Simple and Effective Changes to Improve Transport

Queensland Greater Brisbane
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41

Auckland’s commuter trains are transitioning to driver-only operations, which involve train drivers managing the opening and closing of train doors without the need for additional staff. This change is part of the city’s efforts to improve rail services and increase efficiency ¹.

The new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which opened in March 2024, plays a crucial role in supporting driver-only operations. The centre brings together teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve train services across the city. With advanced technology and real-time monitoring, the centre enables more efficient management of train operations, including driver-only services ² ³.

To ensure the success of driver-only operations, train drivers undergo specialized training. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre also enables better communication and coordination between train drivers, dispatchers, and other staff, which is essential for safe and efficient driver-only operations ² ³.

42

Not simple on many fronts. Long-term of course as is Automation but Simple it is not.

43

I agree with the first part of your comment, but not the second.
I believe QR will eventually be converted to DOO, but it will be a very long and expensive process. What we can’t do is put the cart before the horse like the Newman government did, i.e. buy DOO trains when the network isn’t ready for them.

Already, I believe that the Gold Coast and Springfield lines could be operated as DOO. Not sure it would make much difference for Springfield, as it’s a relatively short distance, but Gold Coast trains could lose their guards at Park Rd and they could swap to another service.

I believe Altandi, Loganlea, and Beenleigh are staffed first to last train on weekdays; it wouldn’t take much to extend the weekend hours a little. and the platforms south of Beenleigh are all straight and level, so there is minimal need for a guard.

The rest of the network is a lot more complicated, though, with non-level and curved platforms etc.

44

Unlikely due to freight needing to share the lines between Ipswich and Darra. I’m not the person to work it out, but I wonder if that could be fixed with electrifcation of the 4th road between Corinda and Darra (why the hell this wasn’t done in the first place is beyond me!) and a third road from Darra to Redbank, or maybe Riverview (going past there would start getting complicated, as you have the Warrego Hwy overpass just beyond Riveriew). Maybe a passing loop between Ebbw Vale and Dimore, as well.

45

While DOO would be ideal - I definitely don’t think it’s a simple change, but maybe could be discussed more in another thread perhaps. :slight_smile:

46

Good to know, thanks! I agree that the fourth track should have been electrified when built too! QLD sure knows how to live up to the half baked reputation. Can you imagine the outcry if a similar half baked approach was given to a freeway upgrade?

So it’d be the Ipswich line preventing this frequency increase rather than the Caboolture stretch of the line, or is that part a whole other can of worms too?

47

Caboolture has freight, and long-distance services, but there is already a passing loop at Narangba, and there’s 3 tracks from Petrie to Northgate. Not sure if that’s enough, but it would certainly help.

Ideally, I’d like to see Caboolture-Petrie triplicated, and Petrie-Northgate quadruplicated, but that’s not going to be cheap.

48

There’s not much point Quading Petrie to Northgate considering it’ll still have to combine into 2 tracks at Northgate (or take a share of the track from the Subs). It would be a better use of funds IMO to seriously consider the NWTC (or alternative alignment) to Strathpine and then quad to Petrie

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49

Would it not allow for express Caboolture/Sunshine Coast and freight trains to overtake all stops services at much higher frequencies in both directions?

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Which would have to be weighed up against the opportunity cost of not sending Caboolture or Sunshine Coast trains down a faster, purpose built alignment that feeds into CRR at Victoria Park or Mayne. The current alignment is mediocre and serves no major centres other than Strathpine (not particularly well, and any new alignment would only split off south of Strathpine anyway). Trouts Road would be faster, or an alternative via Chermside would give it the best rail access of any of the major suburban commercial centres in BCC land. Locking in a fourth track and station upgrades via the current route seems like it is throwing money in the hole. Same deal with the Kuraby-Beenleigh upgrades coming but that is a fait accompli and the alternative corridor shadowing the M1 does have a mass transit arrangement in place (SEB).

4 Likes
51

Believe it or not, you can run a 15-minute frequency on both the Caboolture and Redcliffe line without using the 3rd track. The third track is only required for peek when the frequency is higher.

Consider the following:

  • Northgate to Petrie Express: 16 minutes
  • Northgate to Petrie All Stops: 24 minutes
  • Time Saving: 10 minutes

The time saved is less than 15 minutes, so if you can line up the timetables nicely, you are able to run both patterns using only a single track.

As an example of how this could work, consider the following hypothetical timetable.

All Stops Departs Northgate Express Departs Northgate All Stops Arrives Petrie Express Arrives Petrie
9:00:00 AM 9:09:00 AM 9:24:00 AM 9:25:00 AM
9:15:00 AM 9:24:00 AM 9:39:00 AM 9:40:00 AM
9:30:00 AM 9:39:00 AM 9:54:00 AM 9:55:00 AM
9:45:00 AM 9:54:00 AM 10:09:00 AM 10:10:00 AM
10:00:00 AM 10:09:00 AM 10:24:00 AM 10:25:00 AM
10:15:00 AM 10:24:00 AM 10:39:00 AM 10:40:00 AM
10:30:00 AM 10:39:00 AM 10:54:00 AM 10:55:00 AM
… … … …

Train Journey from Northgate to Petrie Gantt Chart

gantt
    title Train Journey from Northgate to Petrie
    dateFormat  HH:mm
    axisFormat  %H:%M
    excludes    00:00-08:59,10:41-23:59

    section Service 1
    All-Stops Train AS1       : as1, 09:00, 09:24
    Express Train E1          : e1, 09:09, 09:25

    section Service 2
    All-Stops Train AS2       : as2, 09:15, 09:39
    Express Train E2          : e2, 09:24, 09:40

    section Service 3
    All-Stops Train AS3       : as3, 09:30, 09:54
    Express Train E3          : e3, 09:39, 09:55

    section Service 4
    All-Stops Train AS4       : as4, 09:45, 10:09
    Express Train E4          : e4, 09:54, 10:10

    section Service 5
    All-Stops Train AS5       : as5, 10:00, 10:24
    Express Train E5          : e5, 10:09, 10:25

    section Service 6
    All-Stops Train AS6       : as6, 10:15, 10:39
    Express Train E6          : e6, 10:24, 10:40

There is even 5 minutes of dead-space for the express train to allow for minor delays without effecting the next service. Freight trains aren’t given access during peak as is, so it isn’t too much of an issue at present.

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52

I wonder if the travel times will reduce by 5-6 minutes with ETCS 2?

53

Does this allow for freight paths (off peak) as well as Tilt Trains, other long distance, and train repositioning etc?

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54

In theory, the third track can be used for those movements.

55

I know it’s already been said here many times, but 15-minute all day on Redcliffe-Springfield would be a game changer. Those lines are consistently packed no matter what, you could absolutely induce more patronage out of them

6 Likes
56

Fix the Great Circle Line

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57

Elaborate?

58

The only solution would be to break it up into four separate lines according to cardinal points.

1 Like
59

You could just break it into two routes, steam iron it a bit and then boost to 15 min all day.

60

To be completely honest, I’ve never really understood the purpose of the Great Circle Line being one route. If anyone actually wants to go from Chermside to Mt Gravatt, you wouldn’t catch the GCL.

Having it split up into smaller routes would improve network legibility (if someone says to catch the 598 or 599, you wouldn’t have a clue where they actually want you to go). It would also allow for the frequency and span of hours to be different. It’s very hard to push for increased frequency on the GCL because it is simply so huge (and some sections don’t necessarily warrant it).

2 Likes