South east rail commuters are set to benefit from more than 12,000 additional seats, with the Palaszczuk Government today announcing 32 new weekly services for the south east.
The services, which start from March 2, have been introduced in response to feedback from passengers and will join the extension of an inbound Caboolture service through to Nambour.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said together with the 462 weekly services added last year, it meant there would be 212,000 extra seats across the south east compared to the same time last year.
“We’re delivering more train services than ever before,” Mr Bailey said.
“Close to 190 million trips were taken on public transport in 2018-19, and after two record years, we’re on-track for another record 12 months when it comes to patronage.
“That’s why we’re backing commuters with more trains, a $371 million statewide smart ticketing system, more than $357 million in train station accessibility upgrades and the largest public transport project in Queensland’s history: the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail.”
A full table of the 32 new weekly services can be found here:
Queensland Rail CEO Nick Easy said the organisation had been reviewing its operations across South East Queensland and identified an opportunity to deliver these service improvements, within its existing available resources.
“These changes will reduce empty train running across the region by 1,460 kilometres per week – delivering extra services for our customers instead,” Mr Easy said.
Queensland Rail CEO Nick Easy said in addition to the extra morning peak service, NGR trains would also be introduced on the North Coast line for the very first time, with the fleet providing a more modern onboard experience including larger windows, high-backed seats for improved safety, a new colour scheme and seating, and digital LCD screens.
“The trains will operate 45 weekly services on the line, replacing older train models, and their deployment will be supported by a new NGR stabling facility coming online at Woombye.
“To ensure the smooth rollout of the trains and to boost our customer service, we’ll be ramping up our staff presence at Glass House Mountains, Beerwah, Landsborough and Palmwoods stations from March 2.”
