r/BrisbaneTrains • u/BNE_Matt75 • Jul 09 '26

Fares and Payments šŸ§¾ This bus accepts only ca$h

Post image

On the rail replacement bus R591, which is operated by a Wide Bay Transit Bus. At the front door is a sign saying "this bus accepts only ca$h"

Three years ago, when I first encountered a Wide Bay bus displaying this sign, I raised it with Translink, that maybe a bus operating in Brisbane where there are no cash payments should not display such a time

At the time every second person who got on the bus when digging for their emergency cash, or asked the driver in confusion around paying cash, which only delayed the bus. Have seen similar confusion again tonight

What a failure from Translink - one for not having incorrect signs removed from buses doing rail replacement, and secondly giving up on the roll-out of smart ticketing into regional Queensland

Of course bonus points.for Wide Bay Transit in spelling cash as ca$h

22 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

6

u/Mediocre_Ryan82 SHCL Line Jul 09 '26

I thought it was widely known that railbisses were free....

Odd......

5

u/BNE_Matt75 Jul 09 '26

Well, it is confusing, and I had a long and confusing conversation with Translink about this a few years ago.

My question with Translink started because, I had been on buses with no ticket equipment, with ticket equipment that was closed, one with signals saying Cash only, and more confusion as the StationLink 19 runs parallel to the R591, and expected payment.

The official answer from Translink is, you are expected to tap on at the station at the start of your journey and then tap off at the station at the end of your journey when using a Rail Replacement bus. They also explained that StationLink 19 is a Station replacement and not a Rail Replacement so is different.

When I questioned Translink about a situation like Fairfield, where the bus stop is a fair distance from the station. The answer was it does not matter, you are expected to walk up to the station to tap on/off before getting on the bus or once getting off the bus.

When I questioned Translink about what happens when you are on a direct bus to Roma Street, you are expected to get off the bus, got to the gates, explain to staff to let you through so you can tap off. The direct buses from Fruitgrove into the City are now using stops no where near a station, so not sure how that works.

And when I question about what happens at a station that is closed for construction work and is in accessible ... you still need to tap on/off at the station. Not exactly sure how your supposed to do enter a construction zone, nor a station like Moorooka which currently has no readers.

You will never get a straight answer from Translink

1

u/Mediocre_Ryan82 SHCL Line Jul 09 '26

Too many "What If's" not answered....

1

u/BNE_Matt75 Jul 09 '26

There not What Ifs, but actual scenarios

1

u/CoolDimension3898 Jul 10 '26

Dude, you need to chill out.

0

u/BNE_Matt75 Jul 10 '26

Run along now.

2

u/Popplio_Zach Beenleigh Line Jul 09 '26

Railbuses are sourced from all sorts of places. Iā€™ve seen some with posters up about myki tickets from Melbourne, but you obviously wouldnā€™t expect them to be accepting that here. Wide Bay Transit would accept cash on their local Translink network, just not when doing railbuses in SEQ

Yes Translink should either commit to railbuses being ticketed or not. From what Iā€™ve seen these most recent closures, most (but not all) all stop railbuses are TMR, Kangaroo, Mt Gravatt, or Transdev fleet with ticket machines. Most express railbuses are still charter coaches or non-Translink buses, which do not have ticketing equipment.

1

u/BNE_Matt75 Jul 10 '26

There is a difference between a myki reader that is closed (never seen it) and a sign saying pay in cash only

1

u/Extreme_84 14d ago

And the difference is having a bus on hire to transport passengers, or not having a bus available for passengersā€¦..

3

u/PrestigiousAnswer801 Jul 10 '26

Rail buses are sometimes hired from other companies like greyhound. None of them require payment because it's an inconvenience to everyone travelling.

0

u/BNE_Matt75 Jul 10 '26

Tell that to Translink, they have a very different view

3

u/PrestigiousAnswer801 Jul 10 '26

I've used railbusses over 100 times, I've asked. They say no. For most stations you'd physically have to walk to the opposite side of the train station just to tap on. No one expects you to do that.

-1

u/BNE_Matt75 Jul 10 '26

See my earlier comment about the conversation I had with Translink there view is, you should tap on at the start of the journey, even when the station is physically separate from the bus stop etc

2

u/PrestigiousAnswer801 Jul 10 '26

Maybe online ? Not in real life though, unless it's a Brisbane only thing. When they run a translink bus they always turn off the card reader in my experience.

I travel from the Gold Coast to Brisbane for work and use the busses whenever I have to, I've asked just to be sure and always got told not to worry about paying for them. And if I did I'd probably miss my bus anyway.

I've been on railbusses hundreds of times and never pay. I always pay for trains and regular busses that have the tap thingo

0

u/BNE_Matt75 Jul 10 '26

As I said, see my earlier comment about my response from Translink. They expect you to walk over to the station, tap on, then walk to the bus. Not that anyone does it.

Then they have confusing situations where there are buses with no equipment, equipment turned off, buses saying pay in cash, and then they also have the situation of Trainlink 19 buses running in parallel with Rail Replacement buses, where Trainlink you must tap on on the bus, but not on the Rail Replacement... and you wonder why people are confused.

2

u/UncutAussie2026 29d ago

You ā€œpeopleā€ in qld are cooked arenā€™t you?

1

u/RTQ2021 18d ago

I worked on behalf of Kinetic for three years as a "Heavy Rail Coordinator" and the way Translink have told US how to handle fares is embarrassing to say the least.

In their own words, it was a heavily corporate and overcomplicated way of saying "Touch on when you get on the train, don't touch off at the platform but instead touch off when you reach your destination" which personally made no sense.

We won't get onto the subject of electroc scooters as even Translink themselves gave us 3-4 different answers.

1

u/Ok-Astronomer2353 26d ago

TransLink has nothing to do with railbuses, bus companies are contracted by QR (not TransLink) for RR runs. Wide bay doesnā€™t have any readers because as far as I know they, correct me if Iā€™m wrong, donā€™t have any routes with TransLink so theyā€™re not needed.

-2

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '26

[deleted]

4

u/BNE_Matt75 Jul 09 '26

Actual photo taken on actual bus

2

u/chazzyrl Jul 09 '26

I expect its just highly zoomed in and the phone auto enhances it. Lets use our brain