Sector 2 Train Timetables - More on the Beenleigh and Gold Coast Lines

More trains from Brisbane to the Gold Coast

The Beenleigh and Gold Coast Lines share the same corridor from Beenleigh into Brisbane's CBD. Limitations of the current Gold Coast and Beenleigh Lines timetables are:

• Two tracks between Beenleigh and Kuraby restrict faster Gold Coast trains overtaking slower Beenleigh Line trains. 
• Three tracks between Kuraby and South Brisbane allows for Gold Coast Coast trains to overtake slower Beenleigh Line trains in one direction only. 
• Single track section between Coomera and Helensvale. 
• Gold Coast services are (based on the existing off-peak timetable) 16 mins faster along this corridor than Beenleigh Line trains - a problem if you want to increase frequency better than every 22 minutes. 
• Some peak Gold Coast services have a handful of standing passengers for long distances (very politically sensitive), and are thus regarded as overcrowded, yet are only marginally above 50% passenger capacity. 
• Some peak Beenleigh Line services have almost full standing loads, over 80% passenger capacity, however some other services only require 3 car units. 
• Some track slots in existing timetable are taken up by ex-Corinda via Tennyson services that now terminate to passengers at Yeerongpilly, but still run empty to Corinda.
• Requirement to avoid conflicting train movements at Park Road junction.
• No reversing track at Kuraby (trains reversing block running lines). 
• Requirement to slot in Cleveland Line services (which is currently done a rather "random" manner). 
• Requirement to avoid the outbound Brisbane to Sydney XPT service in the am peak. 
• Requirement for fast journey times from Gold Coast to Brisbane. 
• Platform 4 at Park Road unavailable for use due to gap between train and platform. 

The new sector 2 timetables (due Jan 2014) has the following modifications to requirements:

• Corinda via Tennyson services removed, freeing up two track slots.
• Expectation for better rail to rail, and rail to bus connections at Park Road, and rail to bus at Altandi. 
• Expectations for 15 minute off-peak services (and more frequent late evening services). 
• Sector 2 timetables based around a 15 minute cycle - preventing for example the current every (approx.) 15 minute Gold Coast peak service being changed to every 10 or 12 minutes.
• Availability of Park Road platform 4, after rubber strips added to platform edge. 

So as we can see, the Gold Coast and Beenleigh Lines have the potential of being a schedulers nightmare. Now BrizCommuter takes a look to see what changes have occurred:

Existing am peak Gold Coast/Beenleigh Line timetable (arrivals at Roma Street):

7:01 from Beenleigh

7:05 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to South Bank)

7:14 from Beenleigh

7:20 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to South Bank)

7:30 from Beenleigh

7:36 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to South Bank, calling at Loganlea)

7:43 from Beenleigh

7:48 from Kuraby

7:51 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to South Bank)

8:01 from Beenleigh

8:06 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to South Bank)

8:10 from Beenleigh (expressish from Sunnybank to Park Road)

8:19 from Kuraby 

8:21 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to South Bank)

8:25 from Beenleigh (expressish from Sunnybank to Park Road)

8:32 from Yeerongpilly

8:38 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to South Bank)

8:41 from Kuraby

8:47 from Beenleigh

8:50 from Yeerongpilly

New Gold Coast/Beenleigh Line timetable (arrivals at Roma Street):

7:07 from Beenleigh

7:12 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to Park Road, calling at Loganlea and Altandi)

7:19 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to Park Road, calling at Loganlea and Altandi)

7:22 from Beenleigh

7:27 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to Park Road, calling at Loganlea and Altandi)

7:37 from Beenleigh

7:42 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to Park Road, calling at Loganlea and Altandi)

7:49 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to Park Road, calling at Loganlea and Altandi)

7:52 from Beenleigh

7:57 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to Park Road, calling at Loganlea and Altandi)

8:07 from Beenleigh

8:12 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to Park Road, calling at Loganlea and Altandi)

8:15 from Kuraby

8:22 from Beenleigh

8:27 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to Park Road, calling at Loganlea and Altandi)

8:29 from Coopers Plains

8:37 from Beenleigh

8:42 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to Park Road, calling at Loganlea and Altandi)

8:44 from Kuraby

8:52 from Beenleigh

8:57 from Gold Coast (express Beenleigh to Park Road, calling at Loganlea and Altandi)

Existing pm peak Gold Coast/Beenleigh Line timetable (departures from Roma Street):

(3:57 Gold Coast)

4:03 Beenleigh

4:22 Kuraby

4:26 Gold Coast (express South Bank to Beenleigh)

4:34 Beenleigh

4:41 Gold Coast (express South Bank to Beenleigh)

4:46 Kuraby

4:53 Beenleigh (expressish Park Road to Sunnybank)

4:56 Gold Coast (express South Bank to Beenleigh)

5:06 Beenleigh

5:13 Kuraby

5:17 Gold Coast (express South Bank to Beenleigh)

5:26 Beenleigh (expressish Park Road to Sunnybank)

5:30 Gold Coast (express South Bank to Beenleigh, calling at Loganlea)

5:36 Beenleigh

5:42 Gold Coast (express South Bank to Beenleigh, calling at Loganlea)

5:48 Kuraby

5:58 Gold Coast (express South Bank to Beenleigh, calling at Loganlea)

(6:04Beenleigh)

New pm peak Gold Coast/Beenleigh Line timetable (departures from Roma Street):

4:02 Gold Coast (express Park Road to Beenleigh, calling at Altandi and Loganlea)

4:07 Beenleigh

4:17 Gold Coast (express Park Road to Beenleigh, calling at Altandi and Loganlea)

4:22 Beenleigh

4:32 Gold Coast (express Park Road to Beenleigh, calling at Altandi and Loganlea)

4:37 Beenleigh

4:40 Gold Coast (express Park Road to Beenleigh, calling at Altandi and Loganlea)

4:47 Gold Coast (express Park Road to Beenleigh, calling at Altandi and Loganlea)

4:52 Beenleigh

5:00 Kuraby

5:02 Gold Coast (express Park Road to Beenleigh, calling at Altandi and Loganlea)

5:07 Beenleigh

5:10 Gold Coast (express Park Road to Beenleigh, calling at Altandi and Loganlea)

5:17 Gold Coast (express Park Road to Beenleigh, calling at Altandi and Loganlea)

5:22 Beenleigh

5:30 Kuraby

5:32 Gold Coast (express Park Road to Beenleigh, calling at Altandi and Loganlea)

5:37 Beenleigh

5:47 Gold Coast (express Park Road to Beenleigh, calling at Altandi and Loganlea)

5:52 Beenleigh

One of the major differences in the new timetables is the stopping pattern of Gold Coast peak services , now consistent with the off-peak services. Loganlea is now consistently served, as is Altandi (for good train to bus connections), and Park Road (for train to train, and train to bus connections e.g. access to UQ). The latter has been made possible due to the addition of rubber strips along Park Road's previously "dangerous" platform 4. These changes have obvious benefits (especially for students). It also appears that Gold Coast Line journey times have not been significantly slowed down, however Beenleigh Line services have been slowed down by approx. 4 mins. It is possible for more savvy outer-Beenleigh Line passengers to transfer to some Gold Coast services at Loganlea for a faster peak journey to the CBD. The above changes will likely result in increased loadings on Gold Coast services. Beenleigh Line services now stop all stations, with some peak services starting/terminating short at Kuraby or Coopers Plains. 

The new peak timetables are based around a base pattern of one Gold Coast service, and one Beenleigh service in each 15 minute cycle (4tph each). In each 15 minute cycle there appears to be the ability to add one additional Gold Coast service, or one additional Beenleigh Line service (starting/terminating at Kuraby or Coopers Plains), but not both. The single track section between Coomera and Helensvale prevents additional Gold Coast services in consecutive 15 minute cycles. The additional inbound Gold Coast Line services appear to overtake Beenleigh Line services at Bethania (corrected), which requires both services to be bang on schedule. The move to consistent 15 minute cycles, means that no passengers have more than a 15 minute wait for a train, previously up to 21-22 minutes for Beenleigh Line passengers and up to 30 minutes for Gold Coast passengers in the am peak, and up to 30 minutes for both lines in the pm peak. 

In the am peak, CBD arrivals between 7am and 8am see additional Gold Coast services added into two of the 15 minute cycles, increasing Gold Coast services to 6tph. The Beenleigh Line has additional services added into the 15 minute cycle in the 8:15am and 9am CBD arrival period. Whilst the latter results in 1tph less on the Beenleigh Line during this period, the more consistent service pattern is an overall improvement. BrizCommuter is concerned however, that the overall reduction in Beenleigh Line services in the 7:45am to 8:15am period could increase crowding. The lack of extra Gold Coast services in the 8:00am to 8:30am CBD arrival period could also increase crowding. There is a potential spare track slot between the 7:57 an 8:12am Roma St arrivals from the Gold Coast where an additional service may be added in the future (most likely a short Beenleigh Line service).

In the pm peak, there are major improvements in frequency due to the base pattern replacing some 30 minute service gaps with 15 minute service gaps. In addition to the base pattern there are additional Gold Coast services at 4:40pm and 5:10pm (from Roma Street) which will help reduce loading on following services, and additional Kuraby services at 5:00pm and 5:30pm (from Roma Street). Schedule changes are quite significant at times, making loadings difficult to predict. There are potential spare track slots in the early and late peak for additional services to be added in the future, but not between 4:30pm and 5:30pm. 

For counter-peak services and off-peak (weekday 6am to 8pm ish), there is a base 30 minute frequency for Beenleigh and Gold Coast services, but with additional services to/from Coopers Plains creating a 15 minute frequency (4tph) between Coopers Plains and the CBD. This is a significant improvement for inner-Beenleigh Line users. With current infrastructure, this is realistically the furthest out that 15 minute off-peak services can be run without significantly slowing down Gold Coast services. Other improvements include elimination of all late night 60 minute gaps, now every 30 mins, and improvements to early Sunday am services. 

To conclude, Queensland Rail's (QR) schedulers have made a very good attempt at scheduling the Gold Coast and Beenleigh Lines when taking into account the list of problems, issues, and requirements. It is a good example of extreme problem solving! Limitations to the timetable, and resulting increasing crowding in the future are not the fault of QR's schedulers, but due to successive governments not investing in infrastructure improvements along the corridor, and not purchasing enough trains. Aside from adding a few additional services when the first next generation rolling stock (NGR) trains are available in 2015, the following infrastructure is required for significant improvements to services for Gold Coast and Beenleigh Line commuters:

• Duplication of Coomera to Helensvale.
• Additional reversing track/platform at Kuraby. 
• Partial triplication between Kuraby and Beenleigh.
• Partial quadruplication between Park Road and Kuraby. 
• Improved signalling through the CBD (to allow reliable 24tph) and/or Cross River Rail.