Ferny Full

Ferny Grove Line Train

It is now a year since Queensland Rail's sector 2 train timetables were introduced, with much improved frequency, but in some cases trains were halved in length resulting in some services being overcrowded.

Now that the schools, and most of the workforce are back for 2015, has the overcrowding situation on the "problem" 3-car services improved? Sadly, it hasn't. BrizCommuter has this week observed passengers choosing not the board the 07:25am from Ferny Grove to the City at Alderley and Windsor due to the train being too crowded. BrizCommuter has also received reports of the 07:10am from Ferny Grove to the City, and a 3-car evening peak service on the Cleveland Line also being overcrowded this week. Things will only get worse over the next few weeks as the students return to university.

Sadly, this situation is due to successive governments not building enough, or delaying the purchase of new trains. There are simply not enough trains to cope with demand. BrizCommuter predicts that the Next Generation Rollingstock (NGR) order, due for introduction from 2016, will be insufficient to cope with requirements to fully optimise peak timetables, with the addition of the Moreton Bay Rail Link to Kippa-Ring, and duplication between Coomera and Helensvale. Depending on the delivery rate of the new trains, Ferny Grove and Cleveland Line passengers may have to wait until mid-2017 for resolution of these overcrowding problems.

Not a good situation! When petrol is so cheap again, and public transport fares are so expensive, there is not much incentive to take the train.