Bus delays, cancellations ...

[BrizCommuter]

http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com/2012/01/buz-off.html
Sorry, another bad pun.

[Mr X]

Yep list has been updated on the TL website- good that the correct info is being provided to punters 

[ozbob]

Media release 21 January 2012

SEQ: Gas bus fleet grounded

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers has said the temporary grounding of the gas powered Brisbane Transport bus fleet is disruptive, but necessary (1, 2).

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"With the restriction of Brisbane Transport bus services to diesel only, there has been a significant reduction in buses that are available to service routes."

"Where possible, to ease pressure on the bus system public transport passengers should use rail or ferry, or active transport options - walk or cycle."

"The authorities do need to make a decision with respect to services on Monday. Early identification of the gas bus availability or otherwise will allow people to plan alternatives where possible."

"Queensland Rail should also plan for some additional rail services on all lines if the gas buses are not returned to service on Monday."

References:

1.  http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1327089696

2.  http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2695.msg84342#msg84342

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

[Jonas Jade]

I like the new routing of the 196 from that list

196 - New Farm to City via Fairfield Gardens

 

[HappyTrainGuy]

Chermside is like a step back in time seeing all these old buses. People seem p%ssed  off that their hourly bus has been cancelled yet the 333's keep coming and going. No 325, 335, 340 since about 12.30. The CityGlider and Spring Hill loop buses are on the 336/337 loop. CityGlider has also taken up slack for the 345 Buz. 370/334 doesn't appear to be affected.

[Golliwog]

The comprehension skills of some of the CM commenters scares me.

[Otto]

Carina Depot is operating as per normal... No 2xx services are affected at this stage.. Monday could be a different story. Garden City only do some 200 and 222 services mon to fri.

[Arnz]

Seems the Northside is like 'Metroland' today with all those metros from the T and A depots running around up there.

[ozbob]

From the Couriermail click here!

Half of Brisbane's bus fleet taken off the road after gas explosion at depot

Half of Brisbane's bus fleet taken off the road after gas explosion at depot

    by: Suellen Hinde
    From: The Courier-Mail
    January 21, 2012 1:40PM

HALF the Brisbane Transport bus fleet will not be in service today after a gas explosion at Virginia bus deport in the early hours of the morning.

A Brisbane City Council spokeswoman said all buses that run on gas would not be operating today because of the incident.

Workers at the bus depot were refilling the gas cylinders on a bus at 1.17am when the gas pod exploded, a department of Community Services spokeswoman said.

"No one was injured and while fire crews attended to contain the gas there was no fire," she said.

Two buses sustained damage in the explosion.

"As a precaution following the incident, no gas powered buses will operate today while investigations are undertaken resulting in approximately half of council's bus fleet being non operational today," the council spokeswoman said.

"Commuters can expect significant disruptions to bus services throughout the weekend and are advised to leave plenty of time ahead of their journey to account for delays or make alternative transport arrangements such as trains."

TransLink said the following high-frequency services would be operating under reduced frequency:

    100 - Forest Lake to City
    111 - Eight Mile Plains to City
    120 - Garden City to City
    130 - Parkinson to City
    140 - Browns Plains to City
    150 - Browns Plains to City
    180 - Garden City to City
    196 - New Farm to City via Fairfield Gardens
    199 - West End to New Farm
    333 - Chermside to City
    345 - Aspley to City
    385 - The Gap to City
    412 - University of Queensland to City via Toowong
    444 - Moggill to City
    CityGlider - West End to Teneriffe

For more information visit the TransLink website or phone 13 12 30.

Public transport lobby group Rail Back on Track said the sidelining of half the bus fleet was disruptive but necessary.

However spokesman Robert Dow said: "Queensland Rail should also plan for some additional rail services on all lines if the gas buses are not returned to service on Monday."

[O_128]

^ Maybe we will see 15 min off peak if the buses arent back 

[ozbob]

^ Maybe we will see 15 min off peak if the buses arent back 

I would like to see that!   

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Commuting nightmare: Half of Brisbane bus fleet taken off roads

Commuting nightmare: Half of Brisbane bus fleet taken off roads
January 21, 2012 - 9:44AM

Half of Brisbane's bus fleet has been taken off the road following a gas explosion at a city bus depot early today.

No buses fuelled by gas will be in service while the incident is investigated, and commuters are being warned of significant disruptions across the weekend.

Workers at the Virginia bus depot were refilling gas cylinders on a bus when the gas tank ruptured, turning into a projectile and striking another bus, Brisbane City Council said.

Two buses were damaged but no one was injured.

As a precaution, almost 560 gas-powered buses have been taken out of service while investigations are under way.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, who visited the depot this morning, says a similar incident occurred in 2008.

"This is the first incident since that occurrence," he told the ABC.

"We don't know at this time what has been the cause...and I am keen to see what the inspectors have to say in regard to it."

Information on bus services is available on the TransLink website.

AAP

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/commuting-nightmare-half-of-brisbane-bus-fleet-taken-off-roads-20120121-1qaye.html

[BrizCommuter]

^ Maybe we will see 15 min off peak if the buses arent back  

I would like to see that!  

Come on we all know that would be far too difficult for QR - all those freight trains on the Ferny Grove Line would get in the way   . Although admittedly staffing a 15 min off-peak train service at short notice would be quite difficult.

[Mr X]

Surely for monday they can get enough drivers to run a train every 15mins? Or tomorrow?

It would be pretty daft not to.

[O_128]

Surely for monday they can get enough drivers to run a train every 15mins? Or tomorrow?

It would be pretty daft not to.

But if they did they would then have to make an excuse why it can't be done everyday  . Remember the platform raising issue a while back "it's impossible to raise a curved platform" 

[ozbob]

Put on some extras the early pre peaks and post periods, and where possible during the peaks.  Promote, go early, go cheaper, go frequently, go free ...

[Mr X]

Surely for monday they can get enough drivers to run a train every 15mins? Or tomorrow?

It would be pretty daft not to.

But if they did they would then have to make an excuse why it can't be done everyday  . Remember the platform raising issue a while back "it's impossible to raise a curved platform"  

It can be done in peak.

Problem, Translink?

Could they make travel before say 7am free to help facilitate the peak demand?

[Gazza]

Lets be realistic here, they'll run trains as normal, and people will be forced to just suck it up if they cant get on a BUZ. Sad but true.

[#Metro]

Run maxi Taxis on the busway 

[ozbob]

http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-updates/bulletin/1327089696

Brisbane bus delay

Brisbane Transport is operating a reduced fleet today, following an incident while refuelling a gas bus at the Virginia Bus Depot earlier this morning.

As a precaution, no gas powered buses will operate today.

Customers should expect delays and some cancellations throughout the day while Brisbane Transport and gas inspectors investigate.

Please plan additional time to take into account for delays.

The following high frequency routes are operating at a decreased frequency

    100 - Forest Lake to City
    111 - Eight Mile Plains to City
    120 - Garden City to City
    130 - Parkinson to City
    140 - Browns Plains to City
    150 - Browns Plains to City
    180 - Garden City to City
    196 - New Farm to Fairfield Gardens
    199 - West End to New Farm
    333 - Chermside to City
    345 - Aspley to City
    385 - The Gap to City
    412 - University of Queensland to City via Toowong
    444 - Moggill to City
    CityGlider - West End to Teneriffe

A normal Sunday timetable using the remaining fleet will operate tomorrow.

Advice regarding bus services on Monday will be available tomorrow.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Pffttt..... you all have the wrong solutions.














































CHUCK A SICKIE! 3 DAY WEEKEND!

[WTN]

Run maxi Taxis on the busway  

Why not have private operators running some of the services, if they have some spare capacity?

Anyone know what the "reduced frequency" is? 30 minutes looks likely but any confirmation on that?

Lets be realistic here, they'll run trains as normal, and people will be forced to just suck it up if they cant get on a BUZ. Sad but true.

There could be some extra trains peak, pre peak and post peak where possible, but realistically, I don't expect much more.

[#Metro]

Maybe they will operate feeders to expel air

[somebody]

I notice that the 88 isn't included on the interrupted services.  Saw an 88 heading 8mp bound a few bus lengths in front of an I/B 444.

Carina Depot is operating as per normal... No 2xx services are affected at this stage.. Monday could be a different story. Garden City only do some 200 and 222 services mon to fri.

Is it all diesel?

[#Metro]

Hmm. Ideas for Monday

Kill P88 since people can interchange (LOL)
Kill 222 or 200 - the only difference between the two is a short section
Kill 402
Some of the 4xx services could probably be terminated at Indro and turned back to free up some buses
Kill 66
Kill City Loop
Kill 198
Some of the busway services could also be short-turned (terminated early before reaching the CBD).

[Fattious]

From Facebook

Bus services to operate as normal tomorrow
by Brisbane City Council on Saturday, 21 January 2012 at 13:43
The normal Sunday timetable will be maintained for Brisbane City Council's bus services tomorrow.
 
For the remainder of today (Saturday), services will continue to operate on a reduced frequency. This follows an incident early this morning where a gas tank ruptured at the Virginia Bus Depot, resulting in all 569 of Council's gas powered buses being removed from service as a safety precaution.
 
Investigations are continuing into the incident.
 
The routes that will be most impacted by the disruptions for the remainder of today are in Brisbane's western and northern suburbs.
 
Commuters are advised to leave plenty of time ahead of their journey to account for delays or make alternative transport arrangements.
 
Brisbane City Council and Translink will continue to keep commuters updated with the latest information on service disruptions. Advice regarding bus services on Monday will be made available tomorrow.
 
For information on alternative public transport, please visit the TransLink website at www.translink.com.au  or phone 13 12 30.

[BrizCommuter]

CHUCK A SICKIE! 3 DAY WEEKEND!

...and if the problems persist on Tuesday, Wednesday, etc, etc?

There could be some extra trains peak, pre peak and post peak where possible, but realistically, I don't expect much more.

Extra peak trains? Have you seen Mayne in the middle of the am peak? Empty (apart from a few ICEs).

Kill 66

It's already running at 50% frequency. Killing it any more, would result in INB chaos, especially when the schools are back later in the week. Multiple hospital staff late for work = cancelled or delayed operations, procedures, and tests. Do you want that?

[Arnz]

Carina Depot is operating as per normal... No 2xx services are affected at this stage.. Monday could be a different story. Garden City only do some 200 and 222 services mon to fri.

Is it all diesel?

Virginia, Garden City, Toowong and Willawong are the gas enabled depots.  The rest of the depots (including the soon to open Sherwood) are diesel only.

[WTN]

There could be some extra trains peak, pre peak and post peak where possible, but realistically, I don't expect much more.

Extra peak trains? Have you seen Mayne in the middle of the am peak? Empty (apart from a few ICEs).

Mayne isn't the only place that stables trains. Besides, I said "where possible", so I'm not expecting much at peak. It may only be one extra service.

Kill 66

It's already running at 50% frequency. Killing it any more, would result in INB chaos, especially when the schools are back later in the week. Multiple hospital staff late for work = cancelled or delayed operations, procedures, and tests. Do you want that?

Are you sure the 66 is running on the weekend?

Also, what about replacing some of the 111s and 169s with 555s starting at 8MP?

[Fattious]

Nine news tonight around 8pm reported all gas buses may need to be thoroughly inspected and it could take weeks.

[BrizCommuter]

There could be some extra trains peak, pre peak and post peak where possible, but realistically, I don't expect much more.

Extra peak trains? Have you seen Mayne in the middle of the am peak? Empty (apart from a few ICEs).

Mayne isn't the only place that stables trains. Besides, I said "where possible", so I'm not expecting much at peak. It may only be one extra service.

One extra peak train is not going to help much, and the reality would be that most passengers would not know of it's existence anyway. Pointless. BrizCommuter would expect that peripheral stabling sites would not have much in the way of spare trains during the peaks.  

Kill 66

It's already running at 50% frequency. Killing it any more, would result in INB chaos, especially when the schools are back later in the week. Multiple hospital staff late for work = cancelled or delayed operations, procedures, and tests. Do you want that?

Are you sure the 66 is running on the weekend?

Also, what about replacing some of the 111s and 169s with 555s starting at 8MP?

The route 66 response was about Monday. Sunday's service will be normal.

[#Metro]

It's already running at 50% frequency. Killing it any more, would result in INB chaos, especially when the schools are back later in the week. Multiple hospital staff late for work = cancelled or delayed operations, procedures, and tests. Do you want that?

Ah, the disasters that shall befall Brisbane if we do not get Brizcommuter to work on time 

I'm sure something will be sorted out by monday.

[Golliwog]

BBL do have a large number of coaches that could do something. Plus the 10 people who use the 399 could be given a Maxi taxi instead and they could use their low floor bus somewhere else.q

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Gas blast sidelines half bus fleet

Gas blast sidelines half bus fleet
Ellen Lutton
January 22, 2012

BRISBANE is facing a back-to-school traffic nightmare tomorrow with half of the city's bus fleet still out of service following an explosion at a bus depot.

Almost 560 gas-powered buses were taken off the road after a gas tank ruptured about 1.15am yesterday. Workers at the Virginia depot were refilling gas cylinders on a bus when the tank exploded, turning into a projectile and striking another bus, the city council said.

No one was injured but all gas-powered buses were immediately taken out of service while investigations were carried out by engineers.
Advertisement: Story continues below

Fifteen high-frequency services, mostly in the northern and western suburbs of Brisbane, were running at a severely reduced rate yesterday, causing major delays for commuters.

More worrying is the hundreds of thousands of Brisbane state school students returning to school tomorrow morning and how a halved bus fleet could affect the road network in such already congested conditions.

A spokesman for lord mayor Graham Quirk said it was unfortunate the incident had occurred so close to the beginning of the school year.

''We're still hopeful that we'll be able to get some of the gas-powered buses out there for Monday but in the meantime we're contingency planning," he said. He said today's timetable would be able to run as normal but only because Sundays used half the bus fleet anyway. A decision would be made today as to whether the gas-powered buses would be put back on the roads tomorrow, he said.

Information on the bus timetables is available on the Translink website.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/gas-blast-sidelines-half-bus-fleet-20120121-1qbkn.html

[BrizCommuter]

It's already running at 50% frequency. Killing it any more, would result in INB chaos, especially when the schools are back later in the week. Multiple hospital staff late for work = cancelled or delayed operations, procedures, and tests. Do you want that?

Ah, the disasters that shall befall Brisbane if we do not get Brizcommuter to work on time 

I'm sure something will be sorted out by monday.

BrizCommuter takes the train into work. He is more concerned about his colleagues.

[Mr X]

With all due respect to school children, but some of the school services should be chopped. Not ideal, I know, buy the capacity will be needed elsewhere.
Not mentioning names, but my old school had around 5-6 different bus routes to Carindale, Garden City and the city, mirroring existing routes. Apart from the bus to the city, which was always full, the other routes should be made available to the public as they got 5-10 students max each. Either these routes (and school services in across the board) should pick up passengers where they'd previously run express, or be reduced where possible. In routes where patronage is very very low ( school welfare) a taxi could be provided (paid by translink) instead.

[SurfRail]

To better inform the discussion:

Gas buses are based at (in order of proportion of the allocated fleet) - Virginia (100%), Willawong (95%), Toowong (84%) and Garden City (37%).

The other depots are 100% diesel.

If this continues, I would not be surprised to see a repeat of what has happened previously. 

Early in the Scanias service life (early 2000s), buses were brought up from Surfside, State Transit and a bunch of other operators to cover demand. 

When the Scania blew up in 2008, buses were brought in from Logan City and Bus Queensland for BCC drivers to run.  The Logan City bus had the Council destination display file loaded into it, and the Westside buses were already programmed for the 140.

[david]

Yes I wouldn't be surprised if other TransLink operators are used to fill the gaps tomorrow. After all, isn't that why TransLink exists? To force operators to work together?

Hmm. Ideas for Monday

Kill P88 since people can interchange (LOL)
Kill 222 or 200 - the only difference between the two is a short section
Kill 402
Some of the 4xx services could probably be terminated at Indro and turned back to free up some buses
Kill 66
Kill City Loop
Kill 198
Some of the busway services could also be short-turned (terminated early before reaching the CBD).

Seeing as the 460 operates out of Willawong, I'd truncate to Richlands during peak. Could save one or two buses. Feeder services may actually see a spike in patronage tomorrow (as people choose the train rather than the bus), so I'd leave them alone. 

Get rid of 461. Actually, thinking about it, get rid of all the Rockets (especially the western suburbs rockets - 426, 431, 436, 443, 446, 455, 456, 458, 459). If this happened on the train network, there would be no express services. Apply the same logic to the BT network.

The 160 could probably go as well. Let the 555 take up the slack. Make all services that normally express past Holland Park West and Greenslopes stop there. Cut back some of that amazing frequency down Mains Rd. Reduce the frequency of all university bound services - especially the 109 and 412.

This could actually be a good time to start experimenting with cutting or truncating certain services and see if the services that we have nominated as "deadwood" or "air parcels" could actually be removed without the sky falling down.

[somebody]

Getting rid of rockets would likely just funnel passengers onto less efficient slower services.  Not smart.

What happened at the last explosion?

[ozbob]

Can't remember, however when Riverside Expressway cracked and closed, QR Passenger ran a lot of extra rail services.