A billion $$$ for a 30 minute frequency?

The path of mediocrity

As TransLink and Queensland Rail have so far failed to provide any public consultation on timetables for Moreton Bay Rail Link (MBRL), questions need to be asked as to what train services will be seen on this $1b+ rail line?

There are rumours that Ipswich services will run on the MBRL to Kippa-Ring, and Springfield services will run to Caboolture. This indicates that is likely that each of these services will only see a 30 minute off-peak service. Yes, you heard that right, the billion dollar MBRL may only have a train every 30 minutes off-peak! The same happened on the Springfield Line, where hundreds of millions of dollars were also spent for a 30 minute off-peak train service - much to the annoyance of people trying to get to and from Springfield for work and university. Compare this to Melbourne where 10 minute off-peak frequencies are now common.

Peak timetables (discussed in the previous blog post) are also unknown, and lack of trains is also a potential issue. BrizCommuter would not be surprised if the peak timetable is also half-baked (e.g. train every 12 minutes), resulting in an unattractive peak train services for a new train line and resulting in overcrowding on some services. BrizCommuter hopes to be proved wrong here!

Connecting bus services are also an unknown. Instead of a half-decent feeder bus service as in most developed cities, expect an infrequent bus service that will probably stop running at 5:30pm (just before the arrival of the first train service leaving Brisbane's CBD after 5pm). The almost non-existent feeder bus services in Springfield are a likely pre-cursor to what to expect on the MBRL.

Will train station car parks run out of capacity? You bet, station car parking is always underestimated.

SE Queensland - expect mediocrity!