Article: Rail link for western bottleneck?

[ozbob]

From Brisbanetimes click here

Rail link for western bottleneck?

Rail link for western bottleneck?
Tony Moore | April 9, 2008 - 5:00AM

A new commuter rail line from Bellbowrie across the Brisbane River to the Ipswich rail line near Wacol should be studied immediately, Brisbane's main rail lobby group said yesterday.

Ronan Lee, the State Government's parliamentary secretary for main roads, yesterday suggested the rail alternative to his own government's proposal to squeeze more even cars on to Moggill Road and the Western Freeway.

Senior state Liberal MPs Bruce Flegg and Tim Nicholls also believe the idea has some merit.

Mr Lee said he had "floated" the rail line because he was disappointed with the "road project" emphasis by the State Government as it looked to solve traffic congestion in Brisbane's western suburbs.

Mr Lee suggests allowing private investors - as a public private partnership (PPP) - to develop a rail spur running roughly from Wacol, across State Government-owned land used by prisons and the Department of Primary Industries in to the Bellbowrie area.

Robert Dow, spokesperson for lobby group Rail: Back on Track, said he was embarrassed by the Queensland Government's failure to seriously consider public transport in Brisbane's western suburbs.

"At the moment, Translink is transfixed on buses," Mr Dow said.

Mr Dow said the rail spur - either as a light rail concept, or as a commuter rail project - had merit and should be investigated.

"I think a low-level feasibility study should look at it as quickly as possible."

Mr Dow said the State Government was already adding two extra lines to the Ipswich line between Corinda and Darra.

Queensland Rail is building South-East Queensland's first new commuter rail line from Darra to Richlands by 2011, a project which will later stretch to Springfield.

Mr Dow said the light-rail idea had been "floated" several times before, but never as a concept running back against the traffic flow towards the Ipswich line.

Mr Dow said suggestions to run a rail line to Riverview, providing access for commuters to both Ipswich and Brisbane, should also be tested.

Queensland Transport said the idea had never been tested, but said it could be considered under the Western Brisbane Transport Network Investigation (WBTNI) process.

The only study of rail now underway is an Inner City Rail Capacity Study, which is looking mostly at expanding the existing rail lines. It is due to be finished by the end of the year.

Mr Nicholls said the Opposition would not reject the idea out of hand because it was an interesting idea, but he said he was concerned at a rail line running close to prisons.

Mr Nicholls said adding a high-frequency bus lane to the Western Freeway should be the main priority because it was an existing transport corridor.

Mr Flegg said the rail spur was the sort of project the WBTNI should be studying.

"I think it is worth looking at," Mr Flegg said, suggesting that the government had spent $17 million on WBTNI to virtually present a series of existing projects.

Mr Flegg said adding a public transport corridor to the Western Freeway had to be the highest priority, backed by better co-ordination of buses and trains at Indooroopilly station.

Meanwhile, Brisbane City Council said yesterday's proposal to expand the CityCat fleet sounded impressive, but problems with wash from the ferries limited opportunities to broaden the network.

Councillor Jane Prentice, chair of public and active transport, said the problems worsened upstream where unprotected river frontages became more common.

"We wouldn't want to do anything that would result in significant damage to the Brisbane River bank," she said.