Six-car trains will replace three-car trains on 193 Queensland Rail services to provide 46,000 more weekly seats to commuters across the South East Queensland network.
Roughly 6 per cent of Monday to Friday services are provided by three-car trains, but after these changes that figure will drop to 3.21 per cent, transport and main roads minister Mark Bailey said on Monday.
“Queensland Rail has focused on upgrading Monday to Friday services rather than at weekends when fewer people travel,” Bailey said.
“Of the 193 services where capacity will be doubled, 40 are classified as high patronage where average seated capacity occupancy rates are more than 80 per cent.”
Passengers on the Beenleigh, Shorncliffe, Ferny Grove, Cleveland, Northgate and Doomben lines will benefit from the changes, which begin on December 3.
“A small number of three-carriage trains will still be required to run during morning and afternoon peaks due to current operational restrictions,” Bailey detailed, “however each of these will be preceded and followed by a six-carriage train to assist with customer loading.”
The increase in six-car trains is being facilitated by the rollout of the New Generation Rollingstock (NGR) fleet, with 37 NGRs now available for service, Bailey said.
Just 171 of the 6,248 weekly services in South East Queensland will be serviced by a three-car train after the shift. 100 of those are the Rosewood shuttle, which won’t be upgraded due to low demand and infrastructure limitations.
“Current patronage numbers also show the three-carriage trains meet demand on that line at weekends when patronage is lower,” Bailey added.