It?s Time for the Line ? Petrie to Kippa Ring Rail Extension.

[ozbob]

It?s Time for the Line ? Petrie to Kippa Ring Rail Extension.

Widespread community support for the Petrie to Kippa ring rail extension has lead to the formation of the RAIL09 Campaign committee. Committee chairman Max Barton said :  ? Public response to the question do we want a passenger rail service was  Yes We Do. About 105,000 people residing in the Murrumba Downs, Kallangur, Mango Hill, North Lakes, Rothwell, Deception Bay, Kippa Ring and Redcliffe Peninsula suburbs would benefit from the rail extension? he said.

Members of the RAIL09 Campaign committee are not aligned to any political party or independent candidate at the forthcoming state government elections.

Committee member and Commerce & Industry Redcliffe Peninsula president Nick Tzimas said : ?Donations have been received that have enabled the RAIL09 Campaign committee to commence a TV and radio advertising campaign to promote the issue. It is expected that the Petrie to Kippa Ring rail extension will become a significant local issue in the state electorates of Kallangur, Murrumba and Redcliffe? he said.

The RAIL09 Campaign will hold the first in a series of public meetings at the Golden Ox Margate at 6pm on Wednesday 25th February. Further public meetings are planned over the next few weeks at Murrumba Downs, North Lakes, Deception Bay and Rothwell.

Further details can be obtained from the website : http://rail09campaign.synthasite.com

Residents can register their support by e-mail :  c.i.r.p@optusnet.com.au , by telephone Max
3203 0246 or  Nick 0438 948 848

[brismike]

While I totally support the Petrie to Redcliffe rail line I doubt very much If I ever will live long enough to travel on it. This has been promised since I was a little boy and i'm 53 now. Time is running out fast. 

[glossyblack]

Aggtree with Brismike far too long a wait.
Let's do it properly and go under Bramble Bay from Sandgate or Deagonsay stops at Brighton,Clontarf, Margate S.C, Redcliffe nr Jetty, hospital,Kippa Ring S.C, Rothwell etc then back to NCL at Petrie.
If other states (countries) can do underwater why not here and do a proper job?

[mufreight]

In response to glossyblack,
Monet and politicial expediency,
the corridor between Petrie ans Kippa Ring has suposedly been preserved so if any of the promise anything to get elected parties were serious they would have commenced construction in their previous terms of office even if they only used a small crew and proceeded at a financially sustainable pace building a kilometer of line a year from Petrie towards Kippa Ring.
the entire project is rather like an elephant rather large in size but even an elephant can be eaten, a small mouthful at a time so why not Kippa Ring.
A sugested first stage Petrie to Murrumba Downs, it would be feasable to build that section over a three year term of government. 
As each new section is brought into service it would reduce the dependency of numbers of those resident in those areas on cars for their daily commute.

[Derwan]

Let's do it properly and go under Bramble Bay from Sandgate or Deagon

They could've included rail lines on the new bridge being built.  Of course - the bridge is really only required because there is no railway and people have to drive everywhere.  I'd say the majority of passengers who embark at Sandgate are from Redcliffe - and had to drive over the bridge.

[Emmie]

Let's do it properly and go under Bramble Bay from Sandgate or Deagon

The 2002 study that decided that a line linking Kippa Ring to Redcliffe wasn't warranted was an extraordinarily foolish decision, made just before petrol prices went through the roof.  Since then, public transport use has been rising every year.

Derwan's right - the majority of people getting off the train at Sandgate and at North Boondall are clutching books from the Redcliffe Library!  Of course they should have added a rail-line to the new Houghton bridge.   It would alleviate parking problems, traffic problems, etc. etc.

However I think that the rail corridor between Redcliffe and Kippa Ring has now become a part of the problem, not part of the solution.  Putting a Redcliffe spur onto the already overloaded Caboolture line would be very costly, because so much duplication of track (and platforms) would be required to take the extra traffic.  It would also increase the number of trains per hour through several level crossings.  It all becomes too difficult, so nobody does anything (except promise to do something during elections).

It would make a lot of sense to look at running a line (above the waterline!) from Deagon or North Boondall instead.  There's already a lot of land on that route in the public domain - beside the Deagon Deviation and the Gateway Motorway, for instance, and the underutilized Deagon racetrack.  Some of it is wetlands, so environmentally sensitive and there would be engineering issues.  But for a spur line, a double track built up on whales tails (like the airport route, also across wetland) would work. Even Bramble Bay isn't insuperable - especially as a railway line could go upstream from the Houghton Highway, where Hayes inlet is narrower.

Laughably, part of the cost of putting in the new Houghton Highway was that it has been built to specifications allowing for the sea level to rise because of global warming.  Replace all those cars travelling to Sandgate station with a decent public transport system from the peninsula, and they might be able to build the railway bridge lower!

[ozbob]

From the Pine Rivers Press - Strathpine 4th March 2009 page 4

Backflips down the line

Backflips down the line
By BERNIE DOWLING

ALMOST 30 years after the National Party said it would not go ahead, and at least a decade on from a Laborcommissioned study, the Petrie to Kippa-Ring rail line remains on the drawing board.

Despite a raft of studies, assessments, reports, costings, and investigations, not a sleeper has been positioned for the missing link in north Brisbane's transport services.

According to a report by Rail `09 committee chairman Max Barton, residents in Redcliffe were clamouring for a rail link to the Peninsula in the late 1800s.

Legend has it the first political promise to build the Petrie Kippa-Ring rail link was also broken more than 100 years ago.

In the past three decades, hopes have been raised and then dashed as Labor and the National Party (now in the LNP coalition) have done U-turns on plans to build the link.

The National Party government buy-up of land for the railway began in 1978 and Transport Minister Don Lane said the railway would be built within 10 years, but the pledge was never fulfilled.

Kallangur developer Jim Grant recalled just this week how the Joh Bjelke-Petersen government reclaimed 7.7ha of his land in 1981 for the railway. In the late 1990s, the Beattie Labor Government commissioned The Petrie to Kippa-Ring Public Transport Corridor Study into the Petrie to Redcliffe transport corridor.

In June 2000, a report recommended the preferred corridor was through the Mango Hill/Griffin area and the preferred transport mode was heavy passenger rail.

The final report was due in October 2003, but three months before that date, State Transport Minister Steve Bredhauer said the proposed $229 million rail link was cancelled.

Queensland Transport then handed down its assessment of the study in 2006.

"The cost had blown out to $298 million but they would not let us look at the figures," Where's Our Railway? co-ordinator Terry Shaw said.

Fight for link over centuries 1896: Petrie (North Pine) -Redcliffe rail link proposed.

1978: National Party government begins land resumption for rail corridor, after years of promising railway.

1981: Government resumes 7.7ha from Kallangur developer Jimmy Grant.

1982: Joh Bjelke-Petersen promises to have the rail link open in time for the Commonwealth Games, but fails to deliver.

1983: Transport Minister Don Lane says railway will be built within 10 years.

1989: Labor's Ray Hollis wins Redcliffe with 11 per cent swing. Mr Hollis says employment and the Labor pledge to build the Redcliffe railway were the biggest issues.

1999: New Beattie Labor Government (defeating Rob Borbidge's Nationals in 1998) orders inquiry into Petrie/ Kippa-Ring transport corridor.

2000: Interim inquiry says the best option is heavy rail.

2003: Inquiry recommends rail despite Transport Minister's opposition.

2006: Transport Department reviews inquiry and decides not to proceed.

2009: Another rail election promise, this time by amalgamated LNP.

[ozbob]

From the Pine Rivers Press - Strathpine 4th March 2009 page 5

Train push picks up State election

Train push picks up State election

March 21 By ALYCE VALENTINE

THE Petrie to Kippa-Ring rail link may be the issue which decides the election, says Rail '09 committee member Nick Tzimas.

The LNP has already promised it will build the Petrie to Kippa-Ring rail link by 2016 with or without federal funding if it wins the March 21 election.

On Friday, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Main Roads and Transport Fiona Simpson announced construction on the rail link would begin during the first term with the support of the Federal Government.

However she said plans would continue even without the funding. With adequate financial backing, Ms Simpson said work on the railway could start in 2011, with stage one from Petrie to Mango Hill commissioned by 2014.

Stage two to Kippa-Ring is proposed to be commissioned by late 2016 with a total construction cost of $640 million.

Some of this cost would be offset by sale of surplus land surrounding the project. Ms Simpson said the Redcliffe rail would only commence after the upgrade of the North Pine River rail bridge, at a cost of $35-$50 million.

Despite the promising proposal, Ms van Litsenburg claimed the LNP had not yet committed to the project. She said Ms Simpson's policy was all subject to final conditions.

Labor infrastructure plans for the Petrie to Kippa-Ring railway suggest it will not be on the agenda until at least 2019. But Ms Litsenburg said she had requested the Premier bring the rail development forward. Action group Rail '09 is determined to see the project to fruition. "We don't want them stalling time anymore," he said.

Mr Tzimas said Rail '09 did not favour a political party but would support "whoever is going to give us the best deal for our area".

The call to "step up and deliver" has also been made by Moreton Bay Regional Council Mayor Allan Sutherland.

Mr Sutherland said those making the promises needed to clarify how and when the project would be delivered.

The Rail `09 Committee is holding a public meeting at Norths Leagues and Services Club from 6.30pm on Tuesday, March 11.

What would a Petrie to Kippa-Ring rail service mean to you? Email letters@ pineriverspress.com.au, SMS to 0411 3289 464, fax to 3881 1620 or post to 199 Gympie Rd, Strathpine, 4500.

[ozbob]

[stephenk]

The TV news last night showed that Springborg's Kippa Ring Line plan was subject to the financial crisis. So in other words, it will probably be dropped after the election.

[mufreight]

In response to the post by Stephenk, yes well it is a possibility that iMr Springborg's promise is once again just so much election hot air but what has Mrs Bligh's mob done and maybe a change will see progress.
The most probable result will be that a start will be made and the section to Murrumba Downs will be built in the first term so that they will retain support with the next term seeing another section possibly to Griffin or Rothwell constructed in much the same manner as the Robina line has been buit in stages and as the Springfield line is being built with the first stage being to Richlands.
If they do not keep their word there is always the ballot box in three years time.

[Derwan]

There was an article in yesterday's mX indicating that the LNP had backflipped on their promise - just days after announcing it.

You'd think they'd get their act together.  First there were 7-car trains - then the promise of a line before working out whether it could be done.

Is this the party we want running the state?

[stephenk]

In response to the post by Stephenk, yes well it is a possibility that iMr Springborg's promise is once again just so much election hot air but what has Mrs Bligh's mob done and maybe a change will see progress.
The most probable result will be that a start will be made and the section to Murrumba Downs will be built in the first term so that they will retain support with the next term seeing another section possibly to Griffin or Rothwell constructed in much the same manner as the Robina line has been buit in stages and as the Springfield line is being built with the first stage being to Richlands.
If they do not keep their word there is always the ballot box in three years time.

Construction will apparently not start in the next term anyway.

[ozbob]

Advertisement in the Redcliffe & Bayside Herald 4th March 2009

[Dean Quick]

After more than 100 years of broken promises and political hot air, how can the LNP expect us to swallow this latest empty promise to build the ghost line to Redcliffe?? Both major parties continue to foster an air of ignorance whilst posturing around the state. There are so many rail projects that require urgent attention that focusing on just one project is something that rail advocates should be avoiding!!

[Shelly]

I agree Derwan...I know if I ever go to the city or anywhere,i always drive to Sandgate and get the train from there,as its twice as fast as getting the bus that goes right around. Im not really sure about what buses go where,or if there was a quicker one nearby, but i know when i had to go to the royal brisbane hospital,it was almost a 4 hour trip there and back(for a 10minute appointment),and the tain from Sandgate was 32 minutes right to the city.

Let's do it properly and go under Bramble Bay from Sandgate or Deagon

They could've included rail lines on the new bridge being built.  Of course - the bridge is really only required because there is no railway and people have to drive everywhere.  I'd say the majority of passengers who embark at Sandgate are from Redcliffe - and had to drive over the bridge.