Currently wondering if the Darra to Milton corridor will still retain its “turn up n’ go” 15 minute frequencies into the City tommorow..
Worst case scenario is everyone at Milton station getting left behind at 4pm, because City-bound trains are running every 30 minutes. 
There’s an official statement from there RTBU Facebook page.
Allegedly, the RTBU plan was banning coal and mineral trains from entering the QR network for 24 hours. It was Queensland Rail that decided to take action that resulted in the Ipswich and Cleveland lines to be closed today.
To me, this appears very likely to be caused by a Ministerial direction, intended to get the public offside with the RTBU.
From what I understand, trains to/from Ipswich will be originating/terminating at Darra, so Milton should be largely unaffected.
All this strike is really doing is annoying people on the Cleveland line and between Darra-Rosewood tbh
Uncomfortable echoes here of the nonsense that went on under the previous NSW government. If there actually has been a Ministerial direction to QR along the lines the RTBU has suggested Mickelberg should be keelhauled for it. (If.)
The Courier Mail (so grain of salt) is reporting the fact that the passenger service disruption was a result of Queensland Rail’s actions:
Queensland Rail has confirmed it played a role in the shutdown of 180 passenger train services today during strike action by a key rail union. QR chief executive Kat Stapleton this morning told media the government prohibited 180 passenger train services from running during today’s strike action.
snip
She said it was Queensland Rail’s position that “people to come to work and do their full job”.
“Which means delivering for all customers, not just passengers, not just right (freight? - N), but for all of them,” she said.
“Under our bargaining framework, if people are not prepared to do their full job, we will not pay them.”
Backed up now by a report on 10 News Lunchtime - apparently theyre going to have a conference later today
I guess it’s time for the keelhauling, then?
Good afternoon,
Customers please be advised that tomorrow, Thursday 2 April, Queensland Rail plans to resume full timetabled services across the network, including the Ipswich/Rosewood and Cleveland lines.
However, there may be disruptions to rail services tomorrow as a result of new protected industrial action, affecting our ability to respond to planned incidents on the network
Changes can occur at short notice, so we encourage you to continue to monitor Queensland Rail’s social media channels.
We appreciate your patience during this time.
From Instagram:
QR Website MR - as of 4pm AEST:
Queensland Rail is advising customers there may be significant disruptions to South East Queensland passenger, freight and regional travel rail services tomorrow (Thursday 2 April), due to new protected industrial action from the Electrical Trades Union (ETU).
Impacts from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union’s (RTBU) decision to conduct protected industrial action today (Wednesday 1 April), and which continue to cause cancellations throughout the SEQ rail network, will conclude at midnight tonight.
Queensland Rail plans to resume full timetabled services across the network tomorrow, including the Cleveland and Ipswich/Rosewood lines, however, the ETU has advised unionised electricians will not repair any unplanned faults on the network, unless there is safety risk.
If there are unplanned disruptions on the SEQ network tomorrow, the ETU’s decision to conduct protected industrial action could disrupt Queensland Rail’s ability to safely repair and run timetabled services.
The safety of our network remains paramount, and Queensland Rail shares our customers’ frustrations and is working had to minimise the impact to our services.
Queensland Rail CEO Kat Stapleton called on all unions to come back to the negotiating table and work together to reach a fair deal.
“We continue to urge the unions to work with us, negotiate with us in good faith and get back to delivering reliable passenger and freight rail services for Queenslanders," Ms Stapleton said.
“We are frustrated that protected industrial action by the RTBU affected so many of our customers today.
“Tomorrow’s impacts are unknown at this stage, but if there are any unplanned faults, the ETU has advised its members may not repair them.
“We are ready to get a deal done, what happens next is up to the unions.
“We have been negotiating with unions to update six Enterprise Agreements, covering approximately 5,600 employees, since January.
“Since negotiations began, the combined unions have sought more than 500 items in their log of claims, many of which far exceed community norms or what would be considered reasonable, such as pet bereavement leave and birthday leave, a 32-hour work week, huge superannuation contribution increases, and extra annual leave.
“Queensland Rail is committed to investing in our people to ensure wages are fair, reflect our service to customers and keep pace with the rising cost of living.”
These disruptions are in addition to planned track closures from 3 - 26 April for major project works, including the Cross River Rail project, which will also be impacted by this industrial action.
Customers can keep up to date on Queensland Rail’s social media channels.
The funhouse continues… Let’s hope the network runs seamlessly tomorrow because if ANYTHING happens with the signals the network will keel over and die tomorrow
No Mr Mickelberg, we do not want to use your buses.
Obviously signals can’t be fixed, but trains can still be run through them, with associated reduced capacity, and delays due to the mountain of paperwork required.
Directing QR to ‘lock out’ controllers who participate in protected industrial action is inexcusable imo - I know a few people who were very affected by the track closure today.
Heads need to roll for this.
I know some schools cancelled excursions today because of this closure. Disgraceful closures today IMO
Currently on a southbound Gold Coast service that just departed Runcorn. Full seated load, and numerous standees. Translink certainly underestimated demand today!
Edit: quite a lot more just boarded at Fruitgrove. It’s getting quite uncomfortable.
Are you talking about the combined Banoon-Varsity service? There is only one stopping pattern for that service, so there is plenty of capacity that isn’t even close to being used…
Yes. They either need to add express services, or run 4 tph.
Personal Opinion (feel free to disagree).
I think the decision in the past few days to cancel services by the Unions as well as their threats for further industrial action is very stupid. I’m against their decision to strike and hold the rail network to ransom. If they want a pay rise, then they should negotiate with the Government and Queensland Rail in a diplomatic manner. Militant unions such as the ETU, CFMEU and the RBTU should honestly quit their stupid little tantrums and railway staff should go back to work, running our trains. If they want to strike, they should do it on weekends, late nights and public holidays, ideally on the days that track closures are already planned. Not during peak hour in the middle of the week when commuters are trying to get to their own jobs. I really hope a deal can be met so we don’t see large disruptions similar in scale to last years strikes on the Sydney Trains network.
Therefore, I condemn the Industrial action that has taken place on the last few days.
I wonder if the bus faction of the RTBU will initiate comparable disruptions but to the bus network.
Some of their more noteworthy demands for this year has been the folllowing: a) increased salary in line with inflation; b) clean and separate toilet facilities for female and male bus operators; c) increased break times between runs; and d) protective shields and digital mirrors installed on every one of council’s 1,282 buses.
If I recall correctly, some these demands have been partially met by Transport for Brisbane, but likely short of the expectations of the RTBU.
This is great way to never win an industrial dispute!
My comment on the RBTU’s demands is that they could be more focussed on building alliances with passengers on issues like better services.
Past that, I totally support any union who wants to stick up for their members, even if it causes inconvenience for passengers. It would be nice if they were as tough on Labor governments as they are on the LNP.
The question is why aren’t you condemning the action of the government in directing Queensland Rail to cancel 180 train services on the 1st April? They are the ones that caused this problem. Train controllers were prepared to work to enable passenger trains to operate.
I condemn the government, and the Transport Minister should resign over this debacle.
