Translink SEQ - Lift & Escalator outages - discussion

[ozbob]

1st November 2021  updated

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https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tableOffice/questionsAnswers/2021/1120-2021.pdf

Question on Notice
No. 1120

Asked on 16 September 2021

MR A POWELL ASKED MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS (HON M BAILEY)

QUESTION:

Will the Minister advise (a) the number of lift outages reported on the TransLink network (reported
separately for each quarter for the current and previous two financial years) and (b) for each of
these separate quarters, advise the average time of the outages together with the location and
outage duration for the longest outage incident?

ANSWER:

I thank the Member for Glass House for the question.

The Palaszczuk Government is committed to providing reliable facilities for public transport
customers. The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) operates 295 lifts across the
South East Queensland (SEQ) network and conducts regular, proactive maintenance and repairs
as required.

TMR has also invested in upgrades and replacement of older lifts on the network. In 2019 and
2020, TMR replaced doors and door mechanisms on 35 of the 115 bus network lifts. TMR is also
preparing works for further lift modernisations on older sections of the busway.

Data shows the percentage of time SEQ lifts are out of service due to unplanned events, equates
to less than one per cent of station opening hours. In addition, many lifts are in open air
environments and are subject to the harsh weather, such as storms and intense temperatures in
the height of summer.

Scheduled routine maintenance is conducted monthly on all TMR lifts. During the service, lifts
can temporarily be removed from service for a short period. When required, lifts can often be
returned to service to assist customers requiring access prior to the maintenance work resuming.




====

This answer is very confusing.  The busway outages are nothing like what is listed according to the reported lift outages from TransLink.

Its mumble jumble stuff.

Correspondence sent to the Minister for Transport Mr Mark Bailey

19th October 2021

Dear Minister,

We have noted QON 1120 answer at https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tableOffice/questionsAnswers/2021/1120-2021.pdf

The question was in reference to the number of lift outages on the TransLink network from the previous two years.

The tabled answer is confusing, particularly as the table has the heading " Busway outages ".

As you are probably aware at RAIL Back On Track we have been monitoring the TransLink reported lift outages since January 2021.

The reported busway lift outages are nothing like what is in the table in the answer to the QON. Most reported outages are at railway stations, a few at bus stations and occasional  at ferry terminals.

In fact the reported lift outages is higher than what is listed in the table for Q3 and Q4 2020-21.

We recorded 96 reported lift outages for Q3 2020-21 (QON answer lists 51).

Similarly we recorded 144 reported lift outages for Q4 2020-21 (QON answer lists 79).



https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13309.0

Could some clarification of this confusing answer to the QON be provided please?

Thank you.

Best wishes,

Robert

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

I was contacted by Minister's staff and they followed up via TransLink with the complete information.  The answer was incomplete as I suggested.

Herewith the additional data:

[ozbob]

So, we can conclude that the number of reported lift outages by TransLink via service disruptions is under reported, that is, a significant number of lift outages are NOT being reported, rail and bus.

The acting DDG TransLink also wrote that

" ... TransLink will work with Queensland Rail, Brisbane City Council and across TMR on improving response times to lift outages. ..."

That committment is welcome, thank you.

[ozbob]

L1165 and a Harris train make brief appearances in this video.

[ozbob]

For Q3 FY 2021 outages busway 51 rail 174 = 225 (reported was 96)

For Q4 FY 2021  outages busway 79 rail 210= 289 (reported was 144)

Around 50% of actual outages not being reported.  Problem is a lot worse than it first appears.

There are a few lift outages at ferry terminals that they have missed as well ... hard to get good help hey?   

[STB]

The lift out at Redbank station is proving to be quite a nightmare for wheelchair bound passengers (like myself).  I've spoken to QR and they have given no indication of when it will be fixed, apparently the parts have to be handmade and sent to QR from Melbourne, so for the time being I only have a couple of options, do a trip to Dinmore and transfer there, however in off peak the citybound train stops at Dinmore roughly at around the same time as Ipswich bound train, so if I missing it will cause a 30min wait until the next train (even longer on Sunday mornings), alternatively, I need to catch route 500 to Goodna station and catch the train there, unfortunately I've discovered that Goodna station isn't built correctly for wheelchair access, whereby I have to physically drive my chair through the middle of the road to access the lifts to the platform as there is no wheelchair access to the footpaths between the lift and the bus stops.

TransLink reckons it would take about 4hrs for me to get to Griffith University Nathan from Redbank from purely catching buses to there.  Or it's a $60.00 taxi ride to the campus from Redbank station.  QR has offered to get me a taxi from one side of the platform to the other, however as the taxis are unreliable, you don't know when the taxi will turn up to get you there.

There really isn't a lot of options, and all because one lift is out of action with an unknown timeframe to being fixed.  It's nuts!

As a side note, I'm of the opinion that ramps are far superior to lifts now, and now view stations with lifts as not accessible.  Also, there is no custom accessible information via the journey planner, so you can't create a trip that is wheelchair friendly on the journey planner - apparently there is a project underway to fix this, but I haven't been able to get a timeframe on this from TransLink.

[ozbob]

Thanks for the feedback STB. I have noticed the lifts at Redbank have been out of service a lot of late.

( https://railbotforum.org/forum/index.php?board=18.0 )


I appreciate the difficulties that creates.  Recent discussions with Ministerial Staff I have stressed that these constant lift outages need to be sorted.  I also trust that they will stop the under-reporting of lift outages as well.

You are correct about ramps too.  I have long supported stations with proper ramps, that are not dependent on lifts for access.

[Gazza]

In Melbourne it seems the standard is to either provide two lifts for redundancy or to provide a ramp.

[achiruel]

Surely the best solution is to provide both a lift and an accessible ramp? The ramp will continue to be useful in cases such as power outages, where redundant lifts would be useless.

Regarding the ferry terminal lift outages, I'm aware of the lift at North Quay, which seems to spend more time out of service than in, but are there others on the network?

[ozbob]

Surely the best solution is to provide both a lift and an accessible ramp? The ramp will continue to be useful in cases such as power outages, where redundant lifts would be useless.

Regarding the ferry terminal lift outages, I'm aware of the lift at North Quay, which seems to spend more time out of service than in, but are there others on the network?

Yes, compliant ramps + lifts is the best.  When lifts out access still possible by ramps.  Ramps alone can be sufficient if done properly.  A good example is Cardinia Road station on the Pakenham line.  Completely accessible via subway (very large) and compliant ramps, no lifts.

Re ferry terminal lifts, the only reported lift outages for ferry have been at North Quay.

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1st July 2022 updated

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Sent to all outlets:

TransLink Reported Lift Outages updated for June 2022

6th July 2022

Greetings,

Since 1st January 2021 RAIL Back On Track has been monitoring the number of reported lift outages on the SEQ TransLink network
( https://railbot.info/forum/index.php?topic=186.0 ).

Many passengers are dependent on lifts for access to public transport. It is disturbing the number of reported lift outages, and in May 2021 we noted 63 reports of lift outages, which was the highest we recorded prior to March 2022. March 2022 there were 69 reports of lift outages. The highest yet, and reflects some lifts out of action due to the heavy rains and floods.

Last month, June 2022 there were 53 reported outages.



These lift outages are a very significant obstacle for access to public transport. Most are at rail stations, but some also occur at bus stations and occasionally at a ferry terminal. RAIL Back On Track supports the provision of compliant ramps where practical as an alternative to lifts. When the lifts fail (which is often) passengers can still access public transport via the ramps.
RAIL Back On Track also provides a real time display of the current reported lift outages on public transport in SEQ at https://seqliftsout.info

This is a filtered display of the TransLink service notices RSS feed. This is the sort of thing that TransLink should be doing as a simple widget on the main page, not burying lift outage reports in the complex service notices page.

Best wishes,
Robert

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

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1st August 2022 updated

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1st October 2022 updated

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Translink Reported Lift Outages updated for September 2022 3rd October 2022 Greetings, Since 1st January 2021 RAIL...

Posted by RAIL - Back On Track on Sunday, 2 October 2022

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

Translink Reported Lift Outages updated for September 2022

3rd October 2022

Greetings,

Since 1st January 2021 RAIL Back On Track has been monitoring the number of reported lift outages on the SEQ Translink network
( https://railbot.info/forum/index.php?topic=186.0 ).



Many passengers are dependent on lifts for access to public transport. It has been disturbing the number of reported lift outages, and in May 2021 we noted 63 reports of lift outages, which was the highest we recorded prior to March 2022. March 2022 there were 69 reports of lift outages. The highest yet and reflects some lifts out of action due to the heavy rains and floods.

Last month, September 2022, there were 34 reported outages. These lift outages are a very significant obstacle for access to public transport.
Most are at rail stations, but some also occur at bus stations and occasionally at a ferry terminal. RAIL Back On Track supports the provision of compliant ramps where practical as an alternative to lifts. When the lifts fail (which is often) passengers can still access public transport via the ramps.

RAIL Back On Track also provides a real time display of the current reported lift outages on public transport in SEQ at:

https://seqliftsout.info

This is a filtered display of the Translink service notices RSS feed.

Best wishes,
Robert

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

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1st November 2022 updated