Southern Queenslanders get a free ride to work today in an exercise to cost $1 million
February 29, 2012
It’s an unusual day today in south-east Queensland as it is not just a once-in-four-years date on the calendar, but the entire TransLink public transport network will be open for free travel all day.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced a free day of public transport across the SEQ network after Tuesday’s chaos on the rail network caused by an overhead rail clamp failure.
“What happened today (Tuesday) is completely out of the ordinary and the simple fact is that thousands of commuters have not received the service they deserved,” Bligh says.
Consequently, Bligh announced yesterday that all public transport across south-east Queensland would be free from the first to last service on Wednesday.
“After the major disruptions caused by the floods we took a similar measure and it is estimated that this fare free period will cost approximately $1 million,” Bligh says.
“TransLink customers will simply be advised not to touch on and touch off when they get on their public transport.”
Bligh says advice from Queensland Rail is that a clamp holding an overhead high voltage line may have failed causing the overhead power line to fall and make contact with the rail, sending 25,000 volts through the signals and switching equipment.
The incident occurred in central Brisbane near the junction of the city’s radial rail network, resulting in a ‘melt down’ of rail services across the city, stretching the capacity on bus and ferry modes throughout the day.