[NSW, Ci-tyra-il]Odd observations, Sat. 27 May

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

Took an afternoon trip from Kogarah to the city and back. As always, the
trip was full of surprises.  Starting with 3801 passing very quietly on the
down at 12.15 pm.

The Up and Down Illawarra lines were closed between Hurstville and Sydenham,
so the Wolli Creek Interchange was out of action after six days' use.  A
home-made poster at Kogarah suggested changing at Central for the Airport
(eminently sensible!).  The official poster at Redfern advised of a bus
service between Sydenham and Wolli Creek.  I suspect that passengers from
Redfern, Sydenham and Tempe for the airport could have been transported to
Turrella by East Hills and Macarthur trains much more simply.  I suspect
that a bus over the short distance from Wolli Creek to ARNCLIFFE would have
been welcomed by any unsuspecting airport to Illawarra travellers.  This
shutdown was not mentioned at http://www.cityrail.nsw.gov.au/upgrading or in
the printed track maintenance posters.

The Up and Down Main lines were closed between Illawarra Junction and Wells
Street to allow reinstallation of the junction with the Up Eveleigh Engine
Dive (or is it now properly the Bi-Di Eveleigh empty train dive?).  West and
North Inter-city and Olympic Park trains via the Suburban; some Shore - West
trains diverted to the Local; South Endeavours via the Local; Illawarra
Inter-city trains to Martin Place.  It all seemed to be running very
smoothly, proving that practice makes perfect. This shutdown was not
mentioned at http://www.cityrail.nsw.gov.au/upgrading or in the printed
track maintenance posters, but it didn't involve any diversion of
passengers.

Finally, a small delay which illustrates all the problems of communication
within the CityRail operation and the various reactions of customers.  The
nominal 4.40 pm from Bondi Junction to Waterfall was about 10 minutes late
from Central.  The front car was closed off due to graffiti covering lower
deck windows.  The train stopped at Rockdale for 15 minutes while the driver
investigated a minor defect and conferred with "Defects".  The guard made
appropriate announcements.  Some passengers alighted and left the station.
Some passengers complained to the guard that he should have a better idea of
how long the train would be delayed.  After 12 minutes at Rockdale the ASM
(or whatever they're called now) arrived on the platform to get the run
number for his report.  The train left Rockdale 27 minutes late.

This unimportant incident is worrying in that, even though Rockdale is
well-staffed, it seems that train running is no longer the business of
Customer Service personnel ... it's something that happens downstairs
independently of Station Management and Customer Service Focus!

Rgds

BTW, what's the correct pronunciation of Wolli Creek?  I've always heard it
as "wool eye".  The DVA machines seem to think it's "woll (as in knoll)
eye".  Some of the human announcers make it "woll ee (as in lolly)".  TIA.