Queensland Rail passenger numbers increase, new report shows

AFTER a testing two weeks for Queensland Rail over its performance, drivers being caught asleep on duty and bonuses paid to executives, Transport Minister Mark Bailey says he has some good news about the state’s public transport network.

AFTER a testing two weeks for Queensland Rail over its performance, Transport Minister Mark Bailey has revealed some more upbeat results for the state’s public transport network.

Mr Bailey this morning said the latest public transport patronage results showed more people were using public transport in southeast Queensland compared to the same time last year.

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TransLink data showed there were 3.1 million more trips taken between April and June 2018 when compared with the same period last year, he said.

That was an increase from 44.42 million public transport trips to 47.52 million trips - an increase Mr Bailey credited with Government cuts to fares.

“We’ve also seen the opening of the Redcliffe Peninsula Line and Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 2 drive patronage higher too,” he said.

“The latest figures are especially positive given they do not include the extra 5.3 million event trips taken during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.”

Public transport advocacy Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said the rise in trips was a positive sign but transport authorities had far to go to recover lost patronage.

The group, which advocates for better rail services, says QR was yet to announce when its rail timetable would be restored to full services following the October 2016 “Rail Fail.”

QR has had a rocky two weeks: first revealing it could not guarantee services would run as planned for the annual Riverfire event, then being caught up in an executive bonuses scandal.

The political fall-out from revelations QR’s board had approved more than $3 million in bonuses, despite not having fully recovered from the timetable collapse, triggered the resignation of three board members last week.

That included its high-profile chairman Phillip Strachan, who headed up an inquiry into the genesis of the rail problems and devised an action plan to fix the trains.