Embattled Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey has denied misleading Queenslanders about how many extra train drivers are actually on the job.
Mr Bailey this week said 69 new drivers had been added to Queensland Rail's pool since October 2016, when a staffing crisis plunged commuter services into chaos.
Queensland Rail boss Nick Easy has also recently said more than 60 extra drivers have been added to the pool of drivers, and while that's technically true, nothing like that many are actually driving trains.
Mr Easy was pressed on the number on Friday and said the net gain in qualified drivers - after resignations and retirements were taken into account - was just 33.
And only 16 of the 33 are actively manning commuter trains. The others are tutors and inspectors.
The Liberal National Party opposition has seized on the issue to again call for Mr Bailey to resign or for the premier to sack him.
"This rail fail debacle needs to stop. This lying transport minister needs to go," Ms Frecklington told reporters.
"It is obvious this minister cannot do his job, and we need to fix this rail fail. People need to be able to catch their trains."
But Mr Bailey strongly rejected the suggestion he had lied, or that by not giving the net number of drivers he had misled Queenslanders.
"I said to parliament that we had put 69 new drivers out onto the system and that is absolutely correct and true," Mr Bailey told reporters.
"For (the LNP) to say this when they didn't train a single driver during their time in office is pretty galling."
Advocacy group Rail Back on Track says the figures being spruiked by the minister and Queensland Rail don't tell the real story, and commuters are being "led astray".
"They lose two drivers per month due to resignations, retirements and other reasons," spokesman Robert Dow told ABC radio.
"I've computed that it will take over six years to reach the 200 train driver target."
In February last year, an inquiry into the rail meltdown said an extra 200 train drivers, and 200 additional train guards, were needed and they should all be onboard by June 2019.
Mr Easy insisted they were still well on track to meet those targets.
"We're providing the pipeline of recruiting drivers into the organisation and then training them so we can support our timetable," he said.
It's been a horror week for Mr Bailey, who on Monday apologised for using his private email account in 2016 to pass on the CV of a union-backed candidate eventually selected for a board position on a government-owned company.
Australian Associated Press
