity of our public transport network.

A real metro needs to deliver at least 30,000 passengers per hour per direction to warrant the massive expenditure and very disruptive network dislocation.

The Quirk ' toy metro ' only delivers 9,000 passengers per direction per hour, present busways deliver around 12,000-15,000 passengers per hour.

There will be a lot of passengers waiting for a Quirk ' toy metro ' hey?

Lord Mayor Quirk is guilty of double-think.  Bus network reform will deliver massive benefits for near neutral cost.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk now:

"We can't just keep putting more and more buses into the network, the delays are getting longer and longer and the only way we can fix that is by fixing the infrastructure for bus services."

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk 2013:

Cr Quirk said that council's review looked at the efficiencies of 235 of Brisbane's bus routes but "Brisbane's bus network does not require a radical overhaul" as was suggested with the sweeping changes outlined in Translink's original review.

Brisbane's bus network isn't broken and doesn't need a radical overhaul like the one proposed by Translink, which is why I've scrapped it now that the State Government has handed council control," Cr Quirk said in a statement.

LORD Mayor Graham Quirk has demonstrated that he hasn't got what it takes to deliver a decent bus network for Brisbane.
The key problem is the bus network and the inability of Brisbane City Council and the State Government to fix it.

Brisbane remains captured by gutless politics and incompetence.  Other jurisdictions have done bus network reform with huge gains for their communities.

There is no need to spend billions of dollars on thought bubbles, just get on with network reform, as should have occurred in 2013. 

The Brisbane bus network is broken.

Best wishes,
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

Letter to the Editor Queensland Times

http://www.qt.com.au/news/no-trust-brisbanes-bus-network/2945739/

Local government to blame for Brisbane's broken bus network
29th Feb 2016 9:00 AM

LORD Mayor Graham Quirk has demonstrated that he hasn't got what it takes to deliver a decent bus network for Brisbane.

The key problem is the bus network and the inability of Brisbane City Council and the State Government to fix it.

All other Australian capital cities don't trust local government to run public transport. Sydney has its buses run by NSW Government company State Transit.

Perth has its buses run by three private contractors under public agency TransPerth.

In NSW, buses, metros and light rail are State Government initiatives and are not local council projects.

In theory, the Queensland Government decides which bus routes go where and how often.

In practice, this is not the case.

We know this because this theory was tested during the 2013 TransLink Bus Review.

In the real world, Brisbane City Council actively blocked the bus review, refusing to send staff to meetings on six separate occasions.

A cosmetic bus review followed, leaving critical problems with the bus network such as waste, duplication and "black holes" intact.

Waste and duplication increase bus service costs.

So the Queensland Government increased fares.

Residents are angry that there are "black holes" in Brisbane City Council's bus network - Yeronga, Bulimba.

By rejecting the 2013 TransLink Bus Review, the Lord Mayor effectively cancelled proposed service upgrades to their suburbs.

Uber has now moved into this space, profiting from the lack of bus service there.

The removal of the Coronation Dr's bus lane now means western suburbs residents are caught on buses in traffic gridlock.

The Lord Mayor rejected bus reform at the time saying "the bus network is not broken and does not need a radical overhaul". He also said that he would "never ever" implement such reforms and that they were absolutely "off the table".

Other cities reformed their bus networks. Brisbane's Sister City of Auckland, NZ reviewed its bus network. Hobart completely reviewed its bus network, cutting bus network complexity by 50%.

In fact, the Auckland bus review involved the former head of Brisbane Transport Neil Cagney, who now runs a transport consulting firm on Coronation Dr.

Importantly, none of these cities are building a metro in order to fix their bus networks. They are just getting on with fixing their bus network directly.

ROBERT DOW, Rail Back on Track

[ozbob]

Latest media: Time to move on with network reform @Team_Quirk
> https://t.co/rOX5Ga13mI#qldpol@jackietrad pic.twitter.com/XqIvPiWoAO

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) September 3, 2016

[#Metro]

"Dance into the fire..."

Pull up a banana lounge and watch the bus network gridlock itself.

[ozbob]

Some more capacity calculations:

The (population-weighted) average bus in the fleet has a total capacity of 63 (seated 45).

South Bank in peak (Platform 1 7:30 to 8:30, Platform 2 16:30 to 17:30) presently does about 163-164 buses per hour, so the present upper bound for capacity through South Bank is about 10,330.

Cultural Centre is higher thanks to West End services and Northside starters/terminators: over the same time periods, P1 (AM) does 223 bph; P2 (PM) does 197 bph.

Buranda is also higher (than South Bank), with Capt Cook & UQ services, although others also don't stop there. P1 (AM) does 213 bph; P2 (PM) does 159 bph.

Of course, the single busiest point on the busway network is the northern leg of Woolloongabba Junction, which presumably sees a peak flow upwards of about 240 bphpd.

Thanks Aldonius.

Cultural Centre  213 x 63 = 13,419 pphpd.  A toy metro is not going to do much, just cause massive grief and failure.

'Gabba 240 x 63 = 15,120 pphpd

[SurfRail]

The above figures also don't (yet) take into account things like:

- Offboard validation
- All-door boarding
- A higher proportion of articulated buses with a higher density of doors
- More modern bus designs with wider and better laid out doors and which give more priority to standees

[ozbob]

Yep.  Need to capitalise on the infrastructure that we actually have.  BCC is lazy and inept.

It is outrageous the profligate $$$ waste already on the quack pipe-dream. 

Crystal clear what needs to occur.

[Otto]

The 6 year closure of William and permanent closure of Queens Wharf Road is going to put more pressure on the Mater to CC section of the busway with blank running buses heading to the QSBS.
Just sit and observe the volume of buses using QWR in the afternoon peak and you will get an idea of the extra buses that the Busway will need to handle next year. 

[ozbob]

^ which makes proper reform even more pressing.

> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11047.msg179220#msg179220

[ozbob]

Queens Wharf Bus changes > http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=12370.msg179228#msg179228

[ozbob]

Letter to the Editor Queensland Times 5th September 2016 page 23

Trad makes the right move on metro depot

[ozbob]

Letter to Ed @qld_times ' @jackietrad makes the right move on metro depot '
> https://t.co/xPr2ZGhIsI#qldpol pic.twitter.com/qaMlPZfN6B

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) September 4, 2016

[ozbob]

Heard a news report on 4BC that went something like the Deputy Premier has called on the LM to abandon the ' metro ' as not achievable.

LM said he is sick of waiting for something to be done by the State Govt for buses ..   

My response:

. @Team_Quirk @jackietrad @AnnastaciaMP and here is how to do it!
> https://t.co/onsrbTIJXN#qldpol#youarewelcome

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) September 5, 2016

[ozbob]

I have said it before, and I will say it again.

Brisbane public transport is a giant cluster-fuk!

Oh dear ...

[verbatim9]

I can still see some kind of Metro Light Rail being built in the coming years in combination with CRR.

[ozbob]

I can still see some kind of Metro Light Rail being built in the coming years in combination with CRR.

Indeed.  And our position is that we do support a real metro down the track.   But it has to be a system that is really scalable, has the correct alignments, is automatic, and has the true capacity capability of at least 30,000 pphpd.  Otherwise simply not worth it for the reasons we have discussed endlessly.

I have made that clear to BCC as well.  We are not anti-metro as such, we are anti-half-baked thought bubbles!

[verbatim9]

That's true was implying more along those lines better to build future proof. Driverless etc... Underground......

[#Metro]

LM said he is sick of waiting for something to be done by the State Govt for buses ..

The State Government can do something - take the buses off the Lord Mayor!

It's a bit rich for the Lord Mayor to say he is sick of the State Government doing nothing with the buses - only to block the State Government when they do something. Madness!

[ozbob]

Going ... going ....  gone ...

I think we can now conclude the Quirk ' metro ' simply doesn't really stack up and Government has come to that position.

==================

Brisbanetimes --> Quirk's Metro falters as Palaszczuk escalates feud

The fractured relationship between the state government and Brisbane City Council shows no signs of being repaired, with a dispute over Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's Metro plan escalating on Monday.

Cr Quirk has also refused to offer up any alternative locations for the Brisbane Metro's rolling stock holding yard after the state government ruled out its Go Print site at Woolloongabba at the weekend.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, when announcing a $67 million plan to upgrade Central Station, said Cross River Rail remained the state's biggest priority and the Metro should be scrapped.

"We need the federal government to come on board (with Cross River Rail) and what I say to Lord Mayor Graham Quirk is he should ditch his metro-style plan," Ms Palaszczuk said on Monday.

"Forget it, because what we need is all three levels of government focused on the most important infrastructure project for our state, which is the Cross River Rail in south-east Queensland."

With the Go Print site seemingly off the table, Cr Quirk said the council would have to look at other options, but he could not shed light on where those might be.

"I'm not going to go into those other options now because that's what the business case is all about," he said.

"We've put in place a team that is going to produce a business case, which will be out by May next year.

"I've said that from day one and that still remains the position."

Cr Quirk said he had "no objection" to Cross River Rail but he conceded the Brisbane Metro could struggle to get off the ground without the state government's support.

"Any project that we do, whether it has been the Clem7, Legacy Way, the Go Between Bridge, the Eleanor Schonell Bridge, have all required the support of the state government by way of approvals," he said.

"Any project that this council does requires that.

"The point I would make is that we have done a lot of projects in the past decade that in any other state in this nation would be projects undertaken by state governments.

"So we have been investing because we needed to keep this city moving."

Cr Quirk said the Metro was needed to address the inner-city bus bottleneck because 68 per cent of Brisbane public transport users travelled by bus.

The dispute came on the heels of both levels of government coming to loggerheads over $10 million worth of CBD intersection upgrades, brought on by the state-approved Queens Wharf casino and hotel complex.

The council had not sought funding assurances from the state government before starting the work.

The council had also not discussed the Metro with the state government prior to its announcement during the council election campaign in January.

At the time, Cr Quirk's office said it had not consulted with the state, which owned most of the land needed to build the Metro, because "any consultation would have been likely to result in the Labor opposition being provided with details of our plan".

In light of these apparent failures of communication, Cr Quirk was asked whether the relationship between the state government and the council was anything short of dysfunctional.

"I don't want to be in dispute, I'm not that sort of person by nature," Cr Quirk said.

"I want to get on and do things and we have proven in the past decade we are a council that's capable of doing things, capable of building the big infrastructure this city needs."

A spokesman for Ms Palaszczuk said the government considered it to be in the "best interests" to have a productive working relationship with the council.

"We believe we've had that, and we want it to continue," he said.

"The Premier is very keen for all three levels of government to work together to get the Cross River Rail project started, just as we have done with Gold Coast Light Rail.

"The reality is that the BCC is a very large organisation, and it needs to play its part on Cross River Rail."

[ozbob]

. @brisbanetimes Quirk ' metro ' is absurd. No Govt would support as proposed.
Here is why > https://t.co/TJZEUO1XBZ#qldpol#thoughtbubble

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) September 5, 2016

. @brisbanetimes We can add ' Quirk Metro ' to the BaT, the Cleveland Solution, the Adelaide St bus tunnel as burst thought bubbles! #qldpol

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) September 5, 2016

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

5th September 2016

Ditch the Quirk Metro - supported!

Greetings,

We support Premier Palaszczuk in her call for Lord Mayor Quirk to ditch the ' metro '. 

[ Brisbanetimes --> Quirk's Metro falters as Palaszczuk escalates feud ]

The Quirk metro is flawed transport planning as proposed.  It simply does not stack up and would wreck Brisbane's bus system.

We have detailed the reasons why the metro is a nonsense.

What is needed is improvements to the bus flow around the Cultural Centre bus station and on Victoria Bridge together with bus network reform to reduce the number of empty buses clogging up the CBD and inner busway network. With the bus changes being forced by Queens Wharf this network reform is now even more pressing. Buses can then be deployed to the suburbs where they are actually needed.

The basic work for Brisbane bus network reform was done in 2013, it is sitting in a drawer at TransLink.  Pull it out and start work!

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

[ Attached: http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=11952.msg179169#msg179169 ]

====================================

Media: ' Ditch the @Team_Quirk Metro - supported! '
> https://t.co/tgTh7Ny0XK#qldpol@AnnastaciaMP pic.twitter.com/cLMaCeiaCH

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) September 5, 2016