Re: Great Service City Rail

["Keith" <K_Walters@email.com>]

Jane,

No you don't seem to me to be a moron.  However, your story is just the
typical of problems I am referring to.  If City Rail is unable to
communicate important train movement information to its itself, then what
hope is there for us passengers!

I am aware that this is not City Rail  but you would agree, it has stirred
things up a bit.

My comments are always passed onto City Rail, but as usual, no one has taken
the time to acknowledge my correspondence so what else one to do?

Keith

Jane Campbell <janecampbell@optusnet.com.au> wrote in message
390940fd$0$27519@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au">news:390940fd$0$27519@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au...
Did you realise that this newsgroup isn't Cityrail?  You aren't addressing
the problem by complaining here because generally, we agree and understand.
I object to being called a moron because quite simply I am not.
Imagine this if you will:  I bring a train from Hornsby via the Shore to the
city and think that I am working it to Richmond.  The reason I am late is
because passengers have stopped me to ask me questions and to force the
doors for their friends and workmates all the way down the shore.  I have
lost time that I am unable to make up because passengers keep delaying me.
I get to Wynyard and an announcement is made that I am now stopping as a
"slow" service and will be terminating at Blacktown.  I inform them that the
announcement is wrong and make several announcements on the train for
passengers to ignore the station announcement.  Station staff look at me and
tell me that the box told them that I'd been changed.  Increasingly I'm
getting frustrated because I haven't been given any advice in writing of my
new stopping pattern and terminating location and I'm getting later and
later as people ignore my announcement and queue at my doorway to ask me
questions which I have just publicly answered.  I have now lost 4 minutes at
Wynyard and then the whole thing happens again at Town Hall.  I can only
inform the public of any changes after I have been transposed in writing.  I
am now running at least 8 minutes late because of a combination of
passengers and lack of information from the signaller and station staff.  I
get to Central and am transposed but am running so late now that wherever I
go and no matter how hard I try I will still get abused, spat on, kicked and
personally abused because my train is late.  When I make an announcement to
say that I apologise for the delay...I make it because I mean it.  I don't
want to be stuck going nowhere for any longer than I have to either.  I was
supposed to have my crib at Richmond and will now have to go to Blacktown
and back to Central before I get a break which makes it just over six hours
into my shift before I get a break.  Do you hear me yell and scream at
passengers because I'm hungry?  No you don't.  You know why?  Because I'm
the moron.
Please realise that we can only give you as much information as we have been
given.  If the signaller tells the station staff what is happening and they
assume we've been told then we already have a communication breakdown don't
we?  I sit inside a tin box for hours on end and I have no means of
communication with the signaller except via the driver and that is dependent
on the whether the train radio is working at that particular location.  I
can't answer questions that I don't know that answer to except by telling
you that I don't know and I am actually sorry that I don't know.  As soon as
I have any information, of course, my passengers will be the first to know
it.  Does that make me a moron.  Or more importantly does that give anybody
the right to call me a moron?  I don't think it does.

Jane

These comments are made in a private capacity and do not represent the views
of Cityrail.



Keith <K_Walters@email.com> wrote in message
3908347d@pink.one.net.au">news:3908347d@pink.one.net.au...

> Good one City Rail, you have managed to stuff up 5:47pm to Richmond 2 days
> running.  Both services were late leaving Town Hall and...
>
> On Wednesday the service was changed to an all stations to Blacktown
> somewhere between Central and Strathfield. Pity the passengers were not
> told. Whatever happened to the Richmond service is anyone's guess, even
the
> station staff were clueless on this one.
>
> Tonight, Thursday, the service (I use the term service loosely) was
> terminated at Mulgrave due to a "signal failure" at Clarendon.  After
> waiting a while with no announcements, buses arrived to take us the rest
of
> the way. Once again City Rail staff were left clueless except for
> instructions to terminate the service at Mulgrave and await further
> instructions.
>
> You morons at City Rail seem to think that you can treat your customers
like
> mindless idiots and keep us paying passengers in the dark and when it
suits
> you, off load us at any station of your choosing, change the service
> destinations and expect us to accept it as part of the service.
>
> Even companies such as Telstra are now committed to giving "service
> guarantees" where we, the customer, gets a refund for poor service.  The
> best City Rail can do is "...apologise for any inconvenience caused"  When
> will you learn that a coat of paint and few extra lights is not improving
> the service.
>
> How about giving the Richmond line passengers a fair go  for once!
>
>