UN-FARE
Commuters say they want to escape the M1 gridlock and take the train, but can’t. It’s too expensive
THE State Government wants thousands of Gold Coast commuters travelling to Brisbane each day to ditch the M1 and take the train.
But drivers have told the Bulletin there is one major problem — they cannot afford it.
Three quarters of respondents to the Bulletin’s Golden Age campaign considred the rail fare to the state capital unaffordable, compared to putting petrol in their cars.
The cost to get to Brisbane Central from Southport tram station is $10.47 a trip or $104.70 return on Go card for a five-day week.
By comparison, the return journey from Sydney to Newcastle is three quarters that price.
AN overwhelming number of Gold Coast commuters say they want to ditch the M1 and take the train to Brisbane, but it is too expensive.
Three quarters of respondents to the Bulletin’s Golden Age survey considered the heavy rail fare to the state capital unaffordable, compared to putting petrol in their cars.
The cost to get to Brisbane Central from Southport tram station is $10.47 a trip or $104.70 on Go card for a five-day week.
The trip takes one hour and 44 minutes each way.
By comparison, the return journeys from Sydney to Newcastle and Sydney to Wollongong are three quarters the price at a capped $15.40.
About 77 per cent of readers who responded to the Golden Age survey said they would ride the train to Brisbane if the return fare was dropped to $10.
Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said the public transport lobby group wanted the State Government to introduce a fare freeze in next week’s Budget.
Surveys of their own members suggested a long-term halt on rail fare hikes in southeast Queensland would not hinder the Budget bottom line and enable pricing to become reasonable again.
“We think it’s the best way, for two or three years to have the freeze. We think it would bring it back to a pricing level that’s fair and reasonable,” Mr Dow said.
Northern regional centres like Townsville and Mackay enjoyed a more reasonable pricing for public transport which had been linked to CPI increases, he said.
After the recent duplication of the line from Coomera to Helensvale, Mr Dow said the express rail service from the Coast to Beenleigh was adequate with trains able to reach speeds of up to 160km/h.
But he said the government needed to spend money on improving
AS THE M1 GETS WORSE, PEOPLE WILL REALISE THAT RAIL IS A BETTER OPTION RAIL BACK ON TRACK SPOKESMAN ROBERT DOW
the line north of Park Road as part of the Cross River Rail project if the trip was to be considered an express service.
“It could end up on the M1 corridor or part of an elevated railway that joins the existing line from Beenleigh,” Mr Dow said. “As the M1 gets worse, people will realise that rail is a better option.”
The Bulletin yesterday reported 79 per cent of survey respondents considered the M1 a “bad or very bad road” and 56 per cent feared for their safety on exit ramps.
A state-wide RACQ transport behaviour survey shows the Gold Coast leads the way in car use with 75.5 per cent of residents commuting by vehicle, followed by 70.7 per cent on the Sunshine Coast and 69.9 per cent in Logan.
After analysing positives and negatives from respondents, RACQ found commuter sentiment was lowest in Logan, the Moreton Bay region and the Coast.
About 30 per cent of Coast residents described their commute as “frustrating” and 28.9 per cent thought it was “long”. Most spend 40 minutes in their car.
Asked why they avoided public
transport, more than half of Coast commuters blamed a lack of service or poor time tabling.
RACQ head of public policy Rebecca Michael said the Queensland Government in December last year had slashed public transport fares by an average of 45 cents per trip, but it was not enough for many commuters.
“While we welcome those cheaper fares because they made public transport more affordable and fair, we understand that many people aren’t willing to pay for a service they believe is unreliable,” Ms Michael said.
“In our Transport Behaviour Survey respondents overwhelmingly described their commute as frustrating and long, showing whether the trip is taken behind the wheel or on public transport Gold Coast residents say it’s not up to scratch.”
The high number of Coast commuters use the car to get to work showing the need for second M1 to help bust congestion, Ms Michael said.
“Looking towards the future, more and more Gold Coast residents will look to alternative transport options, so services like the train line need to be reliable and convenient otherwise frustrated commuters will be forced to return to their cars and congestion will escalate,” she said.
GOLD Coast residents know when they are being short changed.
They see it with their football teams, the Suns and the Titans, on stadium costs.
The Titans are paying more than $100,000 for a home game. The Suns face the highest transport and police costs in the AFL, and are forced to pay $850,000 a year into a sinking fund to repair Carrara Stadium.
Fans know it stinks and, along with the team owners and administrators, are not shy about telling the State Government.
Gold Coasters also smell a rip-off when it comes to public transport.
Gold Coast residents say they would switch to public transport if the price was right and the service met an acceptable standard.
Hooking up by tram to Helensvale and then heavy rail to Central Station in Brisbane can cost up to $104.70 a week. That trip to work eats 104 minutes out of a day.
But there is only slightly more guarantee of arriving at your job on time than driving the M1 which can take one-two hours.
What the Bulletin’s Golden Age survey confirms is a large majority of commuters take the train because they fear being late if they take on the Pacific Motorway at peak hour.
The most pleasing aspect of the survey results is the support for fairer fares.
Asked if a train fare was reduced to $5 would they consider rail a better option than car, 76 per cent of respondents answered “yes”.
The Bulletin lobbied hard for upgrades of the M1, and a win was delivered last month when the State Labor Government agreeing to match the Turnbull Government on a $2 billion solution.
The reality is work on widening these bottlenecks – ensuring eight lanes just south of Brisbane and widening to six lanes from Varsity south Tugun – will not begin until 2020.
Golden Age polling this week revealed the safety fears of residents caught stranded on M1 ramps which have been over capacity for up to four years.
The highway is already over capacity in the city’s fast-growing northern suburbs and far south during peak hour. Yet today we learn residents will not switch to public transport due to cost and poor service.
The State Government can reverse all of these transport problems.
Rail Back on Track acknowledges some recent concessions, but the lobbying group knows Queenslanders in other regional cities get a far better fare deal than Gold Coasters.
Their members are lobbying for a twoyear fare freeze, but the Bulletin is urging the government to go a step further and reduce ticket prices now.
The other commitment we are seeking is work on making the Coast trip to Brisbane a true express line by updating the old rail infrastructure north of Beenleigh.
This is about workers meeting deadlines for their jobs. The Government during the Commonwealth Games was very successful with a strategy to reduce traffic on the M1.
Surely it can move just as quickly and effectively to reduce ticket costs.