Rex wins licence for Roma/Charleville flights

[AIRwin]

Westlander train to Charleville suspended with immediate effect until further notice:

Changes to our services

www.queenslandrailtravel.com.au

Good news for Rex?

 

[henrus]

Good news for Rex?

Not really, the trains out to Charleville are economy only which leads to two types of people travelling, those who are heading to an intermediate stop and those who are price sensitive. Both of these are now likely to catch the bus given it's faster and cheaper than the train (and still cheaper than flying).

I'm not surprised by the Westlander cancellation either, apparently some of the more recent trips have had ~10 people on-board. Given it's only twice weekly QR isn't transporting a lot of people and even if they did switch to a flight it's hardly anything to get excited by.

On a different note, as all these services are run "in partnership" (read underwritten) by the QLD Gov I would actually like to see some investment in promoting the options. Taking Brisbane to Charleville for example there is a flight (rex), train (QR) or bus (greyhound), why not have a QLD gov run booking portal that when you type in Brisbane to Charleville you get different options. Similarly the ability to sell a single booking like a train up to the coast and then a regional bus, or even a flight then bus would also be helpful.

 

[antycbr]

Not really, the trains out to Charleville are economy only which leads to two types of people travelling, those who are heading to an intermediate stop and those who are price sensitive. Both of these are now likely to catch the bus given it's faster and cheaper than the train (and still cheaper than flying).

I'm not surprised by the Westlander cancellation either, apparently some of the more recent trips have had ~10 people on-board. Given it's only twice weekly QR isn't transporting a lot of people and even if they did switch to a flight it's hardly anything to get excited by.

On a different note, as all these services are run "in partnership" (read underwritten) by the QLD Gov I would actually like to see some investment in promoting the options. Taking Brisbane to Charleville for example there is a flight (rex), train (QR) or bus (greyhound), why not have a QLD gov run booking portal that when you type in Brisbane to Charleville you get different options. Similarly the ability to sell a single booking like a train up to the coast and then a regional bus, or even a flight then bus would also be helpful.

Apparently the subsidy is in the thousands per passenger on the Inlander and Westlander. When they removed the end of life sleepers the demand dropped but so did the losses.

 

[AIRwin]

Both of these are now likely to catch the bus given it's faster and cheaper than the train (and still cheaper than flying).

When I recently booked CTL-BNE on Queensland Rail, it was cheaper than Greyhound...

 

[henrus]

When I recently booked CTL-BNE on Queensland Rail, it was cheaper than Greyhound...

Wow it is indeed. $89 for the train vs $125 for the bus vs $207 for the plane.

I have no desire to go West but that 6:50am bus isn't that bad compared to the train.

 

[AIRwin]

$89 for the train vs $125 for the bus vs $207 for the plane.

I have no desire to go West but that 6:50am bus isn't that bad compared to the train.

Go West... Life is peaceful there!

I had the best of both worlds - paid the $89.10 train fare but Queensland Rail organised a replacement coach due to scheduled maintenance which took under 10 hours compared to the 17+ hours on the actual Westlander...

 

[FishFood]

Glad to see this clarification, I kept trying to find QF flights to CTL to connect with the Westlander

 

[Inlander]

This is the Qld summary: The fares are good value given the subsidy QT applies: e.g. Ive only paid $200 for a 5 hr scenic joy flight in a 340B over the northern gulf and tundra from Cairns to Mt Isa.

Long distance air services (Department of Transport and Main Roads)

To ensure that regional and remote Queensland communities have access to essential services such as health, education and employment, we regulate select air services.

www.tmr.qld.gov.au

and this is the map of the services:https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/-/media/...-services/regional-air-services-map.pdf?la=en

 

[AIRwin]

New partnership with Murweh Shire Council supporting CTL flights particularly for registered residents' fares:

https://www.rex.com.au/BlobViewer/BlobViewer.aspx?attachtype=MR&filename=51736D6775646A7344326E6850576450524447456E53686E5177464C613151694C4C693776517972423947513056526B35704E616950426C593978345930576964354D4C596C4D317A724B4B4259465558784B4D4734465237373141675837636A2F6B54314264706334553D

 

[henrus]

New partnership with Murweh Shire Council supporting CTL flights particularly for registered residents' fares:

How can we be sure that is a genuine rex press release... there are no swipes at Qantas to be seen.

It still get a kick out of Rex listing Qantas complaints under practical info on their website. What's even more amusing is it's just a 158 page PDF document they've uploaded to their site.