An extra rail service will be added to the Sunshine Coast line during the afternoon peak to provide commuters with another travel option following the release of the new timetable recently.
Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said Queensland Rail and TransLink had been closely monitoring the new timetable for the past few weeks along with feedback from passengers and local community representatives.
“For the most part the biggest timetable change in 15 years has gone extremely well,” she said.
“It’s quite an achievement given more than 870 rail services and approximately 15,000 bus services operate across South East Queensland on a daily basis.
“However, some commuters have raised concerns, particularly with the 5.22pm rail service from the city to Nambour and I’ve been down to Central to talk to commuters directly about this.”
Changes on the Caboolture and Sunshine Coast line started on 11 July.
Ms Palaszczuk said the most recent change will provide additional options for Sunshine Coast customers, including:
- The 5.04pm CBD to Caboolture will become a CBD to Nambour
- The 5.22pm CBD to Nambour service will now become a CBD to Caboolture
- A new 5.28pm CBD to Nambour service will be introduced. This train starts from Roma Street.
- All other Petrie, Caboolture and Nambour services will remain the same. All Caboolture and Nambour services during this period run express between Northgate and Petrie.
“Overall, this will provide a seventh afternoon peak service for Sunshine Coast residents – up from five before the new timetable,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
An additional two bus services have already been added to route 193 (New Farm), route 615 (Maroochydore to Landsborough) and route 605 (Kawana to Landsborough).
An additional three-car train set has also recently been added to the 6.13am Caboolture to Central train service to provide passengers with more seats.
Queensland Rail CEO Paul Scurrah said Queensland Rail had been closely monitoring a small number of services which had been heavily patronized and had listened to and responded to feedback.
“I appreciate the patience of those who have been using these very popular services, but stress that it was important to get these changes right,” he said.
“We have consistently said since the timetable was first announced that it was designed to get more trains where they are needed most.
“We are pleased that many customers have been reporting they have been getting a seat for the first time and that reliability has improved.”
