Re: NSW. North Coast XPT Service.??????

["Dave Proctor" <daproc@spambait.ozemail.com.au>]

"Jack" <dave60@dingoblue.net.au> wrote in message
396b07a3$0$11138$7f31c96c@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au">news:396b07a3$0$11138$7f31c96c@news01.syd.optusnet.com.au...
> Gday Dave
>
> Dave Proctor <daproc@spambait.ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
> 7yDa5.16029$t91.233614@news4.giganews.com">news:7yDa5.16029$t91.233614@news4.giganews.com...
>
> (snip)
>
> > Which is the better revenue option for the government and Countrylink?
>
> Does it really matter?  in the long run it is really just paper shuffling
> after all  :)

Of course it matters - a pensioner travelling on a PTV is the government
giving Countrylink money for that fare - a passenger paying a fare (money
being paid from a passenger directly to Countrylink) is money that the
government does not have to pay Countrylink. The less money that the
government has to pay means it is less likely that they will make wholesale
cuts to services (if that is possible after the cuts of the last 30 years).
On a full train, 50 fare paying passengers is much better than 50 PTV
passengers, as it is money going in to the railways from outside, not just
mere paper shuffling.

Another way to look at it is that every dollar that is paid to Countrylink
is an extra dollar for them to spend on maintenance, in the case of
additional fare paying passengers on trains that are not full.

Dave