Re: [MELB] City Loop issues

["Dave Proctor" <daproc@spambait.ozemail.com.au>]

"Paul Dwerryhouse" <paul+usenet@dwerryhouse.com.au> wrote in message
9ajvk8$mi$1@merrick.home">news:9ajvk8$mi$1@merrick.home...
> "Dave Proctor" <daproc@spambait.ozemail.com.au> writes:
>
> >"Paul Dwerryhouse" <paul+usenet@dwerryhouse.com.au> wrote in message
> >9ajo2i$59i$1@merrick.home">news:9ajo2i$59i$1@merrick.home...
>
> >> Easy. Put the city circle trains back into service.
>
> >We know that is not going to happen - if a government body cut them
because
> >of costs, do you really see a private crowd putting them back on?
>
> No. However, if the number of people actively using them was so few that
the
> service can be cut at all without an overwhelming negative response, then
> is there really any point disrupting a _huge_ chunk of Melbourne's
commuters
> by diverting services on Melbourne's busiest rail line in the opposite
> direction around the loop?

I don't think the disruption is as bad as you and Peter make it out to be.
Flinders St gets a faster service, Spencer St gets a faster service,
Flagstaff gets a faster service, Museum is about the same, Parliament is
about 4 minutes slower. This is hardly enough to qualify as "disruption".

As for your point about it being withdrawn without negative response, this
was back in the days when it was all operated by one body (The Met) - now
that it is all split up and privatised, I would have thought that a train
operator would be looking to keep passengers on it rather than sending them
off to the opposition (Yarra/M>Tram).

> Really, how much would it cost to run a single carriage (if they had such
> a thing) around the loop every ten minutes - you'd need probably two
drivers
> at a time, at most?

Actually, the way they worked it was good - a train would come in from
Clifton Hill into the loop, the form a City Circle service, then go out
again to Clifton Hill - so it would do two laps of the Circle whilst the
other three groups would only do one. I doubt that the cost was all the
great, it probably needed one extra set and crew (two at the most) to
operate the Clifton Hill group of services.

Dave