Re: Connex rail maps in refurbished cars

[Chris Brownbill <cbrnbill@enternet.com.au>]

Daniel Bowen wrote:

> 
> Connex and Bayside (and others) are in an alliance known as The Met. In this
> alliance, they share tickets...
> 
> Daniel
> --

Ah but here's the rub - they compete viciously for the takings received
from the sale of those Met tickets.  That's what all those validators
and the hoo ha about One-link etc is really all about.  Unfortunately
the privatisation of the public transport in Melbourne has turned the
focus of the operator(s) away from running trains/trams/buses towards a
perverse little accounting game.  It seems that under the rules set down
by the former State Government, the easiest way for these companies to
make money (which is what their first priority must be under the
Corporations law) is to increase their take of the pie rather than to
increase the size of the pie.  In the old days when the entire system
was treated as a singule entity however the only way to increase the
takings was to increase the size of the pie.

So, no these companies don't compete for custom - they compete for
money, and bugger the trains.