Somehow, I think it is time that Queensland Rail updated its train system somewhat. Having spent the best part of three or so hours today trying to accomplish what normally takes one hour on the train, I am less than happy at our public rail network.
Though to be honest, with the recent spate of people throwing themselves in front of trains this week, plus the two cars that went through boom gates this morning (one accidental, one on purpose) up this way, it is probably fair to say that Queensland Rail are doing their best, considering the circumstances. Add to that, the (also recent) couple of accidents with the long distance trains, up north, including the south-bound Tilt Train today which had to stop at Caboolture to transfer some passengers to hospital via ambulance (reason unknown as yet), and because they had to wait for the Queensland Ambulance Service to turn up, Queensland Rail requisitioned a local domestic city train and turned it into a makeshift express long distance train so that the passengers would get to Brisbane SOMETIME today....it's been a pretty awful start to the new year all round really.
Oh and did I mention also that due to our current heat wave, the older domestic trains (known to those who care or are aware as E.M.U's, not to be confused with the S.M.U's or the newer I.M.U's) tend to overheat when they reach a certain temperature, and simply stop on the lines where they stand. Given I was on one such train for part of my journey today, I know this to be true.
As it was, I sat at my local station and waited for a train that was supposed to arrive a few minutes after I got there, only....it took an hour to actually make it to us. After that, we didn't even get as far as the next station (about 15 minutes south of me by train), before we had to stop and wait for the train to cool down, before we could continue. The whole way we kept being given updates on the various accidents south of us, including the grissly details of the family that went through the boom gates on purpose and apparently smiled at the train driver while doing so.
This happened an hour or so after another car went through the boom gates at a station just north of that one (but still south of me), which caused my train and the one after it to be cancelled. Which is why I had to wait an hour for a train today.
It took me over two hours to get to Brisbane today. I left home at 10am. I got to town at 12.30pm. By the time I got what I had to get done today, it was 1.30pm, and they were cancelling south-bound trains and north-bound trains all over the place, so my visit to a family member on the south-side had to be cancelled (again). Needless to say - she isn't very happy with me currently.
It took me until 4pm to get back home. That means two hours - again.
This little chook is a bit peeved with Queensland Rail, but more so with twits who decide they want to kill themselves by jumping or driving in front of oncoming trains. Surely there are better, less messy, less intrusive ways of doing yourself in? Now that sounds callous, I know, but I've had enough of death this year - AND IT'S ONLY JANUARY...
My ONLY modes of transport are by train, bus, ferry and foot. When something happens to any of those, it means I am unable to get about, and in the process, I make other people who I promised to come visit, very unhappy.
Please, people - use a little common sense. Life is never so terribly bad that the ONLY answer is death. There's always - ALWAYS - another option, if you are just willing to go look!
Though to be honest, with the recent spate of people throwing themselves in front of trains this week, plus the two cars that went through boom gates this morning (one accidental, one on purpose) up this way, it is probably fair to say that Queensland Rail are doing their best, considering the circumstances. Add to that, the (also recent) couple of accidents with the long distance trains, up north, including the south-bound Tilt Train today which had to stop at Caboolture to transfer some passengers to hospital via ambulance (reason unknown as yet), and because they had to wait for the Queensland Ambulance Service to turn up, Queensland Rail requisitioned a local domestic city train and turned it into a makeshift express long distance train so that the passengers would get to Brisbane SOMETIME today....it's been a pretty awful start to the new year all round really.
Oh and did I mention also that due to our current heat wave, the older domestic trains (known to those who care or are aware as E.M.U's, not to be confused with the S.M.U's or the newer I.M.U's) tend to overheat when they reach a certain temperature, and simply stop on the lines where they stand. Given I was on one such train for part of my journey today, I know this to be true.
As it was, I sat at my local station and waited for a train that was supposed to arrive a few minutes after I got there, only....it took an hour to actually make it to us. After that, we didn't even get as far as the next station (about 15 minutes south of me by train), before we had to stop and wait for the train to cool down, before we could continue. The whole way we kept being given updates on the various accidents south of us, including the grissly details of the family that went through the boom gates on purpose and apparently smiled at the train driver while doing so.
This happened an hour or so after another car went through the boom gates at a station just north of that one (but still south of me), which caused my train and the one after it to be cancelled. Which is why I had to wait an hour for a train today.
It took me over two hours to get to Brisbane today. I left home at 10am. I got to town at 12.30pm. By the time I got what I had to get done today, it was 1.30pm, and they were cancelling south-bound trains and north-bound trains all over the place, so my visit to a family member on the south-side had to be cancelled (again). Needless to say - she isn't very happy with me currently.
It took me until 4pm to get back home. That means two hours - again.
This little chook is a bit peeved with Queensland Rail, but more so with twits who decide they want to kill themselves by jumping or driving in front of oncoming trains. Surely there are better, less messy, less intrusive ways of doing yourself in? Now that sounds callous, I know, but I've had enough of death this year - AND IT'S ONLY JANUARY...
My ONLY modes of transport are by train, bus, ferry and foot. When something happens to any of those, it means I am unable to get about, and in the process, I make other people who I promised to come visit, very unhappy.
Please, people - use a little common sense. Life is never so terribly bad that the ONLY answer is death. There's always - ALWAYS - another option, if you are just willing to go look!
1 comment:
Well you know here, British Rail (the now defunct gov-owned co) famously once stated they couldn't run the trains because there was the "wrong sort of leafs" on the track. Go figure.
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