Re: Alstom for Hillside/Yarra tram [Melbourne Aust]

[Vaughan Williams <ender2000@my-deja.com>]

Yes, its a bloody awful idea. Both operators should buy the same type
of tram and paint them in the same colour scheme. In addition to your
remarks below, it further fragments what is supposed to be an
integrated system. The car, with its one system of roads and rules,
will win every time unless public transport is marketed under one brand
as one system.

The fragmentation has no good points. A system that used to be run for
the convenience of the bureaucracy and unions is now run principally
for the convenience of the private operator and to a lesser extent for
the convenience of the unions still. The travelling public doesn't get
a look-in

Vaughan


> This is a somewhat worrying development. Swanston Trams has ordered 59
> Combinos, now Yarra is to get 31 Citadises. Two small orders of
> different kinds of trams for what is essentially the one tramway
system
> (the world's second biggest, in fact).

<snip>
> The fragmentation of Melbourne's public transport ordered by the
Kennett
> Government had its good and its bad points. Good points include the
> requirement of the private operators to run a service for the benefit
of
> the travelling public rather than for the benefit of the unions. The
bad
> points include having different operating companies now ordering small
> batches of vehicles from different manufacturers and built to
different
> standards which I predict in the long term will lead to a great waste
of
> money and resources.


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