Thanks for the reports. Do you think they might need a second express bus for pax with luggage?
Alright, so yesterday was a bit convoluted.
I alternate working in the CBD and on the Sunshine Coast so I commute in two different directions, yesterday was actually a Sunshine Coast day.
Morning:
- No major dramas in the morning, buses seemed to be running smoothly in both directions.
- Iād estimate a 30% reduction in passengers, mostly people working from home or driving to Caboolture instead of chancing a rail bus (canāt blame them)
- Plenty of people walking to the platform with no idea there was a track closure, station master pretty much had to do an announcement every few minutes.
Afternoon:
- Caught the 615 outbound arriving at Landsborough around 3:30pm, where I saw R609 (all stops) leaving as I crossed the bridge. This confused me because the previous scheduled R609 was at 3:07, and it didnāt look like a deadrun.
- At 3:41 when my R609 was meant to be departing I was already suspicious because the R616 express had already arrived (at full capacity with people standing), unloaded and was basically ready to depart again. They are timetabled to arrive and depart Landsborough at the same time.
- The Caboolture bound R616 departed on time (again at full capacity), and after a few more minutes, still no sign of the R609.
- After another 5 minutes or so the station master came around asking if we were alright, and everyone said they were waiting for the 609. He said āit should be a few minutes awayā to which I pointed out that it was showing as already departed on Translinkās app since thereās no real time data. He said āI hope notā.
- At 3:50 I called Translink and after holding for 10 minutes I hung up when I saw the next R609 and R616 arrive together from Caboolture.
- We finally departed on time at around 4:02 after just over 30 minutes of waiting at the bus stop (with zero shade). I felt awful for the mother and newborn as well as few other vulnerable looking people who were also waiting.
What I suspect:
I have a feeling that the R609 that I saw leaving was the one that we were meant to catch. My suspicion is the driver accidentally left at 3:31 instead of 3:41 and the station master didnāt notice.
Things that need to improve
- More buses. Iām not sure what the actual solution is with routing etc, but I noticed again today (not commuting, just driving past) that one rail bus would be completely full while the other would be half empty. I also had two outbound R609s pass me within 5 minutes so the ātimetabledā part of the timetabled rail buses isnāt working very well.
- Communication from Translink. For the duration of this closure I did not see a SINGLE Translink staff member at any affected Sunshine Coast line station. The only people present at Landsborough were the station master and a hired security guard. Would it really hurt to have a customer service rep on site to help people rather than having a poor QR staff member with other responsibilities do two jobs? This wasnāt just an issue at Landsborough, the Beerwah station master looked stressed too.
- Turnarounds at Landsborough. The announcements that were being made when each 605/615 pair (two full buses, 100-120 people) arrived at Landsborough were telling everyone to not board any trains and proceed to the bus station on the other side. Except anyone heading North actually needed to be hopping on a train, the buses were only for Brisbane commuters.
- The bus interchange. TMR spent $2.5m building new parking and a large bus interchange on the Eastern side of the tracks at Landsboroughā¦. which doesnāt actually get used by rail buses. Everyone has to cross the tracks and cram into the old bus stop on the town side. Why? I suspect itās because the old interchange is right next to the station masterās office which allows them to easily help passengers. If this is the case though what is the actual purpose of the new interchange at Landsborough especially considering Beerwah will replace Landsborough as the major transit interchange in the hinterland in a few years?
I think my biggest disappointment and the source of a lot of the issues is that ultimately itās pretty poor to run 2 rail buses for each train. Thereās this public perception that the Sunshine Coast line isnāt busy, we donāt need train capacity upgrades, we donāt need more rail buses, etc, thatās nothing new, but Landsborough on its own has something like 550 total carparks and Iāve seen days where every single one is full. That doesnāt include busload after busload of people also commuting to the station on the 605 and 615 in the morning and afternoon.
Based off how full some of the buses were yesterday and today, I can guarantee that people would have been getting left behind at some stations, I almost witnessed it first hands at Landsborough and that was counter-peak. If this is going to become a regular thing during B2N, Translink really need to be running more than 2 buses at 20 min frequency. They also need actual staff on the ground so that when people have questions, or buses leave early or donāt show up, things actually happen to reach a resolution.
Funnily enough there was a small QR code at Landsborough where commuters could leave feedback about the experience using the rail replacement services over the two days this week. You can bet I filled it out.
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I found out the answer to this today, QR are doing pretty extensive track work between Gympie and Bundaberg in a few locations.
Guess it makes sense to take advantage of the closure down south to also perform important maintenance outside the city network too.
The optimist in me is hoping the tilt trains have received some TLC over the two days as well.
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Thanks for this detailed report. Iāll send your thoughts through to Translink and QR.
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Does anyone know if the active transport corridor from Beerburrum to Landsborough is still going ahead? This was proposed by TMR a few years ago as part of B2N Stage 1, but I canāt see any current references to it.
The chances that anything like that happening with this government are somewhere between buckleyās and youāre dreaming.
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Thatās why we should be advocating. Can you write something up and put it in the Working Group chat. Can be an email, Social media realise etc .. If you donāt have access to the working group chat just PM me and I will put it in there.
Itās not going ahead, I raised this with the project team and there are no plans for active transport along the corridor. Thereāll be some minor local improvements around the new overpasses however no dedicated town to town active link.
A huge shame IMO, and doesnāt bode well for the active transport link next to the DSCL corridor from Beerwah to Caloundra either.
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Thanks for sharing. Disappointing, but not surprising.
The active transport corridor on the DSCL line is very much in jeopardy. With the Olympics looming, the government will look for ways to redirect limited resources/funds to whatever is deemed essential for the games (forget about legacy).
Iām also concerned about LGCFR too. Hopefully planning has progressed far enough to lock it in, but I fear weāll end up with another Springfield line extension situation, where the bikeway is ditched.
EDIT: I mean, the continuous active transport corridor component of LGCFR.
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Wasnāt the Olympics meant to be all about sustainability, hence active transport where possible with new linksā¦Seems to me itās going backwards in that respect by not including new active travel paths where possible.
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A potential difference with the LGCFR project is that some parts of that active transport corridor are linked to/required as part of the removal of level crossings to maintain connectivity.
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Yes, but they can improve active transport connections surrounding the level crossing removal sites and stations without also providing a continuous active transport corridor along the full length (like B2N, which has improved connectivity around the level crossings but not elsewhere).
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