Letters to the editor - Not published

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Courier Mail July 22

This election is an opportunity to truly 'move forward' with sustainable transport for future environmental, economic and social benefits.
Already the populist road centric 'non core promises' are being rolled out.  Australians are tired of failed paradigms.

Infrastructure investment in real sustainable transport for long term gains is needed. The Cross River Rail project in south-east Queensland is a major priority.  Queenslanders will no doubt be cognisant of commitments to this project on the 21st August.
Australians generally will be acutely attuned to rail, public and active transport policies of all parties.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Courier Mail August 11

The recent announcements for rail from Petrie to Kippa-Ring in Queensland, and the Parramatta to Epping rail link in New South Wales are both well overdue projects.  The money for these projects will be returned exponentially as savings in reduced road fatality and injury costs and lowered congestion.  Mature Governments globally are turning to sustainable transport options for the future. The horrendous economic costs of road centric policies are now hitting home.  Pork barrels or not, we are starting to see the transport paradigm turned and this will be welcomed by all thinking Australians.

[mufreight]

Be great if this duplicit mob delivers but have to be the cynic here, both of these projects are supposedly to be funded not if the government is re-elected at this election but also at the following election when the funding is dependent upon the state governments at that time contributing to the construction costs.
This means that there is only hot air until 2015 and then more maybe's.
If the Federal Government is genuine funds would be provided immediately so that construction can start immediately without the states having to make their contribution up front.
Very much a rescript of the Kippa-Ring saga for the last 103 years.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Sunday Mail

All the commuter  car parks have signs indicating constant surveillance, whether this extends to data collection for the purpose of transport planning is a moot point.  This is not new, data like this has been collected for years to assist in planning of park and ride facilities and local feeder buses.  We are becoming overly sensitive.  Motorists are constantly monitored by cameras on the roads and highways.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Courier Mail

Concerning the article "Transport trouble all in the line of duty ... at last, CM Oct 9-10".  Why is it at every opportunity it seems does the Courier Mail attempt to sensationalise trouble on the rail network?  If journalists did some basic research they would soon learn that crime rates on the rail network are actually at a significantly lower rate than the general community.

Where ever there are concentrations of people there are increased risks. It is a credit to TransLink and Queensland Rail that they do have in place an excellent security and safety program.  Proper acknowledgement of that would go a long way to assuring the community that yes there are risks everywhere, but certainly on the rail network there is active management and protection strategies and the risks are low, despite the apparent perceptions and distortions of the Courier Mail.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Queensland Times 23rd October 2010

I refer to Stephen Boyce's letter of the 23rd October concerning the  very frequent track closures on the Ipswich line.  I  am a frequent traveller on the Ipswich line and share Stephen's frustration with the frequent weekend closures.  The reason why we have had these very frequent closures of late has been to do with the track amplification between Corinda and Darra West and the associated works for the new Richlands branch line.  It is necessary to turn off power and signalling, and stop trains so that safe working conditions can be provided for the necessary construction tasks.

During these frequent closures for the new works, Queensland Rail does take the opportunity to do maintenance on sections other than the construction zones as well.  This means that come January 2011 when the new tracks open for service, track closures on the Ipswich line should be become a lot less frequent than they are now.  There will be a new timetable in 2011 as well for the Ipswich line.

Ipswich and Rosewood line commuters have endured these constant closures now for a couple of years.  Might be a gesture of good will to give us a free weekend of travel when the new works open in January in recognition of the pain?  I think though that the 'train pain' will be worth the 'train gain' in the end.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Queensland Times November 8

I refer to Stephen Boyce's letter of the 23rd October, and the letter published today (name with held) , 8th November, concerning the  very frequent track closures on the Ipswich line of late.  I  am a frequent traveller on the Ipswich line and share both writers' frustration with the frequent weekend closures.  The reason why we have had these very frequent closures of late has been to do with the track amplification between Corinda and Darra West and the associated works for the new Richlands branch line.  It is necessary to turn off power and signalling, and stop trains so that safe working conditions can be provided for the necessary construction tasks.  Queensland Rail has not been pro-active in clarifying at a local level why these closures have been happening.

During these frequent closures for the new works, Queensland Rail does take the opportunity to do maintenance on sections other than the construction zones as well.  This means that come January 2011 when the new tracks open for service, track closures on the Ipswich line should be become a lot less frequent than they are now.  There will be a new timetable in 2011 as well for the Ipswich line.

Ipswich and Rosewood line commuters have endured these constant closures now for a couple of years.  Might be a gesture of good will to give us a free weekend of travel when the new works open in January in recognition of the pain?  I think though that the 'train pain' will be worth the 'train gain' in the end.

[Stillwater]

A 'free travel' weekend on the Ipswich Line, properly promoted, could open a few motorists' eyes sufficiently to coax them from their cars permanently.  When the widened Ipswich Motorway opens to traffic, planning will have to begin on another six-lane toll road to Ipswich, such is the growth occurring there.

[Jonno]

A 'free travel' weekend on the Ipswich Line, properly promoted, could open a few motorists' eyes sufficiently to coax them from their cars permanently.  When the widened Ipswich Motorway opens to traffic, planning will have to begin on another six-lane toll road to Ipswich, such is the growth occurring there.

...and the reality that widening the motorway in the first place will encourage more car usage and create the demand for the additional road.  Car usage growth is outstripping population growth 5:1.

[#Metro]

Do you have a link to this statistic Jonno? 

[Jonno]

It is derived from Connecting SEQ 2031 itself.  It shows that our population grow around 20% in last 10 years or more whilst the number of km travelled increased by 100%.  Thus the last Transport Plan created more demand than population growth. 

[Golliwog]

I don't think thats exactly car usage though. The term car usage is a bit ambiguous, but the increase in car km over population growth would be due to the other statistic that was in Connecting SEQ, that the average distance from home to work is increasing. So its not really an increase in the number of trips, just the length of those trips.

[Jonno]

The growth in car usage is a combination of length (look at the new freeway. The southern end of the Gold Coast looks like an easy commute to Brisbane) and frequency.  Either way if population was the sole cause of growth then car usage should have increased by around 20%.

[ozbob]

This follows on from the letter submitted 8th November

Submitted to the Queensland Times November 8

I refer to Stephen Boyce's letter of the 23rd October, and the letter published today (name with held) , 8th November, concerning the  very frequent track closures on the Ipswich line of late.  I  am a frequent traveller on the Ipswich line and share both writers' frustration with the frequent weekend closures.  The reason why we have had these very frequent closures of late has been to do with the track amplification between Corinda and Darra West and the associated works for the new Richlands branch line.  It is necessary to turn off power and signalling, and stop trains so that safe working conditions can be provided for the necessary construction tasks.  Queensland Rail has not been pro-active in clarifying at a local level why these closures have been happening.

During these frequent closures for the new works, Queensland Rail does take the opportunity to do maintenance on sections other than the construction zones as well.  This means that come January 2011 when the new tracks open for service, track closures on the Ipswich line should be become a lot less frequent than they are now.  There will be a new timetable in 2011 as well for the Ipswich line.

Ipswich and Rosewood line commuters have endured these constant closures now for a couple of years.  Might be a gesture of good will to give us a free weekend of travel when the new works open in January in recognition of the pain?  I think though that the 'train pain' will be worth the 'train gain' in the end.

From the Queensland Times click here!

Track closures affecting commuters

Track closures affecting commuters

Zane Jackson | 9th November 2010

IPSWICH train commuters should receive a weekend of free travel to make up for this year's seemingly constant weekend track closures.

That's the view of Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow, who said Ipswich commuters have been affected by track closures more than residents on any other rail line.

Mr Dow said the recent track closures were due to track amplification between Corinda and Darra West and work on the new Richlands branch line.

He said these works would benefit Ipswich travellers in the long run but Queensland Rail had not clearly spelled out these benefits during recent weekend closures.

"Ipswich and Rosewood line commuters have endured these constant closures now for a couple of years," he said.

"Might be a gesture of goodwill to give us a free weekend of travel when the new works open in January in recognition of the pain? I think, though, that the 'train pain' will be worth the 'train gain' in the end."

A Queensland Rail spokesperson last week said there had been a weekend track closure every month on the Ipswich line, with two in October.

Transport Minister and Ipswich MP Rachel Nolan said there were no plans to give commuters a weekend of free travel.

"The big advantage that the Ipswich community will get from all the work is a third passenger line from Corinda to Darra. This will allow more express services next year," she said.

"The new Richlands station will also open early next year, heralding completion of the first spur line to be run to a community in south-east Queensland since the Second World War."

From next January, Queensland Rail will trial a new way to manage track closures across the suburban network.

Under the new program, the network will be divided into a number of zones, with shutdowns scheduled in each zone four times a year, leading to a reduction in ad hoc closures.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Courier Mail

The road toll in terms of deaths has fallen, a good thing. The focus on fatalities is understandable to some extent but it ignores the mounting injury toll and the costs of life long management of the maimed.  The costs of road trauma is now unmanageable. If any other transport mode had the death and injury toll of road transport it would be shut down tomorrow.  It is time that Governments become serious in providing safe sustainable mass transit.  The Queensland Government needs to move rapidly in providing all citizens with frequent rail services so that they can at least have the choice of avoiding the carnage on the roads.  This would be responsible Government.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Courier Mail 18th January 2011

A special well done to all in the recovery.

I would like to acknowledge the outstanding efforts by the bus drivers and support crews, the Queensland Rail staff at all levels, TransLink staff and the support of Government in maintaining public transport services almost at full service levels.  An extremely commendable effort.

Ferry crews were proactive in preserving the fleet.  Well done.

Bringing forward Richlands rail has proved to be a significantly helpful move as well.

Please continue to use public transport where you can.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Courier Mail May 15

As highlighted in the Courier Mail the penalty fares for go card are increasing from May 30 ('Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk doubles go card penalty fares for errant commuters', CM May 13).  The incidence of the fixed penalty fares is concerning though, on average for every 29 trips on the go card there is a penalty fare. This indicates some underlying issues with go card use. No doubt some users have been deliberately not touching off in order to avoid a higher fare, but also it means that many go card users have been getting penalty fares and not knowing due to system failures. This is further confirmed because only 1 in 90 fixed fare penalties are adjusted by a user claim.  No doubt the increases in the penalty fares will see more claims made by users, but it is important that TransLink step up user education and properly inform users of the fare adjustment procedure. A ticketing system that results in an error every 29 trips or so, is definetely not 'world class'. Properly educating users and fixing up equipment issues and improving the fare structure, may help get to a 'world class' status.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Courier Mail 11th July 2011

The failure to treat all transport modes equally with the introduction of the carbon tax penalises the sustainable land transport mode namely rail, and suggests that the Carbon Tax is just desperate politics rather than decent policy.

The carbon tax plan as presented penalises rail but promotes road transport.  This will lead to further out of control congestion, massive damage to roads, more escalating health costs as road trauma increases, and does nothing to lower the carbon foot print of the transport sector. A policy that promotes car use but penalises public and active transport is idiotic.

Of real concern is how such a flawed decision can be part of a well planned, well considered policy.  It suggests that the rest of the Carbon Tax Policy may well be suspect.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Couriermail 30 August 2011

Federal Labor is not travelling well (Poll hits mean more headaches for Julia, CM August 30).  The carbon tax is rejected by a considerable majority of Australians despite the largesse of the recent carbon policy marketing campaign. No surprise, as a carbon tax that punishes public transport and rail, but favours less environmentally sustainable and unsafe transport options such as cars and trucks, raises a red flag as to its real environmental credentials. The carbon tax is a policy pandering to politics and a great pretender. No surprise then that in its botched form it is something to be rejected.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Queensland Times 12th September 2011

TransLink have announced a service review for the FlexiLink services in Roam Zones C (Goodna) and D (Karalee). Many Goodna residents have already suggested that they would very much like a modified route 523 bus to be brought back.  This route would provide a regular, legible bus service through the bus-less Roam Zone C between Goodna railway station and Redbank plains.  Problems with FlexiLink for the residents who have lost their bus service in Goodna have been the same as for the Ipswich residents who lost their bus services; missed appointments, lost connections, excessive travel times and the loss of the integrated TransLink fare structure which has had cost impacts.

TransLink have indicated on their web site that a written satisfaction survey will be distributed shortly.  It is important that public transport users in Roam Zones C and D give feedback to TransLink as part of the service review to get the best outcome for all.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Couriermail October 13

The failure to treat all transport modes equally with the introduction of the carbon tax penalises the sustainable land transport mode namely rail, and suggests that the carbon tax is just desperate politics rather than decent policy.

The carbon tax legislation as presented penalises rail but promotes road transport.  This will lead to further out of control congestion, massive damage to roads, more escalating health costs as road trauma increases, and does nothing to lower the carbon foot print of the transport sector. A policy that promotes car use but penalises public and active transport is idiotic.

Of real concern is how such a flawed decision can be part of a well planned, well considered policy?  It suggests that the rest of the Carbon Tax Policy may well be suspect.  Hopefully the Senate will do its job and fix the flaws.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Queensland Times October 14

The failure to treat all transport modes equally with the introduction of the carbon tax measures penalises the sustainable land transport mode namely rail, and suggests that the carbon tax is just desperate politics rather than decent policy.

The carbon tax legislation as presented penalises rail but promotes road transport and cars.  This will lead to further out of control congestion, massive damage to roads, more escalating health costs as road trauma increases, and does nothing to lower the carbon foot print of the transport sector.  A policy that promotes car use but penalises public and active transport is idiotic.

Of real concern is how such a flawed decision can be part of a well planned, well considered policy?  It suggests that the rest of the carbon tax legislation may well be suspect.  Hopefully the Senate will do its job and fix the flaws.  Public transport and rail needs to treated equitably.  Fare increases for public transport are extreme already let alone further fare price rises due to a carbon tax.  Compensation for a carbon tax will in no way match the price rises, and just adds layers of costs associated with a bulging bloated administrative bureaucracy.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Couriermail Oct 31

Your correspondent, Karl Fjellstrom in China (Letters Oct 31, Busway more viable route) has commented that a bus solution would be preferred over Cross River Rail.  Brisbane already has an extensive busway network, which is nearing capacity Mr Fjellstrom.  This is why Brisbane is planning to move ahead with Cross River Rail and which will deliver significant public transport capacity gains for the entire rail network in south-east Queensland, gains that bus cannot deliver.  Buses are not trains, and trains are not buses.  Chris Hale (Get on board Cross River Rail project to give city a brighter future, CM Oct 28) is right on the money!

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Couriermail November 8

The failure to treat all transport modes equally with the introduction of the carbon tax penalises the sustainable land transport mode namely rail, and suggests that the carbon tax is just desperate politics rather than decent policy.

The carbon tax legislation as passed penalises rail and public transport but promotes road transport - cars and trucks.  This will lead to further out of control congestion, massive damage to roads, more escalating health costs as road trauma increases, and does nothing to lower the carbon foot print of the transport sector. A policy that promotes car use but penalises public and active transport, and rail is idiotic.

Of real concern is how such a flawed decision can be part of a well planned, well considered policy?  It suggests that the rest of the Carbon Tax may well be suspect.  A clean energy future is a dream under this legislation?

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Couriermail November 13

Another horrific weekend on the roads.  

The carbon tax legislation as passed penalises rail and public transport but promotes more road transport - cars and trucks.  This will lead to further out of control congestion, massive damage to roads, more escalating health costs as road trauma further increases  and does nothing to lower the carbon foot print of the transport sector. A policy that promotes car use but penalises public and active transport, and rail, is idiotic.

The failure to treat all transport modes equally with the introduction of the carbon tax penalises the sustainable land transport mode namely rail, and suggests that the carbon tax is just desperate politics rather than decent policy.

Of real concern is how such a flawed decision can be part of a well planned, well considered policy?  It suggests that the rest of the Carbon Tax may well be suspect.  A clean energy future is nothing but a dream under this legislation.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Couriermail November 14

Another horrific weekend on the roads, nationally and at the state level.

It is important to highlight the ever mounting injury toll as much as the fatalities.  This is rarely done.  The cost of road trauma injury management and fatalities is at least $40 BILLION annually and escalating rapidly.

The so called clean energy policy recently legislated favours cars and trucks over public transport and rail.  Is this logical?

It is time every effort was made to ramp up rail transport for freight and passenger.  This will lead to enormous economic and social benefit.

Enough is enough.

[Jonno]

Enough is enough...and doing more of the same is not going to fix it!

[ozbob]

Submitted to the South West News December 7

Mr Allan Moorehead of Auchenflower wrote a letter highlighting the fact that trains can be a cause of death (South West News, December 7).  Yes they can, but there were a couple of assertions in Mr Moorehead's letter that need clarification. Travel by rail is 40 times safer than by car.  Level crossing crashes are avoidable if road users pay attention to the road rules. Suicides sadly happen on railways, and on roads and other transport modes as well. Trains are slowed at Central, on approach to platform 4 because there is a particular rail track speed restriction. The other platforms approach and run through speeds are normal, as for the rest of the rail network.  The road toll in terms of fatalities and injuries continues to escalate alarmingly.  As a community we need to encourage safe modes of transport.

[ozbob]

Submitted to Couriermail December 21

Your correspondent highlighting yet another track closure from the 24th to 27th December on the Ipswich / Rosewood line is spot on, most unfortunate timing (QR off track with Christmas work, Letters, Dec 21).  Another aspect that needs attention is the ticketing arrangements.  There is a lot of confusion as to what is required in terms of tickets on the buses substituted for trains.  Often the station access to go card equipment is blocked off, and the buses don't have functioning go card equipment.  The obvious thing to do is to come clean and state that travel on the bus legs of the rail substitute services is free. This is what generally happens in practise anyway. And why not? When there are track closures the length of journey time increases often by hours and confusion reigns.  Is it too difficult to state a policy?

[Fares_Fair]

Submitted to Couriermail December 21

Your correspondent highlighting yet another track closure from the 24th to 27th December on the Ipswich / Rosewood line is spot on, most unfortunate timing (QR off track with Christmas work, Letters, Dec 21).  Another aspect that needs attention is the ticketing arrangements.  There is a lot of confusion as to what is required in terms of tickets on the buses substituted for trains.  Often the station access to go card equipment is blocked off, and the buses don't have functioning go card equipment.  The obvious thing to do is to come clean and state that travel on the bus legs of the rail substitute services is free. This is what generally happens in practise anyway. And why not? When there are track closures the length of journey time increases often by hours and confusion reigns.  Is it too difficult to state a policy?

"hear hear"

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[mufreight]

Submitted to Couriermail December 21

Your correspondent highlighting yet another track closure from the 24th to 27th December on the Ipswich / Rosewood line is spot on, most unfortunate timing (QR off track with Christmas work, Letters, Dec 21).  Another aspect that needs attention is the ticketing arrangements.  There is a lot of confusion as to what is required in terms of tickets on the buses substituted for trains.  Often the station access to go card equipment is blocked off, and the buses don't have functioning go card equipment.  The obvious thing to do is to come clean and state that travel on the bus legs of the rail substitute services is free. This is what generally happens in practise anyway. And why not? When there are track closures the length of journey time increases often by hours and confusion reigns.  Is it too difficult to state a policy?

"hear hear"

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

Policy? Translink can not spell the word much less comprehend it, as for a clear passenger friendly policy eminating from Translink relative to anything remotely related to the provision of public transport well there is more chance of Anna providing free public transport.
 

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

23rd December 2011

Letter to the Editor

Ticketing concerns during track closures

There is yet another track closure from the 24th to 27th December on the Ipswich / Rosewood line, most unfortunate timing for many.  Another aspect that needs attention though during the frequent track closures is the ticketing arrangements.  There is a lot of confusion as to what is required in terms of tickets on the buses substituted for trains.  Often the station access to go card equipment is blocked off, and the buses don't have functioning go card equipment.  If people are unable to touch on when boarding the bus as per the TransLink go card user guide,  it is not their fault. The obvious thing to do is to come clean and state that travel on the bus legs of the rail substitute services is free.  This is what generally happens in practise anyway. And why not? When there are track closures the length of journey time increases often by hours and confusion reigns.  Is it too difficult to state a policy?

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

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Couriermail December 26

The Minister for Transport has announced free public transport travel on New Years Eve from 9pm to 1am only (Courier Mail, Dec 26th).  In Melbourne, free public transport commences at 6pm New Years Eve and carries though to the first normal scheduled services New Years day, a window of around 12 hours. The limited time for free public transport in Brisbane is confusing and mean spirited and will cause problems with many who will be confused in the 'wee' hours of New Years Day.  Perhaps the real reason why there is only a four hour window in Brisbane is a disguised attempt to avoid the problems seen at the Ekka this year, as passengers without go cards were forced to queue for hours to purchase time limited paper single tickets.  Extend the free travel from 6pm to 6am.  This would be the way forward. Melbourne does it well.  It encourages public transport maximally and gets people onto public transport that normally might not. Why is everything so damn difficult in Queensland?

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Queensland Times December 30

The Minister for Transport, Ms Palaszczuk has listened to community concerns and has directed that free travel on the TransLink public transport network New Year's Eve and early on New Year's Day will be from 9pm to 5.30am. Thanks to the Minister for acting on the feedback, and TransLink for moving swiftly. There are extra trains on the Ipswich line overnight so this is a great opportunity for us all.

On the 2nd January 2012, a new fare structure for the go card comes into effect. Fares increase 15% but it is really important that if you are not presently using a go card, get one as the price of paper single tickets will be very very expensive.  Paper ticket users will be paying around 30 to 40% more for travel than they need too, and miss out on free travel with the new ten journey cap and off peak discounts. Paper single tickets also have time limitations which can add significantly to fare costs as well. Paper ticket buyers also add considerably to the journey time for buses. Do yourself and the community a favour and get a go card.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Couriermail January 6

Many public transport users are upset with the recent fare increases.  The opposition has only offered a reduction in the 10 journey cap for free travel to nine in a week on the go card.  Very little real difference, it does seem we are stuck with what we have for the time being.

So it is important that public transport passengers understand that there are many advantages for them personally, and community wide, to move to the go card for their public transport travel.

There are very considerable cost savings to be made by using a go card relative to paper single tickets, and particularly bus loading times are markedly improved.  Both excellent outcomes.

There are ways to use the new go card fare structure optimally, and in fact TransLink is suggesting that passengers should "go frequently, go free".  I agree.

[Fares_Fair]

Submitted to the Courier-Mail January 14

Sunshine Coast ... or sometime coast for rail.

A New Year can lead one to reminiscing about the way things used to be.
It was just over 4 short years ago, on 10 October 2007, that the Landsborough to Nambour rail duplication was confirmed as scheduled for completion in 2020.
In a Dorothy Dixer type Question on Notice, No. 1484 of that date, the then Transport Minister, the Hon. John Mickel, said so.

The Caboolture to Landsborough leg was originally promised by 2012, and here we are – but it ain't.

In these few intervening years, the Nambour duplication stretched out to become 2026, then 2026 to 2031, and finally to 2031 or beyond and dependent upon State Government priorities.
Buzz Lightyear, the Toy Story children's toy, described it succinctly thus "to infinity and beyond."

I recall learning in history, that a torture the Chinese communists were famous for using, was the slow wearing down of the human spirit.
It appears that they were not the only ones capable of utilising this method.

[Fares_Fair]

Submitted to the Sunshine Coast Daily January 14

Sunshine Coast ... or sometime coast for rail.

A New Year back on the trains can lead one to reminiscing about the way things used to be.
It was just over 4 short years ago, on 10 October 2007, that the Landsborough to Nambour rail duplication was confirmed as scheduled for completion in 2020.
In a Dorothy Dixer type Question on Notice, No. 1484 of that date, the then Transport Minister, the Hon. John Mickel, said so.

The Caboolture to Landsborough leg was originally promised by 2012, and here we are – but it ain't.

In these few intervening years, the Nambour duplication stretched out to become 2026, then 2026 to 2031, and finally to 2031 or beyond and dependent upon State Government priorities, which just happen to be in other State seats.
Buzz Lightyear, the Toy Story children's toy, described it succinctly thus "to infinity and beyond."

I recall learning in history, that a torture the Chinese communists were famous for using, was the slow wearing down of the human spirit.
It appears that they were not the only ones capable of utilising this method.

[ozbob]

Submitted to the Couriermail January 17

Just in time for the looming state election, a report titled ' Public Transport in SEQ Options to deliver value and innovation in future South East Queensland public transport infrastructure'  on behalf of the Council of South East Queensland Mayors  has appeared.  A proposed light metro rail from Ferny Grove to Cleveland being the cornerstone, the so called Cleveland Solution.  The Courier Mail has now published two articles which have not challenged the obvious flaws in the report. Journalism is about balance I thought.

The report is interesting reading, even if flawed.  Unfortunately the whole premise of the Cleveland Solution is false.  Merivale bridge capacity constraints will not be reduced by sufficiently by taking out Cleveland services to allow proper network growth.

Most services on the Merivale bridge are Gold Coast and Beenleigh lines, together with specials and freights.  And both of these lines will have significant demands on them, far more so than Cleveland.

The costing of the Cleveland Solution at $2.5 billion is clearly false.  They haven't even properly considered the costs of grade separating the 17 level crossing and 5 pedestrian crossings that will be necessary in a high frequency service environment.  Cost of the Cleveland Solution will be at best around $7 billion, almost the same as Cross River Rail but for only a third of the gain that Cross River Rail will deliver for the network.

Cross River Rail is a realistic and appropriate response to positioning Brisbane and South East Queensland for a sustainable transport future.

This report appears to be a political response to the Cross River Rail wedge  created when Mr Newman changed from being a strong supporter of Cross River Rail to an alternative view, at the time he resigned as Lord Mayor.

[#Metro]

ROFL

No wonder they did cost-only analysis rather than cost benefit analysis. 

[Stillwater]

In any reference to the Cleveland Solution, we should stop referring to it as a $2.5 billion project, but as a $7 billion solution (certainly a figure above $6 billion).  That $7 billion figure would be more accurate than the GHD guesstimate.  Wishful thinking by politicians about how they can fund major PT infrastructure from loose change found down the back of the lounge chair must stop.  Both major political parties should respect Queensland voters with careful and considered transport policies during the upcoming election campaign.  They deserve to be savaged in this forum if they don't.