Queensland Rail: New trains fail disability test

THE Queensland government has defended rolling out new trains with no disability access, saying it’s cleaning up a mess left by the Newman government who ordered the trains and who “deleted specifications out of the contract”.

THE Queensland government has defended rolling out new trains with no disability access, saying it’s cleaning up a mess left by its LNP predecessors.

Queensland’s anti-discrimination commissioner Kevin Cocks has labelled the move “reprehensible” in a submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission.

“That the Queensland government would in 2013 commission a fleet of trains that do not fully comply with the transport standards, and in other respects are likely to discriminate against people with disabilities, is reprehensible,” Mr Cocks said in his submission.

“And in further defiance and disregard for the law, the NGR trains have been put in use without any rectification work and without the benefit of an exemption granted by the Commission,”

Queensland’s new trains have design flaws making them difficult for some people with disabilities to use. Picture: Liam Kidston.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey today put the blame on the previous Newman LNP government, which was in power when the trains were ordered.

“The problem that we’ve had is that the Newman government ordered cheap trains from overseas that didn’t comply with disability standards. In fact, they deleted specifications out of the contract,” he told reporters in Brisbane.

The minister defended not waiting until the trains had been fixed before putting them into service, saying the network needed extra capacity to deal with demand from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April.

“It is essential we have every bit of rolling stock, every staff member that we have out on the system transporting people to games venues, and that’s a reality we just have to do.”

Mr Bailey also announced 13 new drivers have started training to work at Queensland Rail, as the public transport operator works to rebuild its staff in the wake of cascading rostering failures.

Of those, 12 have prior driving experience with QR while the 13th transferred from Emerald.

Since October 2016, a total of 145 trainee drivers and 262 trainee guards have been selected, with 51 drivers and 158 guards now fully qualified and working on the SEQ network.

OVERNIGHT: Queensland’s anti-discrimination commissioner has launched a blistering attack on the Palaszczuk Government for running new trains that flout disability access laws.

Commissioner Kevin Cocks has used a submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission to argue against the problematic new trains being used on the rail network.

The Commission is looking at an application by the Government seeking a temporary exemption to laws setting out disability access standards for public transport.

It argues the trains are urgently needed to meet the Commonwealth Games deadline.

But Mr Cocks has sternly rebuked the Government for rolling out trains under the $4.4 billion program before fixing design flaws including aisles too narrow and toilets too small for passengers with disabilities to access.

There are also ongoing concerns about boarding problems for disabled commuters.

“That the Queensland Government would in 2013 commission a fleet of trains that do not fully comply with the transport standards, and in other respects are likely to discriminate against people with disabilities, is reprehensible,” Mr Cocks said in his submission to the Commission.

“And in further defiance and disregard for the law, the NGR trains have been put in use without any rectification work and without the benefit of an exemption granted by the. Commission,” he said.

“It is a grave indictment on the State that a major public works project was procured with apparent disregard for the laws that prohibit discrimination and set out minimum standards for public transport accessibility.”

The Government announced last year the trains would be progressively retrofitted, but has argued they must run in the interim to cater for extra demand during April’s Games.

It has told the Commission that refusing a temporary exemption would “disadvantage the travelling public” as the trains were urgently needed to replace the ageing fleet and meet the April deadline.

But Mr Cocks has called for a freeze on trains with the design flaws being put into service.

He has also raised doubts about claims withholding the trains from service would “impose significant financial burdens on the state”.

Rail commuters with disabilities have also individually raised concerns about being stranded at the train platform due to a changed boarding procedure for the new trains.

Originally published as Queensland Rail: New trains fail disability test