to be, well the proof of the cooking is in the eating as they say.
ANs departure of the Overland from Adelaide was mostly on time. The
Overland under the control of the Great GSR has been late in departure
EVERY night since take over.
Fridays departure 1hr & 10 mins late due to bad organisation of the
yard. The excuse?,
the I.P. was double length and blocking both ends of the yard. Weak
excuse! AN managed to get the Overland out on time with I.P. in Plat 1.
Overland Passengers are not impressed with Sleeper travel. They paid
$178 to have no staff in Sleeper cars and to have to line up in the
mornings with economy passengers in the RBJ (Cafe Car) for their
breakfast where as with AN it was brought to their cabins in the morning
with a fresh hot tea or coffee. That's not what you call 1st Class. With
only two staff now on the train they just give the service or security.
As of Monday 10th Nov. GSA is compelled to return to service the 1st
Class Sitters. GSA did not read the AN Sales Act carefully (or similar
worded act). It states that 1st Class Sitters can not be removed from
service. If one has to collect a ticket at Keswick before traveling get
there at least one hour before departure as the ticket counter staff
have been cut back to two who try their best to cope with the crowds. As
one passenger commented "I thought bank Qs were bad at lunch times but
this is disgusting. I've benn waiting in this Q for 20 b......y mins
just to pick up my ticket, typical of private enterprise, profits
before service!" Staff do try their best even if they work through their
meal breaks and for a big cut in pay, apparently they have lost about
$10,000 p.a., down from about $40,000 and extra for late shifts or
weekend work,
yes it's nice to see private enterprise at its best.
regards Scorpion.