Queensland Rail timetable disaster: Minister assures train crews

UPDATE: Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has assured train crews he’s on their side amid the blame game over Queensland Rail’s timetable fiasco. 200+ COMMENTS

TRANSPORT Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has backed Queensland Rail train crew over the Christmas Day disaster, and says it was not caused by staff taking sickies.

QR management has previously blamed “unplanned leave” as a major cause of the latest rail fail, but Mr Hinchliffe has written to train crew to shoot down the theory.

The Courier-Mail understands Mr Hinchliffe blames the Christmas Day network meltdown – which forced the cancellation of almost a third of train services - on poor rostering by management – a system reliant on pulling crews off rostered days off to fill staffing gaps.

“I want to be clear – there is plenty of public commentary about the causes of the current situation we find ourselves in – much of that commentary is wrong,” he said in the letter obtained by The Courier-Mail.

“Suggestions that the poor service delivery on Christmas Day was due to sudden unexpected absences is just wrong.

“We are here because there is a fundamental shortage of train crew overall. I know that and you know that.”

Mr Hinchliffe’s letter came on the same day staff were informed chief operating officer Kevin Wright had resigned, after he was asked to leave the organisation yesterday.

Further changes to QR’s executive team could occur after the “comprehensive report” ordered by Mr Hinchliffe after the Christmas service cancellations and the Strachan Inquiry are delivered to the State Government.

‘Buck must stop with gutless minister’

THE Opposition have again called for Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe to be sacked in the wake of the resignation of Queensland Rail’s chief operating officer Kevin Wright.

Shadow Treasurer Scott Emerson said Mr Hinchliffe was incompetent in his handling of the portfolio and gutless for not stepping down.

“What we see again today is another fall guy for Stirling Hinchliffe,” he said.

“The buck doesn’t stop with Mr Wright it needs to stop with this incompetent, gutless minister.

“ Annastacia Palaszczuk needs to show some leadership and sack Stirling Hinchliffe.”

QR roster man quits over fiasco

THE man in charge of the unit that oversees Queensland Rail’s fractured rostering system has resigned, just two months after he received a $77,000 performance bonus

Queensland Rail’s chief operating officer Kevin Wright resigned from the role on Wednesday evening, just days after the troubled rail operator was forced to cancel nearly a third of its services on Christmas day because of a major roster stuff up.

It comes after former chief executive Helen Gluer and board chairman Michael Klug resigned in October after the initial timetable crisis exploded when the Redcliffe Peninsula Line was opened and not enough train crew were employed to deliver the new services. QR’s head of train service delivery was also stood aside in October over the bungle, after he was allegedly warned about the impending crisis but failed to act.

Kevin Wright. Picture: Queensland Rail

Mr Wright was the man in charge of the unit responsible for rostering and its performance is expected to be examined by both the comprehensive report ordered by Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe and the Strachan Inquiry.

Mr Wright was overseas during the beginning of the timetable crisis, having stayed after a two-week, $37,500 junket there with Ms Gluer in September.

They pair visited rail operators and manufacturers in the UK, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland and Mr Wright stayed on for a two-week private holiday afterwards. He returned to Australia after commuters had already experienced weeks of cancellations.

He received a $77,000 performance bonus in October.

QR acting chief executive Jim Benstead sent a letter to staff, obtained by The Courier-Mail, informing them of Mr Wright’s decision to retire from the role.

“As many of you know, Kevin has a longstanding career at Queensland Rail with more than 16 years of service culminating as head of our Operations function,” Mr Benstead said in the letter.

“I know many of you have met Kevin and have personally worked with him in some role or form.”

Mr Wright will be replaced from January 3, by Marty Ryan while QR starts the search for a permanent replacement.

It’s understood there has been disagreement within QR over what was responsible for the timetable crisis, with both the set up of the rostering system – which relies on being able to pull people off rostered days off to cover unplanned leave – and high levels of sick leave being blamed by different parties.

Mr Wright was one of 26 QR staff interviewed as part of the secret Indec report, which was concluded in February but not handed to Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe until November when it was uncovered by The Courier-Mail.

The report warned that shortages of train crews posed a “significant risk” to the new 2016 timetable, commencement of the Redcliffe Peninsula line and the delivery of the New Generation Rollingstock trains.

Despite that, the Government says it was never warned of the need to heavily recruit more drivers and trainers.

Minister’s predecessor keeps the faith

ACTING Premier Jackie Trad has full confidence in Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, despite almost 1000 train cancellations in less than three months.

Ms Trad, from whom Mr Hinchliffe inherited the transport portfolio in a Cabinet reshuffle a year ago, told The Courier-Mail she continued to back the embattled minister and was being kept briefed in the lead-up to New Year’s Eve services.

“I have been regularly briefed by Stirling and have full confidence he is doing everything in his power to fix these current issues,” she said.

Acting Premier Jackie Trad has backed Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe. Pic: Tara Croser.

QR yesterday revealed it did not know how many unplanned service cuts there had been since the fiasco struck on September 30, or how much had been spent on taxi fares to rescue stranded rail commuters.

But analysis by The Courier-Mail reveals at least 945 train services have been unexpectedly axed since driver shortages first paralysed the network.

Ms Trad’s vote of confidence came as in Mr Hinchliffe wouldn’t commit to fully releasing a report he’s expecting to receive this week into the Christmas Day chaos when a third of services were cancelled.

“Once I’ve got a chance to look at the comprehensive report, digest it and understand it, I’ll then be making decisions about what information is appropriate to be made available out of the report,” he said.

Mr Hinchliffe’s comments followed a planning briefing with Queensland Rail’s acting chief executive Jim Benstead and TransLink around New Year’s Eve services.

The Minister said while he had “great confidence” there would be enough train crew to run December 31 services, he still couldn’t “guarantee” there wouldn’t be issues.

Acting Queensland Rail CEO Jim Benstead.

“You can’t, when you’re running a heavy rail service, you can’t make a statement like guarantee because there are a range of issues that may impact upon services,” he said. “There may be a bridge strike, there may be a points failure, there may be rolling stock issues.”

Mr Hinchliffe said there would be fewer New Year’s services than last year but said they would focus on getting people to and from key destinations such as South Bank.

Meanwhile, Mr Benstead wouldn’t reveal how many drivers had to be dragged off rostered days off to fill the New Year’s Eve’s roster to ensure there wasn’t a repeat of the Christmas Day meltdown.

“In this particular case, there is no number in relation to how many of those that will be required to work that are currently on RDOs,” he said.

“But my assurance to you is that the rosters for the timetables put in place for New Year’s Eve right through to New Year’s Day ... are filled.

“We do have an overflow, a spare, to call on if required if unplanned leave spikes in some way.”

Neither Mr Benstead nor Mr Hinchliffe were able to say how much the Christmas Day cancellations cost QR, which was forced to use taxis to transport stranded commuters.