The company building Queensland’s new train fleet has promised that the first vehicles will be servicing the state’s passengers in the near future, with the reported design issues having been resolved or on their way to being resolved.
Media criticism has plagued the $4.4 billion project in recent months, and comments by the state Labor government have only served to increase doubt and speculation regarding the roll-out date for the first trains.
For instance, The Courier-Mail recently reported that state transport minister Jackie Trad “cannot say when braking, sightline, disability access, air-conditioning and ventilation issues will be resolved”, and that she expects the trains to be running by the end of this year.
However, Qtectic, the Bombardier-led consortium that has been building the new fleet, was reported by Future Rail magazine as saying that the braking issues identified on the first trains have already been resolved.
The New Generation Rollingstock (NGR) was initially ordered by the Newman government in 2014, but delivery was halted in March this year by the Labor government, reportedly due to operational and design issues — in the braking system, air-conditioning, ventilation and driver visibility — which had been apparent since on-track testing last year.
The delay in the roll-out for the new fleet has since become the subject of a blame game between the government and the opposition. Transport minister Jackie Trad accused the previous Newman government of signing-off on faulty designs, while former Liberal ministers have pushed back, claiming that the current setbacks are due to Labor’s mishandling of the situation.
A spokesperson for Qtectic confirmed to Future Rail that design and performance requirements for the new trains had been established in 2013 after consultation Department of Transport and Main Roads, Queensland Rail, the disability sector and other user groups.
“The trains are then tested to ensure they meet all requirements and safety standards before entering passenger service. For all new train projects, especially of this size and complexity, it is not uncommon to identify issues during testing,” the spokesperson said.
Qtectic had already stated in March that resolving design issues were a normal part of the testing process for new trains.
“During any testing process it is normal for issues to arise, when that happens all parties work together to come to a successful solution,” Andrew Dudgeon, spokesman for the consortium said.
Of the 75 trains on order, 15 have been delivered by Qtectic to Queensland so far. Minister Trad was reported by the ABC as saying that the government planned on having these 15 trains ready before the onset of the Commonwealth games next year.
“We need to operationalise some of the New Generational Rollingstock in time for the Commonwealth Games … in order to meet the additional demand that our network will experience at that time,” she said.
“We’re hoping that we can get these trains on the network as soon as it is safely possible to do so.”
A full technical assessment has been ordered by the government to ascertain what changes may need to be made to the trains to make them operational, while staff from the Department of Transport and Main Roads have reportedly met with the manufacturers to find solutions for the rest of the fleet.
“My view is there won’t be significant changes — there might be some minor changes and we don’t know whether or not they’re going to cost taxpayers money at this stage,” Trad said.
“[W]e hope that the issues will be resolved and they will be in service before too long.”
For their part, Qtectic has affirmed that it is working with the government to get the trains on to tracks servicing passengers.
“Testing is ongoing as part of commissioning these trains. Queensland Rail is fully involved in this testing and we are continuing to work with the government and Queensland Rail as part of this process,” Dudgeon said.
“These are state of the art trains which we want to see in service as soon as possible.”