Time to bring hammer down on unreliable Gympie train service

The constant delays commuters are forced to deal with - and which seem to be getting worse - are not acceptable

Train services between Gympie North and Brisbane needs close scrutiny and vast improvement. Picture: Craig Warhurst

THE train service between Gympie North and Brisbane needs close scrutiny and vast improvement. The constant delays commuters are forced to deal with - and which seem to be getting worse - are not acceptable.

In an era where we are all becoming more aware of the need to be economical with energy and think about the impact we are having on the environment, governments - especially Labor governments, one would think - need to be doing everything they can to encourage people to use public transport rather than their own vehicles.

That means, making public transport comfortable, safe and reliable. The line from Gympie to Brisbane is far from reliable. The $5.4 billion Cross River Rail Project is expected to save eight minutes on the Caboolture line to and from Brisbane but is that going to help Gympie commuters? A 3-hour delay at Nambour on Thursday rightly infuriated commuters, and the police had to be called to deal with one person.

Planes and appointments are being missed, jobs jeopardised, students are missing classes and exams.

It's not good enough. For anyone impacted, we would like to hear from you. Send your letters to [e-mail]. We need to apply more pressure on the Transport Minister to get this fixed.