Re: NSW State Rail...a nightmare that is getting worse

[Railway Rasputin II <bob@fastlink.com.au>]

Yes but we can't comment.

rgds

Pete wrote:
> 
> Im new to this group, and my train expertise only goes as far as being a
> victim..I mean customer of State Rail in NSW. Things are reaching a breaking
> point in State Rail's network.
> 
> Im a regular traveller from the Campbelltown area to the city circle, and
> things cant get much worse.
> 
> -Late trains are becoming the norm. Cancellations during peak hour seem the
> latest increasing trends.
> 
> -Filthy trains in the morning. Once had stagnant water swishing around on
> the floor. The smell of vomit is sometimes present as well.
> 
> - Forget catching a train on the weekends, if a bus service isnt bad
> enough....the cancellations will surely break the spirit of even the most
> optimistic of travellers.
> 
> - The security guards are keystone cops, and the criminals that travel the
> system know it. Violent hoodlums rule the system at night, especially on
> gloomily lit stations that are not attended. Even during the daylight hours
> standing on a Western Suburbs platorm can be a semi-dangerous experience.
> 
> -Summer, air conditioner on Non-Tangara trains doesnt usually work. Come
> Winter, its on full blast freeze mode.
> 
> -Ticket prices are an outrage, and just keep going up. 35 bucks for a weekly
> into the city and rising.
> 
> -ticketing police that have delusions of power. I once honestly lost my
> ticket on a journey, only to be rudely slapped with a 100 dollar fine..even
> though I had first walked to the ticket office at my destination and offered
> payment. I explained that for years I had been a honest paying traveller,
> and here I was with a  lost ticket offering to pay...not good enough.
> 
> When will this fiasco end? When will the prices stop rising and the service
> stop plummeting? And they wonder why people avoid public transport as much
> as possible and hit the roads?
> 
> Does anybody from inside State Rail have an opinion on whats causing the
> trouble? Lack of funds? Bad management?
> 
> I remember many years ago in the early 90's things were not this bad.
> 
> Pete