Redcliffe Peninsula line & associated changes - rail

[mufreight]

More reason for the Minister to resign from the position as Minister for Railways, Trad's position is untenable and this would just about put paid to her chances of re election.
The position of the board is also untenable as this latest release of information further proves that the board had knowledge of the problem and exhibits the incompetence of the board and senior management in that they did nothing.
The logical simplest and most effective means of giving Queensland Rail any credibility and the means of resolving the operational needs of running the railway and providing services.
The Premier should appoint a stand alone Minister for Railways and separate the railways department from Transport and Main Roads.
Remove the board which has proven itself incapable of administering Queensland Rail and appoint a Commissioner for Railways with the knowledge and experience to administer and operate Queensland Rail with a free hand to reduce the top heavy management of Queensland Rail eliminating those positions that do nothing towards the operation of Queensland Rail.
Unless the Premier takes some leadership in this ongoing rail fail and restructures Queensland Rail come the next election the Queensland Parliament will no longer be Labor.
10 months on and the NGR train sets are still not in service, the longest commissioning period of any rollingstock in the history of Australian Railways, another reason for the removal of the existing board and their replacement with a Commissioner who can tackle direct action to get results instead of more reports and meetings to attempt to deflect any responsibility for their administrative failures which have to this time achieved absolutely nothing.

[bretto82]

You do know qr has nothing to do with ngr testing or commissioning all they will be doing is useing them that's it no maintenance nothing

[red dragin]

Isn't the current board only new?

I thought the previous one knew about the iceberg and jumped ship.

[mufreight]

QR is responsible for the overall supervision of the commissioning process for the NGR trains and since the first sets were supposedly to be in service end of June start of July, the reasons for them not being in service are the contractors problems but their not being in service is Queensland Rail's problem and Queensland Rail should have been all over the contractors and the causes of the delay in introduction in to service and any cost overruns or other additional expenses that have arisen as a consequence.
Again it comes back to the responsibilities of an ineffectual board, a Minister who has failed in his level of oversight and senior management whose irresponsible complacency failed to keep bringing the failings to the notice of both the Board and the Minister.
The need for a complete restructure from the Minister down is glaringly obvious and the existing Government unless it addresses these problems will not be in government nor will it deserve to be after the next election.

[#Metro]

Isn't the current board only new?

I thought the previous one knew about the iceberg and jumped ship.

The board is regularly replaced. About half the appointees are new, having been in the job for only a few months.

An ex-Red Team Transport Minister also sits on the board.

I don't really see what a commissioner or commission would do, it is just a board by another name IMHO.

And Queensland Rail is already a stand-alone authority, separate from DTMR. Setting it up like TransPerth would bring Queensland Rail into DTMR as a division. Hard to see how that would help anything.

We have a Transport Minister, but he can't really do his job because of this taboo that says you must always sign the contract with Queensland Rail no matter what.

Personally, I think that is ridiculous, if you don't like the services for whatever reason, stop signing the service contracts and give them the boot!

[bretto82]

Ummm no TransLink are responsible for them not qr all qr is doing is providing tech support and advice and telling TransLink/dtmr of any non conformance that is it qr is operating the trains full stop just the way Scott and Campbell wanted it

[Stillwater]

We now know why Ms Palaszczuk can't dismiss Mr Hinchliffe - she would have to do the same to the Deputy Premier.  Not a good look for Labor.  Best to bluff it out, wait for the Commission of Inquiry findings and do a lot of reshuffling with QR and Translink and hope to divert the public gaze away from the pollies.

[HappyTrainGuy]

And Queensland Rail is already a stand-alone authority, separate from DTMR.

sh%t you almost fooled me mate. Not exactly. There's one big thing the size of Eastern Europe you have missed when it went from a GOC to a Statutory Authority. TMR now actually has more control over the railways than you might think. QR is pretty much in an advisory role for many things (for the worse) - thanks to how the blue party wanted to do things by making everything look leaner than a doped up cyclist before selling it cheaper than Team Red on the next corner over giving out $2 freight networks to anyone that wanted one. NGR/MBRL are prime examples of QR not having any say in what happens to its network/running. And look how that is going. AFAIK MBRL still has its ongoing signaling issues. Roll on 2017. Looking forward to how someone's going to stuff up the railways even more.

[mufreight]

Isn't the current board only new?

I thought the previous one knew about the iceberg and jumped ship.

The board is regularly replaced. About half the appointees are new, having been in the job for only a few months.

An ex-Red Team Transport Minister also sits on the board.

I don't really see what a commissioner or commission would do, it is just a board by another name IMHO.

And Queensland Rail is already a stand-alone authority, separate from DTMR. Setting it up like TransPerth would bring Queensland Rail into DTMR as a division. Hard to see how that would help anything.

We have a Transport Minister, but he can't really do his job because of this taboo that says you must always sign the contract with Queensland Rail no matter what.

Personally, I think that is ridiculous, if you don't like the services for whatever reason, stop signing the service contracts and give them the boot!

There is no justification for a board other than to provide seven non productive appointees a hand in the public purse.
With a stand alone Minister self interest if no other reason would ensure that he/she took an interest in what was going on with the railways if the Minister was to stand any chance of re election.
A Commissioner instead of the existing board if someone with a railway background such as Glen Daw removes the obstacles in making decisions, (none of the existing board has a railway background) decisions could be made and implemented in hours instead of the months that it presently takes to end up with cover their arse no decisions based on blame avoidance rather than running a railway.
The railways operated quite successfully under the control of only a commissioner who was directly responsible to a Minister for Railways when it was a much larger system than Queensland Rail is today.
A single commissioner is at worst only one hand in the public purse not seven snouts feeding in the public purse backed up with a team of spin merchants to try to justify (read blame everyone else for their individual and collective ineffectiveness) the failings of the existing board's oversight of the railways.
The Minister can resign and the Premier can appoint a Minister for Railways who could then be seen to be doing something by removing the board and appointing a Commissioner and removing Queensland Rail from the control of the existing Transport and Main Roads.  A path forward that would enable Queensland Rail to resolve many of its existing problems and become a cost effective reliable public transport service provider. 

[#Metro]

SA Rail Commissioner Act 2009
https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/LZ/C/A/RAIL%20COMMISSIONER%20ACT%202009/CURRENT/2009.51.UN.PDF

Commissioner is basically a body corporate, just like the current Queensland Rail. So no change there. Sue and can be sued etc.

Part 2—Rail Commissioner
Division 1—Establishment of Rail Commissioner
4—Establishment of Rail Commissioner
(1) There is to be a Rail Commissioner.
(2) The Rail Commissioner—
(a) is a body corporate; and
(b) has perpetual succession and a common seal; and
(c) is capable of suing and being sued; and
(d) is an instrumentality of the Crown and holds property on behalf of the Crown;
and
(e) has the functions assigned by or under this or any other Act; and
(f) has the powers necessary or expedient for, or incidental to, the performance
of the Commissioner's functions (including the power to enter into contracts),
together with such other powers conferred by or under this or any other Act.

6—Ministerial direction
(1) The Rail Commissioner is subject to the direction of the Minister.
(2) A direction of the Minister under this section must be given in writing.
(3) The Minister must, within 6 sitting days after giving a direction to the Rail
Commissioner under this section, have copies of the direction laid before both Houses
of Parliament.
(4) If the Minister gives a direction under this section, the Rail Commissioner must cause
a statement of the fact that the direction was given to be published in its next annual
report.

Minister can direct what to do.

The commissioner is supported by staff. I think it is a lot of responsibility for one person (are SA railways really that complex, doesn't carry that many pax).

On the other hand it would be faster to get to a decision. Legislation is only 13 pages long and very simple.

An interesting difference is that only the governor can remove the commissioner before term expiry.

[HappyTrainGuy]

You're making things too difficult Metro when it isn't. And its not that difficult if you get the right person with the right staff ie someone with extensive background experience in the railways and knows what needs to be done. Not some 21year old woman just out of hair dressing school because she put "good social skills" on the application form.

[ozbob]

9 News --> Trad 'warned' of looming Qld train saga

Queensland's opposition claims the state government could have prevented October's train timetable meltdown amid reports Deputy Premier Jackie Trad was warned one year before the crisis unfolded.

A staff member anonymously contacted the Transport Department warning of the "disastrous situation" in October 2015 when Ms Trad was the responsible minister, the Seven Network has reported.

The network's Right to Information request revealed the staff member warned there was a large number of services without the necessary drivers.

They also highlighted the disbanding of a training section, a blowout in training times, a lack of training staff and a bulk retirement of experienced drivers.

"There will be major damage: massive cancellations," notes from the call said.

The notes were reportedly forwarded to two senior advisors of Ms Trad, but the department ruled that no further information was required.

It has previously been revealed current Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe's department was warned of the looming problems in March.

"It's unforgivable that not one but two ... transport ministers could have prevented the timetable debacle but chose to do nothing," opposition transport spokesman Andrew Powell said.

"It's an insult to Queenslanders and quite frankly, it's bad governance."

A spokeswoman for Ms Trad said following the anonymous call, a Queensland Rail briefing informed both Ms Trad and Treasurer Curtis Pitt 100 new drivers and 100 new guards were being recruited.

This was to meet the requirements of projects like the Moreton Bail Rail Link, the opening of which triggered a major timetable meltdown in October when widespread service cancellations caused commuter chaos.

"At no stage did Queensland Rail (QR) provide any advice to the Deputy Premier that train crew availability was a risk to the opening of the new Moreton Bay Rail Link," the spokeswoman said.

The saga resulted in the resignations of senior QR bureaucrats, but Mr Hinchliffe has resisted multiple calls for him to resign or be sacked as the train network runs on a scaled-back timetable.

Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/12/23/12/31/trad-warned-of-looming-qld-train-saga#OxfcbOGhRsO8z4QO.99

[STB]

Looks like there are failures on both sides of politics that led up to what has happened.  The final report will be interesting.

[James]

So Minister Trad is revealed as the true incompetent out of all of this! I hope she loses her seat at the next election. She certainly deserves it. The government knew about this issue for 12 months - plenty of time to put in place steps to remedy the issue.

Imagine how much longer QR knew about it.

[STB]

I'm not sure if Minister Hinchcliffe can be blamed at this stage.  Looks like he just got given a crap setup, ignored by previous Transport Ministers, given dodgy advice and then thrown into the fire when the crap hit the fan and has been basically dealing with it since.

Trad and her advisors I think is someone who is certainly in the firing line for screwing up, but I wouldn't be surprised that the LNP had a hand in this under Emerson leading up to having a lack of drivers in the first place.

[ozbob]

It is possible that the matters raised by the QR ' whistleblower ' might have only been dealt with at staffer level.

Some staffers think they are ' Ministers ' and keep certain information from them.

Need to wait until the final report is done to say with any certainty who knew what.

One thing is clear though, there has been a major failure of management.  #railfail continues ...

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Queensland Rail timetable disaster: Opposition claims Jackie Trad knew a year ahead of crisis

QUEENSLAND'S opposition claims the state government could have prevented October's train timetable meltdown amid reports Deputy Premier Jackie Trad was warned one year before the crisis unfolded.

A staff member anonymously contacted the Transport Department warning of the "disastrous situation" in October 2015 when Ms Trad was the responsible minister, the Seven Network has reported.

The network's Right to Information request revealed the staff member warned there was a large number of services without the necessary drivers. They also highlighted the disbanding of a training section, a blowout in training times, a lack of training staff and a bulk retirement of experienced drivers.

"There will be major damage: massive cancellations," notes from the call said. The notes were reportedly forwarded to two senior advisors of Ms Trad, but the department ruled that no further information was required.

It has previously been revealed current Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe's department was warned of the looming problems in March.

"It's unforgivable that not one but two ... transport ministers could have prevented the timetable debacle but chose to do nothing," opposition transport spokesman Andrew Powell said.

"It's an insult to Queenslanders and quite frankly, it's bad governance." A spokeswoman for Ms Trad said following the anonymous call, a Queensland Rail briefing informed both Ms Trad and Treasurer Curtis Pitt 100 new drivers and 100 new guards were being recruited.

This was to meet the requirements of projects like the Moreton Bail Rail Link, the opening of which triggered a major timetable meltdown in October when widespread service cancellations caused commuter chaos.

"At no stage did Queensland Rail (QR) provide any advice to the Deputy Premier that train crew availability was a risk to the opening of the new Moreton Bay Rail Link," the spokeswoman said.

The saga resulted in the resignations of senior QR bureaucrats, but Mr Hinchliffe has resisted multiple calls for him to resign or be sacked as the train network runs on a scaled-back timetable.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Jackie Trad warned of driver shortage and cancellations in October 2015

Former transport minister Jackie Trad was warned of a looming driver shortage 12 months before a staffing crunch caused hundreds of cancellations following the opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula Line.

But Ms Trad has hit back, claiming Queensland Rail never advised that train crew availability was a risk to the opening of the new rail line.

An anonymous QR whistleblower contacted the Department of Transport and Main Roads in October 2015, then under Ms Trad's portfolio, warning of train cancellations as a result of a lack of drivers.

He told the department about a "disastrous situation" due to a large number of new services being rolled out without the necessary drivers because the training section had been disbanded, there was a blowout in driver training times, a lack of staff to train new drivers and a bulk retirement of experienced staff.

The revelations were detailed in correspondence discovered through a Seven News Right to Information request.

The call taker forwarded her notes to two senior advisers who worked for Ms Trad, but the response was "no further information was required", Seven News reported.
Advertisement

More than 100 services were cancelled on October 21, following the opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula Line to passengers on October 4, despite a driver shortage.

A spokeswoman for Ms Trad said: "at no stage did Queensland Rail provide any advice to the Deputy Premier that train crew availability was a risk to the opening of the new Moreton Bay Rail Link".

"Subsequent to this anonymous phone call, Queensland Rail briefed both the Deputy Premier and the Treasurer that they were recruiting 100 new drivers and 100 new guards to meet the requirements of projects like Moreton Bay Rail Link," the spokeswoman said.

Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said Ms Trad sought advice from QR and was advised the train driver recruitment process had started.

"So the advice that she got in response to those issues being raised was, we are recruiting drivers, recruiting guards and reassurance that there would be no issues in relation to train crew in the lead-up to the opening of the new line," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"That was the same advice that I got when issues were raised with me."

When asked if that meant there was a long-running issue of information not being communicated from QR to the transport minister's office, Mr Hinchliffe said he was being reassured cancellations in October were a short-term issue.

"So advice was coming, obviously, to me during the whole time, during my time as minister, that... this wasn't an issue, and that advice was coming from the operator, Queensland Rail," he said.

"And clearly the same advice was made to the previous minister."

When asked if he was satisfied he was receiving all the information he needed from Queensland Rail now, Mr Hinchliffe said he was "extensively examining and cross examining every bit of information and advice that I get from Queensland Rail".

"Wherever there's been issues and concerns about double-checking things, I've been doing that, my focus has been on the operations as we're going forward."

Opposition Transport spokesman Andrew Powell claimed Ms Trad, also the Deputy Premier, could have prevented the timetable debacle but "chose to do nothing".

"First it was 'I know nothing' Stirling Hinchliffe, now we learn Jackie Trad knew about the looming train driver shortage a full year before the fact but put it in the too-hard basket," Mr Powell said.

"Ms Trad was warned in no uncertain terms that a lack of drivers would lead to disastrous consequences but clearly it wasn't high on her priority list.

"South-east Queensland commuters have experienced nothing but chaos on the rail network for months."

The timetable meltdown led to the resignation of Queensland Rail chief executive officer Helen Gluer and chairman Michael Klug.

Queensland Rail has been contacted for response.

[Arnz]

And the Blame game continues. 
Though it's not surprising Trad's passing the buck to try to save her job here, regardless if it was her problem or not.

[#Metro]

RAIL Back on Track warned constantly that the transport portfolio could not be passively non-managed.

It was stated a number of times.

There were major concerns here on RBOT about Deputy Premier Jackie Trad's portfolio being too big, with about one portfolio area for each day of the week.

Even if Jackie Trad did not know, she was warned a second time with the Paul Pluta e-mails in January the following year.

The problems around the rail network could be largely avoided or reduced if the government took the Redcliffe line offline or made it a shuttle service. They have chosen not to do this, but instead let delays and cancellations propagate throughout the entire SEQ rail network.

Due to the seriousness and 'slow burn' nature of these problems, everybody should go. The entire board, the minister, the entire government. It also demonstrates that you can't just fire one person to solve a problem like this - when things go wrong, it can be difficult to figure out who contributed what and when. The blame naturally spreads and is passed around.

It is madness to continue to sign on operators (bus and rail) that cannot or do not perform their core duties. If i had a tradie come to my house and do a SSHTT job, I would not welcome them back!

It also lays bare the complete fiction that is the contract between TransLink and Queensland Rail (a contract between the minister and himself) and the penalties regime attached to it. It is completely unenforceable.

Everybody OUT!!

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Queensland Rail fed Minister storyline over rail fail

TRANSPORT Minister Stirling Hinchliffe's office had Queensland Rail script his reply to questions about the train timetable meltdown, emails released under Right to Information reveal.

They show Mr Hinchliffe's office entrusted QR to draft his response to the debacle despite weeks of service cancellations and questions about the severity of its driver shortage.

Mr Hinchliffe was almost entirely led by QR in the early weeks of the crisis, according to the documents, despite his having ultimate responsibility for the rail body.

His office was sent questions by The Courier-Mail on October 11 about whether QR was doing enough to warn commuters about cancellations after major disruptions that day. The minister was also asked whether enough was being done to prevent train cancellations. Mr Hinchliffe's assistant ministerial adviser Tim Auguston forwarded the questions to QR minutes later asking for it to respond.

A senior QR media officer replied by drafting comments to be attributed to Mr ­Hinchliffe.

The comments say Mr Hinchliffe was "disappointed" that commuters were inconvenienced. It was also suggested that Mr Hinchliffe should reply: "I have instructed Queensland Rail to intensify its efforts to make sure customers get earlier notice of service changes".

The comments were then sent verbatim to The Courier-Mail from the Minister's ­office.

Documents show Mr Hinchliffe only began demanding answers later that month when he called a meeting of transport bosses to explain more than 100 service cancellations.

He blamed QR for failing to brief him on the problems ahead of the Redcliffe line opening, but emails show Deputy Premier Jackie Trad's office had been passed detailed notes about the shortages over a year before the line was opened.

The tip-off, from an anonymous caller who worked at QR, warned in October 2015 that shortages would cause a "disastrous situation" for the Government, but it was ­ignored.

Emails also reveal Transport Director-General Neil Scales tried to limit damaging publicity by delaying plans to hit QR with fines for failing to meet standards.

[ozbob]

Original oil painting Pieter Jansz.  '  Farce Actors Dancing '

Sums it up nicely!

[ozbob]

Couriermail Quest --> Rail patronage figures for Redcliffe Peninsula Line below expectations


Rail Back on Track's Robert Dow. Picture: Peter Cronin

ABOUT a fifth of the number of passengers forecast to travel on the Redcliffe Peninsula Line each day are using the service, according to TransLink figures.

Data for October showed there were 4312 passenger movements each day, and 4431 each day in November. Figures for December and January were not provided.

Forecast usage data included in a 2011 report on the project predicted a total of 20,358 passenger movements each day when the line opened.

Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said timetabling problems caused by a shortage of drivers had an impact.

"It's a bit unfortunate the whole saga has affected it to some degree. It has affected all lines," Mr Dow said

Mr Dow said reliability had improved but had been an issue since the line opened, particularly during afternoon peak periods.

He said the track layout at Kippa-Ring station could be partly to blame as it was difficult for trains to turn around using single crossover tracks rather than a double crossover layout.

Mr Dow said trains also needed to run every 15 minutes in non-peak times instead of 30 minutes.

Transport Minister Jackie Trad said: "I am determined to work as hard as I possibly can to turn things at Queensland Rail around for the people of Redcliffe, Moreton Bay and all of southeast Queensland. We have committed to implementing all the recommendations of the Strachan Report to ensure we are delivering confidence in our network".

The rail line, which was funded by the Federal Government, Moreton Bay Regional Council and the State Government, was touted as a solution to gridlock on the Bruce Highway, with each six-carriage train taking 600 cars off the road.

RACQ spokeswoman Renee Smith said trains had to be a reliable alternative to driving for motorists to make the switch.

"The Bruce Hwy carries up to 155,000 vehicles per day, so there would have to be a very large shift to rail patronage to have a significant impact on travel speeds/congestion relief," she said.

Federal LNP Member for Petrie Luke Howarth said the line should be "abuzz with commuters" but confidence had taken a battering "as a result of the Palaszczuk Government's subservience to the unions and their global failure to effectively manage the line".

"The rail line has the capacity to ease congestion on a number of thoroughfares. However until the Palaszczuk Government can ensure a safe and reliable service, congestion will persist and people will continue to drive - they simply can't risk waiting for a train which may or may not show up," Mr Howarth said.

Mayor Allan Sutherland said while there had been some issues experienced with the operational rollout of the Redcliffe Peninsula Line, he was optimistic these were short term issues.

"Our region has waited more than a century for this project to be delivered, and while we know these short-term issues have been frustrating for local residents, our focus must continue to be on the benefits the new line can bring to our region," Cr Sutherland said.

"Already, we're seeing unprecedented growth and economic uplift along the new rail corridor, with the number of jobs, businesses, residents, new developments and investment along the rail corridor increasing at rapid rates."

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS:

October: 4312 passenger movements per day

November: 4431 passenger movements per day

20,358 passenger movements per day forecast in 2011

155,000 vehicles use the Bruce Hwy per day

Each six-carriage train should be taking 600 cars off the roads

[ozbob]

FYI

OTR data does show a greater loss of reliability on the RPL in the PM peak.  Probably is related in part to the poor track layout.

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

http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2015_11_01_archive.html

So how should this terminus have been designed? As previously mentioned, for maximum capacity the crossovers should be placed as close as possible to the platforms. Scissors crossovers (such as on the approach to Ferny Grove) allow for the highest throughput as they are located in the same space as just one crossover. On the downside, the diamond crossing can suffer from track wear and tear, and also adds wear and tear to train wheels (unless switch diamonds are installed, but these can be unreliable). The next best design is a double crossover where a trailing and facing crossover are located as close as possible. Due to the location of the entrance to the sidings, and a curve in the track beyond the sidings points, a scissors crossover would be best suited for this location. The diagram below shows how Kippa-Ring should have had its track layout designed in BrizCommuter's opinion - red shows a removed crossover, and the light green shows where a scissors crossover should be located.

[BrizCommuter]

^ Told them so.

There are more daily passenger movements at Ferny Grove than the whole of the Redcliffe Peninsula Line. Rail Fail has been a disaster for the RPL!

[SurfRail]

Light rail - 17,800 per day in year 1
RPL - 4,500 per day for first few months (which will only be boardings, so assume around 9,000 per day total trips on the branch)

Costs more or less identical.

[#Metro]

Too many stations.

Too slow.

Too infrequent.

Line a bit short - should have extended to Oxley Ave so the bus network could be simple

Same recipe as for anywhere else on the "Queensland" network really.

Running trains every 15 minutes off peak would be a good start.

[ozbob]

Google Map view of ' scissors ' crossing at Ferny Grove

[ozbob]

One of the gripes of the RPL punters is the lack of express services.

They can change at Petrie as desired.  Clearly the stations between Petrie and Northgate need coverage.

Cannot see this changing for some time.  Springfield Central punters have the same situation in effect.  Likewise they can change at Darra.

Fact of life that transfers will become a lot more common on public transport in SEQ and Brisbane as the network matures.

[KS]

I live in Griffin and am about 5 minutes drive from Kallangur or Murrumba downs station. I can drive down the highway to bald hills (12-minute drive) and get the same train for $3.90 instead of $5.96 (and my overall trip time from leaving home is a couple minutes faster).  I am still getting the train and it's still technically the RPL (just not at the new stations) it's just that the new stations do not add much benefit over driving to an older station (either in time or cost even though they are physically closer to my house).

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

11th March 2017

More problems with Redcliffe Peninsula Line ! Not more !!

Greetings,

Since train services commenced on the Redcliffe Peninsula Line (RPL) we have observed that in general on time running in the PM peak is worse than the AM Peak.
[ On time train performance data - rail --> https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?board=73.0 ]

It is extremely rare that 100% on-time running is achieved in the pm peak period on the Redcliffe Peninsula Line. Some of this unreliability can be put down the sub-optimal track crossover layout on the approach to Kippa-Ring station. This track layout does not meet railway industry best standards for high frequency urban rail services. There are two track crossovers that allow trains to switch between the two tracks. These are placed 430 metres apart. The result of this is platform re-occupation time (the time that for a train to depart the platform, and the following train to arrive in the platform) at Kippa-Ring can be 50% longer than if a scissors crossover had been built closer to the platforms. A scissors crossover is an overlapping pair of crossovers connected with a diamond crossing.

The effect to passengers of this poor track layout design is late arrival and departures at Kippa-Ring, and passengers waiting on stationary trains outside the station. Late running trains can also have knock-on effects to other train lines through the City.

The track layout at Ferny Grove does incorporate a scissors crossover.  Data shows that a consistently better on time running performance is also achieved compared to RPL. We do wonder why Ferny Grove has a scissors crossover but not Kippa-Ring!

RAIL Back on Track calls for an urgent re-design of the track crossover layout at Kippa-Ring, replacing the separated track crossovers, with a scissors crossover (as found at Ferny Grove) closer to the platform. Modifications to signalling will also be required. This will result in immediate improvements to reliability to the Redcliffe Peninsula Line, and also allow the Redcliffe Peninsula Line to achieve enhanced service frequencies once Cross River Rail has been constructed. A scissors crossing at Kippa-Ring will help to improve reliability and hence boost passenger numbers.

This problem was pointed out in November 2015 but ignored by the authorities ( see Kippa-Ring Crossover 'Crazyness' http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/kippa-ring-crossover-crazyness.html )


Diagram of present track layout at Kippa-Ring


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5YodppyPJlQ/VkBvd7AWdjI/AAAAAAAABGA/FCRMgCdrO9c/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-11-07%2Bat%2B2.20.10%2BPM.png

Diagram of improved track layout at Kippa-Ring with scissors crossing


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iLffqn_QOnU/VkB0XONSnII/AAAAAAAABGQ/FxFA7yYwDa0/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-11-09%2Bat%2B7.57.18%2BPM.png
Red shows a removed crossover, and the light green shows where a scissors crossover should be located.

Google map view of Ferny Grove showing scissors crossing

Reference: https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Ferny+grove+Train+station,+28+Conavalla+St,+Ferny+Grove+QLD+4055/@-27.4033175,152.9373144,19z/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x6b91566297349479:0x23f3852670814ba2?hl=en


https://backontrack.org/images/fg/crossingFG.PNG

Best wishes
Robert

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


For reference a scissors crossover - source https://www.voestalpine.com/vaers/en/products/turnouts/scissors_crossover

[ozbob]

Latest media: More problems with Redcliffe Peninsula Line ! Not more !!
> https://t.co/PmZjJzc2AQ#qldpol
Poor track layout delays trains! pic.twitter.com/2R59wdJuUQ

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) March 10, 2017

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

13th March 2017

Public transport problems continue to fester

Good Morning,

Have the signalling issues on the Redcliffe Peninsula Line (RPL) been sorted yet?  Where is the report into the problems?  Being hidden as usual.

The whole RPL saga again confirms why we need a proper authority - Public Transport Queensland [ https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=12341.msg188493#msg188493 ] with amongst many things a heavy rail division to properly deliver public transport projects.  The Department of Transport and Main Roads is not equipped or competent for such tasks.  TransLink is an emasculated shell. Blundering on is just going to make matters worse.  Rail fail is another sign.

When will the New Generation Rollingstock trains be in revenue service?  Does anyone know thanks?

Best wishes
Robert

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

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