But deputy opposition leader Deb Frecklington said it was Mr Hinchliffe's job that should be in danger and called for him to resign or be sacked.

Ms Gluer said QR's interim timetable, formulated at the weekend, would remain in place for at least two weeks as both she and Mr Hinchliffe were unable to offer a date for a return to full service.

Under the interim timetable, 30 services a day – down from 1306 to 1276 – would be cancelled until further notice.

QR's woes reached their nadir on Friday, when 100 services were cancelled with little notice, causing widespread inconvenience across the network.

Mr Hinchliffe said an additional 100 drivers and 100 guards would be recruited from Tuesday to help deal with the shortfall, but the ramifications – and possible recriminations – of the public transport failure were far from being settled on Monday.

At a media conference at QR headquarters in Bowen Hills, Mr Hinchliffe repeatedly deflected the question of whether Ms Gluer's job was secure.

"The absolute focus that we have is on delivering the reliability and the consistency passengers on the south-east Queensland rail network expect," he said.

"I know that the CEO is 100 per cent focused on that; I know I'm working 100 per cent focused on that and what we need to be doing for those passengers is remaining focused on delivering on that."

When pressed again on the issue, Mr Hinchliffe gave an indication Ms Gluer's position could come under "further consideration".

"I want to reiterate that these are matters that cabinet has only been briefed about in more detail (on Monday), following a report from the board meeting of Queensland Rail yesterday," he said.

"These are matters that we are, first and foremost under the instruction of the cabinet, focused on delivering the certainty and reliability that passengers expect on our rail network.

"That's our first and last priority.

"Other matters in relation to the accountability in the case of this issue are subject to further consideration."

Ms Gluer said QR "absolutely believed" it would be able to deliver the extra services brought on by the Redcliffe opening and was unable to explain how it got things so wrong.

"I can't explain that at the moment," she said.

"I know that we have got this wrong; I can't explain why we have got this wrong, but we will be looking at that in the very short term.

"Certainly prior to (the Redcliffe Peninsula line) opening, my view was we were going to be delivering the level of service required by this new timetable.

"We simply would not have if we did not think we could have. We have got this wrong, but my advice to the minister prior to opening was we would be able to deliver it."

Ms Frecklington said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk needed to "show some strong leadership and either sack Mr Hinchliffe or accept his resignation".

"As the minister responsible, he should have been on the front foot talking to Queenslanders, working around the clock to get the matter resolved," she said.

"Instead, he was the invisible man."

Mr Hinchliffe repeatedly blamed a lack of advice on the impending staffing issue from QR for the Palaszczuk government's failure to recruit more staff.

"The cuts that were made under (then) transport minister (Scott) Emerson and under direction from the then-treasurer, Mr (Tim) Nicholls, have led to a situation where we don't have the train crew," he said.

"Now I absolutely accept that this government needed to do something about that, that's why we did. We saw the recruitment process commence last year of a further 100 drivers and a further 100 guards and these extra resources today are to further supplement that process," he said.

"Now I'm very disappointed, very upset, and I know the government is, that we didn't get the advice that drew to our attention that recruitment process was not hitting the mark and providing the train crews necessary to meet the services that were proposed and put forward in consultation with QR and Translink for the delivery of the Redcliffe Peninsula line.

"… That's frankly not good enough and these are extra issues we've got to look at."

Mr Hinchliffe also defended his decision to attend the Gold Coast 600 car race at the weekend, saying his position as Minister for the Commonwealth Games warranted his attendance at the 2018 host city.

"Maybe there would have been a front page of the Gold Coast Bulletin saying how the Queensland government didn't care and wasn't interested in their major event this morning (if I had not have gone)," he said.

Ms Frecklington leapt on his choice to attend.

"It's extraordinary that Mr Hinchliffe thought it was more appropriate to socialise at the Gold Coast 600 than get to work on behalf of the thousands of south-east Queensland commuters who don't know if they'll be getting to work or school on time."

Mr Hinchliffe said there would be a review of the debacle once services had been restored.

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