Kinetic launches investigation after 20 Townsville students left on flooded road

A Townsville family has raised safety concerns after they allege a bus driver left 20 schoolchildren, some as young as five, on the side of a flooded road. Read the bus company’s response here.

The flood-prone dip on Chisholm Trail in Oak Valley in rural southern Townsville on Friday. Kinetic has apologised “unreservedly” to the students and parents affected by the incident “where students were incorrectly instructed to exit a school bus due to flooding concerns”. Picture: Supplied

A young Townsville family have raised safety concerns after alleging that a Kinetic bus driver left 20 schoolchildren, some as young as five, on the side of a flooded road.

The family from the rural residential neighbourhood of Oak Valley claim the bus driver’s actions came after they were reported for driving through floodwaters two weeks earlier.

The father of the family said that one of his two school-aged children was asked to leave the bus to remove a council road-closure sign on Chisholm Trail to allow the bus to drive through floodwater.

“If it’s flooded forget it, that’s a general rule everywhere … especially with a busload of kids … they’ve been put out there for a reason.”

He said he lodged a complaint with public transport agency TransLink who forwarded the complaint to Kinetic.

The father said that some days later: “He waited till he got all the kids on the bus and made an announcement that all kids would have to get off if he couldn’t get through Chisholm Trail because he can’t go the alternative route (via Benalla Rd) because there’s a weight limit on the bridge.”

He said the family was in contact with his daughter on the bus who said they had been dropped off at a flood-prone dip on Chisolm Trail, a road with a maximum speed of 80kmh.

The father alleged that he and his wife, both in separate vehicles at the time, were in a three-way conversation with their daughter on the bus when the driver approached her.

“We heard the bus driver walk up to our kids and spoke directly at our children, singled them out, and said, ‘this is because … your parents and they’ve made a complaint against me’.”

A generic image of a Kinetic bus. The company, which operates school buses in Townsville, prides itself on providing "safe and reliable school travel".

The father alleged the driver then “dumped” 20 children ranging in age from about 5 to their mid-teens in the rain at the flooding Chisolm Trail dip.

“There was a little kid, preppy age, five or six years of age, who had to cross the floodwaters aided by other children.”

He estimated the fast-moving water was between 200mm and 400mm deep and that kids were left to not only navigate the dip but walk distances of well over a kilometre to reach home.

“It was absolutely disgusting but TransLink and Kinetic seem to be taking this seriously but we are waiting to hear back,” he said.

He claimed that there had been no prior communication from Kinetic about the intention to drop the children at the flooding dip.

imaginary weight limit on the Benalla Rd bridge, nor of the intention to drop the children at the flooding dip.

Kinetic Executive General Manager Martin Hall apologised “unreservedly” to the students and parents affected by the incident “where students were incorrectly instructed to exit a school bus due to flooding concerns”.

“Above all, we put the safety and welfare of our passengers, particularly schoolchildren, at the forefront and have commenced an investigation into this incident.”

He said the company had established safety protocols in place, including comprehensive network safety measures such as alternative route planning and specific protocols for managing service disruptions such as flooding.

“We are in the process of reaching out directly to the schools impacted to apologise and provide assurance that appropriate measures are being implemented to prevent similar incidents in the future,” he said.

“Kinetic remains committed to providing safe, reliable transportation for all passengers.”

Originally published as Kinetic launches investigation after 20 Townsville students left on flooded road