Richlands to Springfield Central - Stage 2

[ozbob]

Have to say though, I was impressed with my trip on the Richlands line recently. Speedy and fast just like the Gold Coast line.

That's funny ....  

[ozbob]

LOL. Of course they know what frequency is modelled in, they would have had to do that information before they built the railway to see what the impact would be on the broader network.

Who want's to guess that it will be 30 minutes!

Have to say though, I was impressed with my trip on the Richlands line recently. Speedy and fast just like the Gold Coast line.

Perhaps they should delete every 2nd or third train station from the Ipswich Line and Beenleigh lines to speed things up...

I'd LOVE to run around zapping stations like Rocklea, but have been thoroughly flamed in the past for suggesting such things.

One of the disappointments from the Salisbury to Kuraby triplication was that the existing stations were retained.  I would have liked to have seen Banoon & Sunnybank merged to one, ditto Fruitgrove & Runcorn.

Gailes will probably go post Springfield, the other possibility on the Ipswich line is Ebbw Vale.  

The removing of stations though elicits strong local responses and invariably the politicians will make a stand.   No doubt, this stopped any serious attempt at station rationalisation on the Beenleigh line.

[Cam]

Have to say though, I was impressed with my trip on the Richlands line recently. Speedy and fast just like the Gold Coast line.

That's funny ....  

As would be expected with a new corridor, services do move reasonably quickly between Darra & Richlands.

[somebody]

Gailes will probably go post Springfield, the other possibility on the Ipswich line is Ebbw Vale.  

If Ebbw Vale is on the chopping block, I don't see why Bundamba and Riverview would be far behind.  I guess those are the 4 stations (4th=Gailes) which underperform on the Ipswich line.

[ozbob]

Bundamba and Riverview are well spaced out along the line.  I don't think they would ever go.  A number of local interests eg. Riverview and the retirement complex.  Building local populations as well.

[colinw]

I lived in Ipswich for about 6 months in 1991, and used Bundamba as my local station.  It was surprisingly well used in peak, as was Riverview.

Ebbw Vale could go without any difficulty.

[somebody]

2009 AM peak stats are:
Bundamba 193
Ebbw Vale 188
Riverview 240
Gailes 93

Milton is the next least patronised station in terms of boardings with 420, then Dinmore with 559, so there is a real gap between the bottom 4 and the rest.

[ozbob]

I have noticed a lot more loading at Riverview and Bundamba than Ebbw Vale, peaks and out of peak.  The whole highway thing is changing things a bit.  Be good to have the current data ...

[p858snake]

Milton is the next least patronised station in terms of boardings with 420

Aren't most of the larger industries around Milton station multi shift which would explain lower peak numbers for it, For example Castlemain Perkins (XXXX) next door has 3 shifts (Day, Afternoon and Night) so not everyone is attending during the morning peak.

[colinw]

Bundamba 193
Ebbw Vale 188
Riverview 240

Those numbers quite surprise me, but then it was a good 20 years ago that I lived in Ipswich. In those days, Bundamba & Riverview were distinctly busier than Ebbw Vale, and Dinmore was yet to develop its major Park & Ride patronage.  The area at Dinmore currently occupied by the Park & Ride was a small freight yard and the junction for the New Chum colliery branch.  I think the disused 3rd platform at Dinmore still had track as well, but not electrified.

[somebody]

Milton is the next least patronised station in terms of boardings with 420

Aren't most of the larger industries around Milton station multi shift which would explain lower peak numbers for it, For example Castlemain Perkins (XXXX) next door has 3 shifts (Day, Afternoon and Night) so not everyone is attending during the morning peak.

These don't come into it.  I was only counting AM inbound boardings.

[SurfRail]

Milton will see rapid change once the adjacent The Milton tower is completed, and other nearby projects get up.

[Set in train]

Sigh.  With a genuine "green light", Trackstar could have been well on their way to Landsborough by now.

Yep - the site compound at Beerburrum was almost midway between Caboolture and Landsborough.

This compound here?:
https://www.nearmap.com/?q=@-26.957072,152.959659&ll=-26.957072,152.959659&z=18&t=k&nmd=20100125

[BrizCommuter]

LOL. Of course they know what frequency is modelled in, they would have had to do that information before they built the railway to see what the impact would be on the broader network.

Who want's to guess that it will be 30 minutes!

Have to say though, I was impressed with my trip on the Richlands line recently. Speedy and fast just like the Gold Coast line.

Perhaps they should delete every 2nd or third train station from the Ipswich Line and Beenleigh lines to speed things up...

I'd LOVE to run around zapping stations like Rocklea, but have been thoroughly flamed in the past for suggesting such things.

One of the disappointments from the Salisbury to Kuraby triplication was that the existing stations were retained.  I would have liked to have seen Banoon & Sunnybank merged to one, ditto Fruitgrove & Runcorn.

Gailes will probably go post Springfield, the other possibility on the Ipswich line is Ebbw Vale.  

The removing of stations though elicits strong local responses and invariably the politicians will make a stand.   No doubt, this stopped any serious attempt at station rationalisation on the Beenleigh line.

If there is reason for these stations to be closed, then consideration could be given to closing multiple Sunshine Coast Line stations with even less patronage. Some unsavoury food for thought!

[ozbob]

Not really, one situation is suburban with close stations, the other interurban over wide distances.  Not apples with apples.

Gailes is probably the only station on the network that will most definitely go, once Springfield opens I reckon, the park n' ride pressure on Goodna, and Wacol will drop significantly.  Gailes is just an overflow park n' ride destination essentially.  Important today but probably not in 3 years time.

[Arnz]

There are also some (Few) cases of stations built ahead of time in anticipation of development, such as Coomera and Beerburrum (some development visible nearby Beerburrum station) as well as proposed real estate extensions on the other side of the main town thorough-fare.

[somebody]

If there is reason for these stations to be closed, then consideration could be given to closing multiple Sunshine Coast Line stations with even less patronage. Some unsavoury food for thought!

I think it bizarre that the Gympie trains serve stations between Caboolture and Nambour besides Landsborough.

Not really, one situation is suburban with close stations, the other interurban over wide distances.  Not apples with apples.

Gailes is probably the only station on the network that will most definitely go, once Springfield opens I reckon, the park n' ride pressure on Goodna, and Wacol will drop significantly.  Gailes is just an overflow park n' ride destination essentially.  Important today but probably not in 3 years time.

Gailes could be served in peak only at present, given that there is a bus connection anyway.  If Redbank starters/terminators return, that removes Gailes from the peak stopping patterns anyway.

Saving a minute or so from the off peak by closing Gailes could be justified IMO.

[Set in train]

Have to say though, I was impressed with my trip on the Richlands line recently. Speedy and fast just like the Gold Coast line.

From Darra to Richlands, yes, the trip is fast - surprised me too, but is between two stations of many.

When Brookwater opened, they claimed 28 mins to Bris CBD by car (clearly developer speak, but let's go with it), now the trip from Springfield to Central is estimated to be 40 mins.

A better time advantage would be welcomed. But this is Qld, no one thinks like they do in Perth.

[#Metro]

If there is reason for these stations to be closed, then consideration could be given to closing multiple Sunshine Coast Line stations with even less patronage. Some unsavoury food for thought!

I also agree. Station spacing on the SC line is around 5km apart which is quite generous. Beenleigh line is terrible, so very slow.

[skippy]

I also agree. Station spacing on the SC line is around 5km apart which is quite generous. Beenleigh line is terrible, so very slow.
[/quote]

IIRC Holmview was a temporary station for Beenleigh passengers during the electrification project. After the project was finished some locals made a fuss and the station was retained.

[Gazza]

Did it have the building from the start?

[HappyTrainGuy]

The old Beenleigh station was even close than it is now 

[Gazza]

The Saga continues, and the team at TL are literally incompetent.

I asked quite simply, how frequently the trains will run on the line, peak, offpeak and weekends.

And they sent me a PDF response telling me about the frequency of the new Richlands rocket bus BUS, with no mention of the rail frequency.

Bus....Train....Bus.....Train, can't get the two confused that easily, yet they did.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[#Metro]

That is CLASSIC!!!! Especially after Ozbob's recent media release.

Should we have a gallery of these things!?

[Golliwog]

Is that their first response?

I don't know why, but their first response is almost also something fairly generic like that, as if the computer scanned your comment and came up with something that it though would answer your question, then this person just put it in. I remember back on ANZAC day, sending an email in to ask what time the early morning train left Mitchelton as while TL gave a time for it to leave FG, that was actually the bus substitute due to a closure that I didn't trust. The first response was something like "Yeah, we have extra morning trains, for more details, visit this link" which was the link I'd already been to and just gave the FG time which totally didn't answer my question. When I replied back basically saying, "Thats nice, but could you please answer my question" I got a proper response, and that was then posted up online on the website as well.

[Set in train]

The Saga continues, and the team at TL are literally incompetent.

I asked quite simply, how frequently the trains will run on the line, peak, offpeak and weekends.

And they sent me a PDF response telling me about the frequency of the new Richlands rocket bus BUS, with no mention of the rail frequency.

Bus....Train....Bus.....Train, can't get the two confused that easily, yet they did.

Gazza, they didn't confuse it, they used a communications 'strategy' to attempt to confuse the intended reader (you, which of course it didn't).

I'm sorry to say, but this is a great example of using PR for evil, not good; plain lack of respect.

They'd rather not answer your question, so instead of being upfront, the attempt is made to subvert your question.

I would attach the letter to the relevant minister & shadow to ask if they support such communications strategy which disrespects a fair & reasonable inquiry.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Maybe they haven't done their 10 million dollar survey yet so they just gave you the bus details

[Gazza]

Golliwog, you can check back earlier in the thread, early last week I began posting each email as they happened, click back a couple of pages to read them in full.

But to sum up it went like this.

-Emailed the address on the TMR Springfield Rail extension page, which was to trackstar.
-Got an email back from trackstar saying to email QR or TL because they were just delivering the project, fair enough, but I did think the project site would be a good one stop shop to begin with....anyways.
-Emailed QR, and it seem they pass any questions directly to TL because I got an email back from TL telling me that I should visit the TMR website and use their contact form for information.
-I responded, saying I had emailed TMR/Trackstar in the first place and they had directed me to email QR/TL instead, so who else could I contact?
-I got a response back from TL saying "Sorry for misreading your email, we will pass your question onto the timetabling/planning team"
...LOL misread, more like they were lazy and thought they could fob me off and make my enquiry someone else's problem.
-I then got the one from just now, telling me about the interim bus :S
-So i sent a response saying that I never asked about the bus, and I want to know the frequency of the TRAINS on the RAIL line, and could they just answer this.

If I don't get the answer I'm looking for in the next email, I think I will email the minister and shadow minister and indeed ask if they support this communications strategy.
And If I do get the response I want, ill still email both with the final string of messages, and ask why they employ staff at TL that find it difficult to answer questions/find answers as a public service.

[SurfRail]

Don't forget to email them the link for the Seaford extension frequency details (Page 7 of the PDF)

http://210.247.132.180/alt-host/assets/pdf_file/0019/59203/16411_New_Connections_8_Interactive.pdf

[somebody]

The Saga continues, and the team at TL are literally incompetent.

You are too kind.  I do not believe they are not answering the question accidentally.

[Set in train]

Clear to see work has begun:

http://www.nearmap.com/?q=@-27.671785,152.909260&ll=-27.671785,152.90926&z=15&t=k&nmd=20111116

[Gazza]

Did get an answer, finally.

Dear Gavin,



As you may be aware, TransLink undertook an investigation into the matters you raised regarding the Springfield Train Line. In consulting with our delivery partner, Queensland Rail, we were provided with the below information:



At this stage planning for the proposed Springfield extension is in its early stages with construction work is expected to be completed in 2013.

The line is expected to experience a frequency as similar to that for Richlands Station. Queensland Rail will review the level of service for this extension closer to the implementation date.

Any alterations to service frequency will be based on passenger demand, infrastructure capacity and asset availability.



We hope that this information has been of assistance to you. Should you require further information, please visit the TransLink website at http://www.translink.com.au/ . Alternatively, the TransLink Call Centre is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 13 12 30.



Kind regards



Kerry-Ann

TransLink Customer Support

The point is, now I/we have some sort of official statement on the matter (Rather than a pic of briefing notes left lying around)

There is now some transportable buildings in the median of the Centenary approaching the Logan Motorway junction.


Media release time...."Work underway on the Springfield extension, just dont expect frequent trains".

[ozbob]

 

[O_128]

theres our answer, we all know its impossible to provide more than 2tph with only dual track.

[somebody]

Well done, Gazza.

[ozbob]

LOLOLOL

[ozbob]

LOLOLOL

Grow up, 30 minute frequency IS Queensland, get a grip ..

[#Metro]

At this stage planning for the proposed Springfield extension is in its early stages with construction work is expected to be completed in 2013.

The line is expected to experience a frequency as similar to that for Richlands Station. Queensland Rail will review the level of service for this extension closer to the implementation date.

Any alterations to service frequency will be based on passenger demand, infrastructure capacity and asset availability.

Um... Perth's Thornlie spur line has 15 minute frequencies. UNLIKE RICHLANDS. And what is at Thornlie?

Why spend billions on infrastructure BILLIONS when you are only going to run 2 services an hour? Am I allowed to say "you may as well just run a frequent bus?". *Throw hands in air*.

[Stillwater]

What's the go?  Is it just a case of the availability of passenger rolling stock and crews?  It can't be the track.

[SurfRail]

What's the go?  Is it just a case of the availability of passenger rolling stock and crews?  It can't be the track.

It's because - collectively - the "complex" of people/entities/agencies running the system is as thick as sh#t in the neck of a bottle. 

Plenty of people in the upper echelons understand what frequency is and how it works.  Put these people together to design a timetable and they will produce something where half-hourly services resume before 9am.

Also not helped by the fact Treasury would probably not want to pay for an ambitious timetable, even if one could be prepared.