Sunshine Coast Daily do live tweeting inbound/outbound on the commute ..

[ozbob]

From the Sunshine Coast Daily click here!

Not enough loos, frequent delays, but govt doesn't care

Not enough loos, frequent delays, but govt doesn't care

    Bill Hoffman
    16th January 2013 5:44 AM

INADEQUATE loos, frequent delays, temporary platforms and no plan to fix the mess.

That is the reality of the rail link between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast which the State Government describes as an "infrastructure capacity issue".

Despite plans to upgrade commuter services to the Gold Coast, a spokesman for the Minister for Transport and Main Roads said the only commitment to duplicate the rail line to Nambour was one made by the former Labor government which then broke its 2009 election promise.

"This was the same Labor Party that put Queensland in a dire financial position, facing a projected $100 billion of debt by 2018-19,'' the spokesman said.

"We have not yet committed to duplicating this line due to the debt left by Labor.

>> Reporter Kathy Sundstrom will tweet from the trains today.   Follow  @the_daily or search #sctrains

"Eliminating Labor's debt will allow us to do more to lower the cost of living for Queenslanders and provide additional services and necessary infrastructure upgrades to our network.''

Member for Nicklin Peter Wellington said yesterday that the response - similar to one he received last year from Campbell Newman - was just further indication the government saw the Sunshine Coast as safe territory.

"The Premier thinks that because the LNP holds all Coast seats except Nicklin he can take this area for granted,'' he said.

"They know the importance of the duplication. It was front and centre of Andrew Powell's (MP for Glass House) election campaign.''

Mr Wellington said planning and land purchases for the project had been completed.

>> IF NATURE CALLS, GET A GUARD

"If Campbell Newman put money on the table I'm sure the federal government would be willing to talk (about its own contribution),'' he said.

"It's such an important infrastructure item for the state.''

Before the election:

    Member for Glass House Andrew Powell said in 2011 on his website that the North Coast rail duplication needed to be funded immediately.
    In joint release with the then-shadow transport minister Scott Emerson, Mr Powell said the train was the lifeline for local workers who relied on public transport.
    "An LNP government will work hard to improve our public transport system,'' he said. "Only the CanDo team will invest in crucial infrastructure."

[ozbob]

See --> https://twitter.com/search?q=%23sctrains&src=typd

Tweets about "#sctrains"

[ozbob]

4BC radio interviewed Fares_Fair and Sunshine Coast Daily Journalist Kathy Sundstrom inbound as well.

Good effort all round!

[Arnz]

Looking at their pic, she was in carriage IM5179 (IMU179).  She reported that the toilet in her carriage was out of order but the one in the other 3 carriages were working

http://ow.ly/i/1no8W (with Out of Order sign lit up).

[Stillwater]

First posted 30 October 2012:

With apologies to Gruen Transfer.  What would Powell do?

http://www.andrewpowell.com.au/media/video/

Andrew Powell MP – Train Day
Andrew Powell MP – Rail Commuter Boycott (Ch Seven)
Andrew Powell MP – Rail Commuter Boycott (WIN News)
Andrew Powell MP – Rail Timetable and Flood
Andrew Powell MP – New Sunshine Coast Rail Timetable

Matters Mr Powell raised in the Parliament on 7 April 2011 – Matters that are now the LNP's to solve:

"With regard to the north coast rail corridor duplication and particularly the resumption of land and the signing of leases, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of and thank the previous minister for transport for her assistance with a couple of issues that arose in the electorate of Glass House around that north coast rail corridor. In particular, we got to the point where we were able to sign a lease with the Elimbah Fruitgrowers over its co-op arrangement at the Elimbah Railway Station. I understand though that there is not a lot of certainty around how long that lease will operate, but we are grateful that a lease was able to be sorted out.

"Possibly more important was the situation of Matt and Lisa Sherry in Palmwoods. As the minister will be aware, the EIS has been released for the duplication from Landsborough to Nambour. It has a huge effect on the township of Palmwoods. It has a huge effect on residents in Leeons Road. Interestingly, the Sherrys were one of the only families who were unaffected apparently yet were losing half a dam. I thank the previous minister for taking on board our representations. QR has subsequently gone out and assessed the situation and has determined that they are affected. I understand that a settlement has been made and the Sherrys have moved to another property in Palmwoods. I am glad that we kept them as constituents, and I am very grateful for the assistance of the department in resolving that matter.

"But there is a large amount of outstanding business in the north coast rail duplication corridor. I would like to raise a few of those matters with the minister this evening. Firstly, we are getting a lot of feedback from constituents in and around Beerburrum–Helen Manson to name one–concerning the ongoing lease and maintenance of the TrackStar Alliance depot adjacent to the Beerburrum Railway Station.

"Obviously TrackStar had intentions of continuing on with the Beerburrum to Landsborough upgrade and so has kept its depot there, but it has fallen into a considerable state of disrepute–"

An honourable member: Disrepute?

Mr POWELL: "Disrepute is probably not the correct word–disrepair is probably the correct word."

Ms O'Neill: But I like the idea of its disrepute.

Mr POWELL: "No, we will not make comments on what perhaps goes on at the depot. It is certainly in a state of disrepair. The fencing has deteriorated. There are weeds and grass everywhere. It is certainly not looked after. I have written to the minister about this. I hope it is something she might be able to look into. In a similar vein to the Elimbah Fruitgrowers, I know the Glass House Mountains co-op is trying to sort out its lease arrangements. The corridor does not adjust too much around the Glass House Mountains Railway Station, but clearly the co-op needs some certainty around its ongoing lease arrangements.

"I have received notification recently that the Sunshine Coast Regional Council is in the final stages of preparing its streetscaping project for the community of Glass House Mountains. It has raised a number of issues with me regarding the interface with the rail corridor upgrade, particularly things such as the integration of that streetscaping CBD plan and the rail upgrade overpass, including the rail levels; the planning of heavy haulage routes to reduce congestion and improve safety with the expected increase in traffic numbers; and the retaining of the existing railway station in the rail upgrade plan. My understanding is that members of the Glass House Mountains community have had extensive discussions with the former member for Glass House. A lot of work was put in to upgrading the Glass House Mountains Railway Station, but it is a heritage station. It is recognised as being an intrinsic part of the community. It would be great if we could hang on to that. I will be talking further with the council and with representatives of the Glass House Mountains township around those issues, but again I just bring them to the attention of the minister this evening.

"I know there is outstanding business around Murray Pike and his property. The corridor is pushing Steve Irwin Way to one side. Therefore, TMR is having to resume part of his pineapple farm. There is a dispute about the valuation. Clearly the valuation TMR is providing does not include a value for the crop. Pineapples are grown on a cyclical basis. The crops are in. It is not just a case of resuming the land; it is giving compensation for the crop that is being lost as well. I just ask again that, when the time comes, the Minister for Transport and the Minister for Main Roads take a moment to reconsider that situation.

"Finally, the biggest issue–and we have been contacting the minister's office regularly on this issue–is around the Palmwoods CBD itself. Local Sunshine Coast Regional Councillor Jenny McKay and I and Mayor Bob Abbot with a number of council staff came down and spoke to the former minister last year about possibly looking at an arrangement to transfer excess land–what we understand to be excess land based on where the corridor is going to go through Palmwoods–which would facilitate the council being able to better plan the CBD of Palmwoods, particularly to look at supermarket developments for that community. We left that meeting with the mayor and the minister understanding that there was some goodwill on both sides and that it could potentially be looked at. My understanding is that when council went to follow that through with TMR representatives it stalled to the point where it is now being told it that it cannot go any further. That is really holding up the council and its ability to resolve a lot of issues in the CBD of Palmwoods.

"We have written to the minister to request another meeting with the minister, the councillor and council staff to try to resolve that issue. We would very much appreciate an opportunity to come and see the minister as soon as possible to further discuss that. I realise our previous discussions were with the former minister, but it would be great to bring this minister up to speed to see if there is not a way we can resolve it. We realise that under current plans the corridor is not going to be built until 2031. The council cannot wait that long to resolve this issue. We think there is a very simple solution. We put it to TMR. We thought we had some recognition of that from TMR, but subsequently not. Again, if the minister could assist us with that, it would be much appreciated.

Mr Powell, Media Release 23 March 2011:

"On the back of adverse changes to the Sunshine Coast rail timetable for 2011 and the continual delays to complete the rail duplication from Beerburrum to Nambour, Andrew Powell MP, Member for Glass House sponsored two petitions calling the government to action.

"Yesterday, the Minister for Transport tabled her responses (see http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/view/EPetitions_QLD/ClosedEPetitions.aspx?LIndex=2).

"All of the promises to deliver additional rail capacity along the North Coast line have been stalled by the incompletion of the rail duplication. You can't deliver faster and more efficient trains when the job has only been half done.

"Effectively the Minister, in her response to the petition, has 'programmed' delivery of the Landsborough to Nambour rail upgrade for completion in 2031 – she tells us it is 'on the horizon'."

"What this demonstrates is that the government can give no guarantees the upgrade will even be completed by 2031″, Mr Powell said.

What is Powell doing? NOTHING.  For SC rail commuters, the LNP duplication construction timeline is the same as the ALP's.  For them, it doesn't matter which box they number on the ballot -- and it may be that they won't bother to tick Mr Powell's name next time around.

[ozbob]

From the Sunshine Coast Daily click here!

Tweet taste of the not so glamorous life of Coast commuters

Tweet taste of the not so glamorous life of Coast commuters

    Kathy Sundstrom
    16th Jan 2013 12:07 PM

SUNSHINE Coast Daily reporter Kathy Sundstrom took an early train trip to Brisbane to share in the struggles of Coast commuters.

The trip came after a story yesterday on the lack of loos on trains for people making the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane journey.

But that's only one of the problems our commuters face every day.

Kathy took to Twitter to let us all know what the trip was like and she'll be doing it all again on the evening train, just after 5pm. You can follow her on @the_daily or hash tag #sctrains.

Here's how she tweeted her way through the journey.

TWEETED  4.44am: ...  had to wake up in order to catch train to Brisbane on time.  And people do this every day?

This is the first of my tweets on my train trip from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane.  I'm joining those who catch the train in order to get to Brisbane before 9am.  Personally, I'm wondering if I risk a cuppa in case there isn't a loo on board.

5.30am:  Leave Coolum for Nambour.  At least the sun is shining, would hate to do this in winter.

6am:   Arrive at Nambour station.  Can only find one available parking bay or else will have to pay an extra $7 for paid-parking.  Hope the parking bay is legal?

6.05am:  Trying to work out how to use my Go Card.  Thankfully rail staff are friendly and helpful

TWEETED:  On the train from Nambour and guess what, toilet is out of order and locked.

Only about five other people boarded the train at Nambour with me.

TWEETED:  Arrived at next station, Woombye and train lost power, nice conductor apologises for very short delay, "is just another mystery in life", he says.

Jeff Addison joins me at Palmwoods, along with a group of about six other "regulars".  Atmosphere is cheerful and there is still plenty of room to sit down and spread out.  Jeff tells me about why he takes the train each day, he has a family to support and he and his family love living where they live.  He's been doing this trip for 12 years.  In this time he has tried to continually keep the issue on the political agenda as he has watched facilities and services decline while fares increase.

TWEETED:  Lost internet connection.  Thankfully while toilet doesn't work, this train has wifi.  Jeff Addison says 30% of trains do.

Talking to the regular passengers.  Many funny train stories to tell, including the bloke who used to bring his exercise bike on board!  Deborah Bailey is also a regular on this trip.  I ask if there is likely to be another toilet onboard, as suggested by QR yesterday as there certainly is no indication of this at the locked toilet sign.  Mr Addison says there is, but you have to climb off the train, run past at least three carriages, then get on-board again and hope it is open.  With stops so short, who could have the time?

TWEETED:  Have asked someone to ask for a "comfort stop", they all say "there is no way would stop 500 people on board".

I'm also too embarrassed to risk it, even in the name of journalism.  I would have to squeeze through the now crowded train, push the emergency call button to get the guard's attention and then ask to go the loo.  Then, when he does stop, I'd have to get off the train, find the toilet, with about 500 people eagerly awaiting for me to finish my business to get to work on time.

Just had an interview with 4BC, good to know other media are taking up this issue.

TWEETED:  train mostly packed now, people standing and still 20 minutes away (from Brisbane).

Mr Addison says what commuters most want is an express service from the Sunshine Coast, like the Gold Coast has, to cut some time off the length of the journey.  He understands logistically this would be difficult, but surely it is important.  He talks about the discussions he has had with politicians over the years to address the issue.  Is concerned that LNP, which was so vocally supportive, has gone silent.

TWEETED:  That 5am coffee could be problem now!  Apparently might be another toilet on board, but have to get off train, run three carriages to get there.

Most people, including Mr Addison, get off at Central Station.  At least people were forced to stand for a least three stops on our carriage.  He says this is less than usual.  I take train to Roma, where it ends, I walk what feels like several hundred metres to find the other toilet.  It is working! 

[Arnz]

One thing that most (if not all) will agree on.

The need for more "decanting" facilities is evident.  Mayne, Robina, Nambour or Ipswich could do with the facilities to empty/declog the toilets.

[Golliwog]

One thing that most (if not all) will agree on.

The need for more "decanting" facilities is evident.  Mayne, Robina, Nambour or Ipswich could do with the facilities to empty/declog the toilets.

Do you know where the existing facilities are?

[Arnz]

^^

Bowen Hills (Mayne depot) and Robina depot.

[somebody]

Maybe they could think about why IMUs are going to Ipswich before putting decanting facilities there.

Nambour would be far too small a yard for decanting - what is it 2/3 trains?

I'd think it would be something they could put in the proposed Yandina stabling though.

[Arnz]

Maybe they could think about why IMUs are going to Ipswich before putting decanting facilities there.

Nambour would be far too small a yard for decanting - what is it 2/3 trains?

Nambour depot can only park 3 trains iirc.  Theoretically they can park 4 if they use the dock platform, but they don't. 

Hence the late runs into Nambour dead run back to the Caboolture yard, and dead run back to Nambour for the early morning runs.

I'd think it would be something they could put in the proposed Yandina stabling though.

I'll agree there.  Shut down the Nambour yard and while we're at it, build a small Beerwah yard for 4-5 trains (for post Landsborough duplication and to support CAMCOS in the future) to compliment both the proposed Yandina and Caboolture depots.

[ozbob]

ABC Coast FM's John Stokes is hosting an interview live from the train at 5:20pm this afternoon.
Interview with Kathy Sundstrom, intrepid Sunshine Coast Daily journalist and myself on today's events.

[Fares_Fair]

The front page story, compliments of the Sunshine Coast Daily.

Thursday, January 17, 2013
All aboard! It's the Coast cattle train
by Kathy Sundstrom.


The front page picture was taken on the homeward bound journey at 5:12pm.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Yes, but at what station/location?

[Stillwater]

Around about Albion I would suspect.

[Fares_Fair]

Around about Albion I would suspect.

That would be correct, we were running on time and it would place us approx. somewhere between Wooloowin to Albion.
I recall we were moving when I took the picture.

[ozbob]

Another inbound commute with the Sunshine Coast Daily .... 

See --> https://twitter.com/search?q=%23sctrains&src=typd

Tweets about "#sctrains"

[ozbob]

From the Sunshine Coast Daily click here!

Oh dear ... train with pollies aboard cops 30-minute delay

Oh dear ... train with pollies aboard cops 30-minute delay
John Parker 23rd Jan 2013 7:12 AM

THE train to Brisbane carrying politicians travelling with Daily journalist Kathy Sundstrom has been delayed.

Politicians were invited to take the journey to get a taste of what the lives of Sunshine Coast commuters is like.

One MP and three local candidates are on board and they have been inundated with commuters wanting to talk about the need for an express service and the pressures the high fares place on regular commuters.

Passengers on today's run are now believed to facing a delay of at least 30 minutes after a boom gate was damaged.

At 7.04am Translink posted an online bulletin saying trains had been suspended between Bald Hills and Caseldine stations due to a vehicle striking the boom gate arm at the Telegraph Rd crossing.

For tweeter Adrian Randall it was an opportunity too good to miss. "Wonder how our local members like them apples? Welcome to my world of 8 years and counting gents," he tweeted.

You can follow the journey and join the conversation on twitter hashtag #sctrains.

[Fares_Fair]

Ended up being cleared once we came through, no real delay was experienced.
Police vehicles observed at the boom gates as we crossed.

[ozbob]

Interesting following the tweets etc.   Went well by the look of things, despite a few 'technical' problems .. 

[Stillwater]

Knowing the pollies and the media were on board, had a gaping hole opened up and the railway lines disappeared into the abyss, QR executives would have lain down in front of the train, holding each other's arms and legs to form human rails so that train could get through.  They would have scrambled the riot squad to the boom gate incident.

[Stillwater]

Mr Andrew Powell, MP, Glass House, has much to answer when it comes to the SCL.  In an act of political bastardry, the former Labor state government halted construction of the Caboolture-Landsborough duplication at Beerburrum 26 days after the state election that ousted the sitting Labor member.

Mr Powell based his election campaign around the need for an immediate continuation of the duplication to Nambour, but has gone dead on the issue since.  On his No.1 political priority he is a dead weight.

Voters thought they were onto a winner with Mr Powell, who now says he will 'do his best' to have dual tracks to Nambour by 2031, the same deadline Labor promised and which voters found obnoxious.  The irony is they would have done better voting Labor in the seat of Glass House.

Anyway, the campaign continues.... here's the Sunshine Coast daily's latest contribution to the debate (today's paper)
:
THE FEDERAL Government has been asked to help ease the Sunshine Coast's rail bottleneck.

It has been confirmed the state government applied for federal funding for the crucial duplication of the railway line between Beerburrum and Landsborough in August last year.

This duplication will make it possible to provide much-needed express trains for this route.

But the issue is not likely to be heard until the next Nation Building program, in 2014-15.

The $300 million project was under way by the former Labor state government, but rail commuter Jeff Addison said it stopped "26 days after Andrew Powell was elected as Member for Glasshouse in 2009".

"On April 14, 2009 stage one of the duplication finished at Beerburrum," he said. "It was supposed to be completed to Landsborough by mid-2012.

"Instead it left an infrastructure bottleneck that achieved nothing for faster times of travel or extra capacity."

>> Daily journalist Kathy Sundstrom is on the Brisbane train with local pollies. Join the conversation with hashtag #sctrains

Attempts to bring the duplication back on track have been unsuccessful.

Mr Addison has been appealing to state and federal governments since early last year for it to be prioritised.

He sent a submission to federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese in May 2011, highlighting the importance of the route.

Mr Addison said the former speaker, Peter Slipper, had requested a meeting with Mr Albanese last year. It was declined.

Mr Albanese's spokesman said this was because it was a "state issue and the state government hadn't asked for funding for this route".

State Transport Minister Scott Emerson said he would contact Mr Albanese to "reinforce the importance of our rail needs".

>> WHY WE NEED DUPLICATION

•    The train trip from Caboolture to Brisbane took 42 minutes in 1986. Today the same trip takes 62 minutes.

•    44% of the daily train services between Nambour and Caboolture are buses.

•    Buses take 90 minutes to travel 54km, a train takes an hour. Buses are needed because there is not enough room on the single-line track for the long-distance passenger trails, the freight rail services and city rail passenger services.

•    This section of the north coast line has been identified as the busiest single line in Australia.

•    Express routes to Brisbane can't begin without the duplication.

[Stillwater]

All, please note the political double-speak employed by Mr Emerson.  Here is what he told the Sunshine Coast Daily: State Transport Minister Scott Emerson said he would contact Mr Albanese to "reinforce the importance of our rail needs".

Note carefully the use of the term " reinforce the importance of our rail needs".

Mr Emerson's heart is not in the SCL upgrade.  He won't be speaking to his federal counterpart, Mr Albanese, specifically about funding for the SCL duplication, but about Queensland's rail needs in general.

The Minister needs to be pressed to say:  'I will take the case for the SCL duplication up with the feds so that a joint state/commonwealth solution can be devised and implemented immediately.'

Or words to that effect.  That is what Mr Powell promised would happen.  Powell and Emerson crossed the Kakoda Trail together and are friends, maybe they need a bit of male bonding around this issue.  It won't go away.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Knowing the pollies and the media were on board, had a gaping hole opened up and the railway lines disappeared into the abyss, QR executives would have lain down in front of the train, holding each other's arms and legs to form human rails so that train could get through.  They would have scrambled the riot squad to the boom gate incident.

Or it was a pretty easy fix once the police were there directing traffic with services able to be resumed in the process of repairing the damaged arm.

[mufreight]

Knowing the pollies and the media were on board, had a gaping hole opened up and the railway lines disappeared into the abyss, QR executives would have lain down in front of the train, holding each other's arms and legs to form human rails so that train could get through.  They would have scrambled the riot squad to the boom gate incident.

Or it was a pretty easy fix once the police were there directing traffic with services able to be resumed in the process of repairing the damaged arm.

Strange that they can do a quick fix when under the microscope but otherwise it takes hours while they fluff around delaying commuters.

[Stillwater]

The SC Daily has revealed that the Queensland Government has applied to the feds for funding the SCL duplication.

It will be interesting to see just which way the Sunshine Coast Regional Council jumps, as it has its own submission for funding with Infrastructure Australia.

http://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/public_submissions/published/files/Sunshine_Coast_Regional_Council.pdf

Which proposal will get its No.1 priority?

[SurfRail]

I doubt the airport program is going to go anywhere.

They are looking for light rail funds too - something that is not going to get up, nor should it.  It's money that should be spent on ramping up the bus network and getting CAMCOS built before they worry about the kind of capacity LRT can give them.

[Stillwater]

The airport is a private company owned by the council, so they could sell off 49 per cent and raise money that way.  After this financial year they are unlikely to have Noosa rate revenue to fund the airport upgrade, as most likely Noosa folk will vote for de-amalgamation in March.

Technically, Noosa Council should get a share of the airport company in any carve-up of assets.

[ozbob]

From the Sunshine Coast Daily click here!

Want express trains from the Coast? Be fruitful and mulitply

Want express trains from the Coast? Be fruitful and mulitply
23rd Jan 2013 4:00 PM

QUEENSLAND Rail has tweeted there are not enough commuters on the Sunshine Coast line to Brisbane to justify an express service.

On the back of the Sunshine Coast Daily Campaign to improve rail services from Nambour, Landsborough and Palmwoods to Brisbane, APN Newsdesk journalist Owen Jacques tweeted "I personally can't see why @QueenslandRail doesn't have a SC-Bris express line for commuters each day"

Earlier this morning Twitter user  Ryan ‏@genericleftis tweeted "The trains used to bypass Caboolture and any subsequent stations before Bowen Hills. Stopped sometime after 2009."

His comments were endorsed by a number of users, who republished or "retweeted" them on their own Twitter accounts.

Queensland Rail replied to Mr Jacques post: 

"In terms of capacity, there are a great number of passengers to be transported between Caboolture & Central, and a smaller number travelling from SC.

"While we acknowledge exp journeys would be more ideal for our SC commuters, it is much more efficient to use services to transport our customers inbound from Caboolture."

>> If you're on the evening train and you've had enough, tweet your reaction using hashtag #sctrains

[Stillwater]

QUEENSLAND Rail has tweeted there are not enough commuters on the Sunshine Coast line to Brisbane to justify an express service.

Investment-wise this is not a matter for Quensland Rail, it is a matter for the Department of Transport and Main Roads.  And the focus is freight transport.  Duplication to Nambour is needed for freight train functions.  Indirectly, passenger rail will benefit.

[HappyTrainGuy]

Knowing the pollies and the media were on board, had a gaping hole opened up and the railway lines disappeared into the abyss, QR executives would have lain down in front of the train, holding each other's arms and legs to form human rails so that train could get through.  They would have scrambled the riot squad to the boom gate incident.

Or it was a pretty easy fix once the police were there directing traffic with services able to be resumed in the process of repairing the damaged arm.

Strange that they can do a quick fix when under the microscope but otherwise it takes hours while they fluff around delaying commuters.

Depends what the issue is. Most damaged level crossings are quick to repair but it depends on how badly damaged it was and if there is damage to other infrastructure eg touching the overheads or in the path of oncoming trains. It's not the first time there has been an issue with the boom gates there in peak hour and it was fixed quickly. Same with the incident at strathpine last week at the start of peak hour.

[somebody]

QUEENSLAND Rail has tweeted there are not enough commuters on the Sunshine Coast line to Brisbane to justify an express service.

Investment-wise this is not a matter for Quensland Rail, it is a matter for the Department of Transport and Main Roads.  And the focus is freight transport.  Duplication to Nambour is needed for freight train functions.  Indirectly, passenger rail will benefit.

You sound like you want to change umpires because you don't like their decision.

[Jonno]

Once again we see Queensland Rail provide a very poor service and then use the fact that no one uses it to justify NOT improving the service.  Stupid logic.  If there was no demand then the freeway in Brisbane North would be uncongested!!!

[somebody]

Once again we see Queensland Rail provide a very poor service and then use the fact that no one uses it to justify NOT improving the service.  Stupid logic.  If there was no demand then the freeway in Brisbane North would be uncongested!!!

+1

[Arnz]

QUEENSLAND Rail has tweeted there are not enough commuters on the Sunshine Coast line to Brisbane to justify an express service.

Investment-wise this is not a matter for Quensland Rail, it is a matter for the Department of Transport and Main Roads.  And the focus is freight transport.  Duplication to Nambour is needed for freight train functions.  Indirectly, passenger rail will benefit.

You sound like you want to change umpires because you don't like their decision.

I'm fairly sure Stillwater was on the record of focusing the duplication for freight, same for FF with a slight focus on the side benefit of improving passenger services.

Sadly, even with the duplication, there are still capacity chokepoints south of Caboolture preventing the express legs in peak.  As I've said in the past, triplication from Petrie to Narangba would be a start to upgrading the 9 stop "slow express" to a express - "Northgate to Caboolture" leg.

CRR or alternatively Quintriplication (5-track) from City to Northgate is either that far away or not on the drawing board.

[Fares_Fair]

QUEENSLAND Rail has tweeted there are not enough commuters on the Sunshine Coast line to Brisbane to justify an express service.u

Investment-wise this is not a matter for Quensland Rail, it is a matter for the Department of Transport and Main Roads.  And the focus is freight transport.  Duplication to Nambour is needed for freight train functions.  Indirectly, passenger rail will benefit.

You sound like you want to change umpires because you don't like their decision.

I'm fairly sure Stillwater was on the record of focusing the duplication for freight, same for FF with a slight focus on the side benefit of improving passenger services.

Sadly, even with the duplication, there are still capacity chokepoints south of Caboolture preventing the express legs in peak.  As I've said in the past, triplication from Petrie to Narangba would be a start to upgrading the 9 stop "slow express" to a express - "Northgate to Caboolture" leg.

CRR or alternatively Quintriplication (5-track) from City to Northgate is either that far away or not on the drawing board.

Yes, indeed Arnz, freight is the key for finance and economic advantage of $4.57 billion in output generation to Queensland economy. Passenger service improvements an impressive side dish to the main course.

[ozbob]

Had to laugh, Countess St was in total gridlock this evening. I happened to glance at a television helicopter camera shot of Countess St and the INB, marked contrast of course.

===================

Twitter 1h

Bradley Hunter ‏@BradTrafficGuy

C O N G E S T I O N .. Countess St (heavy) IB from Kelvin Grove Rd to Upper Roma St - City . .. ** no crashes or breakdowns .

==================

SEQ is heading for transport failure, clowns at the wheel ...  even the underlings are started to believe the propaganda and spin ...

[Fares_Fair]

That's a very good point you raise, Jonno.

I wonder how many people are driving down the Bruce highway every day who COULD be on a train, but aren't due to the costs, time, reliability and affordability?
If QR could source those statistics (and they probably can't because it's a Transport and Main Roads issue), and they were miniscule, then I may believe there is no demand for it.
If not then they shouldn't be saying there is no demand, because they simply wouldn't know.

Had a very exciting morning, upon arriving at Palmwoods station there was the Minister for Environment and Heritage, the Hon Andrew Powell MP and the LNP federal candidate for Fairfax, Mr Ted O'Brien. Ted will replace the current member (if elected), the Hon Alex Solmyay MP, who retires at the next election.
My first action upon arrival was to top up the balance of my go card, which these days drops quicker to the bottom than the Titanic. RIP.

Upon entering the train we were met by Kathy Sundstrom of the Sunshine Coast Daily and SCD photographer, Peter.

Dr Jim McDonald was also on the train, he is the Greens candidate for the federal seat of Fairfax.

At Landsborough station we were met by Mal Brough, the LNP candidate for the federal seat of Fisher (Peter Slipper's seat) and former Howard government Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs.

We initially headed into the second (quiet) carriage, so I suggested that we relocate to the third carriage since I was sure there would be plenty of 'banter' happening as we travelled. Indeed there was.

Small localised groups formed and the constant buzz of many earnest conversations, filled the carriage for the entire journey.
Commuters used the opportunity to voice their concerns to the dignitaries. There was some intense conversations, but civility reigned.
At regular intervals the chairs would change and a new chat group would form, it was fascinating to observe.

I took the opportunity to hand out my Sunshine Coast Case report to Ted O'Brien and Mal Brough.

A trill of excitement went through the carriage when a twitter feed told of a boom gate strike at Carseldine, this when we were at around Glass House Mountains station at 6:53am (~2 minutes late). By the time we arrived at the rail crossing there were just a couple of Police cars and all had been fixed.
It had been around a half-hour, which - to be fair, is the usual turn-around time for this type of delay.

Someone asked Andrew Powell if we got special treatment, he laughed and said "no, it's not like that for us" or words to that effect.

Kathy, the journalist from the Daily was asking questions of Andrew Powell when she used up her 20Mb wi-fi limit. This was followed by technical issues with her mobile, so I offered mine for her to use. She used it for most of the journey, tweeting as we went, and I was very happy to oblige.

Those who can, will read about many of those conversations in tomorrow's Sunshine Coast Daily. 

[ozbob]

Sunshine Coast Daily --> Regrets over frivolous text - but Mal's staying mum on Ashby

[ozbob]

From the Sunshine Coast Daily click here!

It's a long ride to Brisbane as pollies hear people's voice

It's a long ride to Brisbane as pollies hear people's voice

    Kathy Sundstrom
    24th Jan 2013 5:45 AM

FOUR politicians, including one Queensland minister, have discovered what the 6.14am train journey from Nambour to Brisbane is like.

But it was nothing new for the Member for Glass House, Environment Minister Andrew Powell.

"I did this route for four years when working in Brisbane," he said.

The LNP Federal candidates for Fisher and Fairfax, Mal Brough and Ted O'Brien respectively, were not so familiar with it and neither was Greens candidate for Fairfax Dr Jim McDonald.

They were not on the train long before they were confronted by commuters eager to air their grievances about the length of delays, the condition of the toilets and how they felt the needs of the Coast community had been ignored for too long.

By Caboolture the pollies were swamped, each having to tackle questions, particularly Mr Powell as anger with the perceived lack of action from the Newman Government surfaced.

He was courteous and polite. He was also knowledgeable. It was clear this was not an issue he had quickly read about overnight. He understood the problems. He had lived them.

>> WHAT THE POLLIES LEARNT ON THE TRIP

He also made it clear the duplication of the railway line was something he would like to see happen from Beerburrum to Nambour, not just Landsborough.

He said it was a $2 billion project and he wished had the necessary funding.

"Unlike the former Labor Government, I'm not willing to commit to a time frame without having the money to complete it," he said.

News for the commuters was the suggestion this was the State Government's second-highest rail priority, after the cross-river project.

Regular commuter Jeff Addison said this was a big acknowledgement, one that travellers had been anticipating, even if it did not come with funding promises.

During this Commuters were soon groaning in frustration as they read on Twitter the train would be delayed by 30 minutes, but there was no announcement over the loudspeakers.

People tried to phone or text their bosses to let them know they would be late - again. One of Monday's trains was 45 minutes late.

As the train neared Brisbane Mr Powell promised that one of his first calls would be to Transport Minister Scott Emerson.

Issues he said he would bring up were lack of communication on the train and the possibility of looking at the timetables.

"It's going to be difficult, but it's something we should look at," he said.