Queensland Rail uniforms

[Fares_Fair]

Queensland Rail Uniforms include:

Akubra brand hats (yes! Akubra brand),
Jackets (lightweight, same material as slacks/trousers),
Black Slacks with Red Narrow Belts for Women,
Black Trousers with Red Narrow belts for Men,
Long and Short Sleeved White Tailored Blouses for Women,
Long and Short Sleeved White Shirts for Men,
Button Up Vests,
Red Ties for Men,
Red Scarves for Women,
Jumpers are now to be provided as QR employees have concerns with staff being cold in winter.

Ties and Scarves MUST be worn by employees from 1st May to 1st September.

COST:
I was told e.g. that uniforms for drivers in Maryborough cost $870.00 per employee !

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[longboi]

Not sure what you're getting at here. Do you propose they work in the nude?

Do you have the same feelings towards Police, Fire, Ambulance workers? Their uniform is significantly more expensive.

[Fares_Fair]

no, obviously not at all Nikko.

The uniform was brought in to separate QR National from Queensland Rail.
The Emergency services you mention as an example are required to have extensive equipment etc., as part of their uniforms.
IMHO, QR do not come under that category of service provider and are an inappropriate comparison.

It is a corporate uniform yes, and it will look good, Akubra hats and all.
It should be compared with comparative corporate uniforms, companies with a wide range of indoor/outdoor functions.
Maybe it will be seen to be good value for money.

QR people who I talked to thought it overkill.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Derwan]

Without the actual cost (only going by what someone "said" about a drivers uniform and not general QR staff), we can hardly comment on whether it is too high.

While the brand of the hat is Akubra, for all we know it could be a cheaper version of their hats and/or they might've got a great deal considering it would be a great promotional opportunity for Akubra.  (See - how many times have we already said Akubra in this thread!)

I think it's about time QR updated their boring blue/blue uniform - and it sounds like they're doing it in style.  The uniform goes a long way towards the perception of professionalism. 

Of course those who have worn the "plain" uniforms for many years will think it's overkill.  Let's see what they after wearing the new uniform for 6 months. 

[petey3801]

As a driver, I can't say i've heard/seen/been told what the new traincrew uniform will be... Only seen what the station staff etc. uniforms are.

In regards to the 'Acubra's', if they're the same ones as we have now, they are not Akubra branded. My hat has 'Montcastle & Sons' on it.

[Derwan]

Station staff at Central were wearing the new uniform today.  They look great (compared to the old blue/blue uniforms).

[Fares_Fair]

Queensland Rail Uniforms include:

Akubra brand hats (yes! Akubra brand),
Jackets (lightweight, same material as slacks/trousers),
Black Slacks with Red Narrow Belts for Women,
Black Trousers with Red Narrow belts for Men,
Long and Short Sleeved White Tailored Blouses for Women,
Long and Short Sleeved White Shirts for Men,
Button Up Vests,
Red Ties for Men,
Red Scarves for Women,
Jumpers are now to be provided as QR employees have concerns with staff being cold in winter.

Ties and Scarves MUST be worn by employees from 1st May to 1st September.

COST:
I was told e.g. that uniforms for drivers in Maryborough cost $870.00 per employee !

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

With regards to the cost of the uniforms, QR did not give an answer to this question when asked by the print media.
IMHO, the uniforms do look very smart and professional.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[petey3801]

Queensland Rail Uniforms include:

Akubra brand hats (yes! Akubra brand),
Jackets (lightweight, same material as slacks/trousers),
Black Slacks with Red Narrow Belts for Women,
Black Trousers with Red Narrow belts for Men,
Long and Short Sleeved White Tailored Blouses for Women,
Long and Short Sleeved White Shirts for Men,
Button Up Vests,
Red Ties for Men,
Red Scarves for Women,
Jumpers are now to be provided as QR employees have concerns with staff being cold in winter.

Ties and Scarves MUST be worn by employees from 1st May to 1st September.

COST:
I was told e.g. that uniforms for drivers in Maryborough cost $870.00 per employee !

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

With regards to the cost of the uniforms, QR did not give an answer to this question when asked by the print media.
IMHO, the uniforms do look very smart and professional.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

Forgot to mention in my last post, but there are no Queensland Rail drivers in Maryborough...

[Fares_Fair]

Without the actual cost (only going by what someone "said" about a drivers uniform and not general QR staff), we can hardly comment on whether it is too high.

Hello Derwan,

For the record, the someone who 'said' is QR staff.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Fares_Fair]

Queensland Rail Uniforms include:

Akubra brand hats (yes! Akubra brand),
Jackets (lightweight, same material as slacks/trousers),
Black Slacks with Red Narrow Belts for Women,
Black Trousers with Red Narrow belts for Men,
Long and Short Sleeved White Tailored Blouses for Women,
Long and Short Sleeved White Shirts for Men,
Button Up Vests,
Red Ties for Men,
Red Scarves for Women,
Jumpers are now to be provided as QR employees have concerns with staff being cold in winter.

Ties and Scarves MUST be worn by employees from 1st May to 1st September.

COST:
I was told e.g. that uniforms for drivers in Maryborough cost $870.00 per employee !

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

With regards to the cost of the uniforms, QR did not give an answer to this question when asked by the print media.
IMHO, the uniforms do look very smart and professional.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

Forgot to mention in my last post, but there are no Queensland Rail drivers in Maryborough...

Hello Petey3801,
I stand by what I was told by QR staff.

If that is the case, I can only assume it was to protect the source.
As you are a driver, I hope you may be able to confirm the figure quoted in due course - but will understand if you are unable to do so for obvious reasons.

Regards,
Fares_ Fair.

[petey3801]

Queensland Rail Uniforms include:

Akubra brand hats (yes! Akubra brand),
Jackets (lightweight, same material as slacks/trousers),
Black Slacks with Red Narrow Belts for Women,
Black Trousers with Red Narrow belts for Men,
Long and Short Sleeved White Tailored Blouses for Women,
Long and Short Sleeved White Shirts for Men,
Button Up Vests,
Red Ties for Men,
Red Scarves for Women,
Jumpers are now to be provided as QR employees have concerns with staff being cold in winter.

Ties and Scarves MUST be worn by employees from 1st May to 1st September.

COST:
I was told e.g. that uniforms for drivers in Maryborough cost $870.00 per employee !

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

With regards to the cost of the uniforms, QR did not give an answer to this question when asked by the print media.
IMHO, the uniforms do look very smart and professional.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

Forgot to mention in my last post, but there are no Queensland Rail drivers in Maryborough...

Hello Petey3801,
I stand by what I was told by QR staff.

If that is the case, I can only assume it was to protect the source.
As you are a driver, I hope you may be able to confirm the figure quoted in due course - but will understand if you are unable to do so for obvious reasons.

Regards,
Fares_ Fair.

Doubt I would be able to, even if I wanted to. We don't get told the cost, we just get issued the uniform. It may have been the figure for the current uniform they were talking about?

As far as the 'Acubra' hats, we have already been issued an Acubra type hat fairly recently (not Acubra brand, but same sort of thing). So not sure they would be handing them out again so soon, except to people who didn't get them last time they were issued (this batch started being issued around a year ago).

As far as the rest of the uniform goes, the only thing I have heard about a new Traincrew uniform is a single runour, that we wouldn't have a choice of long/short sleeve shirts/shorts, it will be Long Sleeve shirts and long pants only. But, once again, this is only a rumour and is completely unsubstantiated and should be taken with half a grain of fine sand (the QR runour mill is something to behold!).

[Stillwater]

Should QR staff have a uniform?  Yes.  Should the employer provide the uniform?  Yes.  The cost is probably less than the cost of a uniform for the police and prison officers, probably about the same as that for ambos, and far less that for airline staff and the military, which would be at the top of the tree.

Uniforms have to be a bit more robust than the average shirt and trousers/skirts.

So where is the problem?  It is middle-of-the-road uniform with middle-of-the-road cost.

Should QR staff have a hat?  Yes.  (OH&S)  If QR went for some cheap Made in China product, it woule be accused of being 'un-Australian" and taking jobs from Australian hatmakers, so Akubra-made is fine -- there are various types (and prices) of Akubra hat.

[#Metro]

Just buy the hat that does the job. I don't believe that products have a "nationality" and certainly that you should pay more for them.
Spend the savings on decent train frequency and proper information and maps at train stations.

Imagine what would happen if China turned around and started refusing our coal shipments because "that's made in Australia". 

[haakon]

Is that $870 for one outfit? or 5 shirts / pants, with jacket and hat etc? How many items of clothing are we talking about here to get that figure.

[Stillwater]

 It is alleged that the cost of a QR Uniform is of the order of $870.  A confirmation would be good.  The question in some people's minds is whether the taxpayer is getting value for money?

If you visit some typical corporate wear on-line shops:
http://www.totallyworkwearbrisbane.com/
http://welbornecorporateimage.com.au/
http://www.thecorporatewardrobe.com.au/

you come up with prices such as: woollen vests $45, Bisley shirt $20, women's skirt $80, men's pants $109, jacket $149, shoes $65-$80 etc.  Adjustments for body shapes would be extra.

Allowing for 3 shirts and 2 pairs of trousers etc, plus an Akubra hat, the fitout of a typical QR employee from the corporate wear shown here easily reaches $700.  Distribution costs, admin etc would bring the figure up.

Is it an unreasonable figure?  No.  We are not talking off the rack at K-Mart.  Uniforms, by their nature, would have to be made of robust material, reinforced, double stitching and the like.

[Fares_Fair]

It is alleged that the cost of a QR Uniform is of the order of $870.  A confirmation would be good.  The question in some people's minds is whether the taxpayer is getting value for money?

If you visit some typical corporate wear on-line shops:
http://www.totallyworkwearbrisbane.com/
http://welbornecorporateimage.com.au/
http://www.thecorporatewardrobe.com.au/

you come up with prices such as: woollen vests $45, Bisley shirt $20, women's skirt $80, men's pants $109, jacket $149, shoes $65-$80 etc.  Adjustments for body shapes would be extra.

Allowing for 3 shirts and 2 pairs of trousers etc, plus an Akubra hat, the fitout of a typical QR employee from the corporate wear shown here easily reaches $700.  Distribution costs, admin etc would bring the figure up.

Is it an unreasonable figure?  No.  We are not talking off the rack at K-Mart.  Uniforms, by their nature, would have to be made of robust material, reinforced, double stitching and the like.

A confirmation would indeed be good.
Also the total number of employees who receive them and the expected life of the uniforms, i.e. is it an annual or biennial or triennial cost ?
I think it is a good thing if they were made in Australia, even if it costs a bit more.
Haven't seen or heard any information about that either.

Given the obvious support here for a cost of almost $900 per employee, it seems a mystery why they wouldn't answer a cost question.
I'm not sure that distribution or administration costs were included in the figure I was given.

As I have said, the uniforms do indeed look very smart and professional and there's nothing wrong with that.
But when simple questions go unanswered it paves the way for scrutiny as to why they aren't answered and what can of worms may be opened if it was.


Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[petey3801]

I have had my uniform for well over a year now and it is still going strong, no signs at all of breaking (well, my shorts no longer fit me, but that's a problem about me, not them!).

For whatever the cost of the uniform is, we do get quite a lot of clothing (incl. safety vests, jumpers, jackets, raincoats, shirts, pants, boots etc.). I think $870pp would be quite a good price for what we get. Plus, like I said in an earlier post, the hats are NOT 'Acubra' brand, they are 'Montcastle & Sons'.

Our uniforms are certainly not a 'replace every few months' deal, they certainly last quite a long time.

[ozbob]

From the Couriermail click here!

Queensland Rail workers told to not wear colourful underwear after new uniforms found to be almost see-through

    by: Robyn Ironside
    From: The Courier-Mail
    October 06, 2011 3:00AM

TAXPAYERS could be footing the bill for new bras for Queensland Rail workers after they were told not to wear colourful undies.

New uniforms featuring a very pale blue blouse and light-weight fabric have left women staff fuming because they are almost see-through.

Introduced in April, the uniforms were chosen because they were more suitable for Queensland's climate, but their transparency has led QR to direct staff to avoid colourful underwear.

Staff claimed the material was so cheap it also shrank in clothes dryers.

A QR spokesman confirmed the Station Standards Manual set out "non-gender specific guidelines for presentation", including an instruction that "coloured undergarments must not be worn under blouses or shirts as this can create an unprofessional appearance".

"Like all professional organisations, we expect our staff to maintain a professional appearance," the spokesman said.

"Queensland Rail's uniform guidelines . . . have been in place for more than a decade."

Kath Nelson, of the Australian Services Union, said it was "outrageous that QR would seek to dictate the colour of an employee's underwear".

"Workers should be free to choose their own undergarments," Ms Nelson said.

"If an employer wants to dictate what a worker wears they need to pay for it, (but) what needs to be considered here is the appropriateness of the fabric."

Train drivers and other staff will get their own new uniform in a few months and they too are unhappy with the design.

One train driver, who did not want to be named, said the pale colour was not suited to the type of work they did at QR.

"A lot of us don't want the uniform changed," he said.

"Trains are by nature not terribly clean and to have us in such a light colour means we're going to look pretty grotty by the end of a shift."

The driver also expressed concern the uniforms were being made in India, China and Fiji. Ms Nelson said QR should be setting an example by having its uniforms made locally.

"We would absolutely support these garments provided by QR being manufactured in Australia by workers who are appropriately remunerated," she said.

"That's the benchmark an organisation like QR should be setting."

[Fares_Fair]

I have had my uniform for well over a year now and it is still going strong, no signs at all of breaking (well, my shorts no longer fit me, but that's a problem about me, not them!).

For whatever the cost of the uniform is, we do get quite a lot of clothing (incl. safety vests, jumpers, jackets, raincoats, shirts, pants, boots etc.). I think $870pp would be quite a good price for what we get. Plus, like I said in an earlier post, the hats are NOT 'Acubra' brand, they are 'Montcastle & Sons'.

Our uniforms are certainly not a 'replace every few months' deal, they certainly last quite a long time.

I heard a report on ABC radio this morning on the story above.
I mention it because QR staff have told me that the material is wafer thin and that they had concerns about how long they would last.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[Stillwater]

There was an earlier discussion in this forum about staff finding themselves caught in rainy weather while wearing their wafer thin blouses and shirts.  Female staff said the material became 'see-through' when wet.

[petey3801]

I have had my uniform for well over a year now and it is still going strong, no signs at all of breaking (well, my shorts no longer fit me, but that's a problem about me, not them!).

For whatever the cost of the uniform is, we do get quite a lot of clothing (incl. safety vests, jumpers, jackets, raincoats, shirts, pants, boots etc.). I think $870pp would be quite a good price for what we get. Plus, like I said in an earlier post, the hats are NOT 'Acubra' brand, they are 'Montcastle & Sons'.

Our uniforms are certainly not a 'replace every few months' deal, they certainly last quite a long time.

I heard a report on ABC radio this morning on the story above.
I mention it because QR staff have told me that the material is wafer thin and that they had concerns about how long they would last.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

Probably not best for me to comment on whether I like/dislike the new uniform too much on here, however, suffice to say, I much prefer the fabric used in the current uniform to that of the proposed new Traincrew uniforms...

[SteelPan]

Isn't this about the 3rd/4th "uniform change" that QR employees/the public/the taxpayer have been subjected to, in about a decade?  These things should little change at all - they are part of public transit safety, having a recognisable, comfortable and functionally "stylish" uniform, which all the public know represents an official QR staff member.   :conf

Written with bright red undies ON (well, would be if I had some that colour   )

[Stillwater]

We must be thinking alike, a bit like a convent full of nuns having a synchronised menstrual cycle.  My undies today are red also. 

[HappyTrainGuy]

*Reminisce of rainy days at high school with white shirts and Alice Cooper fans.....* School was definatly out that summer

[BribieG]

I love the "Fat Controller" Frock-Style black winter overcoats and button-up waistcoats - any chance of a top hat as well? 

[SurfRail]

Bring back peaked caps (and kepi caps for BCC drivers while we are at it).

[O_128]

I love the "Fat Controller" Frock-Style black winter overcoats and button-up waistcoats - any chance of a top hat as well? 

1900s frequency, 1900s uniform 

[ozbob]

Be a bit careful there.  On many lines through the 1900s the number of trains that used to run was actually more than today.  This was a function of frequent goods trains, pickups, branch workings, shunt trains and the like.  Trains tended to be a bit shorter but more frequent. Also passenger services also frequent when various branch activities layered on the core routes (rail motors etc.)  I think from memory there were more passenger (steam hauled too) trains in the AM peak in the 1950s than there is today on the Ferny Grove line for example.

[SurfRail]

Be a bit careful there.  On many lines through the 1900s the number of trains that used to run was actually more than today.  This was a function of frequent goods trains, pickups, branch workings, shunt trains and the like.  Trains tended to be a bit shorter but more frequent. Also passenger services also frequent when various branch activities layered on the core routes (rail motors etc.)  I think from memory there were more passenger (steam hauled too) trains in the AM peak in the 1950s than there is today on the Ferny Grove line for example.

One of the truly depressing things is that steam era British mainline trains regularly ran faster than the paltry 130 or 140kph the IMUs are restricted to.  Speed and reliability were certainly not the deciding factors when steam was phased out!

[Fares_Fair]

Be a bit careful there.  On many lines through the 1900s the number of trains that used to run was actually more than today.  This was a function of frequent goods trains, pickups, branch workings, shunt trains and the like.  Trains tended to be a bit shorter but more frequent. Also passenger services also frequent when various branch activities layered on the core routes (rail motors etc.)  I think from memory there were more passenger (steam hauled too) trains in the AM peak in the 1950s than there is today on the Ferny Grove line for example.

One of the truly depressing things is that steam era British mainline trains regularly ran faster than the paltry 130 or 140kph the IMUs are restricted to.  Speed and reliability were certainly not the deciding factors when steam was phased out!

Steam would have to be environmentally friendly, wouldn't it ? 

Bring back steam, bring back steam ... 


Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[ozbob]

British steam was in a class of its own.  Constrained by a relatively small loading gauge, their locomotive design was brilliant.  They built track of high standard and ran trains fast on the main lines.

Short "British Movietone" Newsreel of Nigel Gresley's "Silver Jubilee" record breaking run of 104mph in 1935.  This train reached 112 mph.

-->

[mufreight]

Most British steam locos had plenty of pace, long legs but in comparison less haulage capacity when compared with equivalent size locos here in Australia.  They were generaly technicaly advanced but again by comparison not as robust as locos in use here and required higher levels of maintenance.
Horses for courses few locos anywhere in the world could compare with those in use on local systems, the Webb era locos in SA, the R and H class in Victoria and the 36, 38 and 57 classes in NSW and on the NG systems the WA W and V classes and on QR rails BB18 1/4, C 17, C19 and DD17 classes all could hold their own.
Loco development in this country wasw severly constrained by the limitations of loading gauge and axle loads and the track standards.