Queensland Rail fail: Minister backs flawed punctuality figures

TRANSPORT Minister Mark Bailey backed Queensland Rail’s punctuality data despite revelations it used selective figures to improve the result.

TRANSPORT Minister Mark Bailey has stood by Queensland Rail’s punctuality data after it was revealed the rail body had artificially boosted its performance by ignoring delays involving the state’s new train fleet.

The Courier-Mail revealed on Tuesday that QR was turning a blind eye to late-running New Generation Rollingstock trains when calculating whether it had met on-time-running targets tied to lucrative executive bonuses.

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QR chief executive Nick Easy confirmed the late NGR trains were being discounted from official data when the problems were caused by mechanical issues because the state-owned operator did not technically own or maintain the new trains.

This is despite the NGR trains running on its commuter network and propping up its train timetable.

Mechanical issues that trigger delays on its existing trains are included in the official late running count.

About 26 of 75 of the new trains have been rolled out under a $4.4 billion private-public partnership with the Government’s Transport Department.

Only older trains were included in the on-time-running data.

QR must hit a punctuality target of 95 per cent of services arriving on time to qualify for executive bonuses.

It only narrowly achieved the target in 2017-18 when excluding delays blamed on incidents out of its control.

Mr Bailey defended the data yesterday, repeating QR’s previous comments that it would still have met its on-time running target had the late-running NGRs been included. He referred to his decision to block executive bonuses this year.

But rail commuter group Rail Back on Track yesterday slammed the on-time calculations as “outrageous”, saying it rendered on-time running data “meaningless and irrelevant.”

“No wonder there is so little confidence left in QR and its on-time running measurements,” he said.

State Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington accused QR of selecting data to fabricate the punctuality of the system.

“Commuters listening to another cancellation alert or watching another train flash past their station know they can’t trust the data,” she said.

The LNP yesterday moved a no-confidence motion in Mr Bailey in State Parliament, arguing he had mismanaged the public transport portfolio. It seized on the ongoing “rail fail”.

The motion failed.