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Stop the carnage on Ipswich Motorway – improve public transport
The most effective way of reducing accidents and fatalities on the Ipswich Motorway is to improve the public transport connections between Ipswich and Brisbane, making it a comparable alternative to the car for more people.
Community Action for Sustainable Transport (CAST) believe the problems on the motorway can be best solved by reducing the amount of vehicular traffic on the roads.
“Many people would not have to use this road if there was a public transport system in place which offered a comparable alternative to the car in peak and off-peak times,” said CAST spokesperson Tristan Peach
"We also need to move more heavy road freight to rail freight - which is a far safer way of moving goods," he said.
The group believes political leaders with vision and determination would be focusing on the following policies:
* Create more jobs in Ipswich so that more Ipswich people can work locally
* Improve the frequency of train services on the Ipswich line from 1 per 30minutes to 1 per 15 minutes
* Feeder buses to connect with all stations to meet all trains
* Improved safety and amenity around railway and bus stations
* Improve the horrendously slow passenger rail connection between Brisbane and Toowoomba
* Fast track railway duplications
* Fast track the rail extension linking Springfield and the rest of the western development corridor with Brisbane and Ipswich
* Improve the freight rail network
The group acknowledges that there will still be a demand for this motorway in the future (from tradespeople, couriers and other people who need to drive) but asserts that these strategies will take lots of cars off the motorway and get people into safer modes of transport.
“If we are to really reduce the carnage then we must make public transport a real option for more Ipswich people,” said Tristan Peach, CAST spokesperson.
“These strategies are safer, more cost-effective and more environmentally friendly than the government’s short-sighted upgrade schemes,” he said.
Media contact: Tristan Peach 0416478615
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3 comments:
Tristan, on the right hand navigation bar there are two links "edit me" and "edit me". Apparently unedited or removed links are viewed by many as an indication a blog might be for spamming or invalid. I suggest you remove the deadlinks.
Both the Ipswich and Caboolture lines are in drastic need of improvement -- but the fact is, the solution is simple. QR's defence would probably be economic viability and availability of trains. But, instead of a 6 car every half hour, splitting the train in half and providing a 3 car every 15 minutes comes at virtually no cost (that is, assuming the whistle blowers can act as drivers -- considering the simplicity, I would assume so).
At Jason Ride,
It is not possible presently to run with driver only operation. A guard is required for safeworking (to see around curved platforms, for which a CCTV system is not adequate) and to assist disabled assengers enter the train with ramps.
Without billions of dollars in station upgrades to make all platforms high-level and perfectly straight, (some of this is actually not possible without entirely relocating stations or rail tracks e.g. South Bank, Pard Road), guards are necessary on all trains, 3 or 6-car. If you can find the crew and funding good luck, as I would certainly enjoy a 15-minute frequency.
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