[NSW] Who's got the worst trains

["Gnome 412" <gnome412@hotmail.com>]

from http://news.com.au today ...

23mar00

CITYRAIL trains are moving 54,000 passengers a day more than they were five
years ago in 123 fewer carriages.

The Daily Telegraph has discovered that overcrowding has worsened
considerably on Sydney's trains – especially during peak hours on inner city
sections – because of a shortage of rolling stock.
Each carriage on the network now carries almost 500 passengers a day on
average, compared to just over 400 in 1995.

State Rail has applied to increase fares by 12.2 per cent this year despite
growing commuter anger about overcrowding, dirty trains, safety and
reliability.

In other developments revealed yesterday:

A check of more than 100 trains by The Daily Telegraph found barely a fifth
were running on time.

The Australian Services Union said nearly 300 complaints were being made
about train services daily.

Transport Minister Carl Scully said CityRail should do better. "I am
disappointed with the performance of CityRail," the minister said.

State Transit Authority announced it wants to increase bus fares by 12.6 per
cent and ferry fares by 13.5 per cent.

The West Australian and South Australian Governments said their GST- related
fare increases would be much smaller than those in NSW.

An investigation by The Daily Telegraph has found there were 1503 passenger
carriages on the CityRail network on June 30 last year carrying 741,000
passengers a day, an average of 493 passengers for each carriage.

In 1995, however, there were 1676 carriages carrying 683,561 passengers a
day, an average of 408 passengers for each carriage.

By comparison Indian Railways, notorious for overcrowding, carries 11
million passengers a day in 39,104 carriages, an average of just 281
passengers for each carriage.

A State Rail spokesman confirmed the figures last night. He said short-term
maintenance was making the problem even worse.

Of the 1503 carriages, 60 are out of service at either Goninan's rail yard
in Newcastle or Maintrain at Auburn with refurbishments and upgrades for the
Olympics.

These 60 carriages being taken off the tracks has meant about 10 train sets,
regularly eight carriages in size, are down to six carriages.

"We have accelerated a maintenance program to get their carriages ready for
the Games," the spokesman said.

The number of carriages has reduced with the retirement of the last of the
so- called red rattlers in the mid-1990s.

During the same period passenger journeys have risen sharply from 249.5
million in 1995 to 270.5 million to June 30 last year.

State Rail said there had been a fresh surge in passenger numbers in recent
months that could only worsen overcrowding problems.

There is no solution in sight in the short term to the shortage, despite the
added pressures of the new airport line and the Olympics.

Only when the first batch of 81 Millennium trains is delivered in May next
year will there be an improvement. These trains, when first announced by
former Transport Minister Brian Langton, were due to be in service this
year.

The first batch of 81 will not be a net addition to CityRail's fleet,
however, as there are plans to retire 56 outdated 1960s carriages at the
same time.

Transport Minister Carl Scully said yesterday that improved maintenance
turnaround times meant CityRail was effectively creating more services with
less carriages.