A train by any other name...
Do we really need an Elizabeth Line in Brisbane? Plus: A news site that’s not up to date, and how competing networks reported the same news.
With so many people flocking into southeast Queensland, either as new residents or as tourists, you’d think our governments would want to make it simple for them to find their bearings.
Not so. Not only does our council insist on calling a BRT (bus rapid transport) system a Metro (the name used to describe rail services elsewhere)*, now there’s the suggestion from our Deputy Premier that the Cross River Rail — the new train service that, er, crosses the river — be renamed “the Elizabeth Line”.
Yes, monarchist Jarrod Bleijie reckons we should pay tribute to the late Queen by using a name that’s already being used for a rail line in London.**
Call me a conservative, but I reckon our railway lines already have perfect names — the Ipswich line goes to Ipswich, the Ferny Grove line goes to Ferny Grove, the Cleveland line … you get the idea — and if Cross River Rail is to be renamed, then that name should assist people who use it, not confuse them.
Ipswich Councillor Paul Tully, who brought this issue to my attention via his Facebook page, suggests the new line be called the Exhibition Line, because it takes people to (and from) the Ekka grounds.
Any other ideas?
*Yes, I am obsessed about this.
** An edit was made here on May 17.
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Lofty in the limelight
It’s nearly six months since we saw him on our screens, and it’s not long before his replacement, Joel Dry, will arrive on our screens alongside Melissa Downes.
But when I visited the 9News Queensland homepage today (Friday, May 16), I was still greeted by Andrew Lofthouse’s smiling face. Which is a nice tribute to a well-loved presenter — but it also suggests the page hasn’t had the attention a breaking news site really ought to get.
On the subject of television news, here are some YouTube thumbnails for reports on the Federal Court full bench decision to deny Ben Roberts-Smith’s appeal of his defamation case.
Roberts-Smith is the former Seven Queensland boss, and reportedly a friend of Seven boss Kerry Stokes. He has been unsuccessfully fighting the Nine network in court. Can you notice the difference in the language?
LOL! Dear Brett, you're not suddenly expecting Brisbane City Council to actually use logic in making its decisions are you? We had a beaut example of illogic (actually idiocy) out my side of town. A previous mayor decided to spend millions widening a section of road to three lanes where it would have to re-merge to two when it reached a bridge at Norman Park, a bridge that was not intended to be widened, nor could the road past the bridge. We lost houses (cost a small fortune) and beautiful big old trees (irreplaceable), and for what? So that the traffic could congest a bit further down the road. More money (ours), than brains. Ce la vie of a bureaucracy, sans logic and common sense.