A fleet of new commuter trains key to Commonwealth Games transport plans have been deemed discriminatory against disabled Queenslanders but won't be pulled from the tracks.
The state government is sticking by the nine New Generation Rollingstock trains despite the Australian Human Rights Commission refusing to grant an exemption for them.
Queensland Rail's controversial NGR trains are so badly designed disabled travellers can't get to the toilet.
The commission's preliminary decision could cause headaches for the Labor government, which has already put them into service and is relying upon them for next month's Gold Coast Games.
Disability advocates say the ruling paves the way for discrimination claims through the courts.
Responding to the decision, Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the NGR trains would remain on the tracks and its Games transport plan would go ahead.
"The decision is not about whether the trains can run or not, it's about whether people can lodge a complaint," he said.
The NGR trains, commissioned by the former Newman LNP government and manufactured in India, have been plagued with problems, including that people in wheelchairs can't access the toilet or move between carriages.
Mr Bailey blamed the LNP for the debacle, but said work to make the trains compliant with disability access standards was underway.
The commission on Friday questioned why the Queensland government bought trains that did not comply with long-standing laws on disability access.
"Or why the rectification work did not occur between procurement in 2013 and entry into passenger service in 2017," the commission wrote.
A final decision is expected in coming weeks.
The government and QR went to the commission last year, seeking an urgent three-year exemption from disability access laws that are meant to ensure all commuters have the same access to public transport.
They told the commission the trains were crucial to deal with next month's influx of Commonwealth Games visitors and must remain in service.
But the commission was "not persuaded that the reasons advanced in favour of the exemption outweigh the discriminatory impact of the non-compliant trains on people with a disability".
Deputy Opposition leader Tim Mander said even though the LNP signed the deal with Canadian company Bombardier, Labor had had three years to fix the mistake.
"This is the government's responsibility. This is their mess and they need to fix it," he told reporters.
"We now have great concerns that this could be an international embarrassment for us."
Queensland's Acting Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Neroli Holmes says it's far from a big win for disabled commuters.
"The win would have been that the procurement process was done properly, for these trains that are so great for everyone else to be accessible for people with a disability," she told AAP.
"We're really back to where we were before 2002, with people having to fight for their rights once again and that really is not acceptable in 2018."
Ms Holmes said discrimination claims could be expedited, but that it was usually a slow process.
The commission's decision came just two days after QR embarrassingly set up an NGR introduction session for commuters with disabilities but the new train did not turn up.
