Redcliffe Peninsula line & associated changes - rail

[#Metro]

The Newman Govt had planned to break up Queensland Rail and flog it, and in fact on the night of the election there were financiers in place ready to act.  As election events proceeded the financiers were ordered to leave the building ...

It is not clear to me how that would work. What would the financiers be financing?

Suburban rail operations are unprofitable, except where the government has contracted out fee-for-service, as it is with the buses.

Even in Melbourne, the physical assets (tracks etc) are publicly owned IIRC. METRO Melbourne is just a fee-for-service operator.

[ozbob]

Was part of a larger flog off.  QR effectively was going to be broken up into a number of different franchises/sales components, including the Mount Isa Railway, maintenance, and operations.  It matters little now as the election changed the outcomes.  The LNP were far from honest in Government, the BaT being another good example.

Metro Melbourne is a franchise.  In the end they do not save anything only ruin infrastructure as it is run into the ground.  The money Melbourne has to find now to sort the long sorry history is massive.

What matters now in SEQ is sorting out the mess!

[Stillwater]

What is needed is a step by step action plan for transport in SEQ -- not one of those glossy brochures with pretty pictures and motherhood statements, but a timeline, quarter by quarter for the next five years, saying what will happen when, who is responsible for the actions, the outcomes and the costs.  Public oversight of the actions as they roll, so we are alerted to shortfalls and dragging of the chain.

Mr Hinchliffe and Ms Palaszczuk have admitted that they did not know what was going on, or what is going on.  They don't know what they don't know.  Massive fail.

With all respect, Premier, being furious doesn't cut it.  To be a leader, visionary and problem solver is what required under the circumstances.  Sacking people?  Well that is more staff cuts in critical areas -- a bit of theatre for the public.  In Roman times someone would be fed to the lions for a bit of distraction.

The underlying problems need to be exposed and a concerted course of action rigorously imposed.

[#Metro]

What is needed is a step by step action plan for transport in SEQ

I think we have enough plans already. Just need the funding, commitment and doing it. There should be a proper parliamentary inquiry as it might uncover whatever Blue team were up to that set off this chain of events.

Mr Hinchliffe and Ms Palaszczuk have admitted that they did not know what was going on, or what is going on.  They don't know what they don't know.  Massive fail.

When QR cancelled 50 train services, it did seem like they were not in the loop. 

[Stillwater]

^^You overlooked my comment re OUTCOMES and COSTS.  We want outcomes and we want them costed and financed.  I'll be blunt.  I want to be taxed more for the services I get from government, but I am in the minority.

[#Metro]

^^You overlooked my comment re OUTCOMES and COSTS.  We want outcomes and we want them costed and financed.  I'll be blunt.  I want to be taxed more for the services I get from government, but I am in the minority.

NSW Power Grid lease = $16 BN.

That's 3x CRRs.

Abolish stamp duties, replace with a very low land tax. Sorted.

And any time infrastructure goes in, the LVT will claw back the uplift in improvements automatically.

The 7.10am Ferny Grove to Park Road train is cancelled. The next train will depart Ferny Grove at 7.17am.
The 7.25am Ferny Grove to Park Road train is cancelled. The next train will depart Ferny Grove at 7.32am.

Brizcommuter must be happy! 

[BrizCommuter]

^^You overlooked my comment re OUTCOMES and COSTS.  We want outcomes and we want them costed and financed.  I'll be blunt.  I want to be taxed more for the services I get from government, but I am in the minority.

NSW Power Grid lease = $16 BN.

That's 3x CRRs.

Abolish stamp duties, replace with a very low land tax. Sorted.

And any time infrastructure goes in, the LVT will claw back the uplift in improvements automatically.

The 7.10am Ferny Grove to Park Road train is cancelled. The next train will depart Ferny Grove at 7.17am.
The 7.25am Ferny Grove to Park Road train is cancelled. The next train will depart Ferny Grove at 7.32am.

Brizcommuter must be happy! 

Discussion on the interim timetable is on this thread:
http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=12524.0

[ozbob]

Letter to the Editor Queensland Times 24th October 2016 page 15

Crew numbers affecting services

[ozbob]

Media has been busy this morning done some interviews for 4KQ and ABC Gold Coast.

[ozbob]

RTBU Media Release 21 October 2016

Secret LNP plan to privatise CityTrains sparks network delays

Secret Newman Government plans to privatise Brisbane's passenger trains led to the driver shortage which sparked
today's widespread train delays.

Rail Tram and Bus Union State Secretary Owen Doogan has today called on former Transport Minister Scott Emerson and
current Opposition leader Tim Nicholls to reveal all they know about cost-cutting as part of QR's secret preparation for
franchising.

"Sources have indicated to me that the shareholding LNP ministers at the time in 2013 – Transport Minister Scott Emerson
and Treasurer Tim Nicholls - were insisting on cost-cutting in QR before privatisation," he said.

Mr Doogan said the decimation of the QR driver training centre in 2013 with around 40 per cent of the tutor drivers being
made redundant was also a major factor.

"Emerson and Nicholls also cut costs for signaling on the Moreton Bay line and that was a disaster, which has now had
another impact on train services for commuters."

Mr Doogan said the flawed LNP signaling system on the Moreton Bay line had limited driver training for this line prior to
its opening. This training is required by safety regulations.

"Adherence to driver fatigue management for the safety of passengers contributed to today's decision to cut some
services.

"QR and the RTBU are both committed to ensuring passenger safety is our first priority."

"Those secret plans of Nicholls and Emerson to privatise this publicly-owned asset have backfired spectacularly today with
a train driver shortage causing delays on networks," he said.

Queensland Rail today cancelled more than 100 train services in Brisbane due to a shortage of train drivers.

[ozbob]

LNP Opposition Media Release

http://www.timnicholls.com.au/hinchliffe-frolics-corporate-box-throughout-train-turmoil/

Hinchliffe frolics in corporate box throughout train turmoil

Opposition Media Releases

Oct 10, 2016 (sic)

Deb Frecklington MP - Member for Nanango - Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, State Development, Trade and Investment   

Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe spends the day in a corporate box at the Gold Coast 600 while the Queensland Rail board hold an emergency meeting to address train cancellations

Minister Hinchliffe silent on train delays since Friday's epic fail which left commuters stranded SEQ commuters left in the dark after Labor's latest rail fail, with 100 Queensland Rail services cancelled last Friday on zero explanation

Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has been caught out relishing the corporate lifestyle at the Gold Coast 600 while problems continue with Brisbane's train network and Queensland Rail holds an emergency meeting.

Deputy Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said Stirling Hinchliffe should be front and centre to assure commuters all train services will be available and on time instead of clocking off on the Gold Coast.

"It's bad enough Minister Hinchliffe is in hiding from his failings with the train network, but it's even worse he thinks it's a good idea to enjoy a day at the races while the rail network remains in crisis," Ms Frecklington said.

"The Queensland Rail Board held an "emergency meeting" today, but it is clear the Minister sees a day at the Gold Coast 600 as more important than ensuring that commuters will be able to get to work on Monday on time.

"Annastacia Palaszczuk should be demanding her Minister do his job instead of standing up in the Whitsundays three days after there were delays and simply telling Queenslanders she isn't happy.

"Stirling Hinchliffe is clearly out of touch if he is leaving ordinary commuters in the dark and passing the buck to Queensland Rail while he enjoys a premium seat and top-shelf hospitality at the V8's.

Ms Frecklington said it had been three days since the sudden cancellation of more than 100 trains, with nothing but deafening silence from Labor's Stirling Hinchliffe.

"The buck stops with Minister Hinchliffe," she said.

"It's time Stirling Hinchliffe faced up to Queenslanders and started taking responsibility for his portfolio."

"Labor has been hiding behind TransLink and Queensland Rail – Queenslanders deserve an explanation from the Minister on why he let Queensland Rail collapse into a state of chaos.

"It's a sad reminder of the bad old days of the Bligh Labor Government when Annastacia Palaszczuk was the Transport Minister and responsible for a three-year low in rail reliability."

[#Metro]

"Sources have indicated to me that the shareholding LNP ministers at the time in 2013 – Transport Minister Scott Emerson
and Treasurer Tim Nicholls - were insisting on cost-cutting in QR before privatisation," he said.

Bizzare.

It isn't obvious as to why the training department was cut. It is not a pre-condition for privatisation and it is difficult to see what the gain would be. It is entirely possible to privatise something and not have taken that cut option.

When a rail operation is made contestable, new management comes in. Any decisions to change anything rest with the new management - after all, that's the whole idea of getting the new management in the first place.

A simpler explanation is that the department was part of a larger public servant offload across government. After all, there was a whole-of-government program to remove 14 000 jobs from the public service, along with hiring bans/freezes etc.

Whether it would be privatised or not appears to be incidental. Even if Blue Team had intended to keep it public, they would have fired anyway, as they were doing that in almost all portfolios.

As a side note, the very high operational costs of QR come down to not being a DOO operation IMHO. That requires ATP and perhaps some infrastructure works as well. Whether private or public, operating costs will remain high so long as DOO is not there.

[tazzer9]

DOO is realistically only small savings.   Think about everyone who works for QR and their different skills and jobs.  Traincrew is only a small aspect.

[red dragin]

Training would be an easy cut with no short term detriment - as has now shown up longer term. Had they won the election QR would have not been their problem at this point.

Given the new inductees only started late last year/early this year, its fortunate the line was delayed from its original Jan 2016 opening. I feel the situation would have been even more dire than it is now.

[ozbob]

Not bizarre at all really.  Lining it up for the flog off there would be the thinking that training drivers will not be an ongoing issue.  Not our problem thinking all part of trying to make it look more lean and mean.  Union is spot on IMHO.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Brisbane trains: Interim timetable lists more than 40 rail cancellations

The state's transport minister says he wasn't warned about an impending rail crisis until the night before more than 100 train cancellations caused major headaches for south-east Queensland commuters.

Queensland Rail knew about the problems on Thursday afternoon but commuters weren't told until the Translink website and social media accounts were updated on Friday morning.

On Monday, Stirling Hinchliffe defended the efforts to warn travellers, telling ABC Radio it wasn't until Thursday that he was told regular service cancellations had become a "more fundamental problem".

Mass cancellations are expected to continue for a fortnight from Tuesday, with more than 50 services to be canned this Friday.

A driver shortage tied to the recent opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula line prompted a mea culpa from the rail operator and sent the board into an emergency meeting across the weekend, resulting in a scaled-back, interim timetable from Tuesday.

Mr Hinchliffe was spotted at the Gold Coast 600 Supercars event on Sunday but said he still briefed the board meeting.

QR chief executive officer Helen Gluer was again apologising for the inconvenience on Monday morning as she foreshadowed a two-week timetable change.

Translink released the interim timetable on its website on Monday morning, detailing cuts to 43 services from Tuesday to Thursday and 52 on Friday.

"We are terribly confident that at the conclusion of this next two weeks that we will be able to deliver against our published timetables with our normal high level of service," she told The Today Show.

"We normally run at 96 per cent. We are the best performer on the east coast.

"We are terribly disappointed we haven't been able to do it this month. We are running at 91.

"We need to get back to where we were. We are confident we will be doing this within two weeks on the interim timetable."

The driver shortage and resulting timetable issues were blamed on the need to train another 100 drivers for the newly opened Moreton Bay Rail Link.

A furious Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the extra drivers were commissioned in 2015 but Ms Gluer said they couldn't be fully trained until the line opened on October 4.

"Because it's a main line, we weren't able to train staff on how that line could operate until it was actually open," she said,

"While that training's happening we have to have an additional driver and an additional guard on all of those services."

On Sunday, Deputy Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington slammed Mr Hinchliffe on Sunday as "incompetent" and criticised him for being "in hiding" while Ms Gluer took the heat.

Mr Hinchliffe denied asking QR to make an apology.

Ms Frecklington called on the minister to tell commuters what he knows, when he was briefed and "what he knows about this issue".

On Monday, Ms Gluer said Mr Hinchliffe was alerted to the problem on Thursday night before the cancellations.

"He then called an urgent meeting on Friday morning," she said.

"He's been in constant contact with us over the last few days. A board meeting was held yesterday at the minister's request and he's made it very clear that we need to get back to delivering services for our customers."

Ms Frecklington ramped up the pressure on Monday, telling ABC Radio the "buck stops" with the minister and there was "no justification" for him to be at the GC600.

On Sunday, Mr Hinchliffe said he was expecting a response report from the board overnight.

"I addressed the board and executive leadership team to express the clear expectation that government has for the highest level of service delivery in public transport," he said.

[Gazza]

We are the best performer on the east coast.

But you'll never be as good as TransPerth.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe to brief Cabinet on emergency QR board meeting

QUEENSLAND'S transport minister has criticised the State Government's own rail operator over a driver shortage that resulted in more than 100 services being cancelled in Brisbane last Friday.

Stirling Hinchliffe, who has come under fire over the debacle, says Queensland Rail didn't tell him of the scale of the driver shortage until the night before the cancellations.

"I made it very clear that this lack of performance was unacceptable," Mr Hinchliffe told ABC radio this morning.

"The lack of notice to myself was unacceptable."

He also denied the government had told Queensland Rail chief executive Helen Gluer to take personal responsibility for the debacle, and said that was her own idea.

Brisbane commuters will now face up to two weeks of disrupted rail services as Queensland Rail introduces an interim timetable to deal with the shortage.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is demanding answers over the cancellations, which left two rail lines shut down on Friday night, and has refused to rule out sacking those responsible for the service woes.

From Mondays to Thursdays, 30 services will be cancelled and 11 changed. On Fridays 32 services will be cancelled and 19 changed. Weekend services will remain unchanged. ...

[ozbob]

Media Statement

Minister for Transport and the Commonwealth Games
The Honourable Stirling Hinchliffe

PLAN TO RESTORE QUEENSLAND RAIL FRONTLINE SERVICES AND DELIVERY

Queensland Rail will undertake the further recruitment of 100 additional drivers and an extra 100 guards as part of a five-point plan to restore services for the travelling public.

Minister for Transport and the Commonwealth Games Stirling Hinchliffe said Cabinet had today been briefed on the report from the Queensland Rail board received last night.

"In total, QR will be recruiting an extra 200 drivers and an extra 200 guards. Of the 100 drivers approved last year, 79 drivers have already been recruited and 74 guards have also been recruited," the Minister said.

"In the interim a new timetable for weekday services has been developed by QR. This timetable will start tomorrow with a 2.3% reduction in daily services."

The five-point plan requires QR to:

    initiate the recruitment of an additional 100 drivers tomorrow;
    complete the recruitment and training of 100 additional drivers and 100 additional guards approved by the Government in November 2015;
    deliver the interim timetable to minimise the disruption to the travelling public;
    maintain the supply of train drivers by ensuring guards are stationed and trained on the Next Generation Rollingstock – providing a pipeline of future drivers with route knowledge;
    work with its employees to develop more flexible working arrangements, including part-time arrangements – boosting the longevity of the existing workforce and creating driver roster flexibility

"After meeting with Queensland Rail CEO Helen Gluer this morning and advice from the QR Board last night, Cabinet has been briefed on the roll out of an interim timetable and the next steps including the recruitment of additional drivers," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"The Government and the public have the highest expectations when it comes to the delivery of our core services.

"On behalf of the Government I also apologise that Queensland Rail hasn't delivered to the high standards that we set for ourselves," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"The Government's priority since being made aware of this on Thursday night was to make sure our customers received the most up to date information and be provided with the high quality service they are used to.

"Despite clear and repeated advice from QR that it was prepared for the extra services with the opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula line services, it is now clear that this was not achieved.

"After being advised on Thursday evening by QR of the need to cancel services due to a shortage of drivers, on Friday I convened an urgent meeting of Queensland Rail and the Department of Transport and Main Roads on Friday and approved the development of today's interim timetable.

"That's why I instructed the Queensland Rail Board to meet yesterday and I addressed the Board, making it clear the Government's expectations of service delivery.

"On time performance for QR in August and September was between 95% and 96%. It is expected to be 91% for October. This is not acceptable to the Government and more importantly, it's unacceptable to the travelling public.

"Queensland Rail and TransLink have a responsibility to the traveling public to deliver the best and highest level of service possible.

"It is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that our rail operator has the resources it requires to do the job and our plan today does that.

"Queensland Rail and TransLink will continue to make operational updates on the status of the services timetabled to be provided."

Interim timetable

The interim timetable developed by QR has sought to minimise disruption.

Under the interim timetable, there will be the cancellation of 30 services and the alteration or partial cancellation of 11 other services.

The number of train services will be reduced from 1306 per day to 1276 per day (or 2.3%) under the interim timetable for Monday to Thursday.

Twenty-five of the cancelled services will have a wait of less than 15 minutes to the next service. The other five cancelled services will have a wait of less than 30 minutes for the next service.

For Fridays, 32 services will be cancelled and 21 will be altered or partially cancelled, reducing the number of train services from 1342 to 1310 a day (or 2,4%).

The total number of services under the interim timetable remains higher than before the Redcliffe Peninsula line became operational of October 4 when there were a total number of 1218 services on Monday to Thursday and 1244 on Friday.

"As the Board has confirmed to me, all advice to Government was that Queensland Rail could meet the requirements of the new timetabled services. We now know that that was not the case and the Queensland Rail Chief Executive Officer has apologised and is addressing those concerns through the interim timetable released with me today," Minister Hinchliffe said.

ENDS

[ozbob]

Anyone keen to be a guard/driver?

Now. is. the. hour!

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe to brief Cabinet on emergency QR board meeting

THE boss of Queensland Rail has failed to back Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe's decision to attend the Gold Coast 600 as he refused to rule out demanding her resignation.

In an extraordinary press conference, Mr Hinchliffe stood beside QR chief executive Helen Gluer and twice refused to guarantee her job in the wake of the train timetable debacle.

He also attempted to defend his controversial attendance at the Gold Coast 600, insisting he was still monitoring the situation.

He wondered aloud whether he would have copped a negative Gold Coast Bulletin front page if he had not attended the sporting event.

When asked whether she backed him, Ms Gluer avoided the question and said in front of the media that she was "confused" about how to answer it.

The CEO also admitted there were serious failings on the part of QR and conceded that communication around the issue was "very badly" handled.

Ms Gluer admitted she was unable to tell Queenslanders how the debacle was able to happen.

"I know we've got this wrong, I can't explain why we've got this wrong," she said.

When asked whether she backed Mr Hinchliffe's decision to attend the Gold Coast 600, she failed to do so.

"The Minister dialled into our board meeting – my sense is I think he would have preferred to be in the board meeting," she said.

Pressed on the issue, Ms Gluer said: "I'm a bit confused on how to answer that."

At that point, Mr Hinchliffe stepped in to defend himself and pointed to his participation in the board meeting via phone.

At one point, the Minister said: "Maybe there would have been a front page of the Gold Coast Bulletin about how the Queensland Government didn't care and wasn't interested in their major event."

The Minister and Ms Gluer were both unable to say when the interim timetable would be removed and a permanent solution put in place.

Mr Hinchliffe also announced the State would put on an extra 100 drivers and an additional 100 guards. That recruitment process will be initiated tomorrow.

Ms Gluer said her advice to the Minister prior to last Thursday was that Queensland Rail "absolutely believed that it would be able to deliver the timetable as scheduled from the 4th of October".

"Clearly, we have got that wrong," she said.

"Part of the reason for that is that we have underestimated the amount of training that was required for the new line but also we have a resourcing issue."

She said QR's current focus was to get services back on track.

Mr Hinchliffe also tried to partially blame the former Newman government's sackings of workers for the debacle, while also blaming a lack of advice from QR.

Ms Gluer said QR would have a better idea of when it would transition away from the interim timetable in about a fortnight.

"We have got this wrong, there will undoubtedly be a number of reasons for that that need to be looked at but our focus right now is getting back to a level of service," she said.

Mr Hinchliffe insisted that he was "confident that (he) had the ear and the attention of the board members" on Friday, when he defended his Gold Coast 600 attendance.

Asked whether the Premier should have confidence in him, Mr Hinchliffe said he'd leave that to Ms Palaszczuk.

[Gazza]

100 extra drivers? So that means 4tph to  Rosewood right

[petey3801]

It isn't obvious as to why the training department was cut. It is not a pre-condition for privatisation and it is difficult to see what the gain would be. It is entirely possible to privatise something and not have taken that cut option.

It is a cost cutting action to make the organisation look more 'lean'. Another option is reducing the amount of leave hours that staff have so that there is less financial weigh downs on the organisation (I can't think of the exact term to explain it at this moment).

DOO is so far away from being the savior that you think it is LD. Plus, guards aren't going anywhere for the next 4 years at least.
DOO is not a straight up 50% operational saving for various reasons, such as:
- DOO means drivers' pay increases to take account of extra duties;
- Extra station staff needed at all accessible stations for loading/unloaded wheelchairs etc, meaning more $$;
- If no station staff at those station, much longer dwell times meaning timetables will become even fatter to keep trains running ontime;
- When certain safety systems in the driving cab fail, the guard rides with the driver to keep the train going to the City where it can be swapped for a new train. If there are no guards, the train doesn't move until a second driver is found;
- Guards take care of the passengers when there are things such as medical emergencies etc., allowing the driver to concentrate on keeping the train moving where possible or liasing with Network Control.

There are plenty of other reasons why keeping the guards on the trains is a good idea, but 1) this isn't really the thread to be discussing it and 2) I don't have time at the moment to keep going.

[red dragin]

Anyone keen to be a guard/driver?

Now. is. the. hour!

Pick me 

[BrizCommuter]

BrizCommuter is going for QR CEO position 

[Gazza]

I think there's obviously a midway point on the issue.

I agree it's not a 50% saving...Guards get paid less so its not not mathematically possible for starters. There's also the fixed cost of running a train which remains.

But at the same time the stuff about medical emergencies, wheelchair assistance, breakdowns etc have been solved outside of Qld, so they shouldn't be deciding factors.

At least we don't have flag wavers.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Brisbane trains: Transport Minister refuses to back tenure of Qld Rail boss

State Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has refused to back the tenure of Queensland Rail chief executive Helen Gluer as commuters in the south-east corner continue to experience service cancellations.


   " I know that we have got this wrong; I can't explain why we have got this wrong."
    Helen Gluer, Queensland Rail

But deputy opposition leader Deb Frecklington said it was Mr Hinchliffe's job that should be in danger and called for him to resign or be sacked.

Ms Gluer said QR's interim timetable, formulated at the weekend, would remain in place for at least two weeks as both she and Mr Hinchliffe were unable to offer a date for a return to full service.

Under the interim timetable, 30 services a day – down from 1306 to 1276 – would be cancelled until further notice.

QR's woes reached their nadir on Friday, when 100 services were cancelled with little notice, causing widespread inconvenience across the network.

Mr Hinchliffe said an additional 100 drivers and 100 guards would be recruited from Tuesday to help deal with the shortfall, but the ramifications – and possible recriminations – of the public transport failure were far from being settled on Monday.

At a media conference at QR headquarters in Bowen Hills, Mr Hinchliffe repeatedly deflected the question of whether Ms Gluer's job was secure.

"The absolute focus that we have is on delivering the reliability and the consistency passengers on the south-east Queensland rail network expect," he said.

"I know that the CEO is 100 per cent focused on that; I know I'm working 100 per cent focused on that and what we need to be doing for those passengers is remaining focused on delivering on that."

When pressed again on the issue, Mr Hinchliffe gave an indication Ms Gluer's position could come under "further consideration".

"I want to reiterate that these are matters that cabinet has only been briefed about in more detail (on Monday), following a report from the board meeting of Queensland Rail yesterday," he said.

"These are matters that we are, first and foremost under the instruction of the cabinet, focused on delivering the certainty and reliability that passengers expect on our rail network.

"That's our first and last priority.

"Other matters in relation to the accountability in the case of this issue are subject to further consideration."

Ms Gluer said QR "absolutely believed" it would be able to deliver the extra services brought on by the Redcliffe opening and was unable to explain how it got things so wrong.

"I can't explain that at the moment," she said.

"I know that we have got this wrong; I can't explain why we have got this wrong, but we will be looking at that in the very short term.

"Certainly prior to (the Redcliffe Peninsula line) opening, my view was we were going to be delivering the level of service required by this new timetable.

"We simply would not have if we did not think we could have. We have got this wrong, but my advice to the minister prior to opening was we would be able to deliver it."

Ms Frecklington said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk needed to "show some strong leadership and either sack Mr Hinchliffe or accept his resignation".

"As the minister responsible, he should have been on the front foot talking to Queenslanders, working around the clock to get the matter resolved," she said.

"Instead, he was the invisible man."

Mr Hinchliffe repeatedly blamed a lack of advice on the impending staffing issue from QR for the Palaszczuk government's failure to recruit more staff.

"The cuts that were made under (then) transport minister (Scott) Emerson and under direction from the then-treasurer, Mr (Tim) Nicholls, have led to a situation where we don't have the train crew," he said.

"Now I absolutely accept that this government needed to do something about that, that's why we did. We saw the recruitment process commence last year of a further 100 drivers and a further 100 guards and these extra resources today are to further supplement that process," he said.

"Now I'm very disappointed, very upset, and I know the government is, that we didn't get the advice that drew to our attention that recruitment process was not hitting the mark and providing the train crews necessary to meet the services that were proposed and put forward in consultation with QR and Translink for the delivery of the Redcliffe Peninsula line.

"... That's frankly not good enough and these are extra issues we've got to look at."

Mr Hinchliffe also defended his decision to attend the Gold Coast 600 car race at the weekend, saying his position as Minister for the Commonwealth Games warranted his attendance at the 2018 host city.

"Maybe there would have been a front page of the Gold Coast Bulletin saying how the Queensland government didn't care and wasn't interested in their major event this morning (if I had not have gone)," he said.

Ms Frecklington leapt on his choice to attend.

"It's extraordinary that Mr Hinchliffe thought it was more appropriate to socialise at the Gold Coast 600 than get to work on behalf of the thousands of south-east Queensland commuters who don't know if they'll be getting to work or school on time."

Mr Hinchliffe said there would be a review of the debacle once services had been restored.

[ozbob]

100 extra drivers? So that means 4tph to  Rosewood right

Right on.  It p%sses me off having to skull cold beers at Rosewood waiting interminably for the next service!  And sometimes missing it and having to repeat said cycle!   

[Fares_Fair]

They started recruiting 100 drivers and 100 guards last December and have approx. 75 of each currently, I read in a news report somewhere today.
Now they are recruiting another 100 drivers and 100 guards.. Wow.

What will they all do?

[ozbob]

Drive express services to and from Palmwoods and Goodna ?   

[#Metro]

There are plenty of other reasons why keeping the guards on the trains is a good idea, but 1) this isn't really the thread to be discussing it and 2) I don't have time at the moment to keep going.

Perth and Melbourne do it. Both cities have service production costs about half that of comparable cities with DOO such as Brisbane and Sydney.

Newer lines should be decked out with ATP and then looked at for DOO.

It will be a bit odd that we will come to a point where cars and buses drive themselves but the train still needs 2 people to operate it.

For reference:



You can see that Brisbane is 2x that of Perth, but also Sydney is 2x that of Melbourne as well.



Rail Patronage Management - effectiveness in practice, and new theoretical frames
Hale & Charles
12th WCTR, July 11-15, 2010 – Lisbon, Portugal

http://www.worldtransitresearch.info/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5848&context=research

[petey3801]

"Operating Cost per Passenger Trip Served" will go down with more passengers on board.

There are so, so, so many heavy railways around the world who still use guards, most likely more than those who are DOO (Heavy rail suburban trains, not metros), but I don't have the exact details.

What I am saying is: It is not a simple 50% operating cost cut that you keep making it out to be. It will also require a LOT of infrastructure to be built to enable it.
Things like wheelchair pax can't be done like in Melbourne at a number of stations in QR simply because it is nigh on impossible to get a wheelchair on the train at the first door on some platforms (Graceville p3/4, Indrooroopilly p3/4 for example).

Yes, new lines should be built to allow easy DOO conversion if it is warranted later on down the track, which is basically happening anyway (new platforms being straight, high level, wide etc.).

It depends on what the priority is: Faster timetables with better customer service abilities or slightly reduced operating costs. There is also the option of having the guards doing more in their role and becoming more like conductors, walking the trains, checking tickets etc. as well as the current safeworking responsibilities.

[#Metro]

"Operating Cost per Passenger Trip Served" will go down with more passengers on board.

At the time, Perth trains were carrying just less than QR. Perth and QR are good comparators.

Perth has since overtaken QR because, well, its not Queensland!

Fact is, QR's production costs are extreme, even by international comparison. And it is by a huge margin.

Labour costs are perhaps the largest cost of operating a railway.

Its not simple, but that's not the point I was making.

These issues should be progressively sorted, and in addition the newer lines that have been built to DOO standard looked at for DOO.

Guards can be converted to drivers over time so that all can keep their job with QR.

CM has a good video of the press conference re: Kippa Ring and Staff shortages.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-rail-introduces-interim-timetable-while-it-tries-to-solve-staff-shortage-crisis/news-story/788b40295219cc6ea02d7c41891bdcd3

[ozbob]

Media has been busy this morning done some interviews for 4KQ and ABC Gold Coast.

Did an interview with Ben Davis on 4BC and 9 News at Ipswich as well.

I was more concerned with alerting passengers of the impending timetable changes rather than  ' blaming ' as such.

The LNP and ALP are blaming each other, when they are both responsible in the final analysis.  Not that they would admit to that.

But as indicated earlier the silver lining is more crew which in time will mean more more opportunity for improved frequency where it is needed.  NGR transition will be easier as well with a bit of a reserve rather than being stretched all the time.

[ozbob]

Premier @AnnastaciaMP orders an independent review following South East train debacle. @ShaneDoherty9 #9News https://t.co/EYSMQekNo6

— Nine News Brisbane (@9NewsBrisbane) October 24, 2016

[ozbob]

ABC News --> QR managers to face 'forensic' probe over driver shortage, Palaszczuk stands by Minister

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is ordering a "forensic examination" of the Queensland Rail (QR) driver shortage and says she is standing by Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe.

The LNP has called for Mr Hinchliffe's resignation over the cancellation of more than 100 train services on Friday, stemming from a driver shortage that developed with the October 4 opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula line.

Mr Hinchliffe said he was only briefed on Thursday evening about the extent of the cancellations for the next morning.

Ms Palaszczuk said Mr Hinchliffe would not lose his job over the incident.

"No, Stirling is 100 per cent focused on ensuring that customers are getting the services that they need with the interim timetable being put out by Queensland Rail," she said.

She defended Mr Hinchliffe's decision to attend the Gold Coast V8 600 on Sunday in the midst of the QR crisis, saying the Government needed to be represented at the event.

Ms Palaszczuk said she would be ordering a probe into communication channels in the upper echelons of QR, with chief executive Helen Gluer at the centre of inquiries.

"I want to know who knew what when, why it was not passed up the chain and I also want to know what questions the board posed in relation to this issue and what questions the CEO posed in relation to this issue," the Premier said.

"The Minister extensively briefed Cabinet today. I have spoken with the Minister directly and just like the Minister, I want answers."

QR to create 100 extra driver positions

Mr Hinchliffe faced the media alongside Ms Gluer and committed to providing QR with more resources.

"I can announce that we can further boost the pipeline and supply of drivers well into the coming years by approving an additional 100 driver positions to be added to the recruitment already done this last year," he said.

Ms Gluer admitted the issues were poorly communicated as she and Mr Hinchliffe became aware of the looming crisis on Thursday.

"It was very badly communicated and I can't apologise enough for that," she said.

"The message from the Minister to me has been very clear that we need to be letting people know if there are any alterations to be letting people know as soon as possible."

QR has asked commuters to be patient, with an interim timetable in place indefinitely to cope with the driver shortage.

[ozbob]

[ozbob]

Train chaos: 36 train services a day cancelled from tomorrow. @MaxFutcher https://t.co/tCTzXZGby3 #7News https://t.co/rWWLIrhRTO

— 7 News Queensland (@7NewsQueensland) October 24, 2016

[#Metro]

Mr Hinchliffe said he was only briefed on Thursday evening about the extent of the cancellations for the next morning.

But that isn't quite correct, is it? The minister knew something was up with QR well before that stage.

What about the 50 cancellations (?) on the Friday a week or so prior? We were all scratching our heads about that one and tweeted that to the minister didn't we?

The first indications that there was a problem was around October 1

https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/785892569112653824/photo/1

I have the proof:

Sunday, October 2, 2016
http://brizcommuter.blogspot.se/2016/10/50-qr-services-disappear-into-black-hole.html

This was OCTOBER 1 and the Minister actually asked for a briefing! Why was the problem not detected in that briefing then??

SE Queensland's train network went into meltdown (again) on Friday 30th September 2016, as more than 50 train services were cancelled by Queensland Rail (QR) in the afternoon, evening, and late at night. Gaps between train services of more than an hour were experienced. Information provided to commuters was somewhere between poor to non-existent. In less backward cities such as London, an online apology, and posters at stations would have been written explaining the circumstances. All Brisbane commuters get is a mention of "operational issues" on Facebook and Twitter (which the majority of commuters don't use for public transport information anyway). It seems that even the Transport Minister didnt know what is going on (above image). There are many questions that need to be out to QR:

Was there a chronic lack of train crew?
Or had too many train crew taken a sicky for Grand Final long weekend?
Why are commuters not being properly informed of the reason behind the cancellations?
Will QR be able to cope with the extra train services added next week when the Redcliffe Sardine Peninsula Line opens?
Given that next week will see a new train line open, and some 6-car train services chopped in half,  this situation is very concerning.

[ozbob]

DOO discussion here > http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=6033.msg182193#msg182193