Redcliffe Peninsula line & associated changes - rail

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Brisbane train delays: Inquiry too late for angry commuters

THE Premier has ordered a forensic investigation into how a shortage of Queensland Rail drivers morphed into an unforeseen timetable meltdown as Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe and the QR board again failed to offer an explanation for the fourth day in a row.

The direction by a "furious" Annastacia Palaszczuk came as both she and Mr Hinchliffe failed to guarantee QR chief executive Helen Gluer would keep her job following an hour-long Cabinet briefing over the saga.

Mr Hinchliffe – who finally fronted the media alongside Ms Gluer after cancelling plans to travel to Airlie Beach to brief Cabinet in person – tried to partially blame Newman government staffing cuts for the colossal stuff-up.

He repeatedly blamed QR for not properly advising him on the size of the impending problem when they first raised issues with him earlier this month.

He defended his decision to attend Sunday's Gold Coast 600 instead of being on hand to tackle the timetable debacle, suggesting he would have been decried in the media for not caring about that major event if he had not gone.

Ms Gluer avoided backing Mr Hinchliffe's car race attendance, saying it was her "sense" that he "would have preferred" to be at QR's emergency board meeting before confessing she was "a bit confused on how to answer that" and Mr Hinchliffe stepped in.

The exchange underlined an awkward media conference in which the Minister twice failed to guarantee Ms Gluer's future and the pair failed to answer repeated questions over how no one foresaw the debacle.

It's understood Ms Palaszczuk was unimpressed with the lack of answers provided by the board after Sunday's crisis meeting as she ordered Mr Hinchliffe and Treasurer Curtis Pitt to again meet with Ms Gluer and QR board chair Michael Klug late yesterday to again demand answers.

However, she threw her support behind Mr Hinchliffe, who she said was "100 per cent focused" on fixing the mess and would absolutely keep his job, despite Opposition calls that she sack the "abysmal" and "incompetent" Minister.

"Annastacia Palaszczuk needs to show some strong leadership and either sack Stirling Hinchliffe or accept his resignation," Opposition Deputy Leader Deb Frecklington said. It came as the Premier announced an "appro­priately qualified person" would undertake a forensic ­investigation into what went wrong.

"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 I also want to know what questions the CEO posed in relation to this issue," she said.

"So there will be a forensic examination."

Ms Gluer conceded communication around Friday's cancellation of more than 100 services had been "very badly" handled.

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

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

But she could not explain why the train operator had not realised it would not have enough staff to cover the new timetable, which started on October 4.

Neither Ms Gluer nor the Minister could say how long the interim timetable would be in place for, with hints it could be weeks.

From today, another 100 drivers and 100 guards will be recruited, adding to the 100 drivers who were commissioned in November 2015.

Commuter Nicola McGeown told The Courier-Mail she was 45 minutes late to work on Friday after the sudden cancellation of more than 100 services in the city.

"A few of my trains to ­Toowong were cancelled on Friday, and that affected my travel because I have to catch a connecting train from the Gold Coast," Ms McGeown, a council worker, said.

"Apparently they don't have enough drivers, but they knew they were opening a new line for ages," she said. Trains from Brisbane's Roma Street Station were running relatively smoothly yesterday. However, it will be about two weeks before services are back on track, Queensland Rail said.

Commuters have been advised to check the TransLink website daily.

QR TO TRAIN AND RECRUIT DRIVERS TO HELP CRISIS

A SHORT-TERM fix to southeast Queensland's train crisis is expected within a fortnight through improved rostering, but training new drivers to prevent future issues will take up to a year.

Queensland Rail chief executive Helen Gluer said train services could return to normal after two weeks but warned training new drivers to ease the shortfall would take one year.

"Once we get through the next two weeks we believe we will get back to our normal level of service," she said.

"A driver takes up to 12 months in driving school to go through, a guard, I think, is three months."

A Queensland Rail spokeswoman said 79 driver training candidates had been selected in the six months from December 2015, with 33 being trained.

"The drivers who have already been recruited are at various stages of the 12-month training process and are released into operation on the network in a staged approach," she said.

QR has 475 train drivers and 458 guards working on a roster of rotating shifts.

Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said a recruitment drive to find 100 extra drivers would start today.

Mr Hinchliffe was unable to answer when the interim timetable would end and normal services resume.

"It's certainly something that we want to see improved upon and more services delivered as we are able to do so

Deputy Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington called on Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to sack Mr Hinchliffe over the stuff up. "The buck stops with the Minister."

Ms Gluer said the train driver debacle was ultimately her responsibility. "That is my job and I have failed to deliver," she said.

[techblitz]

definitely wreaks of internal sabotage....either someone so dissatsifed with the direction of the company that they kept higher up members completely in the dark on driver requirements.
Or someone else purposely ignored suggestions from lower down cohorts that there will be a driver shortage...and that request was purposely ignored until things came crashing down....once again because they didn't like the direction the company was headed.

And like in the case of Hillary Clinton and her emails are we going to get endless responses of  'Sorry i don't recall ' in this so called forensic enquiry?

[BrizCommuter]

Still no talk from the government on compensation for commuters.

[ozbob]

What has actually caused the service cancellations?

1. There was a run down of crew and crew training capability under the Newman Government.  They had planned to break up QR and it was of no concern at the time ( to them ).

2.  Change of Government - took time to re-establish full training capability, get guards trained drivers trained.  November 2015 driver training re-started.

3.  Problems with MBRL (RPL) constantly pushed back which actually delayed final signal track commissioning.  This meant that QR had late access for route readiness training for crew.   A committment for pilots added to a crewing difficulty, many crew doing extra.  Eventually this hits a point where fatigue provisions take over.

4.  Change to a work rule that meant job rosters had to factor in a break after 2 and a half hours (OHS requirement) also impacted.

It was the sum of these events that lead to the failure to be able to deliver the timetable.

Clearly there were warning signs, and in fact I raised concerns very early October.

The combination of the impact of all the factors was misjudged in the end - simply.

No conspiracies or plots. 

[#Metro]

Helen Gluer CEO said in the interview that the reason why Springfield was well run but Redcliffe was not was because the Springfield line has branch line status, whereas the MBRL has mainline status.

I'm curious.

What technical differences are there between a branch line and a main line? To me, Springfield and MBRL look like branches.

Why the different status?

[#Metro]

Brisbanetimes trying to do a story- nothing to report! 


Brisbane train cancellations: Interim timetable in place for the first day
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/brisbane-train-cancellations-interim-timetable-in-place-for-the-first-day-20161024-gs9p0y.html

Thanks for joining us for your morning commute.

It's been an overwhelmingly positive mood from most of the people we spoke to here at Central Station.

Except for the gripes about Friday's cancellations and a few complaints about communication, the interim timetable seems to have gone fairly smoothly.

If your experience was any different or you want to share a story with us, get in touch at scoop@brisbanetimes.com.au.

[ozbob]

Helen Gluer CEO said in the interview that the reason why Springfield was well run but Redcliffe was not was because the Springfield line has branch line status, whereas the MBRL has mainline status.

I'm curious.

What technical differences are there between a branch line and a main line? To me, Springfield and MBRL look like branches.

Why the different status?

LOL  The LNP were gloating that they managed to open Springfield Central so what went wrong with RPL under ALP ?

Fukers ..

Springfield Central was just an extension from Richlands.  The hard yards, new signalling and training Corinda <> Darra West and onto the Branch and Darra and through to Richlands was already done under the previous ALP government.  Route familiarisation from Richlands <> Springfield <> Springfield Central is not complicated by contrast.

The RPL involved a whole raft of changes for not only the branch but Lawnton <> Petrie and changed track arrangements through Petrie etc.

Chalk and cheese the two projects and level of training required.

The LNP did manage to butcher Springfield Central though, they took out the bicycle path from Ellen Grove to Springfield Central and setup the extended rail line with worst feeder bus arrangements in the Nation for a new suburban railway.

[SurfRail]

Which the current government has had nearly 2 years to fix...

[ozbob]

Which the current government has had nearly 2 years to fix...

Yes, we have reminded them constantly ...

[Derwan]

I think this is the best thing that could've happened for QR.  The sudden negative attention will ensure a knee-jerk response from the government, who will throw money at QR to improve services.

It's a win for Public Transport in SEQ. 

While the focus is on improving rail, we should be reminding the public and the government that "this will happen again" when we:

• Run out of new trains.  We need to extend the order for NGR as soon as possible.
• Run out of capacity.  We need CRR funded and started as soon as possible.

It's time to get rail back on track!!

[petey3801]

Helen Gluer CEO said in the interview that the reason why Springfield was well run but Redcliffe was not was because the Springfield line has branch line status, whereas the MBRL has mainline status.

I'm curious.

What technical differences are there between a branch line and a main line? To me, Springfield and MBRL look like branches.

Why the different status?

LOL  The LNP were gloating that they managed to open Springfield Central so what went wrong with RPL under ALP ?

Fukers ..

Springfield Central was just an extension from Richlands.  The hard yards, new signalling and training Corinda <> Darra West and onto the Branch and Darra and through to Richlands was already done under the previous ALP government.  Route familiarisation from Richlands <> Springfield <> Springfield Central is not complicated by contrast.

The RPL involved a whole raft of changes for not only the branch but Lawnton <> Petrie and changed track arrangements through Petrie etc.

Chalk and cheese the two projects and level of training required.

The LNP did manage to butcher Springfield Central though, they took out the bicycle path from Ellen Grove to Springfield Central and setup the extended rail line with worst feeder bus arrangements in the Nation for a new suburban railway.

Yep, that's basically the go of it. Also, the Richlands to Springfield Central section is a lot shorter than Petrie to Kippa Ring. Springfield also had time before the opening to do route training (presumably the current Government wanted RPL open ASAP, which certainly didn't help).

[#Metro]

Yep, that's basically the go of it. Also, the Richlands to Springfield Central section is a lot shorter than Petrie to Kippa Ring. Springfield also had time before the opening to do route training (presumably the current Government wanted RPL open ASAP, which certainly didn't help).

[ozbob]

Train driver trainers Phil & Tony explain why ads for new drivers wont appear straigtht away

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Former Rio Tinto chief executive to head up examination of Queensland Rail timetabling debacle

A FOMER chief executive at Rio Tinto will head an examination of Queensland Rail's timetabling debacle to uncover how the organisation was caught totally off guard by a driver shortage.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced she would fly from Mackay into Brisbane tomorrow morning to meet with Phillip Strachan and work out the details and time frame of his review.

"He has extensive experience in risk assessment and audit and the director-general and I will be meeting with him tomorrow to finalise the terms of reference," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"It is very important that we get to the bottom of this."

Ms Palaszczuk said she had held a "lengthy discussion" with Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe this morning around today's launch of QR's interim timetable.

Almost 99 per cent of trains on the pared back schedule had been on time, she said.

"The Minister himself caught trains this morning and was speaking with customers directly," she said.

"I have made it very clear to the Minister and the (QR) CEO (Helen Gluer) that I want their number-one focus to be on customer service and delivery and those results this morning are a very positive sign that they are giving this issue the due attention that is needed."

Ms Palaszczuk said Mr Strachan would report directly to her through her director-general.

She said Mr Hinchliffe and Ms Gluer would be making further statements today, and she would release more information on the review tomorrow.

DO NOT DISTURB OZBOB [ off doing a search on Phillip Strachan formerly of Rio Tino ]

[ozbob]

Ok  ...  not sure if he has had any railway operation experience ... 

http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=39768322&privcapId=248823

Mr. Phillip Strachan serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Bauxite & Alumina at Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. Mr. Strachan served as Chief Financial Officer and Controller at Rio Tinto Alcan, Inc. Mr. Strachan is a Co-Leader of Integration at Rio Tinto Alcan. Mr. Strachan leads the Finance function at Rio Tinto Alcan. He is responsible for Business Planning and Analysis, Information Systems & Technology, and Business Improvement of Rio Tinto Alcan. Mr. Strachan served as the Chief Financial Officer of Rio Tinto Aluminium Limited since 2000 and Heads the Services and Strategy division which is accountable for finance, accounting, taxation, information systems, legal, external affairs, sustainable development, health, safety and environment and strategic planning for Rio Tinto Aluminium Group. He joined Rio Tinto Group in 1981 and has held a number of positions within the Group at Hamersley Iron, Rio Tinto Aluminium, and in head offices in London and Melbourne. He was General Manager of Finance at Rio Tinto Indonesia based in Jakarta for five years. He is a Director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and a member of the National Executive of the Group of 100, an association of Australia's senior finance executives. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Melbourne University and is a Fellow of the Certified Practicing Accountants.

[ozbob]

Here you go Phillip.

In a nutshell.

#youarewelcome

What has actually caused the service cancellations?

1. There was a run down of crew and crew training capability under the Newman Government.  They had planned to break up QR and it was of no concern at the time ( to them ).

2.  Change of Government - took time to re-establish full training capability, get guards trained drivers trained.  November 2015 driver training re-started.

3.  Problems with MBRL (RPL) constantly pushed back which actually delayed final signal track commissioning.  This meant that QR had late access for route readiness training for crew.   A committment for pilots added to a crewing difficulty, many crew doing extra.  Eventually this hits a point where fatigue provisions take over.

4.  Change to a work rule that meant job rosters had to factor in a break after 2 and a half hours (OHS requirement) also impacted.

It was the sum of these events that lead to the failure to be able to deliver the timetable.

Clearly there were warning signs, and in fact I raised concerns very early October.

The combination of the impact of all the factors was misjudged in the end - simply.

No conspiracies or plots.

[ozbob]

[ozbob]

http://www.queenslandrail.com.au/forcustomers/otr/dailyotr

[ozbob]

QR CEO Helen Gluer advised @StirlHinchliffe she was "not satisfied that the appropriate due diligence had been completed" @couriermail

— Jason Tin (@jasonthetin) October 25, 2016

[ozbob]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/former-rio-tinto-chief-executive-to-head-up-examination-of-queensland-rail-timetabling-debacle/news-story/cc127453a91e3b931fef4710f6de8c85

THE senior public servant stood aside in the wake of the train timetable debacle was warned in March about potential problems by a Canadian company that assessed the situation.

It is understood Queensland Rail's head of Train Service Delivery was told in a report in March that there would be problems but failed to properly act on the information.

Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe today said QR CEO Helen Gluer had advised him of her decision to stand the public servant down, saying she was "not satisfied that the appropriate due to diligence had been completed prior to the implementation of the new timetable".

But Mr Hinchliffe also failed to completely ruling out Ms Gluer facing the sack down the line, saying he supported her but would wait to see the outcome of the external review into the stuff-up. ...

[ozbob]

http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/10/25/statement-on-interim-train-timetable

Media Statements
Minister for Transport and the Commonwealth Games
The Honourable Stirling Hinchliffe

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Statement on interim train timetable

Minister for Transport Stirling Hinchliffe today provided an update on the performance of the interim train timetable.

Minister Hinchliffe said that prior to this month and for the past four years, Queensland Rail has had the best on time running on the east coast, consistently meeting their on-time running target of 95%.

"This morning, Queensland Rail delivered a 98.63% on-time running rate against the interim timetable and this demonstrates that Queensland Rail is getting back on track and delivering what customers rightfully expect," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"South East Queensland commuters must be able to rely on their rail network and I welcome the Premier's announcement of an independent review, so that we get to the bottom of how this situation occurred.

"Today, the Chief Executive Officer Helen Gluer advised me that she had formally stood aside the head of Train Service Delivery as she was not satisfied that the appropriate due diligence had been completed prior to the implementation of the new timetable," Mr Hinchliffe said.

Queensland Rail Chief Executive Officer Helen Gluer said she was disappointed Queensland Rail had not delivered for its customers over the past three weeks.

"I need to know why this issue was not alerted to me and offer my full support to the independent investigation," Ms Gluer said.

"I was advised that we could meet the new timetable and told that the recruitment processes that we were going through were adequate.

"It is the responsibility of Train Service Delivery to ensure that we have adequate resources to staff our rosters and service the timetable and I am not confident that the senior manager adequately carried out his responsibilities in this regard.

"We are incredibly proud of our service delivery, right from the leadership team, down to the train controllers and the dedicated customer service staff.

"We are now working incredibly hard to turn this around as quickly as possible and we have seen the early results of our efforts this morning.

"It is my absolute expectation that we uncover and explain how this situation occurred and are able to restore confidence in our services."

ENDS

[wbj]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/former-rio-tinto-chief-executive-to-head-up-examination-of-queensland-rail-timetabling-debacle/news-story/cc127453a91e3b931fef4710f6de8c85

THE senior public servant stood aside in the wake of the train timetable debacle was warned in March about potential problems by a Canadian company that assessed the situation.

It is understood Queensland Rail's head of Train Service Delivery was told in a report in March that there would be problems but failed to properly act on the information.

Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe today said QR CEO Helen Gluer had advised him of her decision to stand the public servant down, saying she was "not satisfied that the appropriate due to diligence had been completed prior to the implementation of the new timetable".

But Mr Hinchliffe also failed to completely ruling out Ms Gluer facing the sack down the line, saying he supported her but would wait to see the outcome of the external review into the stuff-up. ...

One quickly tires of the tabloid media "failed to rule out" rubbish.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Opinion: Queensland Rail crisis - what were the board doing?

THE most recent fiasco involving the opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula Rail Line has the Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Minister for Transport, Sterling Hinchliffe, running around in circles suggesting yet another forensic investigation is needed.

The Premier has now appointed Phillip Strachan, a former chief executive at Rio Tinto, to conduct the review into the train driver shortage (and presumably he's not doing it for free).

I've been asking myself where our well-remunerated senior transport bureaucrats and the Queensland Rail Board, ostensibly stuffed with worthies, were.

Just what has the board been doing? Where is the oversight and monitoring of the performance of this vital public service utility?

Maybe we need to review the board structure and membership to make sure it has sufficient senior railway management operating expertise and experience.

Running a railway is not exactly rocket science. But it does require the application of some basic management skills, like effective planning and preparation for new events.

The opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula Line was well known months in advance. It was already delayed by several weeks with another project management stuff up – incompatible signalling systems.

Introducing extra services – any extra services – requires additional resources including rolling stock and personnel. Planning for such new events and operating conditions is a basic management task and QR chief executive Helen Gluer readily admits there was a failure in this respect. But why? Once the new services are planned, it's a matter of simple arithmetic to determine how many trains and crew are needed to run the network.

Forensic examinations are not really required. If the minister sat down with the QR board and senior Transport and Main Roads and QR management and asked a few pertinent questions, my view is he would find out pretty damn quick what the problem was.

But the key and immediate task is to relieve commuter pain and restore certainty and regularity to the train services. This requires the recruitment and training of some 100 additional train drivers. No mean task, it could take many months to get raw recruits up to the required standards of competence and safety. But this could be accelerated if the new recruits already had some knowledge of train operations and procedures. Is there a source of such recruits?

QR is one of the few suburban railways to operate trains with a driver and a guard, whose main task is to operate the doors at stations. On most modern suburban railways, the doors are operated by the driver or automatically. QR train guards should provide a good source for driver recruits. And the new rolling stock being delivered to QR has no provision for guards so it may be QR could fast-track the retraining of guards as drivers. Anything which helps relieve commuter pain should be on the table.
Introducing extra services requires additional resources including rolling stock and personnel. Planning for such new events and operating conditions is a basic management task and QR chief executive Helen Gluer (above left with Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe) readily admits there was a failure. But why?

Minister Hinchliffe needs to show his mettle as a dynamic decisive operator. Grab the proverbial QR bull by the horns and steer it firmly in the direction of problem resolution rather than wasting time and resources on yet more forensic navel gazing.

However, these QR debacles – firstly with the signalling delays and now a train driver shortage – beg the question: Do we have the best and most efficient QR management and governance model?

After all, a new megaproject is on the horizon with Cross River Rail. Can we look forward to more project management and service implementation failures with this $5.4 billion project?

The Government could do well to review the role and relationships between TMR, QR and the proposed Cross River Rail Delivery Authority. To me this split accountability is a recipe for disaster, paving the way for finger pointing and blame shifting when the going gets tough and rough as is bound to happen. I'm waiting with bated breath for the master plan and modus operandi for this project to be revealed.

For the public to have any faith the Cross River Rail project can be delivered on budget, on time and with the minimum of planning and project management errors, it is vital the Government demonstrate that this most recent problem associated with the opening of the Redcliffe line be dealt with efficiently, effectively and economically and that it is the last of the complications and delays.

Peter Quick is a Sunshine Coast-based transport professional

[ozbob]

.@QueenslandRail head of train service delivery stood down over driver debacle. @maxfutcher https://t.co/U6YsCHrvfl https://t.co/h2EW2UX9oZ

— 7 News Queensland (@7NewsQueensland) October 25, 2016

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

26th October 2016

The rail fail - what happened

Good Morning,

An opinion piece in today's Courier Mail  ' Queensland Rail crisis - what were the board doing? 'by Peter Quick ( http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-queensland-rail-crisis--what-were-the-board-doing/news-story/7955c6a17e535541e261a91def3a3161 ).

Peter makes the point  " Forensic examinations are not really required. If the minister sat down with the QR board and senior Transport and Main Roads and QR management and asked a few pertinent questions, my view is he would find out pretty damn quick what the problem was. "

We tend to agree with Peter.  There were simply a number of unusual circumstances that impacted to produce the undeliverable timetable.

In summary, this is how I see it.

What has actually caused the service cancellations?

1. There was a run down of crew and crew training capability under the Newman Government.  They had planned to break up QR and it was of no concern at the time ( to them ).

2.  Change of Government - took time to re-establish full training capability, get guards trained drivers trained.  November 2015 actual driver training re-started.

3.  Problems with MBRL (RPL) constantly pushed back which actually delayed final signal track commissioning.  This meant that QR had late access for route readiness training for crew.   A committment for pilots added to a crewing difficulty, many crew doing extra.  Eventually this hits a point where fatigue provisions take over.

4.  Change to a work rule that meant job rosters had to factor in a break after 2 and a half hours (OHS requirement) also impacted.

It was the sum of these events that lead to the failure to be able to deliver the timetable.

Clearly there were warning signs, and in fact I raised concerns very early October.

The combination of the impact of all the factors was misjudged in the end - simply.

No conspiracies or plots.

Best wishes
Robert

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

[Stillwater]

One further point maybe:

Is there a culture within QR whereby employees believe that reporting of performance or operational shortfalls will reflect badly on management's perception of their professional competency?  (This is quite separate from reporting on, and dealing with, safety issues -- an area where QR seeks to excel.)

[ozbob]

One further point maybe:

Is there a culture within QR whereby employees believe that reporting of performance or operational shortfalls will reflect badly on management's perception of their professional competency?  (This is quite separate from reporting on, and dealing with, safety issues -- an area where QR seeks to excel.)

There is no evidence of that as far as I am aware. I think they went very close to pulling it all off.  The job rule issue was the final straw.

[tazzer9]

While i'm out of the loop.  One significant problem is that the new connection through petrie for up trains wasn't connected early enough, or the RPL was finished too late for proper driver training.   It appears to be that the route training and competency for this section is just as demanding as the entire RPL.

However, I don't think QR took advantage of the signalling issues to get traincrew ready for the RPL.   The signals (bar a few) all worked, points worked and the track was there.   Didn't see much training going on before opening.    Nothing should have stopped traincrew from riding in the cab just getting to know the road for months.

The sacking of the head of service delivery is just a scapegoat.  He was probably well aware of the issues in advance, but powerless to do anything about it.

[ozbob]

QR did what they could.  Petrie Lawnton was only finally completed during the major track closure.  The branch line per se was not the issue.

It was known that train crew was at barely adequate staffing levels due to the combination of factors since the previous Government, hence the commencement of 100 drivers November 2015.

The new drivers (Nov 2015) will be completed shortly.  Once numbers build again then the normal timetable will be re-implemented.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> A long hot summer waiting for the train

" ... The simple fact is that training train drivers doesn't happen overnight. It takes up to two years to be trained to be a train driver, and requires completion of a Certificate IV course with a minimum of 21 different units of study.

In Queensland it is more complicated still because QR has a policy of recruiting internally from existing train guards for driver positions. That means additional guards have to be recruited and trained as well. None of this is going to happen overnight. ... "

Yes Bill.  You forgot to mention the Newman Government froze driver recruitment and significantly reduced QR training centre resources.

Yes, it does take time to recover. 

[tazzer9]

Why do they have to be recruited from guards?  I get they already have a good portion of the safeworking skills and knowledge of the trains themselves.
How come sydney trains can train an externally recruited driver so much faster than QR.   They also require more signalling knowledge, train knowledge and route knowledge.

[ozbob]

They haven't always.  I recall a batch a number of years ago that was straight into Driver Training.

Being guards shortens the time the actual driver training time.  I don't think there is a a particular time advantage in the end, without guard training longer driver training period. 

I understand that the retention rate of the drivers that did not come from the guards has been a lot poorer than the other pathway from guards.

Organisations do what they work out is the best for their situation in the end.

[red dragin]

I think the EBA requires it, plus they already have some of the training required.

Other organisations promote staff all the time, why not QR.

[tazzer9]

I think the EBA requires it, plus they already have some of the training required.

Other organisations promote staff all the time, why not QR.

There is promoting staff, but would other organisations only ever advertise jobs to their own employees.   

[ozbob]

The entry position for Driver is Guard.  Nothing wrong with that.  They advertise for Guards, applicants understand that moving along the career path as Driver is then an option.

I think it is very sensible to have all drivers come through a guard pathway.

It is bit like the green machine.  Recruit training - everyone does the same, weapons, drill, military skills such as map reading, navigation, and so forth.  Once completed recruit training then move onto specialisations. 

[urbanplanr]

I think the EBA requires it, plus they already have some of the training required.

Other organisations promote staff all the time, why not QR.

There is promoting staff, but would other organisations only ever advertise jobs to their own employees.

Many QLD Govt departments advertise internally first and then do external advertisements after but in most cases the internal applicant gets the position. It is rare for an external applicant to get a job over an internal applicant.

[ozbob]

26/10/2016 A bottleneck in training: Owen Doogan speaks to Steve Austin on 612 ABC Brisbane about some of the historical problems leading up to the QR Brisbane network failure.

Total loss from Newman Government redundancies in the QR driver training area in 2013 were:

Trainers = 2
Tutor drivers = 9
Train drivers = 25
Guards = 14
Administrative staff = 16

Total loss = 66

[ozbob]

^ Excellent.  Corroborates what we have said.   This was a combination of various circumstances that impacted in a way that was very difficult to judge and manage in the end.

Good to see the truth re previous Government now out.

[ozbob]

http://www.queenslandrail.com.au/forcustomers/otr/dailyotr

[wbj]

26/10/2016 A bottleneck in training: Owen Doogan speaks to Steve Austin on 612 ABC Brisbane about some of the historical problems leading up to the QR Brisbane network failure.

Total loss from Newman Government redundancies in the QR driver training area in 2013 were:

Trainers = 2
Tutor drivers = 9
Train drivers = 25
Guards = 14
Administrative staff = 16

Total loss = 66

It 's difficult to appreciate the above numbers without knowing the percentage they represent of the workforce in each area and the natural attrition rate.