Random observations around the network ...

[techblitz]

quite aware of BT drying up funds thru excessive duplication.....see it everyday along carindale/ipswich rd/northen busway corridors...
Doesnt suddenly give translink immunity to reverse the inadequate timetabling on services under thier control.....specifically 4-6pm 7-9am...
Both Translink and BT goals should be to reduce the complaints fired at them on a weekly basis...

its like this folks...the recent proof is in the pudding....read up on the now lack of complaints for the 745.... when previously before the light rail changes the service was copping at least 1 complaint per week......this clearly proves that if you improve the on-time arrival of a bus service....complaints will come in at the minimum rate....hence calmer drivers and happier customers....
the goal for translink is simple......given the current situation.....work with what youve got to prove that you are capable of dictating all of the timetables for SEQ...

[SurfRail]

quite aware of BT drying up funds thru excessive duplication.....see it everyday along carindale/ipswich rd/northen busway corridors...
Doesnt suddenly give translink immunity to reverse the inadequate timetabling on services under thier control.....specifically 4-6pm 7-9am...
Both Translink and BT goals should be to reduce the complaints fired at them on a weekly basis...

its like this folks...the recent proof is in the pudding....read up on the now lack of complaints for the 745.... when previously before the light rail changes the service was copping at least 1 complaint per week......this clearly proves that if you improve the on-time arrival of a bus service....complaints will come in at the minimum rate....hence calmer drivers and happier customers....
the goal for translink is simple......given the current situation.....work with what youve got to prove that you are capable of dictating all of the timetables for SEQ...

Well what's your solution?  Magic?

The problem with the 745 was that it went to Surfers.  The light rail fixed that, and was always intended.  The solution is nowhere near as apparent elsewhere.

[techblitz]

How hard is it to change timetables lol....you make it sound like an impossibility.....
The 745 point was raised because it highlights whats achievable when you run buses to the timetables...less complaints....less stress on drivers.....am i missing anything here?....and i find it quite ironic that it took the lightrail implementation to the fix the previous 745 timetabling screwups....
perhaps translink should just bow down to the the traffic hotspots, the bus companies and go sit in the "brisbane transport stole my funds" sulking corner?
Or they could "grow a set".....forget BT and try and get on top of thier own issues....
As you can see via the socail media team.....translink are just staying in the shadows along with brisbane transport regarding complaints....were yet to see any real effort....
Let me reiterate SR...translink and BT are as bad as each other...i honestly dont know how many times i can repeat myself on these timetabling issues....

[SurfRail]

Complaints on social media do not systemic issues make.

Timetables cannot just be changed at the drop of a hat.  I think you are well aware of that so how about you stop dissembling?

[techblitz]

Drop of a hat fair enough .......6-10 months after an issue has been confirmed as happening...i think thats plenty of time to get things in order...

[James]

Drop of a hat fair enough .......6-10 months after an issue has been confirmed as happening...i think thats plenty of time to get things in order...

I think you are forgetting:
1. How much government red tape an operator needs to go through to change the timetable, and
2. How incompetent and inefficient government bureaucrats are - this isn't a political party thing, there is just a tendency for the incompetent to be harboured in the government because it is a) difficult for the government to sack people, and b) the government doesn't go broke - hence, incompetent staff do not end up out of jobs due to bankruptcy.

Remember, doing something as simple as converting a BCC out-of-service bus to a sweeper service (carrying fare-paying pax) needs TransLink approval. Yes, just to run a bus in-service on the same corridor it is running out-of-service on requires approval from an external body....

[darthcaligula666]

here here, james! good old bureaucracy, specialists in unnecessarily making the simple things exponentially more difficult!

[HappyTrainGuy]

Remember the Nambour line fiasco and how long it took to get those couple trains swapped around?

[STB]

How hard is it to change timetables lol....you make it sound like an impossibility.....
The 745 point was raised because it highlights whats achievable when you run buses to the timetables...less complaints....less stress on drivers.....am i missing anything here?....and i find it quite ironic that it took the lightrail implementation to the fix the previous 745 timetabling screwups....
perhaps translink should just bow down to the the traffic hotspots, the bus companies and go sit in the "brisbane transport stole my funds" sulking corner?
Or they could "grow a set".....forget BT and try and get on top of thier own issues....
As you can see via the socail media team.....translink are just staying in the shadows along with brisbane transport regarding complaints....were yet to see any real effort....
Let me reiterate SR...translink and BT are as bad as each other...i honestly dont know how many times i can repeat myself on these timetabling issues....

The 745 timetable was an obvious one as the only real fix was to remove it from the GC Hwy section where the tram now travels, now it's removed, it's far more likely to run on time and was always the plan from the start as Surfrail points out.  You can fiddle with the timetables until the cows comes home, but there are so many variables on a day to day, month to month, even hour to hour basis, hence that the schedulers and planners do understand that the timetable is a guide and not rock stone unlike the train timetable, buses where they don't have a right of way and have to contend with changing traffic conditions and passenger loadings that can vary throughout the year, even on a daily and down to an hourly basis means that the best you'll ever get is an average time. 

There are some bus routes out there that can operate pretty much on time without any problems 99% of the time, but those routes generally are only local routes that operate well away from the main roads and have fairly predictable patronage demand across the year.

The only real solutions are to either to shorten the length of the bus route to reduce the chances of those variables impacting on the timetable, provide infrastructure where those buses can be separated from the traffic or have separate timetables for different periods of the year, making a route high frequency so from a passenger's perspective the timetable becomes less of an issue if one bus runs late, the other should be following very soon after or a combination of things - and there isn't a one best fit answer.

As a former Planner, I'll tell you how things are scheduled - a route is planned out and agreed with the various stakeholders (the Bus Operator, schools, local council, patronage data etc), a bus is then dispatched and driven over the route several times across the day stopping at every second or third stop as a dummy passenger pick up, and then those run times are sent to the Planners and Schedulers and the time is averaged out over that period of time, including local knowledge that either the Planner and/or the Operator will know about and factor that into the timetable itself. 

Part of the reason why timetables can't be changed at the drop of the hat is partly bureaucratic (ie: TransLink has to operate within the rules set out by Government and the financial cycles that Treasury work to), and partly practical, as those timetables are optimized and sorted by the Operator to run by their operational rules that combine things like driver hours (fitting in with the maximum and minimum times that the drivers must work to - heck when I was at QR for example, I even had to set their lunch times and that had to be done after a certain number of hours worked,and no later than a certain number of hours worked) , where that bus will be physically linked to on other routes once they complete a run and if you change one timetable, does that flow onto the next run that physical bus will do, so do you have to alter the next timetable for example - that's a genuine question that has to be answered by the operator and TransLink - and then how does altering a schedule affect those who are time sensitive eg: schools and school kids.  The list goes on.

Timetabling is very fiddly stuff, and it's all linked from an operational point of view.  There's x amount of buses, there are time sensitive passengers, patronage demand is fluid in most cases and can change A LOT throughout the year, as does the traffic levels, there's strict rules for the driver, rules for the operator to abide by, buses are linked to multiple routes throughout the day, changing one timetable can potentially have a train effect where every other timetable then needs to be adjusted, or another bus needs to be put on to fit in with that now altered run link, and plenty more stuff that the operator has to work through as does TransLink, and how that fits in with their rules and how Treasury works to provide the funding and how Government in general works to sign off stuff and approve the change.

Like Surfrail said, you cannot just alter a timetable at the drop of a hat, and my monthly suggestion would be pushing it quite a bit - I don't think that would be entirely realistic, although they could perhaps try, but I doubt that it'd be doable in the long run.

[STB]

Drop of a hat fair enough .......6-10 months after an issue has been confirmed as happening...i think thats plenty of time to get things in order...

I think you are forgetting:
1. How much government red tape an operator needs to go through to change the timetable, and
2. How incompetent and inefficient government bureaucrats are - this isn't a political party thing, there is just a tendency for the incompetent to be harboured in the government because it is a) difficult for the government to sack people, and b) the government doesn't go broke - hence, incompetent staff do not end up out of jobs due to bankruptcy.

Remember, doing something as simple as converting a BCC out-of-service bus to a sweeper service (carrying fare-paying pax) needs TransLink approval. Yes, just to run a bus in-service on the same corridor it is running out-of-service on requires approval from an external body....

Just to add from TransLink's perspective, they get x amount of money to spend each year from Treasury, based on what the Planner's put forward via a business case and their own wishlist.  If the money isn't available to turn a non in service run into an in service run, then that route remains non-in-service.  There's also the other things that have to be looked at as such if you turn a non-in-service run into an in service run, how does that impact on the timetable and any turnaround times on that run.  A non-in-service run will generally operate faster than an in service run, and so that bus may be running not-in-service in order to be at a location at a specific time to begin a new run that may have reasons for departing at a certain time at the other end.

[pandmaster]

Part of the reason why timetables can't be changed at the drop of the hat is partly bureaucratic (ie: TransLink has to operate within the rules set out by Government and the financial cycles that Treasury work to), and partly practical, as those timetables are optimized and sorted by the Operator to run by their operational rules that combine things like driver hours (fitting in with the maximum and minimum times that the drivers must work to - heck when I was at QR for example, I even had to set their lunch times and that had to be done after a certain number of hours worked,and no later than a certain number of hours worked) , where that bus will be physically linked to on other routes once they complete a run and if you change one timetable, does that flow onto the next run that physical bus will do, so do you have to alter the next timetable for example - that's a genuine question that has to be answered by the operator and TransLink - and then how does altering a schedule affect those who are time sensitive eg: schools and school kids.  The list goes on.

Bus companies in Melbourne (maybe not all but some operators) have an interesting approach to the issue of scheduling the individual buses. Many times when I lived there I would watch from the bus as a new driver drove a company ute up to the bus stop and take over the route while the old driver went back to the depot in the ute! It is worth BCC considering that, although perhaps not mid route. It took quite a while for the new driver to set up and often they would have a good chin wag, regardless of whether the bus was running late or not,

[HappyTrainGuy]

Happens here as well. Mechanics drive the buses to interchanges (Aspley/Chermside/Taigum) and then drives another bus back. On the odd occasion they have a toolbox and conduct some repairs at the interchange

I've also been on a few buses where it stops at an interchange mid run to swap drivers.

[James]

Bus companies in Melbourne (maybe not all but some operators) have an interesting approach to the issue of scheduling the individual buses. Many times when I lived there I would watch from the bus as a new driver drove a company ute up to the bus stop and take over the route while the old driver went back to the depot in the ute! It is worth BCC considering that, although perhaps not mid route. It took quite a while for the new driver to set up and often they would have a good chin wag, regardless of whether the bus was running late or not,

A long time ago now, there would be driver changes on some 4xx bus routes at the Regatta bus stop. There were a few services in particular where this occurred regularly. I believe this was pre-go card though and was only something I saw a few times (as it was a time where my bus travel was once every 2-3 months, rather than 2-3 times every day like it is now).

AFAIK these days it only really happens on the GCL.

[Arnz]

Part of the reason why timetables can't be changed at the drop of the hat is partly bureaucratic (ie: TransLink has to operate within the rules set out by Government and the financial cycles that Treasury work to), and partly practical, as those timetables are optimized and sorted by the Operator to run by their operational rules that combine things like driver hours (fitting in with the maximum and minimum times that the drivers must work to - heck when I was at QR for example, I even had to set their lunch times and that had to be done after a certain number of hours worked,and no later than a certain number of hours worked) , where that bus will be physically linked to on other routes once they complete a run and if you change one timetable, does that flow onto the next run that physical bus will do, so do you have to alter the next timetable for example - that's a genuine question that has to be answered by the operator and TransLink - and then how does altering a schedule affect those who are time sensitive eg: schools and school kids.  The list goes on.

Bus companies in Melbourne (maybe not all but some operators) have an interesting approach to the issue of scheduling the individual buses. Many times when I lived there I would watch from the bus as a new driver drove a company ute up to the bus stop and take over the route while the old driver went back to the depot in the ute! It is worth BCC considering that, although perhaps not mid route. It took quite a while for the new driver to set up and often they would have a good chin wag, regardless of whether the bus was running late or not,

Sunbus on the Sunshine Coast used to roster that in the pre-go card days, midway through some routes there are set change-over points/stops where the new driver drives up to the change over point in the Toyota Coaster, whilst the relieved driver returns to Marcoola depot in the coaster.

Those days however most runs are now starters out of the depots.  Although mid-route changeovers no longer exist, however there are a few at terminus change overs (although there are not many those days and are pretty much limited to weekdays only) at the Maroochydore and Caloundra bus stations which usually involved the new driver coming to the bus station in a CB20 (from Marcoola depot), or from a spare bus (from Caloundra depot) to relieve the drivers at the terminus.

[STB]

Speaking of driver changes, didn't KBL at one stage do mid route driver swaps with a company car?

By the way, I know that Westside's former Operations Manager used to just jump into a company ute and drive the routes to time them, obviously driving in a car will not give as an accurate timings as driving in a bus.  From what I've heard, Bus Queensland no longer does that thankfully.

[ozbob]

0535 1734 + DEL UP Darra ... is 1734 lost?   

1734 in its normal habitat ..

[petey3801]

Yeah, came down on the Sunlander on Wednesday! Most likely needs some attention at Redbank, I imagine. Was going to grab a photo of it at Mayne on Wed night while it was sitting in perfect light, but didn't have time and by the time I got back to the yard it had been moved and was being used for shunting!

[ozbob]

Gold Coast service on the fly through Woodridge station



Photograph R Dow 30th September 2014

[techblitz]

Sausage sizzle happening albion station at the railbus stops 

[brissypete]

This weekends trackwork gives the opportunity to travel the ekka line.  Airport train running express South Brisbane to Albion

[Golliwog]

This weekends trackwork gives the opportunity to travel the ekka line.  Airport train running express South Brisbane to Albion

http://translink.com.au/travel-information/service-notices/22226/details

Airport, Cleveland, Shorncliffe, Ipswich and Caboolture train services will run express past the City via the Exhibition Loop and continue as per the timetable.

The following train services will terminate at the below locations:

    Beenleigh and Gold Coast services will terminate at South Brisbane station
    Sunshine Coast services will terminate at Albion station
    Ipswich to Caboolture services will continue in both directions via the Exhibition Loop (express between Milton and Albion)
    Springfield services will terminate at Milton station
    Ferny Grove services will terminate at Bowen Hills

Had to check the notice, so Airport bound services start from where?

[brissypete]

Airport bound services start from Varsity Lakes as normal

[Golliwog]

Airport bound services start from Varsity Lakes as normal

That's what I kind of assumed must be the case if the ex-Airport services were running via Exhibition to South Brisbane, but contradicts the comment in the Translink notice that Gold Coast services will be terminating at South Brisbane.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Airport bound services start from Varsity Lakes as normal

That's what I kind of assumed must be the case if the ex-Airport services were running via Exhibition to South Brisbane, but contradicts the comment in the Translink notice that Gold Coast services will be terminating at South Brisbane.

More poor wording. Similar to a while back where Gold Coast trains were terminating at Park Road (for connections to the city/other railway lines) but the trains themselves were still running to South Brisbane to turn around (no rail bus service at these stations). It wouldn't surprise me if services in both directions were running Gold Coast-South Brisbane via the exhibition line to Albion-Airport/Airport-Albion via the exhibition line to South Brisbane-Gold Coast with passengers going to Bowen Hills-Roma Street transferring at Albion or South Brisbane depending on the direction of travel with Cleveland and Beenleigh services terminating at South Brisbane. Just like Caboolture-Albion via exhibition line to Milton-Ipswich/Ipswich-Milton via exhibition line to Albion-Caboolture with passengers for Roma Street-Bowen Hills transferring at Milton or Albion.

[petey3801]

The basic running this weekend is/was:
Airport - Gold Coast via Exhibition (pax for City transfer at Albion and Park Road)
Shorncliffe - Cleveland via Exhibition (pax for City transfer at Albion and Park Road)
Beenleigh to South Brisbane (pax transfer at Park Road for City and Ferny Grove)
Ferny Grove to Bowen Hills (pax transfer at Bowen Hills for City and Beenleigh)
Caboolture to Ipswich via Exhibition (pax transfer for City at Albion and Milton)
Springfield to Milton (pax transfer at Milton)
Doomben to Park Road via Exhibition (pax transfer for City at Albion and Park Road)
Nambour to Albion (pax transfer at Albion).

Pax for South Brisbane and South bank, or either side of the City, stayed on the trains going through those stations.

[Arnz]

Thursday morning travels on the Sunshine Coast bus network.

Boarded the 8:13am 600 from Caloundra Station to Maroochydore Station (Sunshine Plaza).  As per usual between 730am and 830am, the 600s are loaded with school students (on top of the Buslink school services) before 3 quarters of those onboard most 600s services between the specified times empties out at Kawana State College.   

Just past Warana, the bus still had a good load of just under 30ish people.



Bus Network Map at Kawana Station

[HappyTrainGuy]

Just saw one of those new fancy buses with lots of extra capacity operating a 337 route through Geebung.......

[Stillwater]

Promotion of PT usage on the Sunshine Coast/Noosa is working.  However, more could be done to educate visitors and tourists about go-card, and its advantages over paper tickets.  Next interesting move will be the trial of electric buses around Noosa Heads and Noosa Junction.

[Otto]

Observed on NearMap , Sept 2nd, around 30 Locos waiting to be shipped. Anyone know any details of their destination ?

[ozbob]

Observed on NearMap , Sept 2nd, around 30 Locos waiting to be shipped. Anyone know any details of their destination ?

South Africa I think ..

[ozbob]

Around 5.23am Darra 16th October, UP coalie on UP sub single DEL.

Followed by another UP coalie UP sub two DELs (normal motive power)  10 minutes or so later ..

[HappyTrainGuy]

Spotted another high capacity bus on a 336 run at the Geebung overpass....

[techblitz]

Had to get from moreton bay college(tingalpa)  to annerley junction...usually do a 220 inbound change to gabba o/b bus....but missed it by 5 mins....

Enter option 2......
P221 to wynnum central...arrives at station....walk up & over platforms....inbound train arrives  ...
Then of couse that near perfect cleveland-beenliegh line connection@ park rd where one can change platforms and the b/l outbound arrives 1 min later....

Hop off@ fairfield rail...5 min walk up and over hill to annerley junction...

this journey with all connections was 55 mins all up......could have blown out to much more but it didnt.....and the 15 minute counter peak cleveland line tied it all together

[brissypete]

Saw 2 130s following each other outbound through Cultural Centre, 1st was standard bus rather full, 2nd was tag with lots of space.

[darthcaligula666]

this is probably a touch random (but i figured this was the best place to put it!) so, one of my friends lost her student identification card from university of queensland, and she is pretty certain it could have been at helensvale station when she disembarked yesterday. it was missing this morning when she arrived at the station. she has checked with the station staff (so far nothing) but if anyone does find a student card, please feel free to message me as the poor thing was freaking out today. we are about three weeks out from our final exams of the degree, and the hassle of organizing another one so late in the semester is going to be tedious for her with our classes as we are not based at st lucia itself, and they wont print on and send it to our schools campus.

thanks in advance guys! (though i expect it has been lost forever, i still thought i would do the honorable thing by her and post here as soon as i got home)

[ozbob]

Poster at Roma St

[dancingmongoose]

Random observation for the day, Derwan and I getting on the same bus at South Bank this morning

[Stillwater]

And to what use will the Roma Street Station Heritage Building be put once it is fully restored?  Maybe the information flyer should have said that.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Does that really matter??

[darthcaligula666]

oh wow, at 8:30 last night two guys entered the rail yards at tennyson with the intention of doing graffiti and the 26 year old got suffered an electric shock. apparently he had deep burns to 90% of his body. that should be fatal. i cant see any info on whether he is still alive or not, but last i heard he was at the royal brisbane and womens hospital, and his 19 year old accomplice was assisting police.

while i disagree with their intention to graffiti rail property, its tragic that this has happened, and while i hope the dude is ok, i can see how a human can survive burns that horrific. not to mention the high voltage that went through his body would most likely have carried a huge current. from what i remember of high school physics, its not the volts that kill you, its the amps. at the risk of sounding heartless, i hope this serves as a deterrent for people wishing to damage property, else they suffer a similar fate. i hope this poor dude pulls through for his sake. 26 is still really young. i just dont see how one can survive with burns to 90% of their body though....