06:54 from Shorncliffe - more sardines please?

A Queensland Rail 3-car unit train

Some Shorncliffe Line commuters are well aware of the squishy nature of some of their 3-car unit train services. One of these is the 06:54am from Shorncliffe to Cleveland, which often has standing passengers from Boondall. In fact, this train can be so busy that a passenger was recently observed accidentally standing on a guide dog! (Quite why the guide dog wasn't standing and holding the rails, who knows?)

From a currently unannounced date in 2016 when Moreton Bay Rail Link opens (probably mid-April) this train service could become worse. Why?

• The Caboolture Line trains will express past Nundah, Toombul, Wooloowin, and Albion. Thus passengers from these stations who would catch the current ex-Cabooloture and ex-Petrie services that stop at Nundah at 07:10am and 07:13am may now be catching the 06:54am from Shorncliffe which stops at Nundah at 07:14am. (On the first day of new timetable you can add passengers who usually catch the 07:01am from Nundah to that list too!)
• Despite TransLink and QR claiming that there will be a train between Northgate and Roma Street every 7.5 minutes in the peak, there is no evidence on the timetable of any Northgate starting train in-between the 06:54am from Shorncliffe and the 06:39am from Shorncliffe. (Existing Doomben and Airport Line train fills the gap, but only for Wooloowin and Albion).  
• There is an extra Northgate to Roma Street service 7.5 minutes after the 06:54am from Shorncliffe, but as can be observed on the Ferny Grove and Cleveland Lines, commuters do not like having to wait for a later train because they cannot board the one they want to use. 
• Some passengers from Redcliffe may use the Kippa-Ring Line instead of the Shorncliffe Line. Thus may remove some passengers from this overcrowded service. However, given the increased journey times and fares from Kippa-Ring, BrizCommuter expects that the loss of passengers from the Shorncliffe Line may be less than expected. 

Now of course, if this service is magically upgraded by Queensland Rail to a 6-car train, the problem will be solved. Unfortunately, as QR do not publish train lengths in their timetables, commuters will not known until day 1 of the new timetable if they will even fit onto this or other train services. 

Depending on the (re-)allocation of 3-car units, there may also be quite a few other "sardine can" train services from the start of new timetables expected in April. With the Next Generation Rollingstock being many months away from passenger service, things may get a lot of worse before they get better. There will be quite a few people late for work on the first few days of the new timetables!