Do you suffer from late train services ?

[Fares_Fair]

Hello All,

This morning the 6:27am Nambour - Roma Street service arrived at Central Station at 8:44:am.
It's scheduled arrival time is 8:16am.

People can understand if there are circumstances beyond the control of QR
and announcements are made informing us of delays.
We can then inform our employer of the reasons for getting to work late or home late.
This 'lost' time at work usually has to be made up at our cost !  

However, when the train is a half-hour late and not one single announcement
is made concerning the reasons for the delays, then commuters have a right to be annoyed.
It is reprehensible that no announcement whatsoever was made.  

I would like to start a log of the arrival and / or departure times here for reference
so a fair picture of service reliability / punctuality can be made.

If anyone else suffers the same fate you are welcome to log your situation here.  


Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

G'day,

Understand your frustration with the lack of communication.  My observations on late runners is that if the passengers are politely informed, with accurate clear explanations they are much calmer and seem to accept the situations.

There is the chart on QR Citytrain --> http://www.citytrain.com.au/about/on_time_performance/on_time_performance.asp

Some services do seem to cop it though. The 5.25 am service from Ipswich has been cancelled a three times this week I think from memory.

Similarly the The 7.58 am train from Petrie was cancelled again today. That is 3 out of 4 for the week so far.

Cheers
Bob

[O_128]

The 7:13 doomben service seems to take it a bit as well though usually only by 3-4 mins on the upside this service has been a SMU260 3 times this week

[ozbob]

We have this thread in the timetable section too

 -->  Service interruptions - please post significant delays

[stephenk]

QRs on time performance has been very poor this week, varying between 70 and 88%.

Hong Kong MTR manages 99.9%.

Edit: Could lack of maintenance be a cause of the recent technical problems that have plagued the CityTrain network?

[Fares_Fair]

Late services.

5:14pm Roma Street to Nambour service was 15 minutes late getting to Nambour on Friday 20th March .. again !
It seems to be a consistant event. Arriving late.

Received a report from a commuter who complained to QR that it was the rain causing havoc with the signals.
One wonders when they will upgrade the cables or system so that this doesn't consistantly occur as it's probably the most oft-used reason for delays.

It's perhaps something I can raise with the community reference group for the North Coast line.

Regards,
Fares_Fair

[Arnz]

7:27pm ex-Landsborough to Brisbane Central (originating from Gympie North at 6am) is usually somewhere between 10-15 mins late.  It spends a fair bit of dwell time at Landsborough with the Guard walking through the carriages, removing the divider blocking between the 3rd and 4th cars, and enabling the back 3 cars of the ICE unit (due to the "no harm" policy thats in place on the Rosewood Line and the NCL)

[ButFli]

The 4:06pm at Taringa to Shorncliffe passed through Taringa Station 10 minutes late on Friday. I say "passed through" in the sense that it didn't stop. Outrageous!

Made me have to cut back on my customary pre-work Maccas stop!

[Fares_Fair]

Late services.

6:27am Nambour to Roma Street service was 12 minutes late getting to Central
on Monday 23rd March .. again !
It seems to be a more than consistant event. Arriving late.

QR (thankfully, informed us at least) that the delays were due to (you guessed it) signal problems.

One wonders when they will upgrade the cables or system so that this doesn't consistantly occur as it's probably the most oft-used reason for delays.

Commuters are getting tired of constant, and repetitive delays to scheduled trains.

Regards,
Fares_Fair

[ozbob]

The 6.25am service from Oxley this morning run through on the main down from Indooroopilly to Milton.  More than a few punters left wondering as to what might have been from platforms 2 en route ....

[Fares_Fair]

Late services again !!

6:27am Nambour to Roma Street service was 15 minutes late getting to Central
on Tuesday 31st March .. again !
It seems to be a more than consistant event. Arriving late.

QR did not make any announcements as to the reasons for the delays.
Why can't they extend a common courtesy and keep us informed ?

Commuters are getting tired of constant, and repetitive delays to scheduled trains.

Regards,
Fares_Fair

[rob2144]

Late services again !!

6:09am Nambour to Roma Street service was 15 minutes late getting to Central
on Tuesday 31st March .. again !
It seems to be a more than consistant event. Arriving late.

Has this been happening before the Zero Harm cattle class started?

[Fares_Fair]

G'day Rob 2144,

No, this 15 min. late thing seems to have become a new yet regular weekly event.
I'm not sure how the zero harm policy would impact upon it however or what the correlation may be.

I have started recording our trains regular 'lateness' on the site here to see if a pattern emerges.

I have also requested information on the Zero Harm policy and why it was implemented.
It sure is getting commuters annoyed.

Regards,
Fares_Fair

[Fares_Fair]

Does anyone know what the definition of on-time is for QR ?
Does it mean on-time or is there an on-time "window" to help fudge the results ?

I find their statistics seemingly exaggerated when I consider the times
that my train services arrive at their destinations.

People are getting ticked off with the regular delays.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Mozz]

I understand there is a 4 minute allowance before a train service is classified as late for the purpose of on-time statistics.  However at what point is it recorded eg major city stations or start, middle, end of the journey I don't know.

[Fares_Fair]

Thank you, Mozz.

Late services yet again !!

5:14am Roma Street to Nambour service was 13 minutes late getting to Palmwoods
on Friday 3rd April .. again !
It seems to be a very common event, arriving late.

Commuters are getting tired of constant, and repetitive delays to scheduled trains.
Why won't QR or whoever controls the signals network get them fixed?

Regards,
Fares_Fair

[Fares_Fair]

very late services continue yet again !!

It wouldn't be an issue if the problems were events outside of QR's control
such as Trucks taking out boom gates (as happens from time to time).
Commuters understand that these delays do occur but when the ongoing problem is repeated week in and week out, i.e. signals, then why isn't the continuing problem sought out and properly repaired or rectified.

6:27am Nambour to Roma Street service was 15 minutes late getting to Central
on Friday 24th April .. again !
It seems to be an extremely common event, arriving late.

Commuters are getting tired of constant, and repetitive delays to scheduled trains.
Why won't QR or whoever controls the signals network (that seems to be the most common reason for delays as reported to commuters) get them fixed?

It makes the previous premiers' assertions of Queensland
being 'world class' or a 'smart state' an absolute joke!

Regards,
Fares_Fair

[O_128]

QR/translink/queensland gov needs to make an urgent investigation into a signaling upgrade as it seems to be the number cause of delays

[stephenk]

Whilst the recent number of delays has been unacceptably high, it should be remembered that signal failures occur on all rail networks. There are many causes of signal failures, including things as simple as a conductor bridging two track circuits. Don't forget that as signals are fail-safe, a minor fault will causes a signal to fail.

I hope that QR are working actively on identifying and trying to minimise the common causes of signal failures.

[O_128]

Today the 2:48pm Cleveland service [EMU 30/31] was running normal until cannon hill when the guard said due to operational faults the service had been canceled and everyone had to get off at cannon hill and the next train was 5 mins away. SO with about 300 people on the platform waiting the train left back the way it came and we were stuck for 20mins until the next train [SMU 267/26?] came and this was the normal 3"04pm service the traina t cannon hill was then a sold 4 on the scale and by lindum had reached a 5 with people unable to get on.

[Fares_Fair]

late services continue yet again !!

6:27am Nambour to Roma Street service was 11 minutes late getting to Central
on Thursday 14th May .. again !

5:14 Roma Street to Nambour service also 13 minutes late to Nambour.
This service is particularly poor time wise. I conservitively estimate it to be less than 50% on time, the majority of times it is regularly 10-15 minutes late.

Why is this so ?
I find the figures for on-time services to be statistically inflated based upon these 2 services.
I would like to examine the circumstances and conditions / parameters of the QR statistics.

It seems to be a weekly and common event, arriving in the CBD late and getting home late also.

Commuters are getting tired of constant, and repetitive delays to scheduled trains.
Why won't QR or whoever controls the signals network (that seems to be the most common reason for delays as reported to commuters) get them fixed?

Regards,
Fares_Fair

[ozbob]

Yes indeed Fares_Fair.

This thread might be of interest --> http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2223.msg10839#msg10839

Regards
Bob

[Fares_Fair]

late services continue ..

6:27am Nambour to Roma Street service was terminated at Landsborough this morning due to the ICE train doors malfunctioning.
I couldn't help but wonder if it was related to the isolation and releasing of the doors under the mystery 'zero harm' ? policy - but much more likely a maintenance issue.

We were 25 minutes late getting to Central this morning.

A Nambour northbound 3 car service was stopped at Lansdborough upon arrival and it's passengers asked to disembark and told they would get buses for the rest of their trip to Nambour.

We then transferred from our 6 car ICE train onto the 3 car EMU for the trip into the city.
'Twas somewhat crowded.

Thank you to those Nambour bound passengers who sacrificed their train for us,
and to QR for apologising for the crowded conditions.


Regards,
Fares_Fair

[Arnz]

late services continue ..

6:09am Nambour to Roma Street service was terminated at Landsborough this morning due to the ICE train doors malfunctioning.
I couldn't help but wonder if it was related to the isolation and releasing of the doors under the mystery 'zero harm' ? policy - but much more likely a maintenance issue.

The 6:00am Nambour to City service according to timetables is usually a 6-car IMU, not a ICE.  Has this changed recently?

Edit: Also on a related note:  The affected service had a knock back on the other peak services on the NCL. Had to catch the bus into Caboolture for a connecting express service.

[Fares_Fair]

Hello Arnz,

Yes, just recently we have had the ICE train back again (yesterday and this morning).
It used to be a regular ICE train service approx. 2 years ago.

I had been told by station staff that they were being replaced due to the costs of maintaining them.

Regards,
Fares_fair

[Fares_Fair]

late services continue yet again !!

6:27am Nambour to Roma Street service was 16 minutes late getting to Central
on Thursday 4th June .. again !

I'm getting tempted to send them a bill for all the lost time I have to make up  

No announcements whatsoever were made ... what do they think we won't notice how late we are?
I know that those who detrain at Bowen Hills for a connecting service back to Albion sure notice also.
It's pretty poor for the QR driver involved to make no comment.

Commuters are still getting tired of constant, and repetitive delays to regular scheduled trains.


Regards,
Fares_Fair

[Matt]

Can someone explain to me what this " zero harm " BS is all about ?
Thanks.

[ozbob]

-->  http://www.corporate.qr.com.au/qr_safety/overview/overview.asp

[stephenk]

No announcements whatsoever were made ... what do they think we won't notice how late we are?
I know that those who detrain at Bowen Hills for a connecting service back to Albion sure notice also.
It's pretty poor for the QR driver involved to make no comment.

I think it's usually the guard who makes announcements.

However, I agree that QR train crew rarely seem make announcements when trains get delayed. QR customer service has a long way to go! QR need to take a good look at how good customer service providers such as London Underground and Japan Rail inform their customers.

[Fares_Fair]

late services continue yet again !!

6:27am Nambour to Roma Street service was 17 minutes late getting to Central
on Thursday 11th June .. again !
We now call Thursdays "Late Day" as it's QR's most regular non-punctual service.

I'm getting tempted to send them a bill for all the lost time I have to make up. 

Commuters are still getting tired of constant, and repetitive delays to regular scheduled trains.


Regards,
Fares_Fair

[Fares_Fair]

late services AD NAUSEUM !!

6:27am Nambour to Roma Street service was 11 minutes late getting to Central
on Friday 11th June .. again !
We must have QR's most regular non-punctual service.

When will the 'dumb'-state antics end.

Commuters are still getting tired of constant, and repetitive delays to regular scheduled trains
with no announcements made or apologies given.

Thats only a 60% success rate for on-time services this week ! 


Regards,
Fares_Fair

[rob2144]

The 3.58pm Roma St Nambour service was delayed at Landsborough tonight due to the zero harm bullcrap, many punters refused to leave the carriages and told the guard that they will make formal complaints about being inconvenienced, some saying that they were p%ssed  off having to stand every night.

[ozbob]

Good on them.  A point is reached where it all becomes very silly.  There is a real chance the punters will have a problem driving home from the station, not much zero harm on our roads hey what?

[Fares_Fair]

Hello,

If QR were really serious about "zero harm" or whatever the policy name is as it applies to passengers,
we would all have seat belts on trains - just look at how many were injured on the tilt-train accidents.
It really is a bureaucratic joke ! 

( I have been told that "zero harm" is an internal initiative for QR employees, and e.g. they are instantly dismissed if they cross the rail tracks - yet the public and passengers can legally cross the tracks at Palmwoods and Woombye stations at dedicated mini-crossovers, complete with concrete paths right up to the tracks).

I have again asked for the reasons behind this policy and have been met with a wall of silence.
I raised it in our CRG meeting and was told that they would pursue it for me.
Sent them copies of my emails and have heard nothing since.
I'm looking forward to the next meeting ... where I'll ask why. 

There is more to this policy than meets the eye.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

From the Courier Msil click here!

Why the daily commute with QR is a nightmare

Why the daily commute with QR is a nightmare
Article from: The Courier-Mail


Matthew Fynes-Clinton

June 19, 2009 12:00am

THE other evening my train home to the Sunshine Coast hinterland entered Brisbane's Bowen Hills station 20 minutes late.

Nothing unusual about that. Only this time, as the doors peeled back, passengers emerged spluttering and choking from carriages filled with acrid smoke.

Then came the announcement: the train would be terminating due to a "unit fault" and another service ? the word should have no place in the lexicon of Queensland Rail ? would be along shortly to carry us forth.

We Gympie-line commuters have grown to expect these QR broadcasts.

Inbound or outbound, the incessant breakdowns, delays and stoppages, often impelling transfers to other trains and sometimes buses, have been attributed to "door malfunctions", "signalling problems" and "problems with the automatic brakes", among other offerings.

One morning, as our bodies lurched to the engine's stop-start knocking between Glass House Mountains and Caboolture, the diagnosis was a corker.

  "Sorry about these delays, passengers," chirped the guard. "The train seems to want to go slower than it actually can do.

"We should be speeding up shortly," he added hopefully.

I've spent lengthy periods in darkness, stranded in the bush between stations and the cabin power withdrawn as a mechanical snag is explored.

And while most of the glitches seem to occur on the so-called ICE or inter-city express trains, which, at more than 20 years old are some of the most ancient of QR's passenger fleet, it's not always the case. On the Queen's Birthday holiday, my supposedly non-stop ICE train abruptly reverted to a broken journey to accommodate, according to the whimsical overhead voice, "stray travellers . . . because of the failed (suburban) service that was in front of us".

One of my train buddies recently had an experience to top them all. Heading to work, he was deposited at Bowen Hills station half an hour late about 8.45am (even when no calamities are evident, we anticipate our line to be running five to 20 minutes behind).

He nicked into his Newstead office, then hoofed it back to Bowen Hills to board a two-stop trip to Central for a 10 o'clock meeting.

A few minutes after he hit the platform, a city train snaked in. Except it was going no further.

"There'd been a stuff-up with the crew change-over," he said.

Since that episode, my friend has taken to using an epithet for Q Rail.

Like biting down on something hard, I sense his pronouncement helps defuse his pain. "Q Fail," he hurrumphs.

However, back to those smoke-clogged carriages. As the guard and a couple of other QR staff gathered next to the wheezing apparatus, I asked what this "unit fault" really was.

"The brakes are stuck," said one. "The brakes won't come off . . . they're dragging."

Rail bogie burn-outs. Who would have thought?

For once, our replacement train showed up promptly. But the cars first emptied a pile of sullen faces. The Sunshine Coast crowd refilled the seats, before the guard confirmed suspicions with yet another bizarre announcement. It was a final reminder for "any passengers who were on the Shorncliffe line, (to) please de-train here".

In other words, the Shorncliffe passengers were sacrificed. One minute, they'd been settling into their newspapers and end-of-day banter; the next, they were standing bewildered in the cold, their train having switched-and-ditched.

[Arnz]

More problems with the ICE.  On a side note, Cooroy-Roma Street ICE service was 15 minutes late again yesturday.

[O_128]

I believe that the ICEs are ont ehre way out. but what will replace them? IMUs dont seem to cut it for 2-3 hours maybe some IMUs fitted for comfort with bigger seats.

[mufreight]

The reliability of the ICE sets could be considerably improvrd by major overhaul and upgrading with later control equipment, there are sufficent of these units to withdraw one pair for rebuild and upgrade at a time, the key point would be that when upgraded they remain MU compatiable with other ICE units and be given the capability to MU with the latest IMU sets.
Such a rebuild and upgrade would be less costly than total replacement and the levels of passenger comfort for the longer runs on which they are presently used is better that that for IMU sets, their problem stems from poor equipment design and a lack on maintenence problems that QR is more than competent to resolve given the funding.

[stephenk]

The reliability of the ICE sets could be considerably improvrd by major overhaul and upgrading with later control equipment, there are sufficent of these units to withdraw one pair for rebuild and upgrade at a time, the key point would be that when upgraded they remain MU compatiable with other ICE units and be given the capability to MU with the latest IMU sets.
Such a rebuild and upgrade would be less costly than total replacement and the levels of passenger comfort for the longer runs on which they are presently used is better that that for IMU sets, their problem stems from poor equipment design and a lack on maintenence problems that QR is more than competent to resolve given the funding.

As ICEs and new IMUs have totally different traction packages, then making them run together in service may cause more problems than benefit. If the work required on making ICEs more reliable is extensive, it may be more cost effective to build new trains.

[mufreight]

By upgrading the ICE sets with new traction equipment the costs of making them MU compatable with the current build of IMU/SMU sets would be minimal when compare with the cost of replacement sets.
By QR doing the upgrades and rebuild they can ensute that all of the equipment is fit for purpose and has a high reliability factor.
It would also allow QR to better evaluate equipment from various suppliers for use in future builds of new rolling stock which would be a considerable advantage and cost saving for QR over time.