[NSW] - hilarious SMH article

[David Burns <dpburns@veal.optushome.com.au>]

I hoped that the following article from the Herald was just a bit of
humour ... Then I woke up...

Certainly some of the operational ideas are sound. But reducing
services? And Redfern an interchange???

This is Yes Minister material: "Our population continues to grow. So we
are forced to reduce services ..."

dB

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0010/03/national/national2.html

                    Major overhaul for Sydney's rail system

                    By ROBERT WAINWRIGHT, Transport Writer

                    Sydney's rail system faces a major overhaul in the
wake of the Olympic Games that may
                    reduce the number of services and increase travel
times on some lines to improve overall
                    performance.

                    Though transport officials remain tight-lipped about
permanent changes, it is believed that
                    it may include increasing "dwell times" for trains
at busy stations, running fewer services
                    each hour and even forcing commuters from outer
suburban areas to change at stations
                    such as Redfern to get into the city.

                    One of the biggest changes may be allowing trains to
sit at stations for longer than the
                    current 60-second limit to take pressure off drivers
and lessen mistakes.

                    The Minister for Transport, Mr Scully, yesterday
foreshadowed changes after the
                    Paralympic Games but would not speculate beyond
saying that "lessons had been
                    learned" and that passenger patience and staff
enthusiasm had contributed to the success
                    during the Games.

                    But CityRail officials released a document which
revealed that several long-standing
                    service principles had deliberately been broken to
ensure the system worked smoothly.
                    Some of the changes may be incorporated in permanent
alterations.

                    The main changes included:

                     Extra running time between stations;

                     Increased journey times of up to eight minutes for
services;

                     Extra stopping times at major stations, especially
the city circle, where some drivers
                    waited for more than three minutes;

                     Forced train change for access to the city circle;

                     Reduced capacity, which would mean overloading and
some missed trains because of a
                    lack of room;

                     Passengers forced to stand on a train for more than
15 minutes.

                    "The Olympic Games train timetable was designed to
move approximately 250,000
                    people to Olympic Park over three peak periods
totalling 18 hours," the document said.
                    "In comparison, the regular timetable delivers
33,000 people to and from the central
                    business district in two peaks each lasting
approximately two hours.''

                    The document also revealed that some stations had
been closed for the Games and many
                    services had been cancelled, particularly to outer
suburban and some regional areas.

                    Other impacts included an overall cut of 20 per cent
to normal suburban services and a
                    30 per cent cut to city circle trains.

                    "I guess the message has been that if the service
itself is less flexible, and is designed for
                    the majority rather than being all things to all
people, then maybe it can be more robust,"
                    one industry source said.

                    "The principle has always been to be flexible, and
to reduce the likelihood of people
                    having to change trains to get where they are going.
Maybe, some of those principles
                    have to change for the system to improve.

                    "But the first thing that has to occur is an
assessment. We broke the normal timetable
                    principles for a one-off event. Now we have to sit
back and make a proper and
                    considered evaluation of what lessons we have
learned."

                    One of the most controversial changes, if made,
would be to force passengers from outer
                    areas such as the South Coast to change trains to
get to the city. During the Olympics,
                    many had to change at Redfern, which officials say
took pressure off Central Station.

                    "There were some tough decisions taken, such as
forced interchanges, which goes against
                    the principle of trying to get people from the
suburbs to the city in the shortest possible
                    time. We broke that principle, just as we did with
overcrowding."

                    Mr Scully said he would make no decisions until
after the Paralympic Games. He had
                    asked senior officials to make submissions next
month.

                    "We have obviously learned some lessons and I will
be considering changes but it is too
                    early. I want to ensure that we refocus on the next
task, the Paralympics, before we look
                    any further ahead," he said.