People will be absolutely happy to change trains if that means running services every 30-60 minutes instead of waking up at ungodly hours in the morning to get one train and be stuck in Brisbane until 5:30pm to get a service back home.
Hell, it would even allow Kinetic to run more service to local stations instead of having to send Noosa services (630/631) all the way down to Nambour.
Agreed.
I agree with this, for now. Kuraby itself is a bit of a nothing-burger in terms of the wider network, but Fruitgrove provides a very useful connection to the 150 HF bus, good for getting from the outer Beenleigh line to Upper Mount Gravatt/Garden City, and the multitude of connections that can be made to other places from there.
Itâs also the current end of the triplication. Not sure how the future quadding between Beenleigh and Kuraby will affect the ability to terminate trains there.
Iâd really like to see future 4 tph to Beenleigh, running express from Kuraby to Park Rd stopping at Altandi (so, essentially the same stopping pattern as the GC express north of Kuraby), along with 4 tph all stops to Kuraby, or whever a convenient terminus is post-LGCFR.
Based on Japan using passing loops to ensure express and all-stop trains can run at 10min frequencies each all day on double-track corridors, what if the middle track of the Northgate-Petrie or Boggo Road-Kuraby corridors by used by the Redcliffe or Beenleigh trains to let the express SC or GC trains pass through at stations during off/counter-peak?.
For example, an off/counter-peak Redcliffe train could switch from the outer track to the middle before stopping at Sunshine to let the SC train pass by. Afterwards, the Redcliffe train can continue on its journey from Sunshine.
I am aware that there are no track switches around the stations on the 3-track corridors and that the 7min-frequent peak-hour trains occupy the middle line. So how much will it take to add a few switches at certain stations, as well as timetabling the services so that the counter-peak all-stop trains arrive at the station shortly after the the peak-hour train departs?
If I recall correctly from some fiddling around, you could get 15 min Beenleigh all stops services if you let the Gold Coast trains overtake at Kuraby. The only problem is I donât trust QR to be able to run trains like Japan. Most of the other lines are capable of supporting 15 min frequency without using additional tracks. Kippa-Ring definitely is. You could even do it to Cleveland however it requires lots of crosses which would impact reliability when late. You could definitely make each Cannon Hill train go as far as Manly or Lota.
I tell you if we donât get some decent frequencies out of CRR, commuters are gonna mutiny after all these closedowns during school holidays having to pile onto railbuses.
Is this before or after LGCFR?
Once LGCFR is completed, I guess the best bet is to have northbound GC trains overtake northbound Beenleigh trains somewhere around Trinder Park or Woodridge, as this will allow for the GC train to have the largest possible difference between it and its preceding Beenleigh train ahead. I may have to do some math to determine where the express GC/SC services reach the all-stop Beenleigh/Redcliffe services.
When construction of LGCFR happens, Iâm sure the line will get closed entire, having railbuses replace the Kuraby-Beenleigh corridor.
I really donât understand why QR runs trains every 30min off-peak on most lines except for Ferny Grove then. Perhaps a good example of this is the off-peak Shorncliffe line services that terminate at Northgate, so trains to Shorncliffe run every 30min off-peak. If QR can just extend off-peak Northgate services to Shorncliffe, Shorncliffe services can run at 15min all day.
They seem to use the excuse of lack of rolling stock, but I donât understand how in off peak times this would be the case.
I can see that it would absolutely be an issue during shoulder peak, as there wouldnât be enough rollingstock to run 4 tph on every line during peak, and youâd end up with a situation where the majority of sets were in the core of the network, and insufficient numbers at the extremities.
The turnaround at Shorncliffe during peak hours is very tight (4 minutes), so it doesnât take much of a delay to bring the whole thing undone.
I wonder if every second service terminating at Sandgate would be feasible? Letâs be real, Shorncliffe isnât getting a heap off patronage anyway, and Sandgate is important as a bus hub for Brighton and (some) buses to the Redcliffe Peninsula area.
It should be duplified. Having Trains running every 15 or even 20 minutes on the Shorncliffe line would be the best!
But Sandgate still has the potential to be such a good bus hub!
15 minutes yes. 20 minutes is a bad idea, unless weâre planning on changing every other part of the network (connecting buses and other trains) to 20 minutes (or 10 minutes).
My concern is we might end up like Melbourne with 40 minute frequencies on some lines, so worse service than currently.
Shorncliffe duplication would be a great idea, but there are heritage restrictions to consider. 4 tph to be Sandgate and 2 tph to Shorncliffe might be a good interim arrangement.
In this situation, do you think running a bus to extend the Sandgate short runners to Shorncliffe might be worthwhile?
Perhaps, but the bus would spend an awful lot of time idle. Maybe it could do a quick loop around the Shorncliffe peninsula as well?
Sandgate StationâShorncliffe StationâFriday StâAllpass PdeâSunday StâPark PdeâPier AvâFriday StâShorncliffe StationâSandgate Station
There are no track switches before Sandgate, so trains that terminate at Sandgate cannot switch over to the other track. The closest switches I saw on the Shorncliffe line are at Banyo and Bindha (the switches for the Banyo Yard). For Sandgate to be a terminus station, there needs to be a pair of switches added before the station.
Iâm sure one of the benefits of ETCS is that trains can have a quicker turnback time (unless thatâs not the case). With a faster turnback time, the Shorncliffe line will be occupied for significantly less time, allowing for freed up capacity on the single-track leg. I hope that another reason for QR testing ETCS on the Shorncliffe line to see how much trains they can cram on the single-track leg into Shorncliffe once they finished testing between North Boondall and Bindha.
Correct, presently no crossover. There used to be one UP from Sandgate but it was removed a number of years ago. A turnback of sorts could happen by running trains onto the single line and then reversing.
All this talk about uncertainties for increasing off-peak frequency on the Shorncliffe line makes me nervous.
I am desperately waiting for 15-min off-peak frequency on the Springfield line. But if Springfield is paired with Shorncliffe post-CRR, does this mean we will be stuck with 30 min off-peak frequencies forever?
I understand the Ipswich line is meant to run all-day express post-CRR, which originally made me hopeful for increased off-peak services to Springfield.
How likely is 15 min off-peak frequency for Springfield looking? As soon as CRR opens, or some unknown future time?
Not at all. Nothing to stop every second service terminating at Northgate, as currently happens.
I am very sure that the off-peak Northgate trains will be extended to Shorncliffe post-CRR (perhaps even 10min during peak with ETCS in operation). With Springfield line being duplicated all the way to SpringCentral, the Springfield line will easily handle a train every 10-15min while being paired up with the Shorncliffe line.
If the trains could go on the single track to turn back, couldnât they go all the way to Shorncliffe station to do so?
Would just creating a second platform at Shorncliffe work without the duplication? I was thinking a second side platform and it wouldnât need to be fancy, like the platforms that have been upgraded on the Sunshine Coast/Gympie lines.
Surely this is possible with the space available and for a relatively small cost?