SEQ station staffing changes

Queensland Queensland - General
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Under Queensland Rail’s new station customer service model, selected train stations across south-east Queensland will no longer be staffed after 1pm on weekdays and over weekends from early May.

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“Unstaffed stations means no help for people with disabilities, no protection for students and no safety net for anyone who needs assistance,” branch secretary Peter Allen said.

“People who rely on staff for ramp access and navigation will effectively be locked out of the network on afternoons and weekends, while students and young people travelling after school will have no staff to turn to if something goes wrong.”

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Queensland Rail said when a station is not staffed, guards onboard trains provide boarding and disembarking assistance, which will continue after May.

It said security presence at stations will also be increased when the changes come into effect, with more authorised officers employed.

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Queensland Rail head of south-east Queensland Neil Backer said the revised model “was developed to align station staff with customer demand and operational requirements, increase security presence, improve efficiency, and support job security within the workforce”.

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“In February 2026, the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) and The Services Union (TSU) withdrew their applications with the Fair Work Commission, after coming to a mutual agreement with Queensland Rail in relation to the new operating model.”

Queensland Rail said workers’ jobs are secure, and it intends to work with employees on the implementation of the new model.

Usually toilets at stations are only open during staffed hours? These changes will greatly reduce access to those basic amenities outside of morning peak.

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Do we know what stations are affected?
I’d assume outer region stations will be hit hardest

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Thats not the whole story.

They are hiring more security staff to monitor and patrol stations outside staffed hours.

Since the EMUs have been retired all trains now have toilets. Also more stations have been retrofitted to allow for level boarding.

So knowing this, it’s a fair call to cut those roles and focus on driver roles and other operational improvements.

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Are you suggesting the entire QR fleet has bathrooms now or am I misinterpreting your comment?

The SMU sets most definitely don’t have bathrooms. Many IMU100 and 120 sets have bathrooms that are often out of order, and others only have a bathroom in one half of the train meaning you need to change sets if you want to use one and you’re unlucky.

Only the NGRs have convenient facilities available.

If you’re an inner city commuter it’s no problem, but for those coming from the coasts or even Cleveland/Ipswich it’s not nice.

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So, what’s the plan for assisted boarding on NGRs?

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This statement is factually incorrect. All SMU 200,220s and 260s do not have bathrooms. Which still represent a significiant portion of the fleet

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But they are used mainly during peak and shorter runs.

QR would have looked at all the pros and cons before the decision was made.

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Yeah a lot of the QR fleet still has no toilets.

Then again I also see train guards doing absolutely nothing most of the time so if TMR wants to actually save money, then forcing DOO once and for all would be a much more satisfactory solution.

The unions? Dunno. They can eat crow.

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^^The Transport of Perth YouTube channel quoted while making a video here that we have one of the longest dwell times at stations due to not having DOO.

I assume he was comparing our system to Perth as well as other train operations across the country like Melbourne and Adelaide which have DOO.

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And they’re always horrendous when used in peak. I don’t want to spend my ride needing a toilet and to have none when I arrive at the other end. Especially as QR seem to be utilising 3-cars more lately

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Am I the only one here that’s actually okay with station staff being re-deployed.
I want to ignore other factors like station bathrooms being closed because I think that’s an independant issue to the station being staffed.

Station staff are surprisingly expensive, and in my first hand experience, some have a shockingly poor knowledge of the rail and transport network that chatgpt is a better option and i’ve even heard flatout incorrect instructions given out to tourists.

The majority of stations, do not have a staff member at them at all time, and IMO nor should they. Only major stations should be staffed full time and only stations with significant peak hour patronage should have them part time. Stations and trains should be designed in a way that they are completely unnessecary. Appropriate signage, PIDs, lighting, wayfinding, interactive help points and humanistic design should negate most of their tasks.
I think NSW trainlink regional do an excellent job at many of these features even on regional lines that see only a few services a day. And if NSW trainlink can have unstaffed regional stations have open bathrooms, so can QR at keperra at 12pm on saturday.

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But that’s the neat thing, I know stations without PIDs and good signage.

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My take on all of this is that they seem to be concentrating staffing resources on higher-patronage stations.

I guess there’s a question of: if Station A has more than 2x the patronage of Station B, should you give them one staff member each, or should A have both? This is in many ways a political question - whether or not utility is linear in 2/.

I wrote to QR last week on behalf of BTQ, asking if the number of “overall station staffing hours” would go up or down by more than 10%, and for an indicative breakdown of the winners and losers.

I received a substantive response on Thursday afternoon effectively expanding on that FB post.

Emphasis was placed on “all jobs at QR are secure”, noting the doubling in the number of AOs (+35), that Guards can do assisted boarding, and the introduction of a mobile support team.

QR have looked at where assisted boarding requirements are relatively higher or lower.

Details of changes to specific stations will be communicated in the coming weeks at those stations and will be made available online prior to implementation.

Some details:

  • Less than 15% of network patronage on weekends _(as I’d expect from the origin/destination data).
  • 26 stations staffed first-to-last (implied 7 days a week)
  • Introduction of Assistant Station Masters on weekdays at 14 locations. These are Dakabin, Narangba, Graceville, Murarrie, Wellington Point, Lindum, Geebung, Carseldine, Mango Hill, Lawnton, Dinmore, Boondall, Morningside and Cannon Hill stations.
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Thanks Alex!

Is the full correspondence able to be shared with members?

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Of those 26 I’d assume a few of them are GC calling points, like Beenleigh, Helensvale, Nerang, Robina and Varsity. I wonder what will happen with the other two upcoming ones (AFAIK Pimpama is also staffed at all times).

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Robina, Helensvale, Manly, Beenleigh, Petrie, Indooroopilly and Caboolture were the ones mentioned of the 26.

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SMU 200, SMU 220 and SMU 260 still don’t have toilets. Shouldn’t be a problem with the 260s if we pair them all with a 160 but I don’t think you can pair a 200 with a 100 or a 220 with a 120.

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If it is late nights that the cuts are then we could introduce a new volunteer vigilante force like the New York Guardian Angels aimed at cracking down on late night crime and assisting passengers at late nights when stations are unstaffed.