13 Aug 2007: Rail passenger service for commuting between Toowoomba and Ipswich!

[ozbob]

Media Release 13 August 2007

Rail passenger service for commuting between Toowoomba and Ipswich needed!

Rail Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) supports calls for regular rail motor services for Toowoomba and thinks that such a service should connect Toowoomba and Ipswich. Toowoomba is presently behind most significant regional cities of similar or lesser size around Australia in that it is lacking a fast, frequent public rail transport service to the major capital.

Robert Dow said:

?A project recently undertaken by the Government in Victoria delivered new ?Vlocity? diesel rail motors (1) and upgraded lines between the regional cities of Bendigo and Ballarat to allow 160km/h speeds and dramatically improved service frequencies to these cities.  The benefits of the improved services lead to increases in patronage to a 50 year high and better transport options for regional residents with the Victorian Government ordering a further two motor units and an additional 14 trailer cars to cope with demand.  Similarly the Blue Mountains are linked to Parramatta and Sydney by an electrified rail network.  The population of Toowoomba is larger than Bendigo, Ballarat and comparable to the Blue Mountains suggesting that a fast, frequent rail service would be well justified for Toowoomba.?

?Ipswich is often compared with Parramatta, as it is geographically similar in distance from Brisbane and Toowoomba as Parramatta is from Central Sydney and the Blue Mountains.  The present railway line between Ipswich and Toowoomba is not suitable for 160 km/h speeds but modern rail motors can set an acceptable timetable for the journey. Ultimately a fast rail link to Toowoomba would equally benefit the growth and prosperity of Ipswich and Toowoomba. A regular rail motor link between these centres could provide a faster more comfortable ride and greater capacity than that provided by the present bus service. It would also have great tourist potential as well.?

?Trains to run the service could be manufactured from derivatives of Bombardier?s Vlocity rail motors or possibly even hybrid diesel electric rail motors developed by East Japan Railway Company (2).  Such hybrids could also run off electrified overhead wires where available and most efficiently provide a more frequent service to parts of Brisbane?s City Train network with low passenger loadings such as Rosewood and Nambour and the Queensland Regional rail network.?

Reference:

1.  http://www.doi.vic.gov.au/Doi/Internet/transport.nsf/AllDocs/A944F6235A7D1031CA257266008361F3?OpenDocument

2.  http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/press/20060401/index.html

Contact:

Administration RAIL Back On Track

admin@backontrack.org

http://backontrack.org

[ozbob]

A Proposal: Toowoomba - Brisbane Train Link - can found here too -->
http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=214.0

Regards
Ozbob

[ozbob]

Toowoomba Chronicle, 07/09/2007 page 15

Upgraded rail link vital for the region's growth

UNTIL a fast and frequent public rail service to Brisbane is established, David Leatherbarrow anticipates a limit to Toowoomba's growth potential.

The Laidley man has reignited calls for a commuter link between Rosewood and Toowoomba to provide an alternative to the already inadequate Ipswich Motorway.  "Using the existing public rail transport to get from Brisbane to Toowoomba is just pathetic," Mr Leatherbarrow said. "You have to catch a train to Ipswich, get on another train to Rosewood, get on a bus to Helidon and on another bus from there to Toowoomba, a two-and-a-half-hour journey."  As it would not prove efficient to have a train travel up the Toowoomba range, Mr Leatherbarrow said the service would ideally run from Rosewood to Helidon. "We are not asking for brain surgery here," he said. "All the tracks and boom gates are in place with 17 freight trains using the line a day so all it would take is a bit of fortitude and drive and the service could be up and running in six months. "I think the service could be set up for about $20 million and that's being generous."

Rail Back on Track administrator Robert Dow said Toowoomba was behind most major regional cities of similar or lesser size around Australia in that it lacked a fast, frequent public rail transport service to the State's capital. "A project recently undertaken by the Government in Victoria delivered new V-locity diesel rail motors and upgraded lines between regional cities of Bendigo and Ballarat to allow 160km/h speeds and dramatically improved service frequencies to these cities," Mr Dow said. "The benefits of the improved services led to increases in patronage to a 50-year high with the Victorian Government ordering a further two motor units and an additional 14 trailer cars to cope with demand. "Similarly, the Blue Mountains are linked to Parramatta and Sydney by an electric rail network."

The population of Toowoomba is larger than Bendigo, Ballarat and comparable to the Blue Mountains suggesting that a fast, frequent rail service would be well justified for Toowoomba." Mr Leatherbarrow said youths living in the Laidley area currently had to rely on their parents to drive them to Toowoomba or Ipswich for TAFE, university or work. "No shires can go ahead without proper transport infrastructure," he said. Mr Dow said the fast rail link would equally benefit the growth and prosperity of Ipswich and Toowoomba.

[ozbob]

Newsletter from 2003 Gowrie to Grandchester Rail Corridor Study.

http://www.transport.qld.gov.au/resources/file/ebf0bc0bd5d888b/Pdf_ggrcs_newsletter_11.pdf

Interesting reading.

Regards
Ozbob

[Wilfy2007]

Being a firm believer in the expansion of Railcar services, I would also like to see railcar services started up between Ipswitch and Toowoomba.

Even if it started off as a service that operated in the morning and the afternoon to cater for workers who may work in Brisbane or Ipswitch.

The tilt train would be a good start.

Regards,

Brian Leedham.

[ozbob]

From the Queensland Times  click here!

Rural-city travel upgrade needed

Rural-city travel upgrade needed

Melanie Maeseele | 23rd March 2010

POLITICIANS are calling on better transport services in rural regions to better assist residents commuting to the city.

The issue of inadequate public transport services was recently raised in Parliament, with one politician stating services were substandard and that a new billion-dollar upgraded train route that transported residents from Helidon to Ipswich was needed.

Residents travelling between Toowoomba and Gatton en route to Brisbane currently have access to a train service that runs twice a week between Toowoomba and Brisbane and takes about four hours one way.

A system that Toowoomba South MP Mike Horan said was inadequate for a rapidly growing region.

"What is needed for the convenience and safety of people who wish to travel to Brisbane – and there are many pensioners, business people and people who want to go to Brisbane in the course of their day – is a park-and-ride system," Mr Horan said.

"It's where people could drive to Helidon and use a reasonable, modest train service that would run from Helidon to Brisbane. It would have to be diesel-electric, but it could then stop at Gatton, Laidley and Ipswich.

"I know it would cost many millions, if not billions, to upgrade the line to bring it up the range to Toowoomba, but that has to be the target."

Member for Lockyer Ian Rickuss said although he acknowledged better transport facilities were needed, he said upgrading the train system would not be an appropriate, cost-effective measure that could be implemented in the near future.

"It might be a good idea, but it would cost billions of dollars. What I would support is a better bus service in the region," Mr Rickuss said.

"Lets get the buses running properly first, and the buses filled up, and then we will have a good case to get a train line in."

Mr Rickuss said he had been approached by a bus company who would like to implement regular bus services from Gatton to Dinmore train station travelling along the Warrego Highway to pick up residents in rural towns.

A spokesman for TransLink said the department was "confident that the current service meets the needs of passengers with route 539 running 124 times a week between Rosewood and Gatton".

[#Metro]

I think it is deliberate that it is not connected well or part of Translink.
Providing a high speed service to a distant destination could encourage even lengthier commutes by more people...

However, there are rail stations all over Toowoomba. These are unused for regular passenger services.
Might be an idea to get it working...

[Matt]

G'day Bob,
                 Good to hear this am's announcement on cross river rail.
Matt

[longboi]

Wrong thread, Matt