Re: Stop Defending Cityrail Attrocious Record

[mauried@tpg.com.au (Maurie Daly)]

On Sat, 14 Apr 2001 07:53:39 GMT, "Dave Proctor"
<daproc@spambait.ozemail.com.au> wrote:

>"Anita Lukaszyk" <neety@iprimus.com.au> wrote in message
>3AD7A670.222A0DB5@iprimus.com.au">news:3AD7A670.222A0DB5@iprimus.com.au...
>> Mercia Chapman wrote:
>>
>> > why all weekends on some lines?
>>
>> Simple. Less people travel on the weekend.
>
>That is a copout - it should be done at night, like they do in other
>countries - and people who live near the railway lines can get stuffed, they
>knew the railway was there when they moved there, they have to live with the
>consequences.
>
>> > Why does Cityrail make it almost impossible to get anywhere on weekends.
>>
>> Major trackwork is advertised in Sydney/local papers a week or more in
>> advance. If you have somewhere important to go, you should check
>> beforehand.
>
>Doesn't change the fact that it is increasingly difficult to get from point
>a to point b without a major hassle occurring. All this does is turn off the
>very people that CityRail should be trying to attract - the occasional,
>off-peak customer, those who have a choice about their mode of travel.
>
>> > Why did my girlfriend by the ridiculously expensive airport ticket from
>> > central, get left at Central for 30 minutes, no announcements - NOTHING,
>> > slow crawl to Domestic - miss her flight? Stupid her - she forgot she
>needed
>> > a taxi in Sydney. "9 minutes from Central to the Airport!". No apology ,
>> > nothing.
>>
>> What is the going rate for a taxi from Central to Domestic? How long
>> would it take? Did your girlfriend bother to check the timetables?
>
>Central to Domestic cost me $21 last time I did it (a few weeks ago, had to
>catch an 0605 flight and I wanted sufficient time in the Qantas Club).
>
>> A guy came into work yesterday wanting to go to the Airport. It's almost
>> 4.30pm. Next train is in 1 hour. He has a flight at 9pm. It will take at
>> least 3 1/2 hours to get into Sydney and then to Domestic. Is it our
>> fault he didn't check the timetables? No.
>
>Are people who never travel by train supposed to know to look up multiple
>sources of information in order to come up with various different versions
>of possible journey scenarios?
>
>It is more likely that people who rarely travel by train are more likely to
>look at a timetable and trust what they read in it.
>
>Given that trackwork is becoming more and more frequent, perhaps CityRail
>should abandon timetables all together and publish them on a weekly basis.
>
>> > Go ahead and drive your cars everywhere. Why catch
>> > the train?
>>
>> I don't have a car. Not everybody does, you know. In some cases, it may
>> be easier/cheaper to catch a train. For example, if I wanted to go to
>> the airport, I could get a taxi for $80+ and 1 1/2 hrs. Or I could get a
>> train for much less, and be there in an hour or so.
>
>Less than an hour from where you are. I took someone to the airport from
>Lilianfels (near Echo Point) last week and I was there in 90 minutes. From
>Penrith it would be much less.
>
>Dave
>
>
How much of the problem is caused by the fact that the tracks arnt
Cityrails ,and as they are simply a rail operator they get no say in
how or when track maintenance is done.
These decisions would be made by the Rail owner .
Horizontal integration doesnt work in a suburban rail context.

MD