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

[paulrw@xa2.com.au (paul)]

On Sun, 9 Apr 2000 03:43:42 +1000, "Pete" <Klendathu98@yahoo.com.au>
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.

Yes an increase in late running on the south, I've noticed it too, but
the vast majority around 4-6 minutes.
>
>-Filthy trains in the morning. Once had stagnant water swishing around on
>the floor. The smell of vomit is sometimes present as well.

It seems the North?West (where CityRail still has its own car
cleaners) is doing better in train cleaning than the south, which has
contractors.
>
>- 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.

There's supposed to be a trackwork notice up at every station from the
previous Monday (the colour coded ones). These things are well worth
looking at.
>
>- 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.

The on-train security guards seem to need better surveillance of their
own.
>
>-Summer, air conditioner on Non-Tangara trains doesnt usually work. Come
>Winter, its on full blast freeze mode.

Actually the Tangaras are pretty good, its the airconditioned K sets
that fail a lot.
>
>-Ticket prices are an outrage, and just keep going up. 35 bucks for a weekly
>into the city and rising.

Hmmm 35 dollars 10 trips Campbelltown to City (50km) 500/35= 7 cents
per km, less if u use it on weekends as well. I'd hardly call 7 cents
a kilometre an outrage. The price of any service and most goods only
goes up, never down, that's just the way it is. Wages never go down
either.
>
>-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.
>
if losing your ticket enroute were to be a valid excuse, then everyone
would use it and the revenue protection staff would be totally
ineffectual. Unfortunately some honest folk get caught up in it.

Your ticket is your proof that you have paid the fare. Without it you
lose that proof. Don't lose your ticket!

Some ticket examiners need training in  people skills, but they do
have a horrid job to do, and cop garbage all day long. I'm sure all
the crap they endure must wear them down, and HR should be looking at
this.

>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?
>
They do both. Both peak hour trains and peak hour arterial roads are
at full capacity. For peak hour travel to/from City, Parramatta and
other major centres, road is not an alternative unless you've got
private parking. Even then it cannot compete in terms of cost or
travel time, even with train delays.

Having said this, on time running has been achieved in the past, and
theres no reason it can't be again. 

>Does anybody from inside State Rail have an opinion on whats causing the
>trouble? Lack of funds? Bad management?

Widesread, rampant abuse of concession authorites, and lack of support
from issuing bodies (eg why no photo on Centrelink pensioner cards, or
at least the year of birth and the gender of the holder as part of the
card's serial number) and management for policing of this.

Resources being directed into areas most visible to the public
(lighting upgrades at some stations seem to be a yearly event and they
want to put lifts everywhere, regardless of whether they are needed or
not), rather than where they are really needed. Unfortunately this is
not really raising public opinion as essential infrastructure (like
signal phones and signal box to station communication links) runs
down.

Arrogance of middle to senior management who rarely consult those at
the workface and even then take no notice. Managers out of touch with
the system holding purse strings. Decisions based on public opinion
rather than system needs. 
>
>I remember many years ago in the early 90's things were not this bad.
>
The management has certainly deteriorated since the heady days of Len
Harper, IMHO the only State Rail chief in my 24 years of service to
recognise that staff commitment to the organisation is vital to
efficiency and productivity. The current mob treats its staff as
robots.

paul
>Pete
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