More seats on the train as six-car services rollout on the rail network

Thousands more seats for commuters will be available on trains from today when six-car units replace three car trains on 193 Queensland Rail services.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said the new services would increase carrying capacity by more than 46,000 seats a week across the network.

"We said we would increase passenger carrying capacity when possible and that's what we've done.

"Passengers will immediately notice the difference on the Beenleigh, Shorncliffe, Ferny Grove, Cleveland, Northgate and Doomben lines from today.

"Queensland Rail has focused on upgrading Monday to Friday services rather than at weekends when fewer people travel.

"Of the 193 services where capacity will be doubled, 40 are classified as high patronage where average seated capacity occupancy rates are more than 80%.

"The improvements will add more than 46,000 extra seats to the SEQ network each week, which we hope will lead to greater comfort for our customers during their weekday commute.

"About 6% of the 6,248 Monday to Friday services are provided by three-car units on the current timetable.

"After these upgrades just 3.21% of services will be three-car trains.

"The popular 6.54am Shorncliffe to Central, 6.55am Ferny Grove to Park Road and 4.18pm Bowen Hills to Cleveland services will be upgraded, doubling the number of seats on these services.

"We know how important onboard comfort is for our customers, particularly after a long day, which is why we’re pleased to be delivering more seats on services.

"A small number of three carriage trains will still be required to run during morning and afternoon peaks due to current operational restrictions, however each of these will be preceded and followed by a six-carriage train to assist with customer loading."

Mr Bailey said that after the latest upgrade there would be just 171 three-car services remaining on the Monday to Friday timetable.

"One hundred of these are on the Rosewood shuttle and they will not be upgraded due to infrastructure limitations on the Rosewood line and low demand," he said.

"Current patronage numbers also show the three-carriage trains meets demand on that line at weekends when patronage is lower.

"This additional capacity is because we now have 37 New Generation Rollingstock (NGR) units available for service on the network so Queensland Rail will consider further upgrades as more NGR units become available."

Services to be upgraded from three-car to six-car trains.