BrizCommuter becomes PerthCommuter

Perth Train Station

BrizCommuter recently went on a business trip to Perth and tried to use the public transport system as much as possible. Here are BrizCommuter's thoughts on Perth's public transport system.

First Impressions

Before departing Brisvegas, BrizCommuter looked to see if Perth's smart card called "SmartRider" could be purchased online or at the airport. The answer seems to be no - not a good start. This forces new arrivals to have to pay the inflated paper ticket fare to get the CBD.

The 380 airport to CBD bus runs every 30 minutes. More frequent would be preferred, but it seems that with terminals split across two geographic locations, and lack of demand, more frequent buses may not be currently justifiable. The timetable at the bus stop was 10 minutes later than the online timetable, and the bus turned up exactly halfway in between the two times. Of the 10 passengers boarding at the airport, BrizCommuter was the only passenger travelling all the way to the CBD. It seems that most take the taxi. Thankfully rail services will start running from the Airport to the CBD early in the next decade.

Once at Elizabeth Quay Busport, Perth's large 1980's bus station, BrizCommuter purchased a SmartRider card, which is $10 for the card, and then at least $10 credit. Purchase was smooth. There are some useful cheap food outlets at this bus station.

Buses

As with many cities, Perth has a confusing mix of bus routes. Perth's bus system is thankfully loaded into google maps, which makes it easier to find a group of routes that may serve the same location. It is easy to find timetables on Transperth's website. No online realtime information could be found.
It is easy to find the right platform at Elizabeth Quay Busport, with good signage. With most bus routes running from one place, it is far less confusing than trying to find the right bus route in Brisbane. There is also a smaller bus station serving Northern suburbs near Perth Train Station.

Perth has a geographically very long CBD (East to West). With buses stopping at all closely spaced bus stops, it often took the bus more than 20 minutes to travel from Elizabeth Quay Busport to The Causeway. Perth could maybe do with an East to West bus tunnel?

Most buses had automatic fold out ramps (rather than manual in Brisbane) which makes life easier for the disabled, elderly, those with prams, and the driver!

Perth has some high frequency bus routes such as the 950 that runs every 8 mins off-peak and every couple of minutes during the peaks. However, many bus routes are infrequent, including rail feeder services in the suburbs.

CAT Buses

Perth has a free fare zone in the CBD, which makes life easier for the tourist, business traveller, or local. A smart rider card is required for free fares within the CBD on trains. Perth has four free bus routes called Central Area Transit (CAT) which run every 5 to 15 minutes during the day. Three of these routes run on weekends. This is a big improvement on just 6 years ago when one route ran on weekends, and only every 45 mins. Whilst being very useful, allow a bit of extra time when depending on the CAT buses. BrizCommuter tried to use one route in the am peak, to find a 17 minute wait (according to the indicator at the bus stop) on a 8 minute frequency route, so walked a block to catch a different CAT route, only to not be able to board due to the bus being full. What a CATastrophe! The rest of BrizCommuter's CAT bus experiences were great. The CAT bus services stop abruptly at around 7pm.

Trains

Perth is well known for having an excellent frequent off-peak train service, with pretty much everywhere on the network having a 15 minute day-time off-peak frequency or better, even on weekends. The daytime off-peak on the central part of the Mandurah and Joondalup Lines through the CBD should really be better than the current 15 minute frequency.

Peak frequencies are also pretty good on the Mandurah, Joondalup, and Armadale Lines. Strangely the Fremantle and Midland Lines gets worse in the peak for some commuters as the lines split into two express stopping patterns, each running approximately every 20 minutes. Only a few stations are served by both stopping patterns. The express services only saves 5 minutes or less for commuters from Perth to Fremantle or Midland, yet doubles the average wait time for many commuters from 10 to 20 minutes. BrizCommuter would rather see an all stations service running every 10 minutes instead on these lines.

Counter peak frequencies were often as good a the peak frequencies (every 5 to 20 minutes) unlike the commonly encountered 30 minute counter peak service gaps in Brisbane.

BrizCommuter tried to observe some peak services for crowding without looking suspicious. Most trains only had standees only around the doors, though one Fremantle to Perth train was observed being "overcrowded" with standing passengers all down the aisles. Having read up a bit online, it seems that Perth has overcrowding issues caused by insufficient trains, as with Brisbane. All trains in the peak were observed to be "full length" 4 or 6-car services rather than 2 or 3-car services.

B-series train at Canning Bridge

Trains are similar to Brisbane's SMU trains (both generations). The older A-series trains are made up of 2-car units, usually coupled to make 4-car trains. The newer B-series train are made of of 3-car units, usually coupled to make 6-car trains in the peaks. Trains appeared to be well kept, and clean inside. It was quite odd to be riding on a "Brisbane-like" train through a newly constructed rail tunnel!

Elizabeth Quay Train Station

An interesting thing to note is the tight curve as the trains enter and exit Elizabeth Quay station to/from the South. The squeals from the wheels can be heard a kilometre away. Some form of noise control may be required (maybe more lubrication on the curve or covering the open cutting).

Finally on the subject of trains, it seems that Perth's train system runs quite happily without guards. There is a noticeable high security and/or platform staff presence in the CBD, which is good a Perth seems to have a few more undesirables than some other Australian capitals.

Fares

Perth uses the SmartRider smart card system, though paper tickets are also available at an inflated (though still cheaper than in Brisbane) price. The zones are quite large, with zone 1 extending more than 8km from the CBD. The short journey fares are much lower than in Brisbane (including Brisbane's 2017 fares). For example a single zone 1 fare in Perth from June 2016 is $2.25 or $2.55 using SmartRider, compared to $3.20 in Brisbane using a go card in 2017. The Perth system positively encourages short distance journeys, whilst in Brisbane it will still be cheaper to use a car for short journeys. There is also automated daily capping, using the DayRider functionality.  As mentioned previously, there is also a free fare zone in the CBD, and free CAT buses in Perth and Fremantle. Even though Perth has no off-peak discount, and no weekly capping/periodical options,  it is difficult for frequent public transport users to rack of high fares as in Brisbane. It seems that Perth's fare system tries much harder to attract locals and tourists to use public transport.

The SmartRider readers at suburban train stations are not particularly noticeable, being a dark green colour. BrizCommuter walked straight past the reader on his first exit! BrizCommuter also experienced one bus with unreliable SmartRider readers (? maybe low power).

Conclusion

Perth sets the standard for high frequency off-peak train services in Australia, though is being overtaken by Melbourne in this respect. Peak train services could be better on some lines, and more trains seem to be required. Fares are well priced, and short distance journeys are cheaper than all other major Australian cities. The free CAT and high-frequency routes are very useful, but many suburbs are served by infrequent bus services. The opening of the airport train line will be very useful for locals and visitors. Overall, Perth's public transport system seems to be generally well governed and operated.

Brisbane Metro Subway System - Propaganda Response

BrizCommuter was not amused to see some of his ratepayer money being spent on a propaganda leaflet that has quite likely been posted to every household in Brisbane. So what is in this propaganda leaflet for Quirk's Brisbane Metro Subway System?

• "Services every 2 MINS" - if the Brisbane Metro was planned to be driverless then 90 second frequency would be possible, with a 33% capacity increase. It is bizarre that a driven system is proposed in the 21st century. By the way, the existing busway has services every 20 seconds in the peak! 
• "7 KMS of fast uninterrupted travel" - well actually it's interrupted by these things called stations. Journeys to the North of Herston, and to the South and East of Wooloongabba will also be severely interrupted by having to change from bus to metro. 
• "Carry up to 30,000 passengers per hour" - untrue Mr Quirk! A 60m long rubber-tyred metro train based on Paris MP05 stock will carry a maximum of 481 (very squashed) passengers. At 2 minute frequencies this is 14,481 passengers per hour per direction. This is a similar capacity to the exiting busway! However, previous information has mentioned 300 capacity trains, would would result in 9000 passengers per hour, far less than the existing busway - a retrograde step! 
• Improved CBD amenity through a reduction of buses on streets - as the Quirky Metro is replacing the existing busway, then there are only a few places where buses would be reduced on streets - and that is around either end of the Victoria Bridge. In fact, the Quirky Metro may force more buses that currently use part of the busway (e.g. 345, 390, 444) back onto the streets. 
• Victoria Bridge dedicated to Brisbane Metro Subway System, and other bus services pedestrians and cyclists - good point, but only if the Victoria Bridge can handle the weight of rubber-tyred metro trains. 
• More effective use of existing infrastructure - based on the capacity calculations above, it isn't. Why spend more than $1.5b for no increase in capacity? Simplifying the bus network at next to  neutral cost would be a far better use of existing infrastructure. 
• 3 NEW STATIONS + upgrades to existing stations - misleading. There are no new station locations on the route, only the requirement to have to have both a metro station and bus station at the termini, and at Cultural Centre. 
• Smoother, quieter, and quicker than light rail - somewhat of moot point at there is no current plan for light rail. Rubber-tyred metros are anything but quiet! 
• IMPROVED JOURNEY TIMES - a previous BrizCommuter post has shown that as passengers will have to change between bus and metro at Wooloongabba and Herston, then most journeys will result in an increase in journey times. 

Other prize quotes include:

• "Previous investigations by both Council and state government have identified Brisbane's bus network is already at capacity in many CBD locations" - so why did Lord Mayor Graham Quirk and his councillors not support TransLink's bus network review that would have solved this issue back in 2013? Bus network reform would resolve this issue at almost neutral cost, and avoid spending $1.5b on an unnecessary metro system. 
• "Wooloongabba and Herston will mark the furthest points of the route at each end" - this is a big problem. BrizCommuter doubts that the bus interchange component has been seriously thought about. The changing between modes will increase journey time. The Quirky Metro will also not serve major busway trip generators including RBWH, Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH), and University of Queensland (UQ). In fact annoyingly, the Quirky Metro will stop one stop short of RBWH and PAH, much to the annoyance of staff and patients. Interestingly, some academics also agree in this recent Courier Mail article. 
• "Council is currently working on the Business Case" - Brisbane City Council is currently wasting $16m of rate payers money on a business case for something that does not improve anything. To be approved, the business case would have to be as fraudulent dodgy as the business case for Clem7 and Airport Link to get through. 
• "Brisbane Metro Subway System is estimated to cost approximately $1.54b" - BrizCommuter highly doubts that this is realistic, and the Queensland Government has even estimated a $3b price tag. 
• "Approximately four years to complete" - during which buses would be forced onto congested city streets - chaos would be good description. 

And finally, why does the logo look like a monorail? Have Brisbane City Council been watching too many Simpsons episodes? 

As a Brisbane ratepayer, BrizCommuter is very concerned that the LNP run Brisbane City Council are so delusional that they are countinuing to waste rates on a business case for such a nonsense project. At a time when the urgently required Cross River Rail is struggling to get funding, it is disgrace that Brisbane City Council are still promoting his pointless idea. The Quirky Metro proposal will be a huge waste of money, and a destructive, retrograde step for Brisbane's public transport system.  

How do the fair fares compare?

In the previous blog post, BrizCommuter provided an overview of the recently announced public transport fare review for SE Queensland. We have already ascertained that seniors and 8 or less journey a week commuters will see savings varying between 4% to 35% due to the single fare discounts. However, what about heavier users of public transport who may be affected by the change from "9 then free" to "eight then 50%"? Will there also be savings to families from the free fares for children on weekends?

The January 2017 changes    Screenshot from TransLink's website

BrizCommuter had a look at a few scenarios.
Scenario 1) A typical 9-5 worker who has 10 peak journeys between home and work each week.
Scenario 2) A 9-5 worker who has 10 peak journeys between home and work each week, 2 mid-week CBD off-peak trips (meetings, lunch time activities, or go card rorting), and 2 weekend journeys between home to South Bank.
Scenario 3) The same as 2) but also taking into account the costs for the rest of the family (partner and two children aged between 5 and 14) to travel from home to South Bank. The partner drives to work.

These scenarios will have the commuter living in the "old" zone 2 (e.g. Alderley, Eagle Junction, Morningside, Indooroopilly) , "old" zone 6 (e.g. Springfield, Cleveland, Loganlea), "old" zone 15 (e.g. Robina, Eudlo).

Scenario 1
Zone 2: Old 9x$3.93=$35.37  New 8x$3.20 + 2x$1.60 =$28.80
Zone 6: Old 9x$6.69=$60.21  New 8x$5.96 + 2x$2.98 =$53.64
Zone 15: Old 9x$13.09=$117.81  New 8x$10.32 + 2x$5.16 =$92.88

For a typical 9 to 5, 5 day a week worker, who drives at other times, there will be significant percentage savings for commuters from all of the sampled zones. However, the financial savings are much larger for longer distance commuters $24.93 from "old" zone 15 vs $6.57 from "old" zone 2. This adds to BrizCommuter's assumption that this fare review is biased in favour of longer distance commuters (who can still rort the system too!) This encourages environmentally unsustainable lifestyle of living longer distances away from the place of work. A good fare system should encourage short distance commuting, as does Perth's fare system which is approximately 30% cheaper than Brisbane's new fares for short distance journeys (existing zones 1 and 2). For commuters who already own a car, and have free car parking, it will still be cheaper to drive to work for short distance commutes.

Interestingly the fare review taskforce was far less skewed in favour of longer distance commuters. Unfortunately, the Palaszczuk government ignored this advice when they finalised the new fares.

Scenario 2
Zone 2: Old 7x$3.93 + 2x$2.68=$32.87  New 6x$3.20 + 2x$2.56 + 2x$1.60 + 2x$1.28=$30.08
Zone 6: Old 7x$6.69 + 2x$2.68=$52.19  New 6x$5.96 + 2x$2.26 + 2x$2.98 + 2x$2.39=$51.02
Zone 15: Old 7x$13.09 + 2x$2.68=$96.99  New 6x$10.32 + 2x$2.26 + 2x$5.16 + 2x$4.13=$85.02

For heavy public transport users, the new fare system is not so good. In fact the savings are less than $2/week for both "old" zone 2 and 6 commuters, and in some scenarios heavy public transport users may even end up paying more. A good fare structure should encourage heavy use of public transport, and encourage leaving the car at home. This fare structure does not do that for short to medium distance commuters without/not travelling with families. BrizCommuter might be using the car more at weekends!

Scenario 3
Zone 2: $32.87 + 2x$3.14 + 4x$1.57=$45.43  New $30.08 + 2x$2.56=$35.20
Zone 6: $52.19 + 2x$5.35 + 4x$2.67=$73.57  New $51.02 + 2x$4.77=$60.56
Zone 15: $96.99 + 2x$10.47 + 4x$5.23=$138.85 New $85.02 + 2x$8.26=$101.52

For heavy public transport users, travelling with the family on weekends, there are savings of between $10.23, $13.01, and $37.33 in "old" zones 2, 6, and 15 respectively. Depending on the cost of parking, it might be possible for the short and medium commuters to make a saving by using public transport instead of driving. Longer distance commuters may make a significant saving. However, due to slow journey times and poor frequency of weekend train services, BrizCommuter would doubt that even with the savings that the new fares would encourage long distance commuters to take the train instead of the car.

Conclusion

The vast majority of commuters will see fare reductions with the new fares, expected to be introduced in January 2017, which is a good thing. However, the financial savings will be significantly less for those who "do the right thing" by living closer to their place of work, and using public transport instead of driving at off-peak times and weekends. Many of these are young adults and families. It is a shame that the very people who should be rewarded for trying to use public transport are the ones who will benefit the least from the new fare structure.  

The poor functionality of the go card system prevents an equitable daily and weekly capping, as occurs in London. The "9 then free" was good in that it encouraged heavy use of public transport. The down side that as it was not zone based, and was thus rortable by longer distance commuters who could save more than $50 a week by making the effort to go "extreme rorting". The elimination of this appears to be have been compensated with large $$$ value fare reductions for longer distance commuters, who incidentally can still rort the system. However, the lack of free journeys screws those who genuinely use public transport frequently, most of whom are inner-suburban commuters.

Cheaper zone 1 fares in Perth   Screenshot from TransPerth's website

So what would BrizCommuter do without improvements to the go card system's functionality? Well despite its rortability, maybe the 9 then free wasn't a bad idea after all? Shorter distance ("old zone 1 and 2") journeys should match the inner-zone fares in Perth ($2.25 to $2.55) instead of $3.20 set the Queensland government. Outer zone journeys should be increased to match the existing fares for the inner of each of merged zones (so still no increase for any commuters). When the next generation ticketing system is introduced at the end of this decade, an "account based" system is urgently required that can handle daily and weekly capping.

As always, feel free to use the comments system if you disagree!

Fare review - re-arranging the deck chairs on the titanic?

Current situation

TransLink's current 23 zone-fest

For many years BrizCommuter has been complaining about TransLink's excessively high public transport fares in Brisbane and South East Queensland. These have been proven beyond doubt to be discouraging the use of public transport. This issue worsened considerably under many consecutive fare rises from both sides of politics, allegedly instigated by the government's department of treasury.

To add insult to injury, when the go card system was implemented, useful functionality such as daily and weekly zone based capping (as found in London) was not purchased. The system can only cap fares based on number of journeys, but irrespective of the zones used. To limit excessive fares for people who "do the right thing" by using public transport, the 10 then free, then 9 then free cap was introduced. On the good side it means that commuters such as BrizCommuter will not keep paying more fares after they have made 9 journeys in week, often resulting in free fares by Friday pm peak and weekend travel. It has also encourage public servants to use their own go card to get between meetings, and not spend taxpayers money on taxis. On the bad side, as the cap is not zone based then it is easily rorted by longer distance commuters who can obtain huge savings on their weekly fares by taking trips in their breaks. The system is also capable of off-peak fare discounts (but am peak fares start bizarrely at 3am), or reducing fares (e.g. to 50% after a set number of journeys) as occurred in the past.

Another issue is the huge number of fare zones (23) which particularly penalise passengers travelling north to south, or vice-versa. The base fares are also relatively high, resulting in driving often being cheaper for journeys up to around 40km if the commuter already owns a car. Long distance journeys are relatively cheap by international standards, in particular due to their being no fare surcharge for express services.

The final fare issue, is that both Brisbane Transport and Queensland Rail are so inefficient that fares, or at least fare box revenue, are adversely affected by money wasted on guards, and Quirk's messy bus network.

Despite promising a fare review, the LNP Newman government failed to deliver. The ALP Palaszczuk government has however been working on a fare review for many months. Now the review has been publicly released...

The fare review

The results of the fare review are now available. The fare review  task force suggested a set of changes, but then the government has adopted different fares to those suggested by the task force. The changes are in this document.

The 8 merged zones

The new fares and zones will be introduced in early 2017 (probably January). The changes will be:

• Zones reduced from 23 to 8, and fares reduced from current levels - it is good that single fares have been lowered for all users. Short distance journeys, reduced by 15c to $3.20, should have been reduced further (a la Perth). BrizCommuter also thinks that longer distance journeys, some reduced by more than $3, have been reduced far too much. This imbalance continues to promote environmentally unsustainable long distance commuting lifestyles, and penalises those who do the right thing by living closer to their place of work or education. It is good that short journeys across the new zone borders (e.g. Enoggera to Mitchelton) will not result in costing anyone higher fares, though only by 2c. 
• "Nine then free" replaced by "8 then 50%" - this move reduces the ability for rorting by longer distance commuters, but penalises heavy public transport users (including many students and young adults) who should be rewarded to get cars off roads. It may also penalise public servants who currently use their own go cards to get between meetings - good news for taxis. The lack of free fares also means that public transport spending will more unpredictable for some users. The lack of zone based daily and weekly capping functionality in the go card system is an achilles heel that prevents are fair and equitable fare structure. 
• Children under 14 travel free on weekends if they have concession go card - this is a good move to promote weekend travel, and make the loss of the "nine then free" less painful for those with families travelling on weekends. Shame about the terrible weekend frequency of trains and many bus routes. 
• 2 journey cap continues for seniors - despite having 50% reduced fares, it seems that seniors will continue to get daily capping. These seems somewhat unfair to everyone else, especially students. 
• Off peak hours changed - the off-peak fare discount still applies, however it now starts at 6am. Unfortunately the go card system is too dumb to work out fares by touch off time which would be far more sensible. This means that Gympie North commuters who travel in the am peak get an off-peak fare! 
• More concessions - more people are now eligible for concessions including (at long last) jobseekers Newstart Allowance, Youth Allowance, and asylum seeks. 

BrizCommuter's next article will look at before and after cost comparisons for a range of commuters. However without any in-depth analysis it seems that those who benefit the most travel are those who travel within merged zones (except inner-Brisbane), environmentally unsustainable longer distance commuters, families travelling on weekends, seniors, the unemployed, and asylum seekers. Those who benefit the least are those who travel within inner-Brisbane, very frequent public transport users, and those who live just outside of the new zone borders. Sadly, inner city and frequent public transport users are people who should be encouraged more to use public transport. 

Ultimately, due to the lack of "account based" functionality in the go card system it is impossible for there to be a fair and equitable fare structure until it is replaced. This is likely to not be until the end of this decade at the earliest. Thus the fare review is akin the re-arranging the deckchairs on the titanic, though at least the deckchairs are now slightly better arranged. At least the ALP Palaszczuk have had to balls to do something!

TransLink's fare changes website:
https://haveyoursay.translink.com.au/seq-fare-review

Quirky Metro - the delusion continues

Despite Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk's Brisbane Metro idea being the worst idea since, well, the last time the LNP managed to stuff up Brisbane's public transport plans with the BaT Tunnel, Quirky is still rolling on in the land of delusion. This week we have seen a press release stating how many jobs the totally unnecessary construction will create. The SEQ Council of Mayors (purveyors of ludicrous plans such as the Cleveland Solution and the City2Suburbs bus tunnel) are also about to waste loads of ratepayers money on an advertising campaign to attempt to get the federal government to spend money on their ill-conceived ideas.

Here is a reminder why the Quirky Brisbane Metro is a terrible idea:

• Busway congestion could be resolved by an almost $0 bus network reform, instead of spending $1.5b+ (more realistically $3b) on a totally unnecessary Metro system. 
• It would increase journey times, as passengers would have to change from bus to metro at Wooloongabba and Herston to access Brisbane's CBD.
• It goes against Graham Quirk's excuse for lack of bus network reform of providing one seat journeys. 
• It has lower capacity than the existing busway.
• It does not serve RBWH, PA Hospital, and UQ, three major trip generators on the busway network. In fact it annoyingly stops just one stop short of both RBWH and PA Hospitals.
• Important parts of the design, such as the interchange design  have not been properly considered.
• It does not provide any new journey opportunities, unlike the urgently required Cross River Rail. 
• It is providing political distraction from the urgently required Cross River Rail.
• It does not solve Brisbane's rail capacity issues, unlike Cross River Rail. 

Please, Graham Quirk, return to the land of reality - instead of wasting billions of $$$ on something that not required, start supporting Cross River Rail and bus network reform. 

Average journey speeds in SE Queensland

A recent post on Springfield Line users wanting an express service, created an idea for a blog post. What are the average journey speeds for each Queensland Rail (QR) Line in SE Queensland?

Ipswich Line - off-peak expresses required?

Timings are for peak and off-peak (which are usually the same) unless otherwise stated. Timings are inbound from stated line start point to Central station. Speed = Distance (km)/Time(h). Rounded to nearest kph. Ordered slowest to fastest peak period average speed. 

Doomben Line (9.9km) - 30kph
Ferny Grove Line (16.1km) - 31kph
Shorncliffe Line (20.7km)   34kph
Cleveland Line Manly peak all stations (24.1km) - 34kph
Beenleigh Line (40.1km) - 36kph
Airport Line (15.9km) - 40kph
Cleveland Line (37.3km) - Peak 41kph; Off Peak 36kph
Springfield Line (29.6km) - 43kph
Kippa-Ring Line (40.1km) - 44kph post-MBRL opening
Ipswich Line (38.6km) - Peak 46kph; Off Peak 40kph
Rosewood Line (57km) - Peak 47kph
Caboolture Line (49.6km) - 47kph; 58kph post-MBRL opening
Sunshine Coast Line/Nambour* (104.8km) - 55kph to 59kph; 58kph post-MBRL opening
Gold Coast Line (89.4km) - 68kph

* Journey time variable, typical am peak timings used. Gympie to Brisbane train excluded. 

Note: Speeds in the below discussion are average journey speed, not maximum speed.

The slowest average speeds are on the all stations shorter-suburban services (up to around 20km) - Doomben Line, Ferny Grove, and Shorncliffe Lines. This is to be expected. Running express services on these lines would have a negative implication on service frequency, and thus a negative effect on average journey time when you take into account waiting time. The only possible speed improvements on these lines would be less timetable padding.

In the medium-suburban service category (up to around 40km) it is quite a mixed bag. Beenleigh and Cleveland Line (Cleveland or Manly) all stations services are relatively slow at around 34kph to 36kph. Beenleigh Line services have been slowed down at Bethania in the 2014 timetable to allow Gold Coast Line services to overtake, and this will not improve unless there is a triplication or quadruplication between Kuraby and Beenleigh. Outer Beenleigh Line commuters can change to the faster Gold Coast Line at Altandi, but this does depend on both services running to time and the connection cannot be guaranteed (with a 29 minute wait if you miss the connection!) Outer Cleveland Line commuters have peak express services which are only slightly faster than the all stations services as the expresses cannot overtake the all stations services. These expresses stop quite early in the pm peak due to lack of trains.

The Springfield Line, Kippa-Ring Line (whenever it eventually opens), and Ipswich Line fare much better. The Springfield Line has the fastest medium distance all stations service in SE Queensland, so the expectation of an express service by Springfieldians is rather petty. There seems to be a need for express Ipswich Line off-peak services (15% faster), which can only occur if both the Ipswich and Springfield Line have off-peak frequency improvements.

For outer-suburban services (up to around 60km), the Caboolture and Rosewood Lines are fairly comparable in speed. The Caboolture Line will see an impressive 23% improvement in average speed whenever Moreton Bay Rail Link (MBRL) opens. Caboolture Line commuters should thus feel rather annoyed at the delays to MBRL. Due to the single track and low speed sections the Sunshine Coast Line (55 to 59kph) is far slower than the Gold Coast Line (68kph) which itself trundles slowly around the sharp curves of the Beenleigh Line. The Sunshine Coast Line average speed can only be improved by the continually delayed duplication and track re-alignment. The Gold Coast Line can only have average speeds improved by use of expensive tilting trains, or even more expensive straightening of the route through Brisbane's Southeastern suburbs. Neither of these are likely in the short term.

Interestingly, BrizCommuter had a quick look at average speeds of commuter lines in Japan where drivers drive to precision timetables, and track layouts often allow for a mixture of all station and express journey patterns. It seems that some faster all stations services manage up to around the 50kph mark, but services faster than an average speed of around 60kph typically require an additional "Limited Express" fare that adds a considerable sum to the cost of the commute. Food for thought!