This was published 6 years ago
Human rights exemption for Queensland trains should be rejected, group says
People with disabilities fear being left behind on the station platform due to the design of Queensland Rail's new trains.
The New Generation Rollingstock was due to be operational in mid-2016, but delivery was halted due to myriad issues - including the toilets being too small for wheelchairs - before the first of the trains entered service in December.
There are now five New Generation Rollingstock trains on the tracks, with an application for exemption from discrimination laws around the design of the toilets yet to be decided by the Australian Human Rights Commission.
QR and the Department of Transport and Main Roads applied to the Australian Human Rights Commission for a temporary exemption to discrimination laws while it completed works to change the toilet layout to make the NGR trains comply with disability standards.
But in a submission to the AHRC, the Queensland Rail Accessibility Reference Group said an exemption would prolong discrimination.
"An exemption strengthens a public view that the interests of persons with disabilities are subsidiary to everyone else's interests," it reads.
Due to the location of the guard cab in car six on the NGR, rather than mid-train, QR station staff will provide assistance to customers when boarding from the middle of the platform, instead of guards.
The reference group argued customers who required help getting on or off the train would be overlooked or forgotten.
"Being left on trains currently occurs with annoying frequency and the ARG expects that unless a guard cab is provided mid-train ... [this] will escalate from annoyance to become a systemic problem," the submission reads.
The reference group asked the AHRC to refuse the application for a temporary exemption, preferring the issues with the toilets to be fixed before the trains entered service. They also asked for the guard cab to be located mid-train.
The changes needed to make the trains' toilets and pathways disability-compliant could take 18 to 36 months.
But the new trains need to be on the tracks to provide reliable services on the Gold Coast line during the Commonwealth Games in April, which has been identified as a "stress period" on the network.
An independent review by German railway operator Deutsche Bahn, completed in August, argued 18 NGR trains were required for the Commonwealth Games timetable.
There are now five NGR trains in service.
Queensland Rail chief executive Nick Easy said its presence at all Gold Coast line stations had already been strengthened to ensure people with disabilities were supported with staff on the ground from first service to last service, seven days a week.
"The Queensland government has committed funding to improve the accessibility and functionality of the NGR trains and design work is under way," he said.
"These design changes will maximise the accessibility and functionality of the train, including a redesign of the toilet module."
Mr Easy said QR expected more NGR trains to be on the tracks ahead of the Commonwealth Games - but did not say how many - as other trains completed testing and safety assessments.
"Queensland Rail and the Department of Transport and Main Roads are continuing to proceed with the required process to have a temporary exemption considered and issued by the AHRC," he said.
"This application is still under review by the AHRC."
Public submissions on the application to the AHRC closed this week, and it was yet to publish a decision.
Police Minister Mark Ryan said the government was "100 per cent committed to ensuring the NGRs are up to scratch".
"We'll continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure that the NGRs are accessible to everyone," he said.