Tempe - Incorrect Signage?

["Optus" <ds_ready@usa.net>]

Hi All,

Right down the south end of platform 2 (Local Illawarra - Down/East Hills
bound) at Tempe station there is the big station name sign with "Wolli
Creek" as the "Next Station".

Now, can anybody tell me if there is a crossover that would allow a train to
get from platform 2 to allow it to stop at Wolli Creek station? If not then
I would suggest that the "Next Station" should be signed as either Arncliffe
or Turrella?

I rang the staff at Tempe station and they suggested it is marked as Wolli
Creek, "because some late running rescheduled trains could use platform 2 to
get to Wolli Creek".

I am just trying to build up a whole picture here of small examples of
mis-communication and bad management just to get a "point" across to Carl
Scully. Other things include very few delay announcements, trains that now
stop at Tempe and/or Turrella are not still not announced correctly at
Museum and Redfern stations. All this is building a picture that CityRail
management are incompetent for the purposes of ramming the point home that
trains are continually late on the East Hills line by a consistent 7 minutes
which is enough to miss bus connections and the like.

For the 3rd Jan the on time stats on the web showed 100% :) I was on a
special timetable train, 08:19 East Hills to the City, on both the 2nd and
the 3rd both of which arrived at Central 7 mins late. 131500 have my call
and the reason why on record for both the 2nd and the 3rd. I faxed the Carl
Scully's office suggesting that him and us were being mislead. I now see the
figures have been changed to 99.1%  for the 3rd :)

Something funny....... Every time a train has run more than 5 mins late I
have rung 131500 to ask for a reason why and to have a complaint put on
record. A few weeks back I was actually called back by a CityRail employee
to defend CityRail. I allowed her to do this. I then told her that I was
actually on a train bound for East Hills that was actually running 14 mins
late. It was a fine day and it was very early afternoon well out of the
peak. The only thing that she could say was, "well, at least we are
consistent".

Finally...... after 3 years of phoning 131500 the TVM machine at East Hills
has finally had its main green LCD display fixed. I have made at least 20
calls over that time. Up until it was fixed the readout of the price and
money due was a black shade of black on a not so black black if you know
what I mean :) During that 3 years we left Australia for 18 months to work
on contract overseas. I was not surprised to come back to find the TVM still
faulty. My calls started again to 131500 and then finally to Carl Scully's
office. On being called back by CityRail to be advised that the TVM was now
fixed they advised that they never received any 131500 calls previous to the
year 2000. Yeah Right! :)

My question has to be: "Am I the only one who complains to 131500 and then
follows it up to the minister's office if I don't get a resolution"?

DavidR