Redcliffe Peninsula line & associated changes - rail

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Editorial: Stirling Hinchliffe must be sacked for Citytrain driver debacle

TRANSPORT Minister Stirling Hinchliffe is just as guilty as the Queensland Rail bureaucrats he and the Premier have become so fond of criticising for the sorry mess that is the current train driver shortage debacle.

As the responsible minister, he not only technically bears ultimate responsibility, he has a duty to keep a close eye on the activities of his department; to ask the right questions, and to seek assurances that all possible scenarios around massive new government projects have been war-gamed.

And even if senior bureaucrats are later found to have provided false assurances to such interrogation, a minister facing a service delivery crisis must quickly demand answers and get across the detail. These are among the most basic expectations we have of our ministers.

Sadly, by his own admissions, Mr Hinchliffe has failed these tests.

At 10.49 on Monday night, Mr Hinchliffe admitted via press release that only that night had he been furnished with a Queensland Rail report from early this year that warned of the driver shortage – an hour after the publication on social media of The Courier-Mail's Tuesday front page that revealed the existence of the damning report.

Late yesterday, Mr Hinchliffe admitted it had only been on Monday night that he had demanded Queensland Rail hand over all relevant documents to him – a full 11 days after he says he was first told about the crisis.

The Minister claims he has been "entirely focused on overseeing Queensland Rail delivering a workable timetable for commuters" rather than on investigating what went wrong.

But a competent minister of the Crown should be able to walk and chew gum. Even if we grant Mr Hinchliffe the benefit of the doubt over a situation that was clearly apparent months ago, and accept his assurances that he had the wool pulled over his eyes regarding a serious underlying service delivery problem on his watch, he has still failed.

That is because, having been told that driver shortages and the opening of the new Redcliffe rail line had led to so many services having to be cancelled and delayed that an entirely new timetable needed to be drawn up late on a Sunday night, a competent minister of the Crown would have demanded his own office conduct the most basic of due diligence into how the situation came about.

Surely a minister described by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as a fix-it man would have demanded and received every available piece of documentation relating to the driver shortage as soon as the timetabling equation started to unravel.

But it seems Mr Hinchliffe – and the Premier – has instead been too busy desperately deflecting blame over the affair. Together, they have blamed the previous Newman government for cutting back on training positions.

They have blamed the well-respected Queensland Rail chief executive Helen Gluer and chairman Michael Klug, who fell on their swords last week.

And they have blamed the senior manager of SEQ train service delivery, the first to be stood aside over the affair (who, incidentally, the report the Minister had not seen singled out as "a highly experienced and respected individual" in a critical role and for who there was no succession plan).

But no matter who they blame, the bottom line here is accountability and oversight.

While it is understandable that any large organisation may occasionally experience a serious operational failure, those that are well managed at the top will respond quickly, efficiently and thoroughly.

This has not been the case with Queensland Rail. Mr Hinchliffe has seemingly left himself in the dark while the situation continues to unravel – an attitude memorably illustrated by his decision to spend part of last Sunday in a corporate box for the Gold Coast V8 car races while dialling in to a crisis meeting of the QR board instead of at his desk.

This is not the sort of leadership that inspires confidence in government.

Furthermore, excusing a senior Cabinet minister of any fault because he was allegedly ignorant of well-flagged problems, or the bureaucrats ate his homework, just does not wash.

What, after all, are our most senior ministers paid to do if not to keep a close eye on the portfolios they are charged with overseeing? By maintaining this line, Ms Palaszczuk is essentially giving the green light to all her ministers to never ask any questions of their department so they can plead ignorance and avoid blame when things do inevitably go wrong. But at some point, the buck must stop somewhere.

Mr Hinchliffe must take responsibility for this shambles on his watch. He must do what he expected QR's chief executive and its chairman to do – and resign. If he doesn't, then it is up to Premier Palaszczuk to display real leadership and show him the door.

Remember here, too, that Mr Hinchliffe's other portfolio "responsibility" is the delivery of a multibillion-dollar international event in the form of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and if his attention to detail on this showpiece event is as deficient as it has been with Queensland Rail, we have a big problem.

Mr Hinchliffe may be a factional ally of Ms Palaszczuk in Caucus, but our Premier must now display the sort of strength that her position demands and replace this incompetent minister.

When the eyes of the Commonwealth are on us in just 518 days, Queensland does not need another train wreck.

[ozbob]

QR driver debacle costs taxpayers $988+k for a single for fortnight 🤔 https://t.co/MTQpEQElD2

— Patrick Condren (@PatrickCondren) November 1, 2016

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

2nd November 2016

Fixing the rail timetable mess

Good Morning!

Is it?  Not for some hey?  lol

Anyway, as we have been warning for years the suburban rail system for SEQ is in a mess.  We have also been warning about the bus network for Brisbane for years, it too is a mess of failure.  This is the  ' proud ' record of a succession of failed governments.  Both the ALP and LNP are both implicated in the appalling situation we now face. The only shining hope is the new fare structure for SEQ due in January 2017.

Ok, fixing the rail mess.  When the then Richlands branch opened in January 2011 there was an interim timetable that allowed for a staged introduction and then the significant implementation of sector one timetables followed in June 2011.  A copy of this interim timetable can be found here > Richlands Jan 2011 interim timetable

This had shuttle services between Darra <> Richlands until the implementation of the new sector one timetables in June 2011.

The situation we face at present is not being sorted.  We suggest that Queensland Rail revert back to the timetable prior to Redcliffe Peninsula Line opening.  This was being delivered with a high degree of reliability.  Introduce shuttle services (mainly off peak) on the Redcliffe Peninsular Line between Petrie <> Kippa-Ring.  Yes this is an inconvenience but it will take the pressure off all lines, and allow all train crew to be made route ready without the present pressures.

Best wishes
Robert

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

[ozbob]

ABC News --> Brisbane train driver shortage: Acting Queensland Rail CEO 'did not know' of impending problems

The head of the Department of Transport and Main Roads, and current acting chief executive of Queensland Rail (QR), says he was also kept in the dark over problems facing the south-east's train network.

About 20 services were cancelled on Tuesday afternoon due to what QR described as an unforeseen driver shortage of four drivers and three guards.

It was the latest in a string of staffing problems to plague the network in and around Brisbane in the past fortnight following the opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula Line in early October, when QR attempted to increase the frequency of services.

Neil Scales, who was installed as acting chief executive of QR following the resignation of Helen Gluer last week over the debacle, told 612 ABC Brisbane he found out about the driver shortage after Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe almost two weeks ago.

"But bear in mind at that time, which is before the timetable change on the 4th of October ... QR was consistently operating at 96 per cent which is probably the best operating railway in Australia," Mr Scales said.

He said QR was now working hard to fix the issues.

"I don't think it's a shemozzle ... I don't think it's our finest hour," he said.

Mr Scales said the public could have confidence in the rail network despite recent service alterations.

"The timetable is what I'm working on now to stabilise as much as I can ... so we can publicise it and keep to it as best we can," he said.

"We realise our customers need certainly and we realise that a lot of people rely on the trains to get to and from work, leisure, and hospitals."

He could not give a timeframe on when the timetable problems would be rectified.

"I could get it wrong. I need to make sure that I have all the facts. But I'm working really closely with the unions, stakeholders, the staff, and Minister Hinchliffe, just to make sure we get the information out to our customers," Mr Scales said.

He also apologised to customers for the inconvenience.

Mr Scales was the former director-general of Merseytravel, the transport authority in northern England.

He joined the public sector in 2012 as chief executive of TransLink, responsible for the public transport network across the state.

[tazzer9]

Only way they didn't know was locking themselves in a dark room  and covering their ears yelling "we need more roads" to themselves

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Queensland Rail hasn't advertised for drivers

Queensland Rail still hasn't advertised externally for new train drivers, a week and a half after a shortage caused widespread cancellations on the network.

Acting QR CEO Neil Scales said that would begin next week, after the internal hiring process was exhausted.

Speaking to ABC Radio in a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday morning, he couldn't give a timeline for when train services would be back to normal but urged commuters to have confidence in the interim timetable, installed after an emergency meeting.

"I don't think it's our finest hour but we are working very hard to fix it," he said.

Customers were urged to keep an eye on the Translink website as their "single source of truth" for rail updates.

Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe is under pressure to resign following the emergence of several reports from as far back as January warning senior QR staff of an impending driver shortage.

He blamed the government-owned company for not passing the information on and maintained he had not been made aware of the reports until Monday.

Mr Scales, who was drafted in on Thursday from his position as Department of Transport and Main Roads director-general to fix the problem, said he didn't see the reports until Monday night either.

"But bear in mind at that time, which is before the timetable change on the 4th of October ... QR was consistently operating at 96 per cent which is probably the best operating railway in Australia," he said.

Mr Scales addressed claims drivers from Australia, New Zealand and even private rail freight operator Aurizon had been unable to apply for the 100 extra driver jobs the government has asked for.

"Even if they're suitably qualified, we bring them into the system, it could take months to train them on our safety systems," he said.

"You can't risk safety.

"(Aurizon drivers) need to be accredited on the passenger rails because they're freight and by the time they've done all the route knowledge and gone through all the systems it could still be months but that's something we're actively pursuing now."

But he said newspaper ads and inquiries with Aurizon wouldn't be done until next week.

On Tuesday, Mr Hinchliffe sought to deflect blame for the problem, saying 66 QR training staff were let go under the LNP's watch and the organisation shed 1773 full-time equivalent staff over the course of its term in power.

"The seeds of this issue were sown long ago and we need to get to the bottom of this," he said.

He also highlighted problems with the cabs of 75 new generation trains ordered by the LNP, which the Opposition labelled a "red herring".

Mr Scales said he'd been aware of those problems, met with the unions last year and "fixed them".

"I'm not going to go where the minister's gone but all I can say is that as far as the new generation rollingstock trains are concerned, all the issues in the cabs in the trains have been ironed out," he said.

There were more unexpected cancellations on Tuesday afternoon as QR tried to juggle driver rosters running to 24 per cent overtime with delivering services on the new Redcliffe Peninsula rail line.

QR paid out almost $579,000 in overtime in the fortnight after the October 4 launch, up 24 per cent from the previous period.

It also paid out a little more than $158,000 to departed CEO Helen Gluer, who resigned as the corporation struggled with a shortage of drivers trained to operate on the new line.

- With AAP

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Queensland Rail drama: Ministers support Stirling Hinchliffe

[ozbob]

Only way they didn't know was locking themselves in a dark room  and covering their ears yelling "we need more roads" to themselves

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Queensland Rail drama: Ministers support Stirling Hinchliffe

Not sure for how long though ... 

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Queensland Rail: Stirling Hinchliffe says he was misled in briefings

Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has described being "misled" over the ongoing Queensland Rail driver shortage debacle.

Speaking to media on Wednesday, Mr Hinchliffe said things could have been different if he had all the information available to him that was "clearly available to many people in QR for many months".

"If I had that information available to me, if I had been briefed, if I had not been misled in the nature of briefs that I had received and tabled in the Parliament yesterday, I believe absolutely things could have been very different," Mr Hinchliffe said.

Following the escalation in his rhetoric, Mr Hinchliffe said it would be a question for former Rio Tinto boss Philip Strachan's review in whether he was misled deliberately.

Acting chief executive officer Neil Scales said Queensland Rail was operating in the "mid-90s" for reliability and on high-frequency services such as the Gold Coast line, the "train service isn't that bad".

"We're using the words 'crisis', 'debacle', use the word 'schemozzle', actually the train service is not that bad," Mr Scales said.

When asked if his job was safe, Mr Hinchliffe said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had made it clear to him that she wanted him "full square in charge of working on the resolution of this issue, of fixing the mess".

Earlier on Wednesday, Palaszczuk government ministers voiced their support for Mr Hinchliffe amid calls for him to resign, saying he had the absolute confidence of cabinet.

Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said he did not have all the information that was "clearly available to many ... Transport Minister

Since speaking to Ms Palaszczuk and agreeing there would be an independent investigation, Mr Hinchliffe said there were some "disappointing bumps along the way".

"But I'm absolutely confident that now with the acting CEO in place, working on a sustainable timetable for the remainder of this calendar year, that we'll get there," he said.

Mr Hinchliffe is likely to face heavy questioning from the LNP during Question Time on Wednesday afternoon.

[tazzer9]

The acting CEO should be fired just for thinking that 2 trains an hour is somehow considered high frequency.   

[achiruel]

I think that's a little extreme; compared to the Nambour line it IS high frequency.

As an aside, does anyone know who's doing the DG's job while Mr Scales is acting CEO of QR?

[ozbob]

Acting QR CEO Neil Scales interviewed on 612 ABC about the rail crisis

[Gazza]

I accept that Mr Scales wouldn't have had knowledge of what has been going on, but that kind of illustrates how the silo mentality in a government department like transport doesn't really work.

Wish we were modeled after a TfL type organization.

[Old Northern Road]

I think that's a little extreme; compared to the Nambour line it IS high frequency.

And compared to the Normanton-Croydon line, the Nambour line is extremely high frequency. 2tph is considered low frequency for a suburban rail line

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Queensland Rail dramas: Minister discovered cancellations on Twitter

Queensland's Transport Minister says he found out about mass cancellations on the train network via Twitter.

Stirling Hinchliffe said he found out that 50 services were cancelled on September 30 on social media.

"On the 30th of September, this is when we saw that very large number of cuts to services and that happened with no notice to myself and to my office," Mr Hinchliffe told Parliament during question time on Wednesday afternoon.

"I learnt of and saw through the same social media notices that a lot of other people saw, from TransLink."

    "@Robert_Dow I share your concerns about this unusual spike in cancelations
                          and have asked @QueenslandRail for an urgent briefing."
                          — Stirling Hinchliffe (@StirlHinchliffe) October 1, 2016

Mr Hinchliffe said he asked for a briefing the next day but Queensland Rail did not advise of the chronic driver shortage issues.

He said the briefing advised the cancellation was due to testing for the Redcliffe Peninsula Line, and that it "would be over by the end of October".

Mr Hinchliffe echoed comments he made earlier in the day, saying he was "frankly misled" by Queensland Rail.

"We've seen a gross level of mismanagement from Queensland Rail in relation to this matter and the fact that they have failed to advise the shareholding ministers on this matter is in fact a gross level of mismanagement," he said.

More than 100 services were cancelled on Friday, October 21, after a driver shortage exacerbated by the opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula Line causing the crunch.

The minister has been forced to repeatedly defend his handling of the crisis, amid opposition calls for him to stand down.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Transport Minister refuses to resign for same reason Qld Rail CEO did

FORMER Queensland Rail chief executive Helen Gluer fell on her sword because she had not been made aware by her underlings of previous advice warning of a driver shortage.

QR sources told The Courier-Mail that last Thursday – when Ms Gluer notified the board of her decision – she cited the fact that she was not aware of a March report as a key reason behind her resignation.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has so far refused to resign for almost the exact same reason, pointing to the fact QR figures had failed to make him aware of reports.

QR sources said chairman Michael Klug suggested that one of the main reasons he chose to resign was that he wanted to give the issue clear air.

Both were well-respected within the organisation and people throughout QR have said Ms Gluer was well-liked as a chief executive.

QR yesterday declined to comment on the resignations.

Mr Hinchliffe yesterday dug in his heels amid calls to resign and ramped up his rhetoric against QR, saying he had been "misled" about the true state of affairs.

He also defended his decision to wait 11 days to ask for a copy of the advice that had warned of a looming driver shortage, explaining he had been too busy trying to fix the train system to do so.

"My focus has been, from the moment this issue broke, to deal with delivering reliability for the travelling public," he said.

It is also understood a crucial Indec report – the existence of which was this week revealed by The Courier-Mail – was potentially sent off to Canadian consultancy Giro to assist with its work for QR, yet did not find its way to the Minister until late on Monday night.

Asked about Giro receiving the Indec report, a QR spokeswoman said: "The independent review by Philip Strachan commissioned by the Premier into train crewing issues is underway to determine what has happened and it needs to be allowed to take its course."

The train timetable issue dominated Question Time yesterday, with the Opposition managing to force an admission from Mr Hinchliffe that he found out about the dozens of services that were disrupted on September 30 from social media.

The LNP was eager to distance itself from issues surrounding the New Gen­eration Rollingstock trains ordered under the Newman government and pounced on comments by Mr Hinchliffe's Director-General and acting QR chief executive Neil Scales that the correct product had been purchased.

But the Transport Minister disagreed with his director-general and took aim at the LNP for having the trains built overseas.

[Stillwater]

Ministers surround themselves with advisers, who are members of the Minister's personal (office) staff.  Also located in Minister's offices are DLOs (Departmental Liaison Officers) who are public servants seconded to the Minister's office and who are the administrative link between the Minister's office and the department.  They do not perform any political functions.  At the department end, there is usually a small number of people who see to all things the Minister requires from the department (briefing, day-to-day information, correspondence requiring departmental input etc.)

These people are supposed to liaise with each other and would have contact several times a day.

In times past, the advisers were specialists in their field.  Thus, the Attorney-General might have advisers who hold law degrees.  Some advisers have excellent management skills.  The Minister's office is run by a Chief-of-Staff.  These days, advisers are political aspirants and hopefuls who see the world through a narrow political prism.  This is a significant flaw in our current Ministerial offices set-up.  These people advise the Minister from a political viewpoint, and not a dispassionate and informed professional viewpoint.

Advisers are the Minister's 'eyes and ears' in all aspects of their responsibilities.  Their connections are with industry and lobby groups, and with the department at an official and unofficial level.  They should be able to know that the formal advice to the Minister is consistent with the 'techos' and minions' view of the world.

On this basis, the latest fiasco would be grounds for Mr Hinchliffe to sack his rail adviser.  The Department should withdraw the DLOs in the Minister's office (but not immediately - wait until the current mess is cleaned up), and there should be new protocols negotiated between the Minister's office and QR concerning Ministerial briefings and exchange of information.

[ozbob]

A letter to the Editor Queensland Times 3rd November 2016 page 13

Labor's rail bungle total incompetence



I agree with Mr Powell that the previous transport Minister is also at fault to some degree.

LNP have also contributed to the rail mess IMHO.  ALP have not helped though.

[ozbob]

Queensland Parliament Hansard 2nd November 2016
https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/hansard/2016/2016_11_02_DAILY.pdf

Questions without notice

Minister for Transport and the Commonwealth Games

Mr POWELL: My question is to the Minister for Transport. I table the minister's diary for the
month of September 2016 which shows regular meetings with TMR departmental staff and Queensland
Rail staff. However, on 30 September, when the first round of 50 train services were cut, the minister's
diary shows no such meeting. In fact, it shows no meetings at all and I ask: what exactly was the minister
doing on this, the first day of the rail crisis?

4028 Questions Without Notice 2 Nov 2016
Tabled paper: Extract from Ministerial Diary, Minister for Transport and the Commonwealth Games, the Hon. Stirling Hinchliffe
1 September 2016-30 September 2016.

Mr SPEAKER: Before I call the minister I warn the member for Logan and the member for
Gladstone for their cross-chamber chatter. You are on notice.

Mr HINCHLIFFE: I want to acknowledge the question from the member for Glass House and thank
him for the question. It allows me to clarify, firstly—just to make sure that members understand—that
30 September is when we saw that very large number of cuts to services that happened with no notice
to myself and to my office. I was, on that day, Friday, 30 September, in electorate appointments. I was
in my electorate office meeting with members of my constituency. That is something that a lot of
members do on a Friday.
What I need to make clear to those opposite, and I reiterate and I advised the House of this
yesterday, is that on 30 September I experienced and learnt of and saw through the same social media
notices that a lot of other people saw from TransLink—
Opposition members interjected.
Mr HINCHLIFFE: Yes, I did, and that is part of the problem. That is what I focused on yesterday.
As a consequence I sought a briefing about that and received the briefing on 1 October, the next day.
I sought the briefing, I got the briefing and what did the briefing say? The briefing from Queensland Rail
told me that these were issues that were a function of the back end of the SCAS, at the back end of the
closure that was required for the integration of the Redcliffe peninsula line, that the first levels of testing
of the route and the training on the route, the piloting on the route, were being undertaken. That has
meant that we had drivers and crews using that Redcliffe peninsula line route and the connection in at
Petrie. They were doing the first testing of that ahead of the opening of it the next week.
When I sought the briefing, the briefing advised around that and around shortages and
highlighted that it was to do with the testing and the training. They claimed in their briefing to me that
this would be over by the end of October. I sought further details about how they were dealing with this
and working around this and at every one of those times, as I told the House yesterday, I was briefed
by Queensland Rail that this was an issue that would be over by the end of October. I call upon those
opposite to stop focusing on the politics of this occasion and start focusing on the needs of the
commuters of South-East Queensland.
Mr SPEAKER: Before I call the next member, the member for Redlands and the member for
Albert are both warned under standing order 253A. If you persist I will take the appropriate action.

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

Minister for Transport and the Commonwealth Games
Mr EMERSON: My question is to the transport minister. I ask: was it Twitter or Facebook that
advised the minister of the rail crisis?
Mr HINCHLIFFE: I thank the member for Indooroopilly for his question. It gives me a chance to
highlight and reiterate the issues of 30 September, when in the pm peak we saw a significant number
of cancellations. It was through Twitter that, like so many commuters, I learnt of those cancellations. I
went to the department, TransLink and Queensland Rail and asked why. Frankly, I was misled. The
answers I was given by Queensland Rail proved to be wrong. What has happened? The CEO is gone
and the chair is gone.
Opposition members interjected.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! I call the minister, if you have anything further to add.
Mr HINCHLIFFE: I am absolutely concentrated on and 100 per cent committed to fixing this
problem and making sure we deliver a reliable timetable for South-East Queensland commuters. Since
the member for Indooroopilly—
Opposition members interjected.
Mr SPEAKER: Members, we are being disorderly. Members, the minister's answer is relevant
to the question. You may not like it, but that is not an open invitation to be disorderly. Member for Callide
and member for Mount Ommaney, you are both now warned under standing order 253A for your
behaviour. If you persist, I will take the appropriate action. Minister, do you have anything further you
wish to add?
Mr HINCHLIFFE: Yes, Mr Speaker. To be clear, the tone of the question of the member for
Indooroopilly shows an attempt to be flippant about an issue that is unquestionably serious. In relation
to this matter, we have seen a gross level of mismanagement from Queensland Rail. The fact that they
have failed to advise the shareholding ministers on the matter is a gross level of mismanagement.
However, since the member for Indooroopilly is so interested in these matters, I note the cuts
that we saw under his administration. When he was the minister for transport, the member for
Indooroopilly told people that Queensland Rail was going to employ more train crews. In a media
release dated 15 April 2013, he said—
We will make the organisation more efficient so we can employ more train crew, deliver better timetables and add more trains to
the network.
However, what was he doing at the same time? He was cutting 66 staff from the driver training unit. I
am advised that before the Deputy Premier and then minister for transport initiated recruitment, the last
time there was recruitment for train drivers in Queensland was under the then minister and now premier,
Premier Palaszczuk. They cut; we are delivering.
(Time expired)

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

Minister for Transport and the Commonwealth Games

Ms DAVIS: My question is to the Minister for Transport. I refer to the minister's highly unusual
three ministerial statements yesterday and I ask: can the minister guarantee commuters there will be
no further cuts to services today?
Mr HINCHLIFFE: I thank the member for Aspley for her question about cuts to services. It will give
me a bit of latitude later.
Opposition members interjected.
Mr SPEAKER: Thank you, members.
Mr HINCHLIFFE: As I have mentioned already in the House this morning, we achieved a 97 per
cent on-time running performance in the AM peak today. Again, I thank the drivers and guards and,
indeed, all the Queensland Rail front-line staff for the work that they have done to help deliver those
services. As I made clear yesterday at the end of my, I admit, extensive first ministerial statement, I will
provide updates to the House. That is what I have done, just as I did yesterday. Let me be clear: I do
not want this to roll on further. No-one does.
As the Premier and I both said yesterday, we have committed to making sure that we see a
sustainable timetable delivered next week. It will be announced by the end of this week and available
for commuters next week. That is the commitment I have from the acting CEO of Queensland Rail. We
have heard the confidence the opposition have expressed in the acting CEO of Queensland Rail today.
I can assure commuters that we will see a sustainable timetable put in place to replace the interim
timetable which has not been successful. It will replace the 4 October timetable that failed
Queenslanders so dramatically. I absolutely make it clear to everyone that I am, as the Premier has
tasked me to be, 100 per cent focused on ensuring that we see the delivery of reliable, sustainable and
consistent services for the commuters of South-East Queensland.

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

Queensland Rail

Ms SIMPSON: My question is to the Minister for Transport. The TransLink website states on the
landing page that all services today are normal. After three links it shows the true number of services
that have been cancelled or amended today being 44 different services. Will the minister commit to
displaying on the landing page of the TransLink website a list of the specific services that have been
cut in order to keep Queensland commuters fully informed?
Mr HINCHLIFFE: I thank the member for Maroochydore for her question. I would be very happy
to talk through those issues with TransLink officials to determine the practicality of that sort of
information being provided. The most important information that commuters are looking for is when a
service is available to them. It is less interesting what service is not available to them.
As a commuter myself, I would prefer not to have confusing information but rather information
that would help me achieve my journey. The TransLink website is not a place for politics. The TransLink
website is a place for people to plan journeys. I will ask the question. I will clarify that and get back to
the member.
This gives me an opportunity to address the issues in terms of the performance of the interim
timetable. I was very disappointed about the unplanned cancellations yesterday afternoon. I
communicated that very clearly to the acting CEO and the acting chair at our daily meeting yesterday
afternoon. I understand that there were approximately 25 full and partial cancellations yesterday as a
result of QR being short of four drivers and three guards.
I have made it clear that I expect that the new timetable that we are so focused on developing
and delivering for South-East Queensland commuters needs to be stress tested so that it is able to be
reliably and sustainably delivered. It needs to be stress tested. It needs to be tested. The appropriate

4032 Questions Without Notice 2 Nov 2016
thing to do in these circumstances is to make sure that we are continuing to make progress so that we
deliver for Queenslanders. That is what I am focused on 100 per cent. I will continue to work with the
acting CEO to make sure that we deliver on a timetable that delivers reliability to the commuters of
Queensland for the remainder of this year.

[Stillwater]

A lot of make-up required here ... especially when a Minister accuses his department (QR) of mismanagement.  It may be a case of irreconcilable differences ... in which case time for the Premier to focus her anger and direct it to public good ... reorganise the Transport portfolios and introduce a dedicated Minister for Public Transport. 

The change can be made in a way that does not reflect on Mr Hinchliffe ... cite workload, proximity of the Commonwealth Games, government needs to act decisively and quickly ... a lot more liaison required with the unions, significant focus required on delivering CRR, bigger workload ... blah, blah.    Just don't put Ms Trad anywhere near this portfolio.

[Stillwater]

The Agriculture Minister has resigned.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/agriculture-minister-leanne-donaldson-resigns-her-position-20161103-gshn3t.html

This will require a new appointment to Cabinet.  The Premier could nominate a person to the job or she could consider a wider Cabinet reshuffle that would retain the services of Stirling Hinchliffe, possibly in a different portfolio to the one he holds now, or retaining all the responsibilities he has, minus pubic transport, that would go to a dedicated minister other than Mr Hinchliffe.  Alternatively, the Premier could strip him of the Commonwealth Games responsibilities, leaving him greater time to focus on the PT mess.

Time for the Premier to show leadership in the PT debacle.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Queensland Rail timetable crisis: Union threatened strike action

UNION officials threatened to deliver a lethal injection to the unfolding Queensland Rail timetable meltdown by balloting hundreds of train drivers and guards about strike action.

As QR was beginning to buckle under the "strain on rostering" ahead of the October opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula line, union officials were ramping up plans for work stoppages.

It struck at the worst possible time for QR, with a briefing paper showing bosses struggling to contain a looming timetable crisis that saw hundreds of trains cancelled and commuters stranded.

An "urgent" memo on the cancellations, signed off by former QR chief executive Helen Gluer on October 7, warned Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe union ­action threatened to "further disrupt services".

The Fair Work Commission had in September given the Rail, Tram and Bus Union the green light to ballot QR workers, including drivers, guards and tutors, on whether to take action.

A majority of the 429 QR workers polled voted for work stoppages of between 24 and 48 hours. The "yes" vote was delivered to QR on October 10, but by then the rail operator had reached an in-principle deal with the union on the new enterprise agreement for train crews.

It was struck the same day QR executives were preparing the "urgent" memo to Mr Hinchliffe.

RTBU secretary Owen Doogan rejected suggestions plans for industrial action were timed to seize on the driver shortage woes, telling The Courier-Mail it "didn't even cross my mind".

"It had no impact whatsoever," he said. "It is just a matter of when negotiations got to that stage."

Negotiations on new enterprise deals for QR staff began last year, with the unions optimistic the "change in the political landscape" would see QR bargain with an "open mind".

The unions had won a key High Court decision in 2015 reversing the former Campbell Newman-led state government's decision to shift worker conditions from federal to state laws.

RTBU officials had opposed the state scheme for "robbing" workers of conditions. The court win triggered new enterprise bargaining last year. Train crew negotiations started in May this year and continued up to the timetable crisis.

Mr Doogan warned QR in November to "sharpen their pencils, get back to the table and take our claims seriously" if it wanted to avoid industrial action by rolling stock maintenance staff.

Around the same time, QR agreed to a new rule giving drivers regular 20-minute "comfort breaks". It was to entice more female train drivers by giving them frequent toilet breaks.

It was that rule that consultant Giro repeatedly warned QR, to no avail, to re-examine as "based on current rules, QR's current driver and guard resource levels are not sufficient".

Mr Doogan rejected the "comfort break" was an issue, saying QR was happy with the rule and did not indicate it was a problem.

"They never had an issue with it," he said.

[BrizCommuter]

Any strike action would be shooting themselves in the foot, as it would pretty much guarantee 4 years of LNP government (who probably having learnt much from last time around).

[petey3801]

Strike/industrial action (there were a lot of other options before actual strikes happened) was purely for when the EA negotiations broke down. By the time the ballot had been conducted and counted, negotiations had already restarted and were almost complete, negating the need for the ballot anyway. This is simply the CM trying to continue printing stuff, no matter how tenuous a link it has to the current problems, to make it look worse than it is. And to be honest, that article was likely to simply give the unions a bad name again and try to put them in the hole, even though it had nothing to do with the current problems.

[BrizCommuter]

Strike/industrial action (there were a lot of other options before actual strikes happened) was purely for when the EA negotiations broke down. By the time the ballot had been conducted and counted, negotiations had already restarted and were almost complete, negating the need for the ballot anyway. This is simply the CM trying to continue printing stuff, no matter how tenuous a link it has to the current problems, to make it look worse than it is. And to be honest, that article was likely to simply give the unions a bad name again and try to put them in the hole, even though it had nothing to do with the current problems.

It's not like the CM to bash unions!

[Stillwater]

Staff do have a legitimate industrial relations gripe, given the current state of play within QR -- shift changes, overtime etc.

[ozbob]

The question now is of course ' Can any Government allow the continued flawed organisational make up of QR? '

It is a basket case I am afraid.

Organisational structure has failed, and failed rather big time I would suggest.  Board?  Senior management?  Documents tabled in parliament clearly show the problems have been known for months and months and nothing was done, other than to continue to walk over the edge of the cliff of failure ..

The Government will have to move to sort it out.  The opposition certainly will should they be returned.

[#Metro]

Organisational structure has failed, and failed rather big time I would suggest.  Board?  Senior management?  Documents tabled in parliament clearly show the problems have been known for months and months and nothing was done, other than to continue to walk over the edge of the cliff of failure ..

Why do reportedly 20 managers or QR staff withhold information from the CEO?

Someone would have had to generate the job cards - which failed and raised a red flag with GIRO, who issued an alert.

Yet, the decision to proceed was given anyway.

When the job card production failed, major alarms should have rang out at QR. It is just inconceivable that they did not.

After this debacle, I think QR will be restructured alright. It will be contracted out and an operator like MTR Metro will come in.

Brisbane train driver shortage: Pressure on Stirling Hinchliffe to resign as QR cancel more services
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-02/queensland-rail-train-driver-shortage-more-pressure-on-minister/7986824

Mr Hinchliffe also tabled more reports in Parliament confirming QR had been repeatedly warned of its staffing shortfalls.

The March and October reports from software company GIRO state "QR's current driver and guard resource levels are not sufficient".

The Canadian company was commissioned to help QR with employee scheduling and operations-management.

[Stillwater]

The problems are structural, indeed.  Unfortunately, the government is still in the 'public sentiment management' phase.  The Opposition?  Well, having sowed the seeds of this particular fail, they are now making political capital of it.  Irresponsible.  They want the chaos to continue (they could not give a stuff about the pain of the travelling public), because they can see a chance to claim the political scalp of Mr Hinchliffe.  We need politics out of this and a root and branch restructure.  Clearly, the structure that exists, and put in place by the LNP, was to set QR up for corporatisation and, eventually, privatisation.

Ms Gleur was a beancounter transferred from Treasury.  She was not a rail operations person.

[#Metro]

The problems are structural, indeed.

I don't think the problem is QR's structure. That is an organisation that has been reconstituted more times than orange juice concentrate.

The politicians and the toxic politics are the root cause of this.


Fare policy - That is 100% government controlled. Over many years, fares were corrupted and used as

a payoff for voting a particular way (started with Bligh and her pre-election fare freeze around 2009 I think), and then it just snowballed

from thereon. Must have cost hundreds of millions of dollars for dramatically reduced patronage.


At least next election cycle the 3 year term will be replaced with 4 so there will be less knee-jerk in decision making.

[SurfRail]

It's not a QR only thing, it's a whole of government response to transport thing.

DTMR needs to be torn down and rebuilt into a single agency which is responsible for all aspects of the transport portfolio - no more silos. 

The passenger transport functions need to be consolidated in one place, with one minister responsible.  All urban services, all subsidised long distance services, all on-demand services regulated by the government - part of one properly planned agency.  No "alliance" models with local governments either for that matter.

The infrastructure management needs to be dealt with holistically too.  The people responsible for main roads, railways, ports, busways etc should all be under the same "roof".

I'd also like to see the ability to raise a passenger transport tax for all of SEQ in particular (collected through rates in the same way as fire levies) to defuse the BCC rubbish and replace the other individual councils' public transport funding sources.  Could also be possible to do something similar on a more piecemeal approach elsewhere on a city by city basis (eg for Cairns, Townsville, Toowoomba etc).

If part of that involves breaking up what we now know as "Queensland Rail", big deal.  Perth did this ages ago and they are much better off for it.

[Stillwater]

As a group, we should debate whether to present a case to government for a 'SEQ transport levy' paid through rates.  (All ratepayers bear the pain, not just some local authority areas.)  The alternative is a state land tax.  Neither ALP or LNP will touch additional revenue-raising, so they may digest it politically if they could say a lobby group raised the idea.  (At very worse, 'its RailBOT's fault that you will be paying more' they could say, if they want to shirk their responsibility.)

At the other end of the political spectrum, this concept would pander to the Katter boys and the out-of-town politicians who have to put up with representations that their voters are paying for SEQ public transport.  The non-SEQ residents should not get off scott free, however.  They just pay a smaller levy to pay for things such as Spirit of Queensland, Tilts and subsidised air services to small rural towns.

The chops and changes to transport administration over the years has bastardised the whole system, relationship of QR to Translink etc.  We have seen what happens when QR is kept at arms length from the infrastructure provision (as with Redcliffe Peninsula Line).  TMR went for a signalling system that did not 'talk' with the rest of the signalling system.

Agree largely with what you are saying, SurfRail.

[tazzer9]

The problem with QR is that they are pretty much operate independent of the govt, with the exception of funding.   But then a minister of some kind, comes in and thinks he knows best and messes around with everything.  They can be destroyed by the govt with one swipe but receive no support from them.   Its a one way street.

You wouldn't have a representative of union come onto a job site and tell everyone what to do and how to do it.  Politicians should stay out of other peoples way, because if they were truly good at any other job, they would be doing something else. 

When I think of australian pollies that could cut it in any other workplace without the help of their best friends to make sure they remain there.  Only a few come to mind.   Malcolm turnbull, wayne swan. 

When we have debacles like this caused by the govt and politicians, maybe we are better off with a privatised network.  Run by people who can be held accountable.

[#Metro]

The problem with QR is that they are pretty much operate independent of the govt, with the exception of funding.   But then a minister of some kind, comes in and thinks he knows best and messes around with everything.  They can be destroyed by the govt with one swipe but receive no support from them.   Its a one way street.

Politicians made the mess. They made the 'cost cuts' which later have null savings because the changes destroyed value creation in the organisation (i.e. have to pay for overtime, have to pay for new recruitment, have to pay to rejig the timetables, have to pay for Helen Gluer's golden handshake, have to pay for investigator to make report, have to pay for replacement buses, etc).

If politicians were in direct control (i.e. like Brisbane City Council) decide what to do, it is hard to see what would be better.

Remember, Paul Pluta sent a warning e-mail to both Jackie Trad and Stirling Hinchliffe in January. Then GIRO told them again in March.

[Otto]

I'd also like to see the ability to raise a passenger transport tax for all of SEQ in particular (collected through rates in the same way as fire levies)

Not sure if its been mentioned anywhere on the forum, The Bay Islands SMBI already pay a "Translink Operations charge" of $ 87.04 per property on the rates notice on top of the 6 zone ripoff fare to travel from the island to the mainland @ Redland Bay.

[Stillwater]

The 'transport levy' varies.  For instance, in Noosa Shire it is $20 a year.  On the Sunshine Coast, it is $27 a year.

https://invest.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/sitecore/content/Global-Content/News/Media-News/Transport-Levy-on-track-to-shape-our-transport-future

Both councils use the levy fees imaginatively and with the support of ratepayers.

[Otto]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/kate-jones-tipped-to-replace-stirling-hinchliffe-as-commonwealth-games-minister/news-story/a5ddf5bd31658262bc05f4e7c121ae8e

Kate Jones tipped to replace Stirling Hinchliffe as Commonwealth Games minister

BUMBLING Palaszczuk Government minister Stirling Hinchliffe is set to be stripped of his Commonwealth Games responsibilities, with Tourism Minister Kate Jones tipped to take back the plum portfolio.

As event organisers prepare to unveil family-friendly ticket prices today, highly placed Government sources told The Sunday Mail that Mr Hinchliffe would be relieved of the Games role as early as this week.

The besieged Transport Minister is tipped to also lose his job as Leader of the House so he can focus on remedying the shortage of train drivers, which has seen hundreds of services cancelled and commuters left furious.

[ozbob]

if this ^ happens at least it is a more manageable workload and broadly consistent with my suggestion for a dedicated Minister for Public Transport.  There needs to a whole of reform though other than swapping around Ministerial leather.

[ozbob]

The problems are structural, indeed.  Unfortunately, the government is still in the 'public sentiment management' phase.  The Opposition?  Well, having sowed the seeds of this particular fail, they are now making political capital of it.  Irresponsible.  They want the chaos to continue (they could not give a stuff about the pain of the travelling public), because they can see a chance to claim the political scalp of Mr Hinchliffe.  We need politics out of this and a root and branch restructure.  Clearly, the structure that exists, and put in place by the LNP, was to set QR up for corporatisation and, eventually, privatisation.

Ms Gleur was a beancounter transferred from Treasury.  She was not a rail operations person.

Spot on Mr Stillwater .. 

Looks like wheels might be starting to turn with ' de-portfolioing ' Transport Minister Hinchliffe of other roles and allowing a pure public transport focus.  I hope this also includes public transport infrastructure ...  I despair with CRR being buried in other Minister's complex portfolio mess.

Sorting QR will be one very specific task for Mr Hinchliffe.  Lots to do!  Bus reform, delivering of fare reform, NGR trains, timetable mess .. infrastructure!