Seems that the Minister doesn’t understand the concept of Ministerial responsibility. Plenty of finger-pointing, but absolutely zero accountability.
If he doesn’t want to meet with the unions, he should resign. If he won’t resign, the Premier should sack him. I can’t see either of these things happening, though, because the concept seems to be foreign to politicians of the past 20 year or so.
Also, it’s been interesting seeing a few NGRs on Beenleigh line services yesterday. Seems Beenleigh services are mostly only operating between Beenleigh and Bowen Hills under the reduced timetable, with the 5:18 am ex Beenleigh service terminating at Northgate.
Similarly, Ferny Grove services are only operating between Ferny Grove and Roma St. I guess this was planned to ensure the highest number of QR sets available for the line where NGRs can’t operate in revenue service.
I wonder if it gets to the point where there are insufficient QR sets available if the Ferny Grove line will be the first to close, or will they just run NGRs and skip the difficult stations (Gaythorne and Oxford Park, IIRC)?
I have received insider information regarding the industrial dispute from a member of the RBTU.
This spokesperson said that the network could have a 50/50 chance of being halted entirely from the first train on Monday Morning if tensions continue to grow between the union and Queensland Rail (and also the Government).
He did also mention that in addition to better pay and more flexible working conditions, they are also calling for a stronger security presence on trains and station platforms at night, following a recent uptick of antisocial behaviour and vandalism across the network.
This is all the information I was provided with and it was sent to me via email. I was only able to get in contact with this guy via some personal connections. Keep in mind this is mainly from insider talk within the RBTU and none of this is actually official information at this time. I tried seeking more information and details but got no further response.
" … The ongoing Queensland Rail industrial dispute is no closer to resolution, with both sides agreeing to go back to the table after a marathon 7½-hour mediation session at the Fair Work Commission in Brisbane ended in stalemate. …
Don’t make it weird like that… He’s just spruiking the upcoming Queensland Day Awards (June 6), where you can vote for your favoutite small businesses over a number of categories, including cafes like Sweet Bambino speciality coffee at Paradise Point, where this photo was taken.
Considering the reduced timetable, trains from Boggo Road through the city via South Brisbane were quite frequent yesterday during arvo peak.
They had a lot of trains terminating at Bowen Hills instead of going through to other lines. This made catching a train from South Brisbane to Fortitude Valley surprisingly convenient and comfortable, due to the Bowen Hills terminators being quite empty from Roma Street.
