Passenger load survey March 2009 discussion

[ozbob]

From the Sunday Mail click here!

Ipswich line worst performing service

Ipswich line worst performing service
Article from: The Sunday Mail (Qld)

Darrell Giles and Kelmeny Fraser

June 14, 2009 12:00am

TRANSPORT Minister Rachel Nolan's home Ipswich rail service is one of the worst performing in southeast Queensland.

More than one in four trains in the afternoon peak travel period is uncomfortably overcrowded.

That means the carriages are at least 90 per cent full, with passengers tightly crammed in and many having no option but to stand.

The annual snapshot of line capacity, the Passenger Load Survey, to be released by the State Government tomorrow, shows which are the most overcrowded trains on Queensland Rail's southeast network.

Documents obtained by The Sunday Mail show that five out of 19 afternoon peak services on the Brisbane CBD to Ipswich-Rosewood line were above capacity.

That compared to one out of 19 in 2007 and two out of 19 in 2008.

The Nambour afternoon services showed two out of five trains were above capacity. There were none in the 2008 survey.

A train is considered to have reached 100 per cent capacity when passengers are left standing for more than 20 minutes of the trip.

A six-carriage train can carry 750 people comfortably (seated and standing), but can take up to 1000 people packed in. QR aims not to have any more than 750 people on a train.

The latest survey was held in March and involved passenger counts of every peak-hour service on every line. QR released the results for the first time last year after intense media pressure.

The Gold Coast line from Robina to Brisbane - often referred to as the Bombay Express because of severe overcrowding - continued to be the worst-affected line.

Six out of seven trains in the morning peak and five out of eight in the afternoon peak were at more than 100 per cent.

Three extra services had been put on the Robina line since last year to cope with the excessive patronage and that had helped in the afternoon, with a 20 per cent drop in overcrowding.

Seven extra services had been put on the Ipswich-Rosewood line in the morning and that had led to a significant drop - from 58 per cent of trains full to 23 per cent.

But with no extra services in the afternoon, it had risen from 5 per cent in 2007 to 26 per cent of trains above capacity.

Use of the Cleveland afternoon services had also increased: four out of 12 trains over capacity compared with two out of 11 last year.

Overall, 12 extra morning peak services across the network from last year had seen a decrease in the number of packed trains (43 per cent to 33 per cent), but only three extra afternoon peak services had made matters worse (16 per cent up to 21 per cent).

Ms Nolan said the figures helped the Government, through TransLink and QR, to plan future services and tackle congestion. "Results from the survey in March show that while passenger boardings have increased, the number of trains exceeding the 'comfortable' design capacity in the morning peak has decreased," she said.

"We've swum against the tide in managing to reduce crowding levels in spite of relentless patronage growth on both the rail system and the wider TransLink network."

Ms Nolan said 6000 extra seats had been made available each day with extra trains.

The Minister said one three-car carriage was being added to the network every month, with $1.5 billion set aside for 102 three-car sets by 2016. She promised to release the passenger load survey every three months.

Last month, Opposition transport spokeswoman Fiona Simpson said more investment in the rail network was needed.

"New trains that are being brought online at the moment are barely enough to allow existing trains to go into maintenance," Ms Simpson said.

[ozbob]

Media Release 14 June 2009

SEQ:  Ipswich railway line overloaded, what a surprise NOT!

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters has consistently highlighted the growing congestion on our Citytrain network for years.  The revelations in today's Sunday Mail are no surprise to rail commuters or our members. (1)

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Afternoon peak services on the Ipswich line are often overloaded to the point that patrons are warned not to board (2). Clearly there is a need for more services.  An obvious move for example is to put a Darra or Redbank sweeper a few minutes ahead of the notorious 4.35pm  Ipswich service from Central.  If you want to experience crush congestion this 4.35pm service is a beauty."

"Similar overloading occurs on the Caboolture line as well. Other lines have varying crush congestion but usually of a shorter duration.  The failure of the Labor Government to properly resource QR Citytrain from 2000 - 2007 is now hitting home hard.  QR Passenger is starting to get back on track as new trains and crew are starting to be made available and rail commuters look forward to new services to help ameliorate the crush congestion."

"There is another problem though.  It is TransLink.  Our observations would seem to suggest that TransLink is more concerned with the rationing of public transport services and interfering with operators' responsiveness to passenger demand rather than providing services.  Despite the spin the go card is labouring, rejected by over 70% of rail commuters because of a flawed fare structure and obvious user issues.  When is the go card going to return the promised  dividend of increased public transport efficiency in view of the large sum of money invested by the taxpayers?  The go card is a  potential congestion management tool but it is being held in a innovation straight-jacket (3)."

"A fifteen minute off peak frequency between Caboolture and Ipswich on the Citytrain network between 5am to 8pm Monday to Friday is needed. During peak 7.5 minutes or better depending on loadings, outside 5am to 8pm, and on Saturdays, Sundays and Public holiday generally a 20 minute service frequency. Such a timetable would overcome a lot of present problems with bus/rail and rail/bus timetable integration and encourage people to use public transport and help reduce congestion costs for our community."

"This timetable then should be progressively introduced on all lines, particularly Beenleigh, Ferny Grove, Cleveland and Shorncliffe as resources allow."

"Frequency of service is a key factor for maximising the utilisation of public transport. Integration of bus services with rail is also critical."

"It would make a lot of sense to add off peak and incentive fares to the go card (3).  This would further help relieve the peak congestion crisis we are seeing on the network at present."

"All aboard!"

References:

1.  Ipswich line worst performing service http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25631007-3102,00.html

2.  SEQ: Time to ease the afternoon congestion crush, where is TransLink? http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2359.0

3.  SEQ:  Go Card - manage congestion,  add off peak and incentive fares, time to GO! http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2301.0

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[ozbob]

From the Sunday Mail 14 June 2009 page 21

[ozbob]

Two tier timetables will go a long way to addressing the issues on the North Coast and Gold coast, that with an increased frequency Beenleigh - Ferny Grove, Caboolture - Ipswich will take some of pressure off the long haul interurbans.  More is needed of course.



===============

http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=1942.0

Media Release 1 March 2009

SEQ:  Tier timetables - the smart solution for rail

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport users has said that in order to set up the QR Citytrain network to meet the current and future mass transit requirements an extension of the tier timetable structure that operates on the Gold Coast railway line needs to rolled out to the Ipswich, and Caboolture and North Coast Lines.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"Trains to and from the Gold Coast presently run express, with limited stops from Beenleigh to the CBD.  Trains to and from Beenleigh generally run all stations to the CBD.  This is an example of a two tier timetable that affords capacity and a reduced journey time for the long run in from the Gold Coast, with the flexibility of all station trains for local commuters."

"Similar patterns need to be established on the north coast to Rosewood corridor.  Trains to and from Ipswich should all run express from Darra to the CBD, with perhaps a stop at Indooroopilly.  All station frequent trains to run between Darra and Shorncliffe.  This results in a quicker journey time for the long haul rail commuters and will help manage the inner suburban congestion overloads.  It is a win for all."

"This pattern on the Ipswich line will also allow the seamless integration of the new QR Citytrain services on the Darra to Richlands branch line.  The Shorncliffe to Darra sweepers can be extended to Richlands."

"The north coast line should operate on a triple tier timetable.  Trains to and from Nambour to run express from Caboolture with limited stops, for example at Petrie and Northgate.  Trains to and from Caboolture to run express between Northgate and the CBD.  The Darra Shorncliffe sweepers will pick up the inner suburban passengers on this section."

"Many rail commuters at peak struggle to board the overloaded long haul services as they transit through the inner suburban areas. Apart from making for a long journey time, it increases dwell times and makes it difficult for the crew to keep on timetable.  It is time to look at innovative solutions."

"The track quadruplication upgrade between Darra and Corinda will give the capacity on the Ipswich line to introduce the suggested train working.  The track duplication project between Caboolture and Beerburrum will also give an increased capacity."

"Further upgrades of track capacity and signalling improvements will place the QR Citytrain network in a position to move commuters safely, quickly and in a sustainable manner.  As the new trains and crew are progressively introduced the timetable improvements suggested will go a long way to matching capacity with the surging demand and provide an efficient operation."

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[stephenk]

Strange that the Ferny Grove hasn't got a mention in these articles. Whilst due to it's 16km length, it won't feature much in the "people standing for more than 20mins" catagory - although I'm sure the 07:06 ex-FG would count. However in the am peak there is 1 service which is well over 750 (again the 07:06 ex-FG) and around 4 other services that hover around that 750 passenger mark. I don't think any evening services cross the 750 passenger mark (unless there are delays).

The upgrading of 3-car to 6-car trains on Mitchelton services has eliminated 2 services that were often totally full on the pre March 2008 timetable. The March 2008 timetable Mk2 (the one that was a result of a rewrite 2 days after the original March 2008 timetable) also resulted in one less completely full service. However, that same timetable has now caused other issues such as longer service gaps for some stations.

[david]

Seven extra services had been put on the Ipswich-Rosewood line in the morning and that had led to a significant drop - from 58 per cent of trains full to 23 per cent.

Seven??? Really??? I've only counted 4 so far (5:25am and 5:55am from Ipswich, 6:35am from Darra and 7:49am from Corinda)...where are these extra 3 services???

[ozbob]

Minister for Transport
The Honourable Rachel Nolan
14/06/2009

Train crowding down despite extraordinary growth

Trains are less crowded despite more people catching them, Transport Minister Rachel Nolan announced today.

Releasing results from the 2009 QR Passenger Load Survey, Ms Nolan noted fewer trains were exceeding their comfort design capacity despite a large increase in patronage.

"We've swum against the tide in managing to reduce crowding levels during peak periods from 43 per cent to 33 per cent even though rail patronage is growing at about seven per cent,' Ms Nolan said.

"Aside from Melbourne, south east Queensland is the fastest growing urban rail network in the world so it's pleasing to see that our investment in new trains, services and rail infrastructure is making an impact on the results at a passenger level."

Ms Nolan said the State Government had added five new morning peak services to the Ipswich line and three to the Caboolture line since they were identified as priorities in the 2008 survey data.

"We acted on the results of the 2008 survey and they indicated that the greatest need was on the Ipswich and Caboolture lines on weekday mornings," Ms Nolan said.

"The introduction of eight extra morning services on the Ipswich and Caboolture lines provided capacity for an additional 6000 people each weekday and that investment is successfully reflected in the latest results.

"The Ipswich line morning peaks improved significantly with a reduction in crowding from 58 per cent to 23 per cent while the efforts on the Caboolture line were similarly encouraging with a drop from 56 per cent to 33 percent."

Ms Nolan said the comfort design capacity was a measure of the number of people a train could hold, while maintaining passenger comfort. For QR's six-car train sets, the comfort design capacity is 750 people, sitting and standing.

"The Passenger Load Survey is a snapshot of demand for services," Ms Nolan said.

Ms Nolan said the State Government was building new trains and infrastructure to provide the extra seats and services required to meet growing demand.

The State Government, through TransLink and QR, are adding extra rollingstock at the rate of roughly one three-car set each month and has committed $1.5 billion to fund 102 three-car sets by 2016.

"We've invested heavily in the infrastructure needed to address congestion," Ms Nolan said.

"In 2008 alone, we delivered a third track between Salisbury and Kuraby ($256 million) and a second track between both Mitchelton and Keperra ($46 million), and Helensvale to Robina ($72 million).

"At Easter, the 14km Caboolture to Beerburrum upgrade worth $298 million was commissioned.

"Work is continuing on the $324 million extension of the Gold Coast line from Robina to Varsity Lakes and the new $390 million line from Darra to Richlands."

QR Passenger staff carried out the 2009 Passenger Load Survey during March to capture the annual seasonal peak passenger demand and avoid public and school holidays.

The 2009 Passenger Load Survey revealed:

    * Passenger numbers exceeded comfort design capacity* on 40 trains from 123 morning peak period services (33%), compared to 48 trains from 111 services (43%) the previous year.
    * An average of 65,752 people caught train services between 6am and 9am on weekdays in March, compared to 62,517 people the previous year.
    * An average of 57,286 passenger boardings for services between 3.30pm and 6.30pm in March, compared to 56,272 boardings the previous year.
    * Trains run at least every 15 minutes during peak hour.

The Passenger Load Survey will be available for download on the QR website as of Monday15 June. For a electronic copy of the document, please call the number below.

==============================================================

[brad C]

Great to see the spin doctors hard at work reporting the 'good news'

Passenger survey methods are thrawt with problems for a start.
Firstly the survey is only taken once on those services chosen, so there is no sample to draw comparisons against day of the week, weather conditions, etc. A real academic exercise would have the same services targetted daily for say 1 week to look at trend analysis.
I've spoken to some of the data gatherers (mainly students)

Secondly, there are no reverse surveys to tell where people are actually travelling to. Have any RBOT members ever seen passenger counts at arriving stations in the PM peak.

Thirdly, the data may tell us that X trains have unacceptable loadings, but that is as far as it goes. It would appear that the same trains are consistently overcrowded year after year with no action to correct. Take train 19R4 of a morning - the northside's shame!!
Yes there are the early morning red eyes that have been placed in service but additions later in the AM peak (19P2 ex Petrie at 0758 is so poorly patronised that it could easily be worked as a 3 car train) No addional PM trains have been introduced to most lines since the roll out of the new SMU stock. Still waiting for some additional services post 1800 hrs on the Northside!!!

At least CONNEX has taken positive action to correct over-crowding with over 300 new services planned for Melbourne timetables in from July. See http://www.railpage.com.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6812

What about the last statement - peak hour trains run every 15 minutes. That's why there is a 24 minute gap in Caboolture services between 1642 and 1706 in the PM peak. And what about more frequencies in caboolture services post 1800hrs.
A lot more hard work to be done yet.

[Derwan]

Strange that the Ferny Grove hasn't got a mention in these articles. Whilst due to it's 16km length, it won't feature much in the "people standing for more than 20mins" catagory

The Shorncliffe Line is much the same.  There aren't enough stations past the 20-minute mark for the line to rate.

Take one of the most crowded am services as an example - the 7:09 from Shorncliffe.  It runs express between Northgate and Bowen Hills, reducing travel time.  Only those further out than Banyo (a popular station) are on the train for at least 20 minutes.  That's only 6 stations.

Despite overcrowding still occurring, the shorter lines don't get a mention because of the flawed method of reporting.

A service should be considered overcrowded if it contains over 750 passengers during any part of its journey.

[stephenk]

Strange that the Ferny Grove hasn't got a mention in these articles. Whilst due to it's 16km length, it won't feature much in the "people standing for more than 20mins" catagory

The Shorncliffe Line is much the same.  There aren't enough stations past the 20-minute mark for the line to rate.

Take one of the most crowded am services as an example - the 7:09 from Shorncliffe.  It runs express between Northgate and Bowen Hills, reducing travel time.  Only those further out than Banyo (a popular station) are on the train for at least 20 minutes.  That's only 6 stations.

Despite overcrowding still occurring, the shorter lines don't get a mention because of the flawed method of reporting.

A service should be considered overcrowded if it contains over 750 passengers during any part of its journey.

I've seen that 7:09 ex Shorncliffe arrive at Bowen Hills pretty much full on a few occasions. Yet again, the figures being presented (so far, the official release is tomorrow) seem to be those that show QR (or should I say the Queensland Government's lack of spending) in the best light.

[ozbob]

15 June 2009

To Media

Greetings,

Minister Nolan, Minister for Transport said yesterday in a statement:

"Aside from Melbourne, south east Queensland is the fastest growing
urban rail network in the world so it's pleasing to see that our
investment in new trains, services and rail infrastructure is making an
impact on the results at a passenger level."

Clearly, it is time to continue this momentum and move forwards with an
expansion of rail services.  To complement QR Passenger's turn around,
incentives for encouraging off peak and early and late peak travel
should be considered.  Rail properly resourced and funded  has the
capacity to ease the pressure on buses and roads in a very significant
way. We have not really tapped into the true potential of our urban and
interurban rail system until now.  QR passenger is at last getting
some more trains which in turns eases pressure on the existing fleet,
which has been operating at 98% utilisation plus at peak.  This is
utilisation is now falling to more manageable levels.  This will in turn
give more scope for additional services as more infrastructure is completed.

Recent commitments by the Premier and Treasurer to improve rail services
are welcome.

Melbourne is adding 300 more services to their rapidly
expanding rail network from the 1st July (-->
http://www.theage.com.au/national/connex-to-add-300-new-rail-services-to-cope-with-commuter-squeeze-20090529-bpji.html
).  This is the scale we would should be aiming for in south-east
Queensland.

We have the rail asset, time to use it to the maximum.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
RAIL Back On Track

[mufreight]

One must question how the assurances by Minister Nolan of more increased services for commuters when there are rumors (from credible souirces) that Translink intends to reduce the payments to QR Passenger to operate these services, would be interesting to have the Minister clarify the actual intent of Government in relation to this bearing in mind her statements in respect of the sale of QR assets.
Transling is a flawed and failed entity that should if the Government is serious about saving our money should be shut down with the role of transport co-ordinator returned to Queensland Transport and QR Passenger being given full control of and responsibility for the commuter rail network.

[ozbob]

Survey will be available here at some stage --> http://www.citytrain.com.au/

Will collect up the various posts to this thread as suggested by David.

Cheers

Bob

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Long, tiring ride to Brisbane for coast rail commuters

Long, tiring ride to Brisbane for coast rail commuters
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Ursula Heger

June 15, 2009 12:20am

RAIL commuters from the Gold and Sunshine coasts are having to stand in the southeast's most crowded trains, despite taking the longest journeys.

New services are being directed to shorter routes, according to the latest data from Queensland Rail.

It shows the number of overcrowded services on the Robina line increased to 86 per cent during the morning peak period -- the highest in the southeast.

In the past year, the State Government has allocated only one extra rail service for the Robina line during the morning peak period.

At the same time, problem lines such as Ipswich and Caboolture have been handed ten extra services for the morning peak.

[david]

Survey will be available here at some stage --> http://www.citytrain.com.au/

Will collect up the various posts to this thread as suggested by David.

Cheers

Bob

Found it!!! --> http://www.corporate.qr.com.au/Corporate/News_Room/Current/Press_releases/798.asp

It's 46 pages long...so not for the faint hearted

From an initial glance, it seems that Petrie and Ferny Grove have become the busiest stations outside Brisbane City, taking the crown off Indooroopilly.

Other very busy stations (1000+ passengers) include Mitchelton, Robina, Toowong, Darra, Oxley, Goodna, Caboolture, Northgate, Eagle Junction and Sandgate.

Close behind (around 900) were Morningside, Helensvale, Beenleigh, Bald Hills, Bray Park, Albion and Corinda.

Corinda to Milton had the highest passenger growth.

Surprisingly, Ipswich had a fairly light loading.

From the figures, it seems that the Sunshine Coast passengers only experiencing overcrowding due to passengers from Caboolture jumping on their train. There were 873 passengers on 5 trains (1 six-car, 2 three-car, and assuming 2 four-car ICE's) from Nambour to Elimbah during AM peak. That leaves 387 seats free.

In comparison, I feel for Gold Coast commuters. 3430 passengers boarded 7 trains (all six-car) in AM peak. That's 280 passengers left standing and that's not including Beenleigh passengers who jump on.

[Arnz]

From the figures, it seems that the Sunshine Coast passengers only experiencing overcrowding due to passengers from Caboolture jumping on their train. There were 873 passengers on 5 trains (1 six-car, 2 three-car, and assuming 2 four-car ICE's) from Nambour to Elimbah during AM peak. That leaves 387 seats free.

According to reports, 5 of the 11 North Coast peak services are full past Caboolture.  The real problem on the NCL is particular morning peak (and some afternoon peak) trains are being crowded whilst other peak trains has no problems with seats. 

The first 2 services are 2x 3-cars IMUs (224+244 = 448), a 6-car IMU (448), and 2x 6-car ICEs (270+270=540).  563 seats free.  From my own eyes the 2 early morning services (the 3-car IMUs) and the ex-Gympie ICE are usually full before it reaches Caboolture. 

Looking at the afternoon peak figures, thats 2x 6-car EMUs (1000), 1x 6-car IMU (450) and 2x 6-car ICEs (540).  I will agree there that crowding is usually up to Petrie and Caboolture, since the afternoon peak trains (except the 5pm Nambour and 5:40 Gympie) stop at Northgate and Petrie.  After Caboolture, most services would usually have a seat. 

Take into consideration the 3:58pm Roma Street-Nambour was upgraded to a 6-car, and the 6pm Roma Street-Nambour ICE service was upgraded to a 6-car ICE, hence making more seats available for longer distance afternoon commuters.

[david]

After reading the report more carefully, I have thought of some recommendations that QR Passenger should take out of this:

1 - Convert all Cleveland and Nambour 3-car services into 6-car services during AM and PM peak (especially the ones above 100% standing capacity).

2 - Rework the Cleveland line express services. My suggestion is to have the express services running express from Cannon Hill to Manly, stopping at Wynnum North. This may allow more services on the Cleveland line, by reducing the massive headway required for the current Park Road-Manly express

3 - All Ipswich express services should either be Darra/Oxley to Roma Street or Goodna to Darra and Corinda to Roma Street, stopping at Indooroopilly and Toowong

Along with the above, it's clear that more services are required for all lines. Perhaps, if there are enough crew, they should consider using 3-car trains for extra short-haul services. Then, when extra sets are available, convert them to 6-cars.

[rob2144]

1 - Convert all  Nambour 3-car services into 6-car services during AM and PM peak (especially the ones above 100% standing capacity).

There's no point in doing this while the stupid zero harm bullsh*t is in place.

[O_128]

the inner city capapcity study reccomended triplicating the track between manly and cannon hill for express servies. I would probably make the servicces express manly to burnada though

[mufreight]

Not much point in getting all concerned with overloaded trains at this point in time, information from a credible source is that Translink wants to reduce the funding for QR Passenger from $730.000.000 to $370.000.000 despite Transport Minister Nolan publicly stating that there will be increased services.
If the operating budget for QR Passenger services is cut back to half the present figure it stands to reason that half of the existing services will have to go much less increase services.
Time to start asking questions of your local member and Minister Nolan.
This level of incompetence exhibited by the the new manager at Translink is further reason why Translink has to go.

[ozbob]

Minister Nolan said in Parliament that "QR was not for sale" ....

[stephenk]

the inner city capapcity study reccomended triplicating the track between manly and cannon hill for express servies. I would probably make the servicces express manly to burnada though

The Queensland Government seem to think that the Eastern Busway will take traffic away from the Cleveland  Line, thus resulting in few infrastructure improvement plans for the Cleveland Line. I can't see the triple track occurring for a very very long time.

A 3rd platform at Manly and more passing loops would help capacity. If infrastructure isn't improved, but capacity needs to be improved, then the only way would be to un-express the expresses.

[O_128]

It seems ridiculous to build a new busway when it would be cheaper jsut to upgade the tracka nd maybe build a spur from birkdale to capalaba.If some of the track alignment was fixed travel times could be reduced by upto 10min

[stephenk]

I've just read the full report which is on QR's website.

The overcrowding results for the Ferny Grove are roughly as expected - 4/15 am peak >90%, and 1/16 pm peak >90%.

However figures that are interesting is the boarding figures for the line. Whilst in the last year patronage for the whole line has increased 7.9% in am peak, both Gaythorne and Enoggera have seen a decrease in boardings of -12.8% and -13.8% respectively. Is this due to the poorer service that these stations have experienced since all but one of their express services were taken away? It should also be noted that the 5 busiest stations on the Ferny Grove Line are (in order) Ferny Grove, Mitchelton, Alderley, Windsor, and Enoggera. Yet 3 of these stations aren't served by expresses, and experience peak service gaps of up to 23mins!

It's interesting that Ferny Grove is the busiest station outside of the central area (by quite a margin), yet only has a 15min off-peak service, and has some service gaps of more than 15mins during the peaks.

Also, I wonder as to why on the Ferny Grove Line the am peak boardings have increased by 7.9%, but the pm peak boardings have decreased by -7.4%. In fact 13% less passengers use the pm peak than the am peak. How are they getting home? By other means of transport (for example I sometimes get a lift home)? Or do some am peak passengers return outside of the pm peak? Is this due to school traffic? The Ferny Grove Line is not the only line with this trend.

[ozbob]

Not much point in getting all concerned with overloaded trains at this point in time, information from a credible source is that Translink wants to reduce the funding for QR Passenger from $730.000.000 to $370.000.000 despite Transport Minister Nolan publicly stating that there will be increased services.
If the operating budget for QR Passenger services is cut back to half the present figure it stands to reason that half of the existing services will have to go much less increase services.
Time to start asking questions of your local member and Minister Nolan.
This level of incompetence exhibited by the the new manager at Translink is further reason why Translink has to go.

In consideration of this post, I have requested confirmation from the Minister for Transport as to any validity in these statements.

I trust it is not the case at all.  Cutting back passenger rail services, at time when every other rail system in world is expanding is not acceptable.

[ozbob]

From the Queensland Times click here!

(Remember Queensland Times is an Ipswich based paper).

Interesting commitment from the Minister. " ... new services would be given to the highest priority ..."

Daily commuter crush

Daily commuter crush

Rob Lockyear | 16th June 2009

WHILE extra services on the Ipswich line have reduced overcrowding, passengers are still being turned away from trains because they are too full, a public transport body claims.

Statistics released by Queensland Rail yesterday showed the five morning services added to the Brisbane-bound line had helped reduce overcrowding by half.

But RAIL Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said Ipswich-bound afternoon trains, in particular the 4.35pm service, still had commuters stopped in their tracks.

He said just a few days ago Ipswich line passengers at Brisbane's Central Station were told not to board their train because the carriages were at capacity.

?That is as bad as it gets, you do not see that happening at many places on this network,? Mr Dow said.

?If you want to experience crush congestion this 4.35pm service is a beauty.?

Mr Dow said Queensland Rail stats showed four stations on the Ipswich line - Toowong, Darra, Oxley and Goodna - had all been identified as high volume stations and extra afternoon services needed to be put in place to relieve the load.

?Clearly there is a need for more services,? he said.

?An obvious move for example is to put a Darra or Redbank sweeper a few minutes ahead of the notorious 4.35pm Ipswich service from Central.?

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan said the 2009 QR Passenger Load Survey showed Ipswich line trains were less crowded despite a seven per cent increase in the number of people using the trains across the network.

?The Ipswich line morning peaks improved significantly with a reduction in crowding from 58 per cent to 23 per cent,? Ms Nolan said.

?That is by far the biggest decrease on any line.?

She said about a quarter of the Ipswich-bound afternoon services were too crowded but the Ipswich line was not the worst performer and new services would be given to the highest priority.

[ozbob]

In consideration of this post, I have requested confirmation from the Minister for Transport as to any validity in these statements.

I trust it is not the case at all.  Cutting back passenger rail services, at time when every other rail system in world is expanding is not acceptable.

I have been contacted by the Minister's office and they have assured me that there will be no cuts to any Citytrain services.

I note that $380 million has been budgeted for further upgrades to the Citytrain network as well in today's budget.

Gold Coast light rail is going ahead as well.  So all in all, in tough times still progress!

[ozbob]

From the Sunshine Coast Daily click here!

'Standing room only' for commuters

'Standing room only' for commuters

1:10p.m. 16th June 2009
'Standing room only' for commuters

Trains on the north coast line as as crowded as those in Brisbane.

Sunshine Coast rail travellers are still left standing on their daily commute and nothing is being done about it says the opposition transport spokeswoman.

Member for Maroochydore Fiona Simpson said evidence from the Bligh Government's annual Passenger Load Survey showed overcrowding continued to be a major problem across the south east rail network, especially on the longer commuter trips.

"The number of overcrowded services has climbed nearly 90% during morning peak time proving and nothing's being done to redress the unacceptable situation," Ms Simpson said.

"With breakdowns being blamed for delays and cancelled trains, it's clear that proper maintenance on carriages and train cars is not being carried out."

She claimed the state transport minister Rachel Nolan is in denial about the problem and at least half of peak-hour services on the Sunshine Coast line are "standing room only".

"The Minister keeps telling us about all these new services, but even in her own electorate the extra services aren't even keeping up with demand from commuters who given up on the Ipswich Motorway.

"I'm hearing complaints every day of failures in the system, particularly breakdowns on the Citytrain network with commuters being shoved on to buses without warning."

[ozbob]

From the Ipswich News 18th June 2009 page 5

Peak-hour crush still a problem

Peak-hour crush still a problem
By SHANNON SAGAIDAK

PUBLIC transport lobby group Rail Back on Track says there is still an unacceptable level of overcrowding on the Ipswich train line, despite new figures showing the problem has eased in the past year.

The 2009 QR Passenger Load Survey, released by the State Government on Monday, shows crowding on the busy Ipswich line has more than halved from 58 per cent to 23 per cent in the past 12 months.

However, more than one in four trains in the afternoon peak travel period is still uncomfortably overcrowded. Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said more services were needed. "An obvious move for example is to put a Darra or Redbank sweeper a few minutes ahead of the notorious 4.35pm Ipswich service from Central," Mr Dow said.

"If you want to experience crush congestion this 4.35pm service is a beauty. "The failure of the Labor Government to properly resource QR Citytrain from 2000 to 2007 is now hitting home hard."

Figures released by The Commonwealth's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics show heavy rail use increased by 23 per cent across the eight Australian state capitals from 2004 to 2008, with an increase of 10 per cent for light rail and 11 per cent for bus usage. Use of cars, motor cycles and commercial vehicles increased by only by 1 per cent in the same period.

"This damning analysis exposes the gross distortions and waste of public funds on road expenditure when in fact we should be investing in public transport," Mr Dow said.

Transport Minister Rachel Nolan said the State Government was building new trains and infrastructure for extra seats and services. "The State Government, through TransLink and QR, is adding rollingstock at the rate of roughly one threecar set each month and has committed $1.5 billion to fund 102 three-car sets by 2016." Ms Nolan said.

[ozbob]

From the Westside News 1st July 2009 page 1

Peak-hour jam Rise in packed trains

Peak-hour jam Rise in packed trains
By ANNA HILTON and RESHNI RATNAM

OVERCROWDING in trains is worse than ever in the western suburbs, despite State Government promises to fix the problem.

Three extra trains have been added to the morning timetable after a report in the Westside News last November. But the number of afternoon services which have exceeded seating and standing capacity have risen dramatically.

State Member for Indooroopilly Scott Emerson said a 2008 survey revealed there was just one train daily at more than 100 per cent of its seating and standing capacity in the afternoon peak hour.

"The latest survey conducted in March showed that had increased to five," he said. Mr Emerson cited the latest Queensland Rail Passenger Load Survey on the Ipswich line, servicing inner-western stations in his electorate.


That means more than one in every four services in the afternoon were packed beyond their seating and standing capacity," he said.

However, State Transport Minister and Member for Ipswich Rachel Nolan said the investment of the State Government, through TransLink, was producing positive results for train passengers in Brisbane's west.

"While train patronage has increased by 4.6 per cent in the afternoon peak period and by 24.6 per cent in the morning peak period since 2008, the number of overall peak period services exceeding the capacity benchmark on the Ipswich line has decreased from 13 of 38 services to 11 of 45 services," Ms Nolan said.

RAIL Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said that while the Government had worked on improving the morning services, the afternoons were still a major problem.

"In the last few weeks, during various times at Roma St, passengers have been asked not to board the trains because they are too crowded," Mr Dow said.

He said the crush on Suncorp Stadium game days were also a worry, impacting heavily on rail passengers trying to get home from Brisbane's CBD.

"Passengers have to wait for three to four trains before they can get home," Mr Dow said.

"The trains are really overcrowded and packed to the rafters. "There is a clear need for more afternoon peak services as new trains become available."

Commuter Tracey Peckett, who catches the train from Central station to Taringa in the afternoons, said the trains were constantly crowded.

"Often they're so full they just pass through the station and people have to wait for the next one," she said.

Commuter Troy Turner said he usually left work before 5pm so he would have a chance of getting a seat."The trains after that are packed," he said.

[skippy]

Full credit must go to QR and TransLink for publishing the survey.  An interesting statistic is the two stations with the highest increases in morning peak patronage occured at
- Indooroopilly (up by a whopping 409 passengers per day)
- Toowong (up by 322) 

These two stations provided more patronage increase then most of the other corridors combined! 

This was no co-incidence as there were a number of medium density apartments completed in the last 12 months near these stations. The government policy of increasing density around rail stations appears to be working. I would support a modest increase in density (3 - 4 stories max) at some of the other stations on the Ipswich line, in particular up to Darra which should have a 15 min off-peak service after Richlands station operational.

- Graceville (at or above the shops near the cinema)
- Sherwood (starting to happen already)
- Corinda (near RSL)
- Oxley (near roundabout)
- Darra (both cement works, and the vacant land behind market)

The alternative is continuing urban sprawl, consequently demand for more commuter parking and difficulty in justifying frequent feeder buses outside peak times to low density suburbs.