Will Queensland Rail mess up the New Years transport arrangements?

[#Metro]

Have a bet!  4-day poll. Change your vote at any time until poll close.

Running result visible after you have voted.

[Otto]

Seems QR have answered that themselves.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queenslanr-rail-ceo-on-leave-during-christmas-timetable-shambles/news-story/89497741345aae7b3bbff7db31c3b1a8

"QR's chief financial officer Jim Benstead took over the acting chief executive role and yesterday admitted the rail operator might be forced to rely on its failed rostering system of recalling drivers from leave to fill gaps on the New Year's weekend – potentially creating another catastrophic network failure.

Neither Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe nor Mr Benstead could guarantee there would be no service cancellations during the New Year's celebrations.

The failure to provide certainty about train services during the holiday period has led to fresh calls from the Opposition for Mr Hinchliffe to be sacked.

Mr Benstead yesterday said QR was still considering whether it needed to pull drivers off leave to plug gaps in this weekend's roster.

"That is one of the situations that we will be looking at heavily and in detail in our final planning sessions that take place today and through to tomorrow," he said.

"I cannot predict exactly what's going to occur in any particular circumstance but we are ensuring that we are putting our plans in place."

[ozbob]

There is a reasonable chance that Queensland Rail might just get there for NYE.

A couple of factors:

Crew have had a bit of time off the last week or so with timetable reductions and the track closure.

The problem has at least been recognised (albeit publicly) so minds are concentrated.

It is possible they may do a ' Christmas Day ' and bus Shorncliffe and Doomben lines if not enough crew.

[ozbob]

7 News --> QR meets to finalise New Years rail plans

A final round of meetings will be held on Wednesday to ensure southeast Queensland's rail network is ready for New Year's Eve, following successive bungles that have left commuters stranded.

Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe will meet with Queensland Rail officials to sign off on final plans for New Year's Eve.

He said he was disappointed by the Christmas Day bungle, which led to a third of rail services being cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice, but was much more confident in the planning being put into New Year's Eve services.

Acting Queensland Rail CEO Jim Benstead said the meetings would allow them to finalise the necessary rosters to ensure the planned extra services can be staffed.

"I can give an assurance to commuters that we are doing everything possible to ensure that we deliver the services that are required on New Year's Eve through to New Year's Day."

The rail operator couldn't rule out having to pull staff off annual leave or rostered days off to fill the special timetable, but Mr Benstead said he didn't think that would lead to problems similar to Christmas Day and in August.

"We already have contingency plans in place for New Year's Eve, but we are going to look at them again in our planning sessions."

[ozbob]

Rail boss says he has a full roster of train drivers for NYE & surplus but he can't promise crew won't call in sick. @9NewsBrisbane pic.twitter.com/adxmmerCFe

— Darren Curtis (@DarrenCurtis9) December 28, 2016

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/public-transport-brisbane-new-years-eve-council-to-provide-free-services/news-story/a0d4e3ee3f5b4f37e2bd0f1e895e2e5a

TRANSPORT Minister Stirling Hinchliffe says he is confident there will be enough train crew to run New Year's services this weekend.

"I have great confidence as a consequence of the briefing we have had today, great confidence, that we've got the train crew in place and the arrangements in place to support and deliver the extra services and the very important services to be provided on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day," he said.

The comments came after a crucial meeting between Mr Hinchliffe, Queensland Rail and TransLink to ensure another rostering stuff-up doesn't affect New Year's.

QR acting chief executive Jim Benstead said there were extra drivers on the roster to prevent another Christmas Day network meltdown.

"A normal rostering practice is that there are drivers and guards that are on RDOs, if we want to call them RDOs, that do want to work and are required to work through weekends special events," he said.

"In this particular case, there is no number in relation to how many of those that will be required to work that are currently on RDOs.

"But my assurance to you is that the rosters for the timetables put in place for New Year's Eve right through to New Year's Day ... are filled.

"We do have an overflow, a spare, to call on if required if unplanned leave spikes in some way."

But Mr Hinchliffe admitted there would be less overall New Year's services than the same time last year because of the introduction of the summer school holiday timetable — which reduces services during the day before the expected evening peak for this weekend. ...

[BrizCommuter]

How did Stirling get to vote three times?

Anyway, it will be New Year's Day that will be more likely to be screwed!

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Queensland Rail organising safety net of drivers for New Year's Eve

"Guarantee" is still a word authorities do not want to utter when it comes to New Year's Eve train reliability in Brisbane.

And Queensland Rail acting chief executive officer Jim Benstead could not confirm how many train crew and drivers were now on standby in the case of a rostering crisis - instead telling commuters there were contingency plans in place.

On Wednesday, Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, TransLink, police and Queensland Rail held a meeting to ensure there would not be a Christmas Day-style meltdown on New Year's Eve.

There were 235 services cancelled on Christmas Day and it comes after the beleaguered operator has weathered months of criticism over cancellations and rostering issues.

Mr Hinchliffe said he was reassured by the briefings on Wednesday that there were sufficient train crew and spare train crew rostered to deal with extra services on Saturday night and to cover any "unplanned absences".

"As a result of the briefings I've had today, I have a great deal of confidence that we will see those services run very smoothly," Mr Hinchliffe said.

When asked to "guarantee" services would not be affected by rostering issues, Mr Hinchliffe said: "I am very, very confident that the rostering that is in place, the rosters for Saturday evening and into Sunday morning, are indeed full now and there are extra drivers rostered as well to cover any unplanned leave that may occur."

"When you're running a heavy rail service, you can't make a statement like 'guarantee' because there are a range of issues that may impact on services, there may be a bridge strike, there may be a points failure, there may be some rolling stock issues," Mr Hinchliffe said.

Mr Benstead said there was staff rostered on for New Year's Eve in additional to extra staff who would be a safety net.

"Normal practice is that we call on train crew to assist with working on rostered days off, we have not called in people from their annual leave," Mr Benstead.

"We have additional train crew right at this moment in dealing with a safety net in case of unplanned leave. I cannot guarantee that people won't ring in sick, I cannot guarantee that, but I can tell you we have contingencies plans in place."

But Mr Benstead could not say exactly how many staff members were on standby.

"That continues to grow because there are train crew that are willing to work on New Year's Eve to assist Queensland Rail in delivering services to our customers," he said.

"That changes on a regular basis and is increasing as we are here today."

When asked again how many crew would be on standby on New Year's Eve, Mr Benstead started to say, "In excess..." but then stopped and said: "I don't want to commit to a particular number because that changes as I say on a regular basis".

"At this time, I can assure you, that we have the train crew required to deliver the services as timetabled and those timetable arrangements can be found in the journey planner," Mr Benstead said.

On Tuesday, he said he was "confident" there were plans in place to deliver services for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, but did not want to "guarantee".

There will be free transport on buses, trains and ferries from 8.45pm on New Year's Eve until 5.30am on New Year's Day.

There will be fewer train services available this New Year's Eve, compared with the previous year.

"If you take in total the number of services across the whole of the day, there will be less compared to last year because we're running a summer timetable in the non-special event part of the time of the day, there are lesser services," Mr Hinchliffe said.

Mr Hinchliffe said a decision was made not to run "contra-services", where for example, if a train goes to Beenleigh, in previous years it would run back from Beenleigh stopping at every station on the way back, whereas this year, the trains will be stabled at Beenleigh and remain there until the morning.

Mr Benstead, who is filling in while acting chief executive officer Neil Scales is on holidays, also said he was "not going to commit to running a timetable to the minute" on New Year's Eve.

"I want to ensure that train services are supporting the demand at the time to ensure that we safely and securely move people out of this special event and onto their next area of celebration or back to their home," Mr Benstead said.

Earlier, acting Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said the report into cancellations on Christmas Day, due by the end of the week, should be made public.

"The report in relation to Christmas Day is important to nearly every south-east Queensland train commuter," Ms Frecklington said.

"These are the people that want to catch the trains for New Year's as well.

"Whatever the debacle was on Christmas Day, it shouldn't be repeated again on New Year's Day or New Year's Eve.

"We need to make sure that whatever went on on Christmas Day is public so we can assess it and certainly let the commuters of Queensland know what went wrong."

Mr Hinchliffe said once he had a chance to look at the report and had "digested" and understood it, he would decide which information was appropriate to be made public.

"I'd be very happy to make as much information as is suitable and appropriate to be made available," he said.

Ms Frecklington criticised Mr Hinchliffe for not briefing Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who was on holidays, about the cancellations on Christmas Day.

"I don't know what's more concerning, that this minister didn't even bother to pick up the phone and tell the premier, or the fact that the Premier doesn't care enough to pick up the phone and talk to this minister about this train debacle," Ms Frecklington said.

Opposition Transport spokesman Andrew Powell said Mr Hinchliffe could not guarantee trains would turn up on time on New Year's Eve during a 27-minute press conference on Tuesday.

"If the minister can't give an assurance in a 27 minute-long interview that we're not going to have a repeat on New Year's Eve of what we had on Christmas Day, then no crisis meeting occurring today is going to fix that," Mr Powell said.

The LNP repeated calls for Mr Hinchliffe to resign or be sacked.

"We have a minister whose position is untenable," Mr Powell said.

Mr Powell pointed out that stores, police stations and hospitals managed their rosters over the Christmas period.

"What's wrong with Queensland Rail that they can't achieve the same?" he said.

The summer school holiday rail timetable began on Wednesday, featuring 11 per cent fewer services. It will be in place until January 22.

[ozbob]

Rail bosses called to a crisis meeting to ensure people won't be stranded on New Year's Eve. @DarrenCurtis9 #9News pic.twitter.com/7w1Bu5nIeo

— Nine News Brisbane (@9NewsBrisbane) December 28, 2016

[ozbob]

ABC News --> NYE Brisbane celebrations: Trains will run on time, minister says

Queensland's Transport Minister says he has "great confidence" that train services for New Year's Eve celebrations tonight will not be disrupted.

His comments come less than a week after 235 services were cancelled on Christmas Day, as part of an ongoing train driver shortage that has plagued the Queensland Rail network since October.

Stirling Hinchliffe promised that train services would meet demand tonight and that there will not be a repeat of Christmas Day.

"I've got great confidence," he said.

"We will certainly have in place a full train crew of rosters and back-ups in place in order to run those services but as I say, it'll be services that'll match demand."

All public transport on TransLink's south-east Queensland network will be free from 8:45pm until 5:30am on New Year's Day.

With tens of thousands expected to turn out in and around Brisbane tonight, here are a few of handy answers to some of those burning questions you may have.

Additional train services are also planned and are timed to coincide with passenger demand before and after the 8:30pm and midnight fireworks at South Bank.

Mr Hinchliffe said people planning on using the trains for New Year's Eve should plan ahead and get to their stations early — but said some late-night trains would not run until they were full.

"Those extra services are designed around moving people, they're not focused on delivering on-time running, they're focused on getting people home safely or onto their next destination," he said.

Acting Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said Mr Hincliffe's assurance could not be trusted.

"On the biggest night of the year we still don't know how the roster chaos happened on Christmas day, so therefore how can we trust it won't happen again on New Year's Eve?" she said.

"We need to know it won't go pear shaped again - unfortunately no-one can believe Stirling Hinchliffe and his reassurances about the trains turning up."

The cancellation of trains on Christmas Day was followed by the resignation of QR's chief operating officer Kevin Wright.

He headed the department responsible for driver rostering

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes -->  Qld LNP foreshadows NYE train chaos

Queensland's opposition is foreshadowing New Year's Eve commuter chaos and has again called for Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe to be sacked.

Mr Hinchliffe this week cautiously answered questions about Saturday's roster arrangements, saying he had "great confidence" in a smooth operation.

Acting opposition leader Deb Frecklington accused Mr Hinchliffe of using "weasel words" after he said the New Year's Eve services were focused not on delivering on-time running but moving people.

"New Year's Eve services are in grave doubt and south-east Queenslanders will be on the edge of their seats over whether their trains will turn up on time - if at all," she said.

Mr Hinchliffe ordered a "comprehensive report" on the Christmas Day drama, but Ms Frecklington scoffed at the two-page document he received.

"Commuters have lost faith in Stirling Hinchliffe's assurances because they've heard it all before," she said.

The saga began in October when a driver and guard shortage caused widespread service cancellations and commuter chaos.

A separate round of cancellations early this month was caused by a "confluence of infrastructure mishaps and misfires", including storm damage and power failures.

More than $300,000 in refunds were issued to passengers from that morning.

Mr Hinchliffe has consistently pointed to a five-point plan designed to solve the staffing problems, but has faced calls for him to resign or be sacked.

A government probe into the origin of the issues was also ordered following October's timetable meltdown.

[Stillwater]

   It's the story that just won't go away.  What's the betting that public transport and train reliability will feature at, or close to, the top of the list when parties survey voters about issues in the lead-up to the next state election?  What will be the government's anticipation of a crisis (not a transport crisis, but a real one to pollies -- being voted out of office) by way of extra resourcing to QR and transport infrastructure in the 2016-17 state budget?

[ozbob]

Opposition Media Release

http://www.timnicholls.com.au/stirling-flags-new-years-eve-train-chaos/

Stirling flags New Year's Eve train chaos


    Stirling Hinchliffe flags New Year's Eve train chaos just hours out from celebrations
    Admits tonight's services aren't focused on "on-time running"
    After promising a "comprehensive report" Stirling Hinchliffe has failed to get to bottom of Christmas Day rostering debacle

If you're catching the train this New Year's Eve, there's a good chance you'll be counting down to 2017 on the platform after Labor's rail fail Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe flagged more train cancellations, disruptions and delays just hours out from the biggest night of the year.

Acting Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington pointed to a head-spinning interview on 4BC radio this morning, in which the Minister admitted that tonight's services were not really focused on "on-time running".

"We have certainly got in place a full train crew of rosters and back-ups in place, but those extra services are designed around moving people. They're not focused on delivering on-time running, they're focused on getting people home safely or onto their next destination."

Stirling Hinchliffe on 4BC, 31 December 2016

"This is an extraordinary admission from a Minister who has been promising Queenslanders all week that the trains will turn up on time," Ms Frecklington.

"Just hours out from the biggest night of the year, he's using weasel words and excuses to cover his bases because he knows he can't deliver on his promises.

"New Year's Eve services are in grave doubt and south-east Queenslanders will be on the edge of their seats over whether their trains will turn up on time – if at all.

"How can Stirling Hinchliffe be on top of tonight's timetable if he can't get to the bottom of what happened on Christmas Day?

"Queensland Rail's two-page, so-called report into the Christmas Day train debacle is yet more evidence that relations between the Minister and the organisation he's meant to oversee are non-existent.

"All week he repeatedly assured Queenslanders that he would be receiving a 'comprehensive report' into the Christmas Day fiasco but all he gets back is a two-page letter that addresses nothing.

"Commuters have lost faith in Stirling Hinchliffe's assurances because they've heard it all before – and they've been stung too many times.

"Our rail network is in chaos because of Stirling Hinchliffe's inability or refusal to ask the right questions.

"This is a Minister who gets no answers and has no answers.

"Annastacia Palaszczuk needs to sack him immediately."

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

The Opposition clearly do not understand how the NYE rail services (and buses) work ...   They are an embarrassment.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe issues assurance on trains

Almost half of the train drivers working New Year's Eve were originally on a rostered day off.

Figures provided to Fairfax Media revealed there would be 259 Queensland Rail drivers working on New Year's Eve.

Of those, 120 drivers would be working an RDO.

Under Queensland Rail's rostering arrangements, it's not uncommon for drivers to be offered shifts on RDOs.

Earlier, Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe assured New Year's Eve revellers there was enough crew in place to cover train services tonight and tomorrow.

Mr Hinchliffe said he had another briefing with Queensland Rail on Saturday morning to confirm the resources were in place for "smooth delivery" of rail services.

"There are extra services in place to cater for families coming to and from the early fireworks display at 8.30 here in the CBD and also the midnight fireworks display," he said.

"I have confidence that we've got the train crew in place to deliver the services. ...

[ozbob]

The extent of the crisis Queensland rail crisis has been revealed with more than 100 train drivers called back to work tonight. #9News pic.twitter.com/yczG9SUFO2

— Nine News Brisbane (@9NewsBrisbane) December 31, 2016

[Derwan]

The way it's being reported makes it sound as though there is something out of the ordinary happening with drivers having to work on their RDO for New Year's Eve.

Of course this is going to happen!  If it was a normal Saturday, those 120 drivers would be on rostered days off - but because of the additional services required, they are working on what would normally be their RDO.  This would be the same with every new year's, every Riverfire and every other event that requires additional train services to run.

Oh - and that LNP release is just laughable.  They've obviously never been to a New Year's (or Riverfire) and taken public transport home.

[Otto]

A lot of Bus Drivers will also be working their RDO tonight. Can't say I'll be one of them.. I'm off to bed soon. LOL

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

1st January 2017

LNP is an embarrassment

Greetings and Happy New Year,

The LNP Opposition released a media statement yesterday:

Stirling flags New Year's Eve train chaos
http://www.timnicholls.com.au/stirling-flags-new-years-eve-train-chaos/

Nothing of the sort happened.  I trust there will be an apology to Minister Stirling and Queensland Rail forthcoming today.

In their media release the Opposition again demonstrated their complete ignorance of how bus and rail services work for New Year Eve.  The transport is done on a demand basis essentially. This provides the best outcome considering the size of the crowds and helps to provide safer transport overall.

Additionally there was some media comment to the effect that extra train drivers were called in from a rostered day off  (RDO) and this was somehow connected to the timetable crisis  last year.  Hello?

As new year eve was a Saturday, those 120 drivers would be on rostered days off - but because of the additional services required, they are working on what would normally be their RDO.  This would be the same with every new year, every Riverfire and every other event that requires additional train services to run.  Did the LNP & media consider the 500 odd bus drivers working as well?  No they didn't.

My new year resolution is to help the LNP Shadow Cabinet actually understand their portfolios.

Have a great 2017!

Best wishes
Robert

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

[ozbob]

Latest media: ' @LNPQLD is an embarrassment '
> https://t.co/LJHXCQ6zTw#qldpol@StirlHinchliffe @TimNichollsMP @QueenslandRail pic.twitter.com/8Lw6vsjerh

— Robert Dow (@Robert_Dow) December 31, 2016

[ozbob]

@DebFrecklington travelled to BCEC and home on the train thanks. A very smooth, professional & punctual service from @QueenslandRail

— Stirling Hinchliffe (@StirlHinchliffe) December 31, 2016

[ozbob]

Final report in from @QueenslandRail & @TransLinkSEQ - all our #nye2016 services ran smoothly & moved thousands of people safely. #qldpol

— Stirling Hinchliffe (@StirlHinchliffe) December 31, 2016

A successful night for public transport delivered by @TransLinkSEQ @QueenslandRail & @gclightrail big thanks to the whole team #qldpol #HNY

— Stirling Hinchliffe (@StirlHinchliffe) December 31, 2016

[achiruel]

What about BT, Surfside and Sunbus? Don't they also deserve a mention? Also it's not quite true to say all services ran-a 230 bus was cancelled due to a mechanical issue. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1713225015370223&id=521288224563914

[ozbob]

A big thanks to @QueenslandRail traincrew and our bus, ferry & tram drivers across @TransLinkSEQ who got thousands home safely. #qldpol

— Stirling Hinchliffe (@StirlHinchliffe) December 31, 2016

[Stillwater]

Deb Frecklington has caught the same disease as the Opposition spokesperson Andrew Powell ... showing that the LNP rates the political scalp of Sterling Hinchliffe above that of a permanent fix to the QR railfail.  The LNP contributed to the mess, so can we expect that the LNP tactic is to white-ant government on the way out of office so that it can criticise an incoming government of a different persuasion that is forced to deal with the problem?

Let's hope the LNP gets some smarts and gets prepared to eat some humble pie when the Strachan Inquiry findings are made known.

The tacticians with the LNP should be working on a plan now, and it should not be the next daily press release attacking Sterling Hinchliffe.

To be constructive, rather than negative, the LNP could wait until the Strachan Inquiry findings are know, have a little crow along the lines 'finally the ALP has shown us the extent of the problem' ...

Then comes the hard bit.  It should say something like: "Having read the inquiry findings, the LNP will give its bipartisan support to this, this and this and within 100 days of being elected to government in Queensland we will do blah, blah, blah to ensure reliability and confidence is restored to passenger rail services in SEQ."

Nah, they will just kick the Minister in the goolies once again.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Queensland Rail trains run smoothly on New Year's Eve

[ozbob]

1st January 2017

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

Public Transport Delivers for South East Queensland's NYE

Translink has successfully delivered hundreds of extra public transport services across south east Queensland for New Year's Eve across all rail, bus, ferry and tram operations. 

Minister for Transport and the Commonwealth Games Stirling Hinchliffe today thanked TransLink and rail operator, Queensland Rail, for their commitment to getting the job done.

"TransLink staff, bus, ferry and tram providers have all done an exceptional job in coordinating successful New Year's Eve services for passengers across the entire network," Minister Hinchliffe said.

"For Queensland Rail - from traincrew and station staff to the network controllers in the Rail Management Centre, I want to thank all for their efforts in delivering a seamless special event service to many thousands of passengers on New Year's Eve. 

"It is a credit to the many months of planning and commitment that has gone into delivering reliable, convenient and free, demand-focused public transport on New Year's Eve." 

Queensland Rail provided 910 services for New Year's Eve including an additional 60 additional demand-focused services for special events including the fireworks displays at South Bank. 

Minister Hinchliffe said 259 train drivers and an equivalent number of guards were rostered on the CityTrain network to provide special New Year's Eve services.

"I can confirm there were no cancellations or service alterations as a result of Queensland Rail's current shortage of traincrew," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"Like thousands of families I travelled to and from Sandgate to the South Bank precinct by train, experiencing the same reliable rail service firsthand with our customers.

"I received regular event briefings throughout New Year's Eve from Queensland Rail, Police, Translink, and just as importantly the passengers on-board the CityTrain network.

"The feedback from passengers was overwhelmingly positive."

Mr Hinchliffe said his focus remained on delivering the Palaszczuk Government's five point plan for restoring reliable services and passenger confidence in Queensland Rail.

"The seamless and coordinated delivery of additional New Year's Eve services on the TransLink network demonstrates the commitment to reliability and is an important step in restoring passenger confidence," Minister Hinchliffe said.

"With the Palaszczuk Government's Fairer Fares initiative, the recruitment and training of more Queensland Rail traincrew, the rollout of NGR trains, and the pending Commission of Inquiry, 2017 is shaping up a critical and positive year for public transport in South East Queensland.

"I will be working to deliver for all public transport users in 2017," Minister Hinchliffe said.

[ozbob]

For the record, I was one of the 3 who voted for success.

[ozbob]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/state-government-angered-by-queensland-rails-twopage-report-on-christmas-day-cancellations/news-story/70422757bc7051c208fdbf5c932622c2

TRANSPORT Minister Stirling Hinchliffe is confident he will continue to oversee the portfolio after New Year train services ran without any major interruptions.

Mr Hinchliffe trumpeted a successful night on the troubled network in which Queensland Rail avoided a repeat of the cancellations that dogged Christmas Day commuters.

"I can confirm there were no cancellations or service alterations as a result of Queensland Rail's current shortage of traincrew," he said.

Almost 260 train drivers were rostered on the CityTrain network to provide special New Year's Eve services with about 910 services provided for commuters.

"I will be working to deliver for all public transport users in 2017," Mr Hinchliffe said.

[ozbob]

Queensland Times 2nd January 2017 page 10

Queensland Rail avoids NYE bungle

[achiruel]

Deb Frecklington has been awfully quiet the past couple of days. Either she had a REALLY bad NYE hangover, or realised she was dribblingg manure for the last week.