Reported service disruptions rail - no longer in use

[ozbob]

Twitter

TransLinkSEQ TransLink SEQ
Delays up to 5-10mins on trains through Bowen Hills due to points failure. bit.ly/tVC4TN
44 minutes ag

[ozbob]

Twitter

TransLinkSEQ TransLink SEQ
Train delays up to 30mins due to earlier point failure at Bowen Hills. All lines impacted. bit.ly/uzPHkt
5 minutes ago

[Stillwater]

The question that must be asked is whether there is a systemic cause for these signalling and points failures - i.e. a lack of maintenance or a lack of funding for regular checks and overhauls.

[ozbob]

The 5.40pm Central to Ippy was cancelled.

[ozbob]

The question that must be asked is whether there is a systemic cause for these signalling and points failures - i.e. a lack of maintenance or a lack of funding for regular checks and overhauls.

I follow Metrotrains Melbourne on twitter as well

e.g.

Twitter
metrotrains Metro Trains
Minor Delays - Cranbourne/Pakenham lines: both directions (earlier track fault at Springvale). Delays up to 10 minutes. #MetroTrains
4 hours ago

Seems endemic to 'modern rail systems' to have constant failures. One does wonder how resilient circuits and so forth are.  Melbourne did have a significant period of neglect, don't know what the excuse is here.   Another weekend track closure on the Ippy 20th January.  


http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/itemimages/157/742/157742_medium.jpg
Negative - Melbourne, Victoria, circa 1930

[ozbob]

Interesting tweet ...


QueenslandRail Queensland Rail
Platform 5 out of action at Central. All Ipswich line customers should catch a train to Roma St to connect with Ipswich line trains there
1 hour ago

[HappyTrainGuy]

Its fail safe guards more than anything until someone can quickly find the problem, fix the problem or reset the problem. The earlier powerfault might have had something to do with it. The location might have something to do with it ie in the stabling yards which is under local control or on the mains under BSA control.

[ozbob]

Tweet

QueenslandRail Queensland Rail
Night Tweeps. Hope everyone got home ok. Shouldn't be any worries tomorrow morning as the issue at Bowen Hills has been fixed up.
1 minute ago

[Arnz]

I've just been reported that the 5:28pm Nambour train was now stopping all stations tonight (As a result of today's signal failures)... long journey.  

[Stillwater]

lol, I think Fares Fair is still on holidays, otherwise this would be one of the services he would catch home 'up north.'

[BrizCommuter]

As a result of the Bowen Hills faults?

Yes. Not good for the first day back at work for many after the fare rises!

[petey3801]

Dewirement in Mayne this morning, so a lot of the trains were stranded. Some were able to be diesel hauled out to energised areas, but due to the lack of areas to store the trains, a lot of south/western starters this afternoon were 3-car trains, simply to keep as many services running as possible.

[Golliwog]

Dewirement in Mayne this morning, so a lot of the trains were stranded. Some were able to be diesel hauled out to energised areas, but due to the lack of areas to store the trains, a lot of south/western starters this afternoon were 3-car trains, simply to keep as many services running as possible.

I was wondering what two diesel Locos were doing heading towards Bowen Hills on the mains when I was going through there on the 7.06am ex-FG service this morning.

[david]

Dewirement in Mayne this morning, so a lot of the trains were stranded. Some were able to be diesel hauled out to energised areas, but due to the lack of areas to store the trains, a lot of south/western starters this afternoon were 3-car trains, simply to keep as many services running as possible.

Oh. That explains why I saw so many shoulder-peak services on the Ippy as 3-cars. I thought they were experimenting with Sector 2 timetables...

[petey3801]

Dewirement in Mayne this morning, so a lot of the trains were stranded. Some were able to be diesel hauled out to energised areas, but due to the lack of areas to store the trains, a lot of south/western starters this afternoon were 3-car trains, simply to keep as many services running as possible.

I was wondering what two diesel Locos were doing heading towards Bowen Hills on the mains when I was going through there on the 7.06am ex-FG service this morning.

They were probably off one of the Lander trains, or heading to mayne for one of the Lander trains.. The probelms didnt start till just after morning peak :p

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert_Dow Robert Dow
On the 30th December, @QueenslandRail achieved 100% peak ontime train performance --> http://t.co/n9Ii1Tll
1 minute ago

[Cam]

Twitter

Robert_Dow Robert Dow
On the 30th December, @QueenslandRail achieved 100% peak ontime train performance --> http://t.co/n9Ii1Tll
1 minute ago

Shame that about 90% of CBD office employees were on leave and missed out on this.

[ozbob]

Twitter

TransLinkSEQ TransLink SEQ
Train services on the Beenleigh/Gold Coast lines from Kuraby to Varsity Lakes are delayed up to 30 minutes due to a train fault.
9 minutes ago

[Gazza]

Twitter

Robert_Dow Robert Dow
On the 30th December, @QueenslandRail achieved 100% peak ontime train performance --> http://t.co/n9Ii1Tll
1 minute ago

Shame that about 90% of CBD office employees were on leave and missed out on this.

Proof that the problem are the passengers, not the operator 

[Fares_Fair]

Twitter

Robert_Dow Robert Dow
On the 30th December, @QueenslandRail achieved 100% peak ontime train performance --> http://t.co/n9Ii1Tll
1 minute ago

Shame that about 90% of CBD office employees were on leave and missed out on this.

Proof that the problem are the passengers, not the operator 

Those pesky passengers ... er I mean customers. 

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[BrizCommuter]

http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com/2012/01/unreliable-trains-and-unreliable-stats.html
A few comments on yesterday's chaos.

[ozbob]

Twitter

TransLinkSEQ TransLink SEQ
The 9.31pm Central to Beenleigh train service is delayed up to 20 minutes due to a signalling fault.
4 hours ago

[ozbob]

http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1325709942

Caboolture/Sunshine Coast Line delays (Morayfield)

Caboolture and Sunshine Coast Line trains travelling through the Morayfield area may be delayed up to 15 minutes due to a power fault causing a loss of signals at Morayfield.

Queensland Rail technicians are enroute to repair the problem.

[ozbob]

Twitter

QueenslandRail Queensland Rail
A faulty train has been removed from the Caboolture line at Petrie, so once the initial backlog is cleared, services should return to normal
16 seconds ago

[Fares_Fair]

EDIT:
UPDATE:
Report received that 5:04pm Nambour train left Central station 25 minutes late, arriving at Palmwoods 14 minutes late at 7:02pm
NO ANNOUNCEMENTS WERE MADE FOR THIS DELAY.

Does the Sunshine Coast not exist or just not matter?

Similar scenario late last year on Sunday 18 December, 2011 at around midday when a major disruption (believed to be a freight train) went unreported in the hope that:
a) no one would notice or
b) QR and TransLink don't care.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[HappyTrainGuy]

The original unit failed and sub replaced it.

[Arnz]

There was no tweet for the *slightly* delayed 5:28pm to Nambour being converted to a all-stations a few days ago either.  I only got a notice from a colleague onboard the service.

[Fares_Fair]

Do you know how slightly Arnz?

Regards,
Fares_Fair

[Fares_Fair]

The original unit failed and sub replaced it.

Thank you HTG,

It appears there is a clear pattern emerging (3 recent examples) whereby delays to Sunshine Coast services are NOT being disclosed.
Is there a new policy in place?

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Arnz]

Do you know how slightly Arnz?

Regards,
Fares_Fair

Text came in around 5:40pm stating they left Central when the announcement occured.  I would assume roughly 10+ mins as a knockback of the earlier signal failures that day.

[Fares_Fair]

I am seriously concerned that there is a deliberate pattern of behaviour emerging whereby delays to Sunshine Coast services are being covered up by non-disclosure of their condition via Twitter and eRail alerts NOT being issued.
3 recent examples I believe, justifies an explanation.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Can't confirm if it was indeed an actual swap or just a system reset/fault fix in said train from what I read but there was an issue with the train that resulted in it leaving the City late.

Arent the erail updates only for the overall line and not based on individual services?

[Stillwater]

I share your suspicion, FF, and I think it has to do with your documentation, month by month, of delays on the SCL.  The government reports on time running as an average across the network.  Line by Line, the SCL would be performing well below average.  This would suggest that the line needs improving (as we all know), even to bring it to the average.  However, the government could do without that embarrassment at this stage - particularly in the light of the broken promises it has made regarding the SCL duplication, CAMCOS, etc.

[Arnz]

The last "open FOI" report had Shorncliffe 'beat' Sunshine Coast in regards to most late running trains.

[Fares_Fair]

Can't confirm if it was indeed an actual swap or just a system reset/fault fix in said train from what I read but there was an issue with the train that resulted in it leaving the City late.

Arent the erail updates only for the overall line and not based on individual services?

Thank you.
When originally applying for eRail updates one specifies specific services at specific times.
Can't be more specific than that ... 

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[HappyTrainGuy]

You might enter in a specific time but the allocated specific time could be anywhere up to 8 hours or something. The erail update service is still pretty much a very basic manual service that in my view should only be used on major delays/cancelled services etc. A late running train in my view isn't worth sending a text message over as the system wasn't designed for it. Think of the erail system as an excel sheet. Someone does a quick selection of the delay and the system sends anyone that matches the selection in the database an sms. Pretty sure if you put in Eagle Junction-Roma Street it gives you updates on the Nambour/Caboolture/Shorncliffe/Airport/Doomben lines. I still have Roma Street-Southbank and I still get sms updates for things that have happened at Helensvale (I remember frequently hearing on the train/reading in the comment sections rants from people that live pretty close to the city that keep bitching every time there is a major delay past Northgate as erail decides to send them an SMS update at 5 in the morning. Signal fault at Lawnton, better tell everyone to Bowen Hils   ).

Twitter/Facebook would be a more usefull option if the marketing department wasn't responsible for running the social media side of things.

[Set in train]

Delays on the Gold Coast line that QR won't tell you about

Timetable, journey planner and website notes tell me a train will arrive at Coopers Plains at 9:15am on Thursday, there I am waiting for it.

Finally comes round the bend at 9:22, 7 mins late.

I ask the guard why, she says, had to stop at Yeerongpilly for the tennis.

Must've been a water cannon guard of honour and train arrival ceremony to be that long. From de-acceleration to a slow speed, disembarking to train above slow speed at Helensvale took all of 1min 40secs and there was a large number leaving there, over half the passengers gone.

Down the coast we go, every station 5-7 mins late.

Amend the timetables, place service note and signs at the station that the train will not arrive as scheduled.

Total disgrace, fare still at full price.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Oh please.... 

#FirstWorldProblems.

[Set in train]

Oh please....  

#FirstWorldProblems.

The service is usually dead on time if an IMU is in use, that's why it was so uncharacteristic for this line.

Inbound, certainly the running times will not be on time upon reaching the airport when Gold Coast tennis fans are going to the tennis.

An extra stop is an extra stop, the timetable should be modified to reflect this.

Plenty of buses connect at Nerang (and other) stations, the 745 was there for all passengers disembarking only because I phoned through to Surfside, told them of the delay and they radioed the driver. They were unaware until then. 745 was instituted as the trainlink bus, more attention on this needed by TL coordinating services in real time.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Oh please....  

#FirstWorldProblems.

The service is usually dead on time if an IMU is in use, that's why it was so uncharacteristic for this line.

Inbound, certainly the running times will not be on time upon reaching the airport when Gold Coast tennis fans are going to the tennis.

An extra stop is an extra stop, the timetable should be modified to reflect this.

Plenty of buses connect at Nerang (and other) stations, the 745 was there for all passengers disembarking only because I phoned through to Surfside, told them of the delay and they radioed the driver. They were unaware until then. 745 was instituted as the trainlink bus, more attention on this needed by TL coordinating services in real time.

Rollingstock wouldn't make a difference if it was an IMU or and EMU considering all trains do the same posted speed along the Beenleigh stretch. When/Where did you call Surfside? Many trains don't announce the delay until they are closer to give a more precise time as trains can gain back time over long distances. Its still a peak hour train remember. Even rain is enough to delay some trains by a couple minutes. People getting off at Southbank, transfers between busways, extra demand for the event ensuring that anyone for the event got off safely, helping any disabled passengers getting off the train, anyone that just got on knew it was a Gold Coast service etc. Just because it was a few minutes late does not mean it dwelled there doing nothing for 7 minutes at Yeerongpilly. FYI that train would have been packed all the way from the city or even prior (2009 had that train at bursting point prior to Park Road which resulted in a massive 350m line up just to get into the tennis centre).



If you have a problem with it feel free to contact translink and follow up with the matter with them http://translink.com.au/about-translink/what-we-do/customer-service