Some comments on the Darra to Corinda upgrade

[ozbob]

Comments from mufreight.  Thanks mufreight!

This is not intended to be critical of the actual works currently being carried out on the Corinda ? Darra Quadruplication by Trackstar Alliance who are only tasked and funded to provide what the Government dictates.

The project as at present presents a number of shortcomings that will in future require considerable expenditure to rectify when compared with the costs that would be involved to carry out these works now while all the required plant and staff are available to carry out the works rather than to add the additional costs of setting up again at some later date to carry them out.

At the present time it is the Governments intention that there will be four tracks between Corinda and Darra of which only three will be electrified and the configuration of the trackwork as presently proposed at Corinda will at this point in time mean that the fourth track will not be available for suburban traffic if needed.

A further failing is that this fourth track will only be electrified from a point between Oxley and Darra when at minimum cost it could be electrified for the full distance between Corinda and Darra.

A further failing is the failure to construct the fourth platform at Oxley station, works that if carried out in the present construction could also be achieved at minimum cost and provide greater operational flexibility.  All of the all stations services could then operate over the up and down suburban lines leaving the main lines free for freight, express and limited stop passenger services and remove the potential choke point for Springfield services between Darra and Oxley, remove the need for bi-directional signalling and additional pointwork between Darra and Oxley.

At Darra due to the proposed widening of the existing 1 and 2 island platform and the construction of a new platform on the Railway Terrace side of the existing station there will be a considerable intrusion into Railway Terrace that will reduce the roadside parking space in the commercial area adjacent to the station at that point.

A significant length of retaining wall will need to be constructed along Railway Terrace both before and after the Manburgh Terrace road underpass and the resultant platform configuration will be less user friendly as passengers from the Ipswich line west of Darra will have to change from the existing platform 1 or 3 to the new platform rather that make a cross platform transfer.

The existing island platform 3 and 4 could be widened to make it compliant with the current requirement for disabled access, requiring less extensive retaining wall construction and providing an improved alignment for the curve on both main lines            line to the west of the platforms at Darra and remove the necessity to encroach into the existing road space on the southern, Railway Terrace side of the station.  All services currently exist on the four existing platforms and there would be further savings by not having to provide duplicate facilities on the proposed new platform.

West of Darra the presently proposed track configuration is such that the extension of the third and fourth tracks to the west would require the reversal of the proposed junction arrangement, which would impose further cost and disruption to operations when those works are carried out to extend the third track west as far as Redbank as well as constraints on operations in the interim period, greater operational flexibility would be obtained by joining the up and down main lines between the Centenary Highway overpass and Bullock Head Creek and by then continuing the up and down suburban lines a further 1000m beyond that point before then bringing the bi-directional main line into the suburban up and down lines which would then continue west as the main lines, this arrangement would simplify the extension of a third track to the west as has been proposed without any disruption to either passenger or freight operations.

Due to the dictates of somewhat short-sighted government there will under the present proposed arrangements be a quite considerable expenditure of public funds to achieve a less than optimum result.

The works carried out to this time on the project have shown the considerable expertise of the Trackstar Alliance and the standards of their competence, on the other hand the short-sighted and blinkered dictates of government and their advisers inhibit the full potential of this project showing that they have learnt nothing from their previous short-sighted failing with the works carried out on the northern lines between Brunswick Street and Eagle Junction which were then again in part and then rebuilt at considerable expense to provide the present existing four tracks through that section.

[ozbob]

Media Release 31 August 2008

SEQ:  A classic example of what is wrong with transport planning in Queensland

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport users has called for the electrification of the fourth line between Corinda and Darra, and the construction of the fourth passenger platform at Oxley from the outset.  To not do this will lead to costly further works down the track and impose operational constraints on what will be a high operational demand track section.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

?Presently there are major railway works between Corinda and Darra (1).  Initially a triplication project it has now been upgraded to a quadruplication project.  Unfortunately it seems that funding is such that the fourth line to be constructed is not going to be fully electrified between Darra and Corinda.  The spin merchants are trying to sell it as a ?freight only? line.  This is nonsense. There are already environmental concerns with diesel-electric locomotives in the suburbs (40% of the traffic on this line is freight) and it is likely that electric locomotives may be re-introduced to move freight traffic through the suburbs.?

?Oxley railway station is a very busy railway station, and is a bus interchange station. Darra railway station will be the junction station for the Richlands and eventually the Springfield line, and is also a major bus interchange station. Corinda is a junction station for the link to the main southern line and Brisbane Ports. It is essential that the fourth line be electrified between Darra and Corinda to give the operational capability and flexibility that will be needed.  It is also logical to construct the fourth platform at Oxley to match the operational demands.?

?Doing this as part of the present project will actually save money.  It also means that reconfiguring the track layouts at both Corinda and Darra to enable the fourth track to be utilised by passenger services would remove the need for the crossovers between Oxley and Darra and simplify the signalling requirements. This too would save funds!?

?The Queensland Government is struggling to see past the spin it generates."

"We call on the Federal Government to fund the shortfall  for the full electrification of the fourth line between Corinda and Darra and the construction of the fourth platform at Oxley from the Building Australia Fund.?

References:

1.    http://www.qr.com.au/SEQIP/projects/Corinda/default.asp

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[david]

I think I might be playing devil's advocate here, but the present and planned works in the Corinda to Darra upgrade were designed to keep disruptions to a minimum for commuters in the area. With the Indooroopilly and Brunswick Street upgrades already limiting the services to and from Ipswich, I and many other Ipswich line passengers are almost sick of the disruptions/lack of services because of these upgrades. I agree that Platform 4 at Darra should've been widened instead of building another platform in a very small area, but this would caused massive disruptions for city bound passengers on Platform 3. I think what the government is trying to do is to please everyone, rather than planning for the future, otherwise, full triplication to Redbank would've been incorporated into this project...

[mufreight]

David has raised a valid point but has overlooked the fact that there will be considerable disruption while platform 1 at Darra is widened, once that work is completed all services could be routed through platforms 1 and 2 while the actual widening of platforms 3 and 4 takes place, the widening of the 1/2 platform is relatively a simple operation as that platform is currently wide enough that the work area could be closed off still allowing enough room for normal operations on the platform 2 side.
As for disruption to services there would be less than will occour under the present proposed arangements.
QR's beancounters are once again spending your money to do what is at best an 80% job that will in the future cost the state possibly as much as this project to overcome the faults of the present system to bring it up to a 100% standard, the existing proposals when completed will do more for freight traffic and little for improving passenger services.
As noted previously look at the cost and disruptions that arose out of shortchanging the Brunswick Street - Eagle Junction section, while QR might have learnt something from that exercise the current government and its advisers obviously did not.

[stephenk]

The Darra to Corinda upgrade is yet another half-baked infrastructure project that sadly we have come to expect in the "smart state"*. The result of the works will be an up/down main line for trains running to from Ipswich, and a single track section for trains running to/from Richlands. This will limit Richlands trains to approx 10 minute frequencies, limiting capacity and delay recovery.

Obviously the Queensland Government/QR infrastructure planners haven't noticed their past and recent mistakes such as making the Gold Coast Line single track, triplicating then having to quad track Bowen Hills to Eagle Junction, not duplicating Keperra-Ferny Grove (thus not increasing capacity despite spending loads of money duplicating Mitchelton - Keperra), triplicating instead of quad tracking parts of the Beenleigh Line (making it impossible to run reverse peak or off-peak frequencies better than approx 24 mins), the list goes on....

I think that Queensland Government/QR infrastructure planners have a phobia of even numbers when it comes to tracks!

* note sarcasm

[ozbob]

It is rather odd watching the 4 track OHT supports going up knowing that the 4th line won't be electrified.
It confirms the myopia of Queensland Transport and Government.  It will stand as a monument to their stupidity!



(Pictures here --> http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=833.msg6175#msg6175 )

[mufreight]

Perhaps reason and logic might prevail and they might wire the fourth track yet.
We can but hope.