"Vulnerable train passengers will be left without vital assistance at stations under a “reckless” proposal by Queensland Rail, a peak transport union has warned.
Under Queensland Rail’s new station customer service model, selected train stations across south-east Queensland will no longer be staffed after 1pm on weekdays and over weekends from early May."
This is bad news for people with disabilities, who need assistance to board/disembark the train.
Posted by sinister-starfruit
18 Comments
Full article:
Vulnerable train passengers will be left without vital assistance at stations under a “reckless” proposal by Queensland Rail, a peak transport union has warned.
Under Queensland Rail’s new station customer service model, selected train stations across south-east Queensland will no longer be staffed after 1pm on weekdays and over weekends from early May.
Workers affected by the proposal include porters, station assistants and station masters.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union’s (RTBU) Queensland branch described the decision as “reckless” and said it will put some of the community’s most vulnerable members at risk.
“Unstaffed stations means no help for people with disabilities, no protection for students and no safety net for anyone who needs assistance,” branch secretary Peter Allen said.
“People who rely on staff for ramp access and navigation will effectively be locked out of the network on afternoons and weekends, while students and young people travelling after school will have no staff to turn to if something goes wrong.”
Queensland Rail said when a station is not staffed, guards onboard trains provide boarding and disembarking assistance, which will continue after May.
It said security presence at stations will also be increased when the changes come into effect, with more authorised officers employed.
In response to the new operating model, the RTBU wrote to Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg this week and launched a public campaign urging the state government to intervene and implement minimum station staffing.
“Unstaffed stations create environments where passengers feel vulnerable, particularly at night or in quieter periods,” the letter said.
“Without staff present, incidents of antisocial behaviour, harassment and crime are harder to prevent and respond to. Vulnerable passengers and school students will have no one to turn to for immediate help.
“School students, especially teenage girls, are disproportionately targeted for harassment on public transport. Staffed stations act as a visible deterrent and provide immediate recourse.
“Reducing service by removing staff is a disregard of the core obligation of public transport, which is to serve the entire community, not just peak-hour commuters.”
Queensland Rail head of south-east Queensland Neil Backer said the revised model “was developed to align station staff with customer demand and operational requirements, increase security presence, improve efficiency, and support job security within the workforce”.
“In 2024, Queensland Rail commenced consultation with employees and unions on a new station customer service operating model,” Backer said.
“In February 2026, the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) and The Services Union (TSU) withdrew their applications with the Fair Work Commission, after coming to a mutual agreement with Queensland Rail in relation to the new operating model.”
Queensland Rail said workers’ jobs are secure, and it intends to work with employees on the implementation of the new model.
The business model is continually assessed, Queensland Rail continued, to ensure services meet the needs and expectations of customers, particularly as the SEQ population grows, and travel patterns evolve.
> It said security presence at stations will also be increased when the changes come into effect, with more authorised officers employed.
Is it just me or does security feel like an inadequate replacement for station staff? I trust them less to pay attention to timetables and services and don’t expect they’d treat antisocial behaviour the same
Reminder that MPs staff budgets increased by 20% over the past year
And here’s the catch for permanent 50c fares under LNP. Hope the RTBU has industrial action ready to go
That’s just Mickelturd “DeLiVeRiNg FoR qUeEnSlAnD”.
What an absolute joke of a government.
After 1pm? Is everyone who needs assistance magically home by then? Every other document is complaining about the services being overstressed. Why would cutting staff be the answer to that?
Ah wait
LNP in charge, that’s right. In 6 months, they’ll announce contractor station staff or something ridiculous
Contacts I have in QR and Treasury indicate that QR spending is getting cut back by an alarming amount, which is going to be reflected in slashed discretionary spending and an upheaval of rostering arrangements for field and customer-facing staff.
– Reduced station staff hours
– Overtime cut (which is hilarious because without OT, QR’s maintenance stops) and a lot of staff moved to a 10 day working roster
– internal development initiatives spending cut
– employee development training cut including specialists and registered engineers attending technical seminars
– hold on FTE positions until at least 2029
– Regional network areas being investigates to be sold off
– QR is only offering their staff the government mandated 2.5,2.5,2 %ge wage increases as well
But executives and politicians are still getting pay rises, and contractors are still getting paid incredible volumes of money for delivering less and less.
One source reckons it costs QR about $20k just to get free software added into their company directory because DXC sets up entire project teams for things that could be managed by 2 or 3 people.
I’ve already got my fingers crossed that a few people I know start looking for work outside of QR because I really want to leverage their knowledge for my own company.
We are going to get a bunch of brand new railways built, but we won’t be able to run trains vetween them because all the old track will be in ruins again.
The root cause? Apparently the Gov is risking losing its AA rating now with all the Olympics work it gas committed to without federal help, so QR is first on the chopping block.
The fun part is that with NGR’s, having the station staff to do assisted boarding saves about 5 minutes of dwell time. Imagine your train stopping for 5mins at each station there’s wheelchair/pram/walker/etc assisted boarding, and the managers will still keep their bonus for on-time running even though OTR will go out the window.
It takes a guard roughly 7 mins on the ngr to walk down and return to the cab after assisting someone.
If that person then gets off at an unattended station thats another 7 minutes delay how are they going to maintain trains running on time .
Don’t vote for LNP
That’s Foolinomics for you.
100% guards will have to assist disabled people etc.
Make sure you sign the petition calling on the government to reverse these cuts!
https://www.megaphone.org.au/petitions/stop-the-cuts-protect-our-stations?partner=rtbu-qld
Makes sense. Station staff is such an outdated concept.
Oh my god, can QR whine and moan. I’d have more sympathy if:
1. There were more trains actually running
2. Less cancellations
3. Less lateness
4. Less graffiti
5. Actual policing of ticketing practices.
6. The rail squad being useful.
I can go on and on. QR deserves more sympathy. These bloated, and I mean literally overweight, bloated old men who run these lines can go and get made redundant and float off into the undiscovered country.
Bring in new blood immediately.
Will 50c fares be blamed here?
Setting it up to get rid of 50c fares
Literally frontline staff.