Carina Langton was left stranded by her Mount Sheridan bus amid TMR staff shortages

A Cairns youngster was waiting hours at night for a bus that was cancelled due to staff shortages. But transport bosses say key improvements are on the way.

A STRANDED child was waiting hours for a delayed and cancelled bus has left mother in a state of anxiety as staff shortages cripple the Department of Transport and Main Roads — but upgrades are on the horizon.

Carina Langton from Bentley Park said buses were her only mode of transport and said that the unreliability had left her abandoned on three separate occasions.

Ms Langton recalled an incident on Thursday where her son was left waiting for an hour and half to be picked up from work after her first bus was cancelled and then the second was delayed 40 minutes.

“I’ve gone to catch the 150E on Bicentennial Rd that travels into Mount Sheridan due at 8pm to pick my son up and it didn’t show up,” she said.

“My son is 15 years old, he’s junior so he has to be picked up.”

Ms Langton and her son both had feelings of anxiety being left stranded and said she felt disappointed about the lack of service.

“He was sitting alone at the bus stop at 9.30pm, anything could’ve happened and when I finally showed up in a minute a big heap of drunks showed up,” she said.

Sunbus was contacted for a comment but has not responded.

Translink Queensland confirmed in a tweet that Ms Langton’s Thursday night bus was cancelled.

The 7.30pm route 150E to Cairns Central Terminus bus is cancelled due to staff availability. The next route 150E to Cairns Central Terminus bus departs Gordonvale at 8.30pm. https://t.co/fYGorlZoxl #TLAlertCairns pic.twitter.com/0ExQMyqowL

— Translink (@Translink_QLD) July 21, 2022

White Rock resident Terrance Bong needs to take the bus four times a week to get in and out of town and said there were times were a bus left him waiting half an hour.

“There are other places where people are waiting for the bus and it’s not coming in time, Gordonvale, Woree and White Rock,” he said.

Mr Bong said he’s had a bus cancel on him twice and the disruptions has meant he has showed up to TAFE late.

“It definitely effects me sometimes,” he said.

Bentley Park woman Cheslui Wasiu takes the bus weekly and said she would happily welcome any upgrade to the bus services after she was recently left waiting an hour for a bus.

“I was at Cairns Central Station waiting for the 330 bus and it never came,” she said.

A spokesperson from the Department of Transport and Main Roads said the service was coping with staff shortages across the state brought on by Covid and influenza.

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“This unfortunately does impact on delivering timetabled bus services, and we are working with Sunbus to ensure customers are aware of any changes in planned services,” the spokesperson said.

While TMR grapples with service issues, a spokesperson said the Far North will soon be able to enjoy upgrades of digital products and smart ticketing to its Sunbus services but didn’t confirm a date after its 2017 announcement promised the system running by 2022.

QLD_CP_NEWS_BUSSTRIKE_23NOV21

Smart ticketing will include contactless debit and credit cards, smartphones, smart watches and other smart devices while the digital products will introduce a new website, mobile app and access to real time service information.

“Planning is well under way to deliver the solution to Cairns, which will make it one of the first regional centres to experience the full suite of smart ticketing capabilities,” the spokesperson said.

“Cairns will also welcome the arrival of five new, state-of-the-art electric buses in the coming months, improving the city’s fleet.”

Originally published as Carina Langton was left stranded by her Mount Sheridan bus amid TMR staff shortages