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Message-ID: <33EBFAA9.C2CE49F7@NOSPAMmerddyn.apana.org.au>
Date: Sat, 09 Aug 1997 15:05:45 +1000
From: "Garry R. Ford" <" NOSPAMgarry"@NOSPAMmerddyn.apana.org.au>
Reply-To: ht244014@student.uq.edu.au
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To: Martin Bienwald <obelix@fim.informatik.uni-mannheim.de>
Subject: Re: Sydney tram
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References: <01bc983a$e66f24e0$772811cb@rodsmith> <01bc9b58$659ac380$742811cb@rodsmith> <33dee936.341353@news.ozemail.com.au> <5ro116$g65$4@trumpet.uni-mannheim.de>
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Martin Bienwald wrote:
>
> Ashley Wright (ajwright@ozemail.com.au) wrote:
>
> : I wonder why they are only going to run mon-fri 9-5pm for the first
> : few weeks???. Understandable without the full fleet (2 still to come
> : at my last count) they couldn't run proper timtable, but I cannot see
> : why they are limiting to 9 to 5 only, and weekdays at that.
>
> Hmmm, a few guesses from far away:
>
> * they haven't trained enough drivers yet to extend the service
> * 9am-5pm is the working time of their technicians, and they want a
> technician ready in case of a breakdown
> * any parallel bus lines aren't closed down yet, so the staff is needed to
> drive the buses
This last one is a bit off-beam I think. Most of the drivers appear to
be coming from the monorail. The lady driver on the first official tram
on 28 July - ministers, official guests, officials, media - was from
that arena and TNT are the operators not State Transit or State Rail.
As I understand it, the main reason are
(a) getting the crew and passengers used to the system,
(b) ensuring all cars are in complete working order,
(c) bedding in the track properly and ironing out any bugs
(d) generally ensuring all concerned are able to handle a full
volume system.
(e) ironing out timetable bugs although a timetable as such will
be hardly necessary.
Not being completely familiar with Sydney traffic patterns to Darling
Harbour at week-ends, I would assume that is going to be a busy period.
At least there will be more people in the area who wouldn't be there
Monday to Friday.
That Monday to Friday service is going to be a skelton service as well,
gradually working up to full strength. There may even be some weekend
running, I can't remember exactly what was said by MD SLRC at the time.
(see my postings under "Sydney Light Rail" for more details.)
Cheers
Garry Ford
Chairman
Brisbane Transport Research Group and
Passenger on the first tram on 28 July.
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