Re: Record complaints for NSW rail services

[Michael Hendy <spam.sucks@bigpond.com>]

Nathan Cox wrote:

> Well if people didnt hold up the trains, maybe they'd run a bit better.How
> many times have I pulled into a station and the doors are about to close,
> and some fuckwit starts running down the stairs, so you hold the train by 30
> seconds, well if the guard does that at a few stations then naturally the
> train will be late.

Under some circumstances it's unavoidable that it will take some time 
getting from Station Enterance to Platform.

Example from a couple of weeks ago:

I was with a couple of friends and got to Quakers Hill Station several 
minutes before the train was due to arrive (just on 10:00 for a 10:08 
train). Getting a wheelchair up the ramps there is no fun (took 2 of us 
pushing to get any speed), and helping one of my mates down the stairs 
because he has spina bifida and some difficulty walking took us the 8 
minutes we allowed. The train left at 10:06, after a polite "Oh, I could 
have waited" from the guard who watched us coming down the stairs.

Under most circumstances (an able-bodied person running down a set of 
stairs/ramp) for a train they want to get, I agree that there should be 
no need to hold the train. Exceptional circumstances (eg. wheelchair 
access) are a different matter, although it has the same effect.

> 
> People know to get to the station 10 mins prior to their train, so they can
> purchase their ticket and get to the right platform.But most passengers are
> stupid, cant read indicator boards, or large signs, saying put your ticket
> thru  the machines.No wonder the station staff are argressive.Look what we
> have to put up with.

Couldn't agree more. It's just annoying that sometimes a couple of 
people are inconvenienced by the minority.