Re: Airport Line Lack of Patronage?

["Rod Gayford" <rjaygee@eisa.net.au>]

Saw something in the Fin Review the other day predicting the death of
Badgery's Creek and the nod for the Speedrail to Canberra (and beyond).
Cheers
Rod Gayford

"Neil O'Connor" <noc@nospam.acslink.net.au> wrote in message
news:3938A048.FDEB0C3B@nospam.acslink.net.au...
> I tried it out and can say the following:
>
> I had a small wheely bag because I was going for a few days in Melbourne.
> The time of my flight meant I had to travel during peak evening time. I
> think the ticket was around $9.80 (so from Chatswood that's pretty cheap
> compared to taxi which might be $35 that time of day). Getting on the
train
> at Chatswood wasn't too bad although the platform was very crowded. I had
to
> sit in the end compartment as thats the only practical place to be with
> luggage. As more people got on the train travelling in to the city, having
> the luggage there was a problem as people were crushed in and kept
tripping
> over it. I had to get out at Central to change trains but I was getting
> worried that I would not be able to get out (unless I did a sheep dog
trick
> and ran over their heads!) because I was on the opposite side of the
> carriage to the Central exit side. I managed to force my way out yelling
> "excuse me", treading on people's feet, and thumping my luggage into their
> legs. I was not a popular person!
>
> I had not been to Central for many years, so when I exited I looked around
> for an escalator or elevator, but found none. I thought how much it
reminded
> me of travelling from Heathrow to London by train in 95 only to find
steps,
> steps and more steps at the London end (which made me vow never to do that
> again). With a small wheely bag the steps were not a problem, but for an
> international traveler getting off a long flight with big luggage, forget
> it! After going down stairs, I found plenty of (temporary looking) signs
> that pointed to the Airport platform. When I got up on to that platform,
it
> was fairly crowded with an airport train already waiting. I thought it
> strange that there was practically nobody on the train even though it did
> continue on after the Airport stations. I dont know why that was.
>
> The trip to Domestic was not too long, but there were very very few people
> around. I got off at Domestic with a total of about 3 other people. A few
> escalators later I was inside the Ansett terminal. I thought that was good
> and was surprised to actually come out inside the terminal.... I expected
a
> bit of a hike for sure.
>
> On the return journey from Melbourne it was about 8:30pm so I decided to
try
> the train again. Ticket to Hornsby was around $10.80 which again is cheap
> compared to a taxi (maybe $65). Walking into there was like a ghost
town...
> except for the two railway blokes leaning on the barrier having a chin
wag.
> There did not seem to be any way to get a ticket other than the machines.
> Luckily, I had notes and coins to do that OK. Nothing else seemed to be
open
> and there was only one other traveller on the platform. Only had to wait
> about 5 minutes for a train to turn up. On to Central and change trains;
> downstairs/upstairs again, then on to Hornsby. Taxi from Hornsby station
to
> home cost me $10 so the all up cost $20.80 was still cheap.
>
> So, would I use that service again? Probably not. If I was travelling on
> holidays with family, the only benefit would be the reduced cost, but with
a
> family of 4 in a taxi to the Airport, that would probably only be a few
> dollars. The travel time of taxi to Hornsby, wait for train to Central,
wait
> for train to Airport, would be significantly longer than taxi to airport
> (especially with the new toll road now open between Sydney and the
Airport).
> If I was travelling on business (probably the market being wooed by this
new
> line), the company pays for the transport and couldn't care less if I
caught
> a taxi in preference to a train (and the price difference is nothing
> compared to the total cost of air travel anyway). So I would rather just
get
> in the taxi at home and turn up at the departure level of the airport. If
I
> was travelling international for either business or holiday and had larger
> luggage, no question that I would take a taxi.
>
> So, I am not sure how they will get sufficient patronage on this Airport
> line to make it pay its way. The ideal passengers would be luggage-free,
> non-business travellers, but where would you find those in sufficient
> numbers?
>
> Put in a TGV line from Sydney to Melbourne via Canberra and I will use
that
> every time!
>
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>
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