- Queensland Rail is on track to restore 135 weekly services during peak periods across the South East Queensland (SEQ) network, supporting the reduced timetable in place since May due to union protected industrial action.
- Union protected industrial action has caused a maintenance backlog meaning fewer trains have been available on the network since May.
- Queensland Rail is continuing to negotiate in good faith to secure a fair and reasonable deal for its employees.
Queensland Rail customers will see additional peak services in the morning and afternoon across the SEQ network from Monday 17 August, as work to clear the maintenance backlog caused by union protected industrial action has progressed.
In addition to the reduced timetable, 135 weekly services will be running during peak periods with more trains becoming available and added to the timetable where and when customers need them most.
It comes after three months of reduced services because ongoing union protected industrial action caused a backlog of maintenance which stranded rollingstock and forced Queensland Rail to implement a reduced timetable – in place since 5 May.
To help restore services for customers, Queensland Rail issued ‘no work, no pay’ notices in accordance with the Fair Work Commission, which has seen some workers get back to the job.
This has allowed Queensland Rail to begin to clear some of this backlog, allowing for 55 services to re-enter service where operationally safe to do so throughout June and July.
The additional 80 weekly peak services joining the timetable from next week will provide some further certainty to customers travelling during our busiest periods.
Queensland Rail has already made significant progress with in-principle agreement reached for three Enterprise Agreements while negotiations continue for the remaining Enterprise Agreements.
Queensland Rail Head of Corporate Affairs Nev Conway said the focus remains on getting a fair and reasonable deal in line with community expectations for all workers and getting back to running full services for our customers.
“The reduced timetable is still in place, but we have added these extra peak services as soon as we could, and this represents a step towards a full timetable,” Mr Conway said.
“Unions are still taking protected industrial action with rolling work stoppages and a ban on overtime, but we wanted to show our customers that we are committed to delivering the very best we can in these frustrating circumstances.
“There’s still progress to be made to get back to a full timetable and that will only come when we can get all union action lifted, work out a deal, and get through the maintenance backlog.”
The additional services have been added to Journey Planner and customers are encouraged to check online before they travel.
