Queensland Rail flagged design problems with trains in 2012

The access problems with Queensland Rail’s New Generation Rollingstock could have been averted when when design flaws were flagged more than five years ago.

DISABILITY access flaws with the state’s new $4.4 billion trains were known by project managers as early as April 2012, when plans were made for a new design with one less toilet.

A Commission of Inquiry into how the train’s design breached disability access laws has delivered its findings to the State Government, which will release the report next week.

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But The Courier-Mail can today reveal a briefing paper prepared for the New Generation Rollingstock project in April 19, 2012, by Queensland Rail flagged the design had a “non-compliant access path” under the Disability Discrimination Act between the two middle carriages, which have allocated disability seating and align with boarding points.

The paper showed a preference for one toilet for each six-car train, but it would mean just one of the two carriages designed for commuters with a disability had access to a toilet.

It continues that the access path between the carriages was non-compliant, leaving a ­person in a wheelchair who boarded the wrong carriage unable to access the toilet.

“A non-compliant access path between cars 3 and 4 may prove problematic for passengers who have difficulty ­traversing the access path, ­including parents trying to wheel prams/strollers, very large people or those with larger mobility devices,” the briefing states.

Commissioner Michael Forde has told The Courier-Mail that there was no evidence politicians or successive directors-general were formally advised of the disability access issues.

The Government announced in September 2017 that it would spend $150 million fixing the flaws.