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Minister says public on board despite woes

Southeast Queensland's public transport woes aren't turning off commuters, according to the state's transport minister.

Queensland Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe
Southeast Queensland's public transport woes aren't turning off commuters, says transport minister. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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Southeast Queensland's public transport woes aren't affecting commuter confidence, the state's transport minister says.

Just days after Brisbane's rail network ground to a halt causing significant delays, Gold Coast's tram service was shut down for the weekend.

Buses had to replace trams across the network after a lightning strike on Wednesday caused an electrical fault which became apparent on Saturday morning.

It's the latest drama for embattled Transport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, after a timetable debacle last month on the region's train network forced multiple cancellations and delays.

Mr Hinchliffe said, in his experience, the multiple incidents hadn't put off anyone from using public transport in the region.

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"My observation is what commuters want to have, first and foremost, is reliability and they want to know when there are problems," he said.

"That's an important thing that helps people retain their confidence.

"My experience has been that people are appreciating the way in which we're dealing with the challenge we have to ensure there's reliability."

Mr Hinchliffe also denied having fears a further major incident could wind up costing him the transport portfolio.

"What I'm focused on is making sure we advise and support our customers and commuters most effectively and more effectively," he said.

"The experience that we saw last week in the city train network was one where we had a confluence of infrastructure issues that all happened at once, that can happen at any time."


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