Target 400 - a campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2032

[ozbob]

SEQ PT needs to be able achieve 400 million passenger trips / year by 2029 if we are to have any chance of managing the transport meltdown presently underway. This is effectively doubling the present patronage.  It is achievable.

The Citytrain network is a poor pax performer.  I would like to see 100 million passengers/year by 2024 (presently ~ 55 million) and 150 million passengers /year by 2029.

We all know the reasons for the poor performance, frequency terrible particularly counter-peak and out of peak.

Poor support in terms of feeder buses.  Constant problems with connections.

The mediocre service level is not satisfactory for the level of financial investment made by all Queenslanders.

Please add your ideas to drive growth.  We simply have to use what we already have a lot better essentially.

[ozbob]

What I'm more concerned about is that they don't go any further than October 2016, so we get stuck with no further 15 minute headways anywhere (including none on weekends except for paired routes such as Darra to the city).

The infrastructure already exists to support, with a fair degree of reliability, consistent operating patterns all day 7 days a week as follows:

- Caboolture and Sunshine Coast - every 30 minutes to Caboolture current express pattern, every second train to Nambour, several shuttles per day from Gympie North to Nambour
- Kippa-Ring - every 15 minutes current express pattern
- Shorncliffe - every 15 minutes all stations (and if there was an issue with the single track to Shorncliffe you could turn back every second train at Sandgate)
- Airport - every 15 minutes all stations
- Doomben - every 30 minutes all stations
- Ferny Grove - every 15 minutes all stations
- Ipswich - every 30 minutes current peak hour express pattern, every second train to Rosewood or get the shuttle working properly
- Springfield Central - every 15 minutes all stations
- Beenleigh - every 15 minutes all stations to Kuraby, every second train to Beenleigh
- Gold Coast - every 30 minutes
- Cleveland - every 15 minutes all stations to Manly, every second train to Cleveland

CRR and associated signalling should enable 15 minute headways on the Caboolture line given the increased service density on the mains permissible inbound of Northgate.  Cleveland duplication (even if not done all in one hit) will enable 15 minute headways to Cleveland and tidying up Sandgate to Shorncliffe will also help that.  Kuraby to Beenleigh will continue to be a sticking point.

If we can't get to at least this preliminary position before CRR opens you'd question why we are even bothering.  If the system only does any kind of heavy lifting in peak, it hardly seems worth it.  (I can't think of anything worse for CRR than to have a Gold Coast train, then a Beenleigh train 6 minutes later and then nothing for 24 minutes.)

[ozbob]

These charts will be updated when final patronage is known for FY 18/19





SEQ Population increase

2011:   3,012,313
2018:   3,479,852

+ 15.5%  population increase. As can be noted PT patronage actually went backwards over the past decade ..

Source: https://profile.id.com.au/australia/population?WebID=330

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

15th August 2019

Target 400 - a campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ public transport by 2029

Good Morning,

Today we commence RAIL Back On Track's ' Target 400 ' campaign, a 10 year task.



The aim is to drive patronage increases on public transport in SEQ so that in 2029 passenger trips are around 400 million per year.  We believe this target can be reached by building on our existing public transport network, improving the basics - frequency, span and connections, and together with the introduction of Cross River Rail and the Brisbane Metro, further Gold Coast light rail extensions and rail upgrades such as the duplication of the railway north of Beerburrum, extension of the railway from Springfield Central to Ripley North, Yamanto and Ipswich, and a new Citytrain railway Salisbury to Beaudesert, 400 million passenger trips/year is a target that will be achieved with ease.

Our transport authorities and Governments need a focus and a target.  The past decade has seen public transport patronage stagnate, and when population increases for SEQ is taken into account has actually gone backwards (1, 2).

Enough of this mediocrity, lets turn it around from here.

We will detail over the coming weeks the improvements that can be done for rail, bus, ferry and light rail, together with better active transport.

Best wishes,

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

References:

1. Patronage 2009 > 2018





2. SEQ Population increase

2011:   3,012,313
2018:   3,479,852

+ 15.5%  population increase. As can be noted PT patronage actually went backwards over the past decade ..

Source: https://profile.id.com.au/australia/population?WebID=330

[ozbob]

Facebook ...

[ozbob]

Target 400 - a campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ public transport by 2029
👉https://t.co/0hXHnhuZgP#qldpol#Target400 pic.twitter.com/3e6qTsNMTs

— RAIL_BoT_Forum (@railbotforum) August 14, 2019

[ozbob]

2029 target 400 million trips:

Rail ~ 130 million trips/year ( 2018 53 million trips/year)

Bus  ~ 220 million trips/year (2018 114 million trips/year)

Light rail ~ 40 million trips/year  (2018 10 million trips/year)

Ferry ~ 10 million   (2018 7 million trips/year)

[ozbob]

https://www.facebook.com/RAILBackOnTrack/posts/2795125630501606?comment_id=2795132103834292

Chris Cox Finally. A genuine target to shift mode share.
This is the first real "congestion busting" plan I've seen.
Let's make it happen.

[SurfRail]

The light rail target should be doable.  We're nudging 11-12 million trips now, doubling the route kilometres by extending to Coolangatta will generate (conservative guesstimate) around 6-7 million trips based on it doubling the current bus figures.  Modest further extensions (eg Harbour Town/Runaway Bay and Robina) will add to that.  Organic growth over time will take care of the rest.

100 million trips for the Gold Coast (50m bus, 40m light rail, 10m train) is perfectly doable, just need the gumption to get on with it all.

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

16th August 2019

Re: Target 400 - a campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ public transport by 2029

Good Morning,

Great feedback on Target 400 at https://www.facebook.com/RAILBackOnTrack/posts/2795125630501606

E.g.

https://www.facebook.com/RAILBackOnTrack/posts/2795125630501606?comment_id=2795132103834292

Chris Cox Finally. A genuine target to shift mode share.
This is the first real "congestion busting" plan I've seen.
Let's make it happen.

We are off and running.  Watch this space!  It is time we lifted our public transport network out of the stagnation and failure that has characterised the past decade.

2029 target 400 million trips:

Rail ~ 130 million trips/year ( 2018 53 million trips/year)

Bus  ~ 220 million trips/year (2018 114 million trips/year)

Light rail ~ 40 million trips/year  (2018 10 million trips/year)

Ferry ~ 10 million   (2018 7 million trips/year)

Best wishes,
Robert

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

Attached: https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.msg225904#msg225904

[ozbob]

The light rail target should be doable.  We're nudging 11-12 million trips now, doubling the route kilometres by extending to Coolangatta will generate (conservative guesstimate) around 6-7 million trips based on it doubling the current bus figures.  Modest further extensions (eg Harbour Town/Runaway Bay and Robina) will add to that.  Organic growth over time will take care of the rest.

100 million trips for the Gold Coast (50m bus, 40m light rail, 10m train) is perfectly doable, just need the gumption to get on with it all.

 

Yo, time to get on with it. 

[ozbob]

As part of our Target 400 campaign ( https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.0 ) we propose that Queensland Rail Citytrain network (urban and interurban) achieve an annual patronage of around 130 million trips/year by 2029.  Is this achievable? We think it is.

The Citytrain network is a poor pax performer.  We all know the reasons for the poor performance, rail service frequency poor, particularly counter-peak and out of peak. Poor support of rail in terms of feeder buses.  Constant problems with connections as we have low frequency rail connecting with low frequency bus - bus/rail, rail/bus and rail/rail connections are often missed leading to very long journey times.

The rail service level is not satisfactory for the level of financial investment made by all Queenslanders.

The most comparable suburban rail network in Australia to the our SEQ rail network is Transperth WA. The Transperth network present has a total route length of 181 km, 72 stations, same gauge as Citytrain and in fact some of the trains are the same as the Queensland Rail 260 SMU trains. In 2017/18 Transperth trains achieved 60.6 million trips ( https://www.pta.wa.gov.au/about-us/priorities-and-performance/transport-performance#Train-33 ). Compare this to our Citytrain network.  Route length 689 km, 152 stations, and in 2017/18 had 52.42 million trips ( https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13554.msg223274#msg223274).

The Transperth rail network is 26% the size of the Citytrain network yet carries more passengers! 

Clearly there is a lot of latent capacity on the Citytrain network and it needs to be tapped into.  A target of 130 million trips by 2029 is very achievable, providing there are service improvements, and there is much better support to get passengers to and from rail stations by feeder bus and active transport. Park 'n' ride is a limited non-sustainable patronage driver, and once full, potential passengers are forced drive. 

Two fundamental reasons why the Transperth trains carries the number of passengers it does is:

1. Service frequency ( all lines out of peak service frequency generally every 15 minutes, better at peak), and

2. It is well supported by feeder bus networks.  Essentially the opposite of what occurs on the SEQ Citytrain network, so no surprise Citytrain patronage is so relatively poor is it?

How are we going to kick-start significant patronage growth?

1.  Service improvement, and

2.  Better feeder bus support, together with enhanced active transport facilities.  We will discuss in more depth feeder bus network and active transport improvements in follow on articles.  We will discuss rail service improvement priorities in this article.

We propose that the Citytrain network should incrementally improve to these service levels 7 days a week, out of peak, with counter-peak service improvements. Present peak service level is generally satisfactory exception Doomben line.

- Caboolture and Sunshine Coast - every 30 minutes to Caboolture current express pattern, every second train to Nambour, at least five shuttles per day between Gympie North and Nambour

- Kippa-Ring - every 15 minutes current express pattern

- Shorncliffe - every 15 minutes all stations (and if there an issue with the single track to Shorncliffe you could turn back every second train at Sandgate)

- Airport - every 15 minutes all stations

- Doomben - every 30 minutes all stations ( through to at least 11pm, 7 days a week )

- Ferny Grove - every 15 minutes all stations

- Ipswich - every 30 minutes current peak hour express pattern, every second train to Rosewood or get the shuttle working properly

- Springfield Central - every 15 minutes all stations

- Beenleigh - every 15 minutes all stations to Kuraby, every second train to Beenleigh

- Gold Coast - every 30 minutes

- Cleveland - every 15 minutes all stations to Manly, every second train to Cleveland

These service improvements should be in place by 2024, so that the transition to a post CRR Citytrain network is seamless.

The first priority should be service improvements on the Sunshine Coast Line, and the introduction of rail shuttle services between Nambour and Gympie North. Followed by Doomben line service improvements as detailed, then step up the service frequency between Kippa-Ring and Springfield Central, Cleveland and Beenleigh lines.  Introduce the around clock express pattern on the Ipswich line when 15 minute frequency is achieved between Kippa-Ring and Springfield Central.

Note these service improvements are NOT dependent on billions of dollars of infrastructure.  It is simply using our existing rail network and train fleet in a much better manner. As more train crew come on line, Queensland Rail should start a rolling program of service improvements as suggested. As service frequency increases, connections become less problematical. Patronage will start sustained significant growth.

[ozbob]

As part of #Target400 campaign we propose that @QueenslandRail Citytrain network (urban & interurban) achieve an annual patronage of around 130 million trips/year by 2029. Is this achievable? We think it is.
This post details the first steps.
👉https://t.co/zIEhKJZOAX#qldpol pic.twitter.com/xFhizMR28N

— RAIL_BoT_Forum (@railbotforum) August 16, 2019

[ozbob]

On FB here > https://t.co/OepVYtEcEh#qldpol #Target400 pic.twitter.com/Ap5xhMUkeh

— RAIL_BoT_Forum (@railbotforum) August 17, 2019

[ozbob]

Facebook  (new separate post) ....

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

18th August 2019

Queensland Rail Citytrain - poor pax performance for a long time ...

Good Morning,

Not convinced that Queensland Rail Citytrain should be moving more passengers?

Well consider this data series.



It can be noted that heavy rail patronage is not that much better than what it was in 1990! Since 1990 there have been the construction of new lines, Helensvale 1996, Nerang 1997, Robina in 1998 and Varsity Lakes 2009. Airport line in 2001, Rosewood line electrified in 1993 and Doomben line resumed passenger services in 1998 (suspended in 1993). Richlands 2011, Springfield Central 2013 and Kippa-Ring 2016. Interesting data this from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE). Under performance of our heavy rail has been in place for a long time. It can be improved from here most certainly.  The increase in bus patronage from ~ 2004 was due to the opening of the busways and the introduction of frequent bus (BUZ) services.  Citytrain needs to step up in a like manner.



The data is from TransLink and TMR Annual reports.  Stagnation! Population increase in SEQ was around +15.5% over this period.

Time to get moving on #Target400 !

Best wishes,
Robert

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

Attached: https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.msg225930#msg225930
& https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.msg225964#msg225964

As part of our Target 400 campaign ( https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.0 ) we propose that Queensland Rail Citytrain network (urban and interurban) achieve an annual patronage of around 130 million trips/year by 2029.  Is this achievable? We think it is.

The Citytrain network is a poor pax performer.  We all know the reasons for the poor performance, rail service frequency poor, particularly counter-peak and out of peak. Poor support of rail in terms of feeder buses.  Constant problems with connections as we have low frequency rail connecting with low frequency bus - bus/rail, rail/bus and rail/rail connections are often missed leading to very long journey times.

The rail service level is not satisfactory for the level of financial investment made by all Queenslanders.

The most comparable suburban rail network in Australia to the our SEQ rail network is Transperth WA. The Transperth network present has a total route length of 181 km, 72 stations, same gauge as Citytrain and in fact some of the trains are the same as the Queensland Rail 260 SMU trains. In 2017/18 Transperth trains achieved 60.6 million trips ( https://www.pta.wa.gov.au/about-us/priorities-and-performance/transport-performance#Train-33 ). Compare this to our Citytrain network.  Route length 689 km, 152 stations, and in 2017/18 had 52.42 million trips ( https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13554.msg223274#msg223274).

The Transperth rail network is 26% the size of the Citytrain network yet carries more passengers! 

Clearly there is a lot of latent capacity on the Citytrain network and it needs to be tapped into.  A target of 130 million trips by 2029 is very achievable, providing there are service improvements, and there is much better support to get passengers to and from rail stations by feeder bus and active transport. Park 'n' ride is a limited non-sustainable patronage driver, and once full, potential passengers are forced drive. 

Two fundamental reasons why the Transperth trains carries the number of passengers it does is:

1. Service frequency ( all lines out of peak service frequency generally every 15 minutes, better at peak), and

2. It is well supported by feeder bus networks.  Essentially the opposite of what occurs on the SEQ Citytrain network, so no surprise Citytrain patronage is so relatively poor is it?

How are we going to kick-start significant patronage growth?

1.  Service improvement, and

2.  Better feeder bus support, together with enhanced active transport facilities.  We will discuss in more depth feeder bus network and active transport improvements in follow on articles.  We will discuss rail service improvement priorities in this article.

We propose that the Citytrain network should incrementally improve to these service levels 7 days a week, out of peak, with counter-peak service improvements. Present peak service level is generally satisfactory exception Doomben line.

- Caboolture and Sunshine Coast - every 30 minutes to Caboolture current express pattern, every second train to Nambour, at least five shuttles per day between Gympie North and Nambour

- Kippa-Ring - every 15 minutes current express pattern

- Shorncliffe - every 15 minutes all stations (and if there an issue with the single track to Shorncliffe you could turn back every second train at Sandgate)

- Airport - every 15 minutes all stations

- Doomben - every 30 minutes all stations ( through to at least 11pm, 7 days a week )

- Ferny Grove - every 15 minutes all stations

- Ipswich - every 30 minutes current peak hour express pattern, every second train to Rosewood or get the shuttle working properly

- Springfield Central - every 15 minutes all stations

- Beenleigh - every 15 minutes all stations to Kuraby, every second train to Beenleigh

- Gold Coast - every 30 minutes

- Cleveland - every 15 minutes all stations to Manly, every second train to Cleveland

These service improvements should be in place by 2024, so that the transition to a post CRR Citytrain network is seamless.

The first priority should be service improvements on the Sunshine Coast Line, and the introduction of rail shuttle services between Nambour and Gympie North. Followed by Doomben line service improvements as detailed, then step up the service frequency between Kippa-Ring and Springfield Central, Cleveland and Beenleigh lines.  Introduce the around clock express pattern on the Ipswich line when 15 minute frequency is achieved between Kippa-Ring and Springfield Central.

Note these service improvements are NOT dependent on billions of dollars of infrastructure.  It is simply using our existing rail network and train fleet in a much better manner. As more train crew come on line, Queensland Rail should start a rolling program of service improvements as suggested. As service frequency increases, connections become less problematical. Patronage will start sustained significant growth.

[#Metro]

Wow!

[ozbob]

The data does not lie, it does not spin, it does not obfuscate, it is not opinion, and you don't need ' selfies ' to promote a misleading message, or an army of staffers and ' media officers ' to prop up duplicity and deception.#qldpol https://t.co/N8Jhrfd5iL

— RAIL_BoT_Forum (@railbotforum) August 17, 2019

[ozbob]

Wow!

Indeed. 

The data does not lie, it does not spin, it does not obfuscate, it is not opinion, and you don't need ' selfies ' to promote a misleading message, or an army of staffers and ' media officers ' to prop up duplicity and deception.

REALITY.   Time heavy rail started to perform.   Billions and billions of dollars, our dollars into the network.  There is simply not the ROI at present.  The way to improve the ROI is to boost services and get bums on seats.

[#Metro]

Time heavy rail started to perform.   Billions and billions of dollars, our dollars into the network.  There is simply not the ROI at present.  The way to improve the ROI is to boost services and get bums on seats.

We need some way to measure the service intensity of the infrastructure.

Infrastrucutre is widlly expensive - Kippa Ring is a great example. Pay ~ $2 billion to replace a half-hourly bus with a half-hourly train.

Does it make sense?

By contrast, the busways cost about the same to construct but are extremely well used. For a rail example, look to Perth - a truly integrated excellent network done in LOW DENSITY.

Same goes for the car parks. Nowhere else in the public service would you throw $60K for 1 person. But we do it for motorists who want to park at the station and then label that expenditure as 'spending on public transport'.

[ozbob]

The simple fact that Transperth can manage more pax than Queensland Rail on a network a quarter the size of Citytrain shows how bad it really is.  A lot of network expansions here in SEQ, and some upgrades since 1990 but the patronage is still very poor, marginally better than in 1990. Take into account population increase, it has been a very negative slide.  It is all about the poor service frequency and fuked connections.  People try it, get shafted, and decide it is all too hard.  There is a hard core who have and do stick with the ramshackle network mainly because they have too.  Governments and the transport bureaucracies should hang their heads in shame that they have allowed this situation to fester on.  There is no leadership in Transport in this State.  Labor are duplicitous, LNP are yet to convince me they are competent to govern, particularly after the Newman Govt fiascos.

GOVERNMENT LURKERS -  please remove the service shackles, all modes.  Yes, it costs some dollars but it will save a lot more in time as reduced congestion, less demand on health sector, better community mobility.  Let's use what we have ...

[timh]

Time heavy rail started to perform.   Billions and billions of dollars, our dollars into the network.  There is simply not the ROI at present.  The way to improve the ROI is to boost services and get bums on seats.

We need some way to measure the service intensity of the infrastructure.

Infrastrucutre is widlly expensive - Kippa Ring is a great example. Pay ~ $2 billion to replace a half-hourly bus with a half-hourly train.

Does it make sense?

By contrast, the busways cost about the same to construct but are extremely well used. For a rail example, look to Perth - a truly integrated excellent network done in LOW DENSITY.

Same goes for the car parks. Nowhere else in the public service would you throw $60K for 1 person. But we do it for motorists who want to park at the station and then label that expenditure as 'spending on public transport'.

Frequency is the biggest issues. If the entire rail network (and busways) was turn up and go, that would make it much more appealing to people. Certainly for me I don't catch trains often as I'm a busway guy but any time I go to a train station, its usually at an off peak time and having to wait around for 30 minutes is excruciatingly irritating and is off putting for most people.

As your targets say they should be aiming for at least 15 min frequency on all lines (with the exception of Gympie North). Even classic underperformers like Doomben could potentially turn around as a result of people actually seeing catching the train as an easy option.

I was looking at timetables for the Central coast line going Newcastle-Sydney and they've got trains running hourly off peak and like every 15 mins during peak. That's a comparable distance to Gympie-Brisbane and we've got what, 2 trains a day with some piece of sh%t old rollingstock? Hopeless. We all know the problems with that line but if you could at least get like 2 hour frequency on the Gympie north line that'd be nice. Higher speeds would help mind you.

Busways the current BCC metro plan would solve the frequency issue but I really really think they ought to curb the number of services that end up going through the Mater hill - Roma Street section. Too much duplication of routes. I also think at LEAST filling in the missing link from Federation Street - Truro Street and running metro services along that corridor would go a long way.

The final thing that I think would really help is not just feeders to stations (ie. first mile) but also last mile connections. I hear a lot of people complain that public transport just doesn't go where people need to go, maybe because its a very CBD oriented network. Maybe some last mile shuttles as high frequency loops or city glider-like services around other employment centres (i'm thinking UMG, coopers plains/salisbury, EMP, Chermside, Beenleigh, etc.). A lot of those places are already well connected with buses but better legibility through a loop or glider style service would definitely be easier for people to understand. From an UMG perspective it would be easier for someone to just get an UMG loop shuttle that runs through all the important places (garden square, ato, sanders street, mt gravatt central, klumpp road, mains road, kessels road, etc.) is much better than trying to work out which 17x 18x to take (coz theres a lot)

[SurfRail]

Newcastle isn't really comparable of course - the Central Coast and Newcastle services collectively carry about 19-20 million people a year.  There is a much, much bigger catchment than Brisbane to the Gold Coast (let alone Brisbane to anywhere north), stations at places like Woy Woy, Gosford and other centres en route are located in the town centre and serve a local walk-up transport role, and Sydney is a bigger draw.  The line is also 100% duplicated because it is one of the principal freight routes to and from Sydney, whereas there is a lot less on the other side of Brisbane.

That's the problem we're facing - the Sunshine Coast line does not go anywhere important enough to grab anybody's attention.  If we were talking about Maroochydore the line would have long been fixed, but not the likes of Eumundi.  The Southern Highlands line is probably the closest equivalent of the Sunshine Coast line down in NSW.

[achiruel]

ozbob - what's the main issue with the Rosewood shuttle? Is it the 1 minute transfer window in the AM peak? Then off-peak it's 11 minutes. A consistent 6-minute transfer would be good, I think.

[timh]

Newcastle isn't really comparable of course - the Central Coast and Newcastle services collectively carry about 19-20 million people a year.  There is a much, much bigger catchment than Brisbane to the Gold Coast (let alone Brisbane to anywhere north), stations at places like Woy Woy, Gosford and other centres en route are located in the town centre and serve a local walk-up transport role, and Sydney is a bigger draw.  The line is also 100% duplicated because it is one of the principal freight routes to and from Sydney, whereas there is a lot less on the other side of Brisbane.

That's the problem we're facing - the Sunshine Coast line does not go anywhere important enough to grab anybody's attention.  If we were talking about Maroochydore the line would have long been fixed, but not the likes of Eumundi.  The Southern Highlands line is probably the closest equivalent of the Sunshine Coast line down in NSW.

Yeah I realise we're talking about a pretty big disparity in population. Was kinda just an example, but you raise a very good point with Maroochydore. CAMCOS is a no brainer, and should be done at regional rapid rail speeds (running via NWTC). Running THAT at frequencies similar to Newcastle line might be worth it.

[ozbob]

ozbob - what's the main issue with the Rosewood shuttle? Is it the 1 minute transfer window in the AM peak? Then off-peak it's 11 minutes. A consistent 6-minute transfer would be good, I think.

The major issue I find is the random cancellations = 2 hour between service.  The off gap peak is fine as the  UP Ippy trains are invariably 5 minutes or so late. So it is a buffer.  I have seen them hold Rosewood services at Ipswich because of a late running UP Ippy service, but not always guaranteed.

Peak OK as there are plenty of services if it misses, usually only a few minutes for next down. I know someone who regularly does that transfer and most times is made.

[achiruel]

The random cancellations are clearly an issue. The regularly 5 minute late up Ipswich services is a problem. Is there any real reason this happens, or is it just the general level of QR incompetence?

[tazzer9]

Currently the only limit to 15 minute service on all lines except the sunshine coast and doomben lines is staffing. 
Assuming no other infrastructure projects other than CRR are put into place before 2029, then why shouldn't we be pushing for off peak services every 15 minutes on all lines.  Just need to make sure the turnback times and staffing are in place to allow any delay not to have a knock on effect.

The gold coast line should be a minimum of 15 minutes off peak as well.  It could easily be accomplished by having 15 minute beenleigh services as well and having a permanent overtake move at bethania for northbound services.  This would allow better connectivity for stations north of loganlea as well. 

Most of the suggestions above i'm happy with except for off peak ipswich services running to the peak express pattern.  My belief is off peak ipswich services should run express between toowong and darra with only a stop at indooroopilly, as Toowong and auchenflower are major trip generators. 

[SurfRail]

^ There isn't presently enough capacity for 15 minute Gold Coast and Beenleigh headways in both directions, and Cleveland is doable but not terribly reliable.

The rest as you've pointed out is 100% doable - even Rosewood (which of course doesn't require it).

[ozbob]

Interesting article from the RACQ magazine Road Ahead Aug/Sep 2019 page 16

Final comments are spot on.

The Culture of Public Transport

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

21st August 2019

RACQ nails it!

Good Morning,

Interesting article in the latest RACQ Road Ahead magazine August/September 2019 page 16 (copy attached).

' The culture of public transport '

Concluding comments in the article:

'RACQ Head of Public Policy Dr Rebecca Michael said Queensland's public transport system was holding the state back.

" The current system isn't working and is preventing us from having a reliable and effective public transport system that meets Queenslanders transport needs and helps us reduce congestion," Dr Michael said.

"The longer it takes to fix the network, the more people will turn to using their cars and congestion will only get worse." '

Dr Michael is spot on. Exactly what we have been pointing out for years.

This is why we have started our Target 400 campaign - a campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2029.

See > https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.msg225899#msg225899

We will detail how we can fix the network in the coming weeks and achieve the target.

Unless we turn the present failure paradigm around the transport future is bleak.

Best wishes,

Robert

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

[ozbob]

Latest: RACQ @RACQOfficial nails it!
> https://t.co/7nz13gVYVd #qldpol
When the peak organisation that represents the interests of Queensland motorists can see the light, it is certainly time.
" Unless we turn the present failure paradigm around the transport future is bleak." pic.twitter.com/FAUmSZTKiR

— RAIL_BoT_Forum (@railbotforum) August 20, 2019

[ozbob]

Good Morning Premier @AnnastaciaMP and OL @DebFrecklington
Will you support our #Target400 Campaign? A campaign to get 400 million passenger trips on SEQ PT by 2029.
Details > https://t.co/C91KTyeBjq#qldpol
Look forward to your support! Thank you. Robert pic.twitter.com/pU9WFhd8IB

— RAIL_BoT_Forum (@railbotforum) August 20, 2019

[ozbob]

The random cancellations are clearly an issue. The regularly 5 minute late up Ipswich services is a problem. Is there any real reason this happens, or is it just the general level of QR incompetence?

I think it is a function of the long runs in from Nambour and Caboolture.  We know from the OTR data that the northern line is not as reliable relative to the rest of the network in a general sense.  The real issue with the lateness is it makes rail/bus connections very difficult to make at times.  The whole bus network needs a timing review.   QR seem to think that if a train is up to < 10 minutes late it don't matter much, not even reported. 

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

22nd August 2019

Target400: What is TransLink's patronage projection for 2029?

Good Morning,

Last evening when the DDG of TransLink Mr Matt Longland was interviewed by Mr Steve Austin ABC Radio Brisbane and there was some brief discussion on our #Target400 campaign, Mr Longland said that our target (400 million passenger trips by 2029) was not in line with their projections for 2029.  What is your projection for 2029 Mr Longland?  It would be nice to know.  Is the present mediocre passenger performance of the SEQ public transport network to be continued with patronage increases under actual population increases until the entire transport system in SEQ gridlocks?

Or can we actually do the things that will really improve our public transport network patronage so that it is a frequent, connected, truly accessible network?

Please advise.

Thank you.

Best wishes,
Robert

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

Attached:  https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.msg225991#msg225991

[ozbob]

Target400: What is TransLink&#39;s patronage projection for 2029?https://t.co/8yy2MPu1lq#qldpol
Ping @SteveAustinABC pic.twitter.com/t3OzfOoXm6

— RAIL_BoT_Forum (@railbotforum) August 21, 2019

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

24th August 2019

Bus patronage doubled in six years ... can rail do the same?

Good Morning,

The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) published an interesting data series of patronage in the major capitals a few years at  https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2014/is_060.aspx  and https://www.bitre.gov.au/publications/2014/files/is_059-060.xlsx

Analysing the BITRE data for Greater Brisbane shows some interesting features.



Public transport patronage was highest in 1945 during WW2 with the trams doing the bulk of the passenger trips.

But of particular relevance to our Target 400 campaign is the fact the bus passenger trips doubled from around 50 million to over 100 million in little over 6 years 2004 to 2010.  This corresponds to the introduction of the South East busway and the introduction of frequent bus routes (BUZ).

To demonstrate how frequency drives patronage growth consider this graph.  This graph was compiled by Mr Alan Warren who was the Divisional Manager Brisbane Transport in 2010.



This is stunning patronage growth.  It demonstrates why Queensland Rail Citytrain service frequency must improve.  Do that and support the Citytrain network with better feeder bus networks, there is no reason why patronage on heavy rail cannot achieve 100 million passenger trips in six years, and reach our target of 130 million passenger trips by 2029.

Let's do it!

Best wishes,
Robert

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

Attached:  https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=13648.msg225964#msg225964

[#Metro]

Let's not forget how Perth trains carry more than we do!

Perth is low density, monocentric and has a relatively undeveloped CBD compared with Brisbane.

Brisbane is a multicentre region with those centres connected by rail.

Huge change can be done with simple off-peak service improvement and bus network redesign. Auckland did that, and their patronage already achieved beyond that targeted.

The main obstacle for bus reform is Brisbane City Council IMHO. Just look at the product of their so-called Centenary 'Bus Review'.

Yes, the State Government may be hostile because it is a different political colour, but even then, there is a lot to be gained from amalgamating routes or terminating them at train stations rather than driving them all the way to the CBD.

There is also no reason why BCC cannot perform a bus review on its own initiative, and release a network map. Indeed it already did so in 2013!

The main obstacle for trains is the high cost of QR operations, a large part of this being labour costs of having two staff rather than one, on all trains.

Automated systems (e.g. Sydney metro) have no staff on board, and therefore adding +1 service involves a relatively small additional cost. Thus the service runs ~10 min all day.

[ozbob]

Frequency drives patronage growth,consider this graph. This graph was compiled by Mr Alan Warren who was the Divisional Manager Brisbane Transport in 2010. This is stunning patronage growth. It demonstrates why Queensland Rail Citytrain service frequency must improve.#qldpol pic.twitter.com/SeCsXChNGd

— RAIL_BoT_Forum (@railbotforum) August 23, 2019

[HappyTrainGuy]

The main obstacle for trains is the high cost of QR operations, a large part of this being labour costs of having two staff rather than one, on all trains

Has nothing to do with that. Train crews are quite flexiable once the entire network is taken into account ie double the frequency doesn't mean double the crew numbers. It's all to do with the poor design of seq pt and the useless transport minister. This is why park and rides have been expanding rapidly along the northern line for the past 15 years. Network constraints play a part and operating costs are quite small in the scheme of things but it's also feeder services eg trains are already more frequent than a lot of the bus network. What time do you think the last feeder bus should depart the station? Is a peak hour bus that runs hourly acceptable in 2019??? What about bus routes that bypass train stations in peak hour??? Remember it was only a few years ago that the 335 actually served chermside interchange during peak hour.

If you want to increase frequency on the rail network the supporting bus network needs to be done aswell. They both help each other. Otherwise we are just going to have a repeat of the 7tph at Strathpine where feeder buses run every 60 minutes in peak hour with the last bus departing shortly after 6.30pm. Or if you mention bald hills where the 326/327 terminate at the highway and dead run to strathpine to form new services.

Remember. There are still free seats on Kippa Ring/Nambour-Caboolture to Roma Street services at Northgate and Eagle Junction. Only the thru services get to standing room because buses meet those trains.