Trains are less crowded despite more people catching them, Transport Minister Rachel Nolan announced today.
Releasing results from the 2009 QR Passenger Load Survey, Ms Nolan noted fewer trains were exceeding their comfort design capacity despite a large increase in patronage.
"We've swum against the tide in managing to reduce crowding levels during peak periods from 43 per cent to 33 per cent even though rail patronage is growing at about seven per cent,’ Ms Nolan said.
“Aside from Melbourne, south east Queensland is the fastest growing urban rail network in the world so it’s pleasing to see that our investment in new trains, services and rail infrastructure is making an impact on the results at a passenger level.”
Ms Nolan said the State Government had added five new morning peak services to the Ipswich line and three to the Caboolture line since they were identified as priorities in the 2008 survey data.
“We acted on the results of the 2008 survey and they indicated that the greatest need was on the Ipswich and Caboolture lines on weekday mornings,” Ms Nolan said.
“The introduction of eight extra morning services on the Ipswich and Caboolture lines provided capacity for an additional 6000 people each weekday and that investment is successfully reflected in the latest results.
“The Ipswich line morning peaks improved significantly with a reduction in crowding from 58 per cent to 23 per cent while the efforts on the Caboolture line were similarly encouraging with a drop from 56 per cent to 33 percent.”
Ms Nolan said the comfort design capacity was a measure of the number of people a train could hold, while maintaining passenger comfort. For QR’s six-car train sets, the comfort design capacity is 750 people, sitting and standing.
“The Passenger Load Survey is a snapshot of demand for services,” Ms Nolan said.
Ms Nolan said the State Government was building new trains and infrastructure to provide the extra seats and services required to meet growing demand.
The State Government, through TransLink and QR, are adding extra rollingstock at the rate of roughly one three-car set each month and has committed $1.5 billion to fund 102 three-car sets by 2016.
"We've invested heavily in the infrastructure needed to address congestion,” Ms Nolan said.
"In 2008 alone, we delivered a third track between Salisbury and Kuraby ($256 million) and a second track between both Mitchelton and Keperra ($46 million), and Helensvale to Robina ($72 million).
"At Easter, the 14km Caboolture to Beerburrum upgrade worth $298 million was commissioned.
“Work is continuing on the $324 million extension of the Gold Coast line from Robina to Varsity Lakes and the new $390 million line from Darra to Richlands.”
QR Passenger staff carried out the 2009 Passenger Load Survey during March to capture the annual seasonal peak passenger demand and avoid public and school holidays.
The 2009 Passenger Load Survey revealed:
- Passenger numbers exceeded comfort design capacity* on 40 trains from 123 morning peak period services (33%), compared to 48 trains from 111 services (43%) the previous year.
- An average of 65,752 people caught train services between 6am and 9am on weekdays in March, compared to 62,517 people the previous year.
- An average of 57,286 passenger boardings for services between 3.30pm and 6.30pm in March, compared to 56,272 boardings the previous year.
- Trains run at least every 15 minutes during peak hour.
The Passenger Load Survey will be available for download on the QR website as of Monday15 June. For a electronic copy of the document, please call the number below.
Media contact: Adam Nicholson, 0437 430 558
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