[NSW] - SMH reporting on Cityrail 15/9/2000

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

>From today's Herald:

( http://www.olympics.smh.com.au/news/2000/09/15/FFXWO3WX4DC.html )

By ROBERT WAINWRIGHT, ABAN CONTRACTOR and BERNARD LAGAN
   9:20PM, Sep 15

   Sydney's much maligned trains and buses turned in a gold medal
performance, delivering
   100,000 excited passengers to the opening ceremony without a hitch.

   But the day was not without problems.

   A CityRail driver was stood down for driving past a red signal at
Olympic Park.

   This incident, just before 8am on the day of the opening ceremony,
was one of two red light
   breaches on a day on which a train was sent the wrong way, overhead
wiring collapsed on
   a train at Flemington and a freight train caught fire at Cabramatta.

   Though the Olympic Park incident was not regarded as especially
serious, it delayed three
   train services - a mistake that would have serious consequences if it
happened in peak
   hours.

   Rail organisers were helped by spectators who began travelling early.

   By 3pm, 43,000 had already made their way to Homebush.

   Trains carried almost 36,000 from Central and Blacktown stations and
spectator buses
   carried 7800. By 4pm, the number had risen to 70,000; trains carrying
more than 55,000,
   and buses, 15,000. The remaining spectators made the trip between 4pm
and 5pm.

   By 5.15pm, Central Station was all but deserted.

   Only a few stragglers left for the 25-minute trip to the stadium.

   It was the same story with the bus fleet. Badly mauled during the
week because of a series
   of bungles, the fleet ran smoothly across the 13 spectator routes,
operating at five-minute
   intervals between 4pm and 6pm, by which time all spectators had to be
seated in the
   Olympic Stadium.

   As transport officials were readying themselves for the next
fortnight, the week-long bus
   dispute appeared to be resolved, with out-of-town drivers offered
access to big-screen
   televisions and icecreams as part of a settlement offer by Olympic
officials.

   The Transport Workers Union said the deal, which forms part of a
package of
   improvements, includes more money and better accommodation to appease
hundreds of
   disgruntled drivers hired by private contractor Bus 2000.

   Officials accredited an extra 150 drivers yesterday and about 100
military personnel are
   also due to arrive in Sydney to help bolster the ranks.

   Officials were swamped with volunteers to fill 500 places for
navigators in buses.

   But inquiries by the Herald reveal there are 250 drivers from
Melbourne and Queensland
   being housed at Scots College in Bellevue Hill who say they are not
being used, even
   though there is a shortage of drivers.

   The Minister for the Olympics, Mr Knight, said yesterday that
transport was the main
   problem of the Games so far.

   He said he was "quietly confident" the changes, which include
injecting more State Transit
   Authority buses and drivers into the Olympic fleet, would reduce the
problems, but he could
   not promise full solutions.

   He denied that a lack of Government funding or resources had
contributed to the bus
   problems.

   Problems with the management and rostering within the Bus 2000
consortium were to
   blame.

   Problems had also arisen because of the length of time that had
passed when drivers
   were trained and when they began their Olympics duties, he said.

   Staff and police said yesterday there had been no complaints or
incidents.

   Happy passengers, many of them carrying flags, with only a handful
bothering to bring an
   umbrella or a drink cooler, were amazed at how smoothly the system
ran.

   Mrs Wendy Phelps and her family had travelled from Wee Waa to attend
the ceremony.

   "This is amazing. We have never seen so many people move so quickly,"
she said.

   Eighteen members of the O'Brien family, from Melbourne, had travelled
in from Mosman.

   Mr Brendan O'Brien, who was pushing a relative in a wheelchair, said:
"I thought it would
   be okay, but it is much, much, much better."

   A spokesman for the Olympic Roads and Transport Authority, Mr Paul
Willoughby, said it
   was a "relief" to have finally started.

   "We've had 17 test events and moved four million spectators over the
past two years.

   "We've also had two dress rehearsals and, while the opening ceremony
signals the start
   of Australia's biggest and toughest transport operation, it is almost
a relief to have finally
   begun after years of planning."