NOTE:
In this message, all references are for the Ringwood/Lilydale/Belgrave
lines ONLY.
> The Jolimont rationalisation project is in full swing now, with the
> platform alterations in effect at Flinders St, platforms 2 & 3 closed and
> much track torn up.
>
> Channel 7 news last night (23/11) carried a report on what a big stuff-up
> it was. It was the most biased report I have ever seen. "There were hardly
> any signs to direct confused commuters to their new platforms" they said,
> and then promply focussing on one of the supposedly rare signs.
Unfortunately, I didn't see the report, but.....
As of Friday night, about the only signs at Flinders St were actually
on platforms 2 & 3 - I didn't see any anywhere else (at least, not at the
Swanston St end). Actually, there appeared to be more signs at Melb
Central.
>
> Then they interviewed a number of confused commuters, asking them "Did you
> know how to get to Platform 14". They all (at least the ones we saw) looked
> incredibly stupid and said "No". It wouldn't matter how many signs they put
> up, there would still be many people who just don't read them. And, of
> course, since Platform 14 is the platform where all Clifton Hill trains
> left from until recently, it is pretty suprising that supposedly "no-one"
> knew where it was. It is hardly a big walk, or hard to find.
To Ch. 7: what's platform 14 go to do with anything? And of course most
people wouldn't know how to get to it, as it has been fenced of now for
several months with only one way to get to it!
> They then went on to say "The PTC is treating this as a bit of a learning
> excercise" which sounded like a quote out of context to me, but was
> construed to mean that they have just bumbled into the exercise without
> thinking about it.
Off course, they have to pick the busiest lines to experiment with. Well,
as a regular rail traveller (average 2 trips/day, 6 days/week, at varying
times of the day AND night), there was absolutely NO consultation with
passengers beforehand. What's the point of having customer service people
if they are not out there servicing passengers? They should have at least
spent time at local stations consulting with the users of the service &
answering questions BEFORE the project started.
> Then they trotted out Patrick O'Connor (PTUA spokesman) who went on to fuel
> the fire about how badly planned it all was. "3/4 of the transport budget
> is being spent on Federation Square" he said (this is probably true!!),
> "and this is a huge stuff-up". How those two issues are related, I don't
> know.
If this is true, I don't see why it should come out of the transport
budget. As far as I can tell, the Federation Square isn't of any benefit
to any rail travellers.
> > Anyway, I think it is impossible to do any good without the media trotting
> out their tired old "The railways are full of idiots" stories. I think a
> few "the media is full of idiots" stories wouldn't go astray!!
Agreed, although not all railways people are innocent. There have been
plenty of occassions during the last 12 months where there have been some
very questionable things done by rail staff (especially to do with
extremely late running & defective trains) - but that is another story....
> > I will wait with anticipation to hear how today's (Monday) peak went, with
> all Burnley loop trains running in the other direction to normal. If they
> thought Sunday was bad, I imagine today will be hell. But most of the
> confusion will be caused by stupid passengers (sorry customers) not reading
I take exception to you calling passengers stupid. Admittedly, some are,
but what about the elderly, visitors to Melb who don't know whats
happening, etc, or those who only travel occassionally by train? As of
Friday night, the (few) signs that had been put up at Flinder St weren't
easy to see (especially when a train load of passengers has just arrived).
I'm sure anyone who works for the railways wouldn't be too impressed if I
said something like "confusion was caused by lack of info from stupid rail
staff". And besides, have you ever got off the escalator & stopped to
read the notice when there is a trainload of passengers behind you? Not
recommended at the best of times!
> signs or listening to announcements, rather than bad planning, I would care
> to bet.
According to the temporary timetable, there are NO services FROM
Lilydale/Belgrave during the morning that go INTO the city loop from
either end. ALL city bound services go direct to Flinders St. To travel
to a loop station, you have to change at Richmond (this is NOT mentioned
in the timetable, however the more regular travellers will figure this
out anyway!).
There are Outbound trains departing FS which do go via the loop, but
according to the timetable, they don't start until after 7am, and they
don't come from the Lilydale/Belgrave lines. During the evening peak, all
trains go direct from F/S, and none are via the loop. Although all inbound
train FROM Lilydale/Belgrave go DIRECT into the loop during the
afternoons, none of them go back out to Lilydale/Belgrave according to the
timetable, so anyone getting on at a loop station will have to change at
Flinders St. anyway.
The other problem is lack of info printed on the temporary timetables. It
states that all Lilydale & Belgrave trains depart from platforms 4, 5, 6
and 7. This is not very helpful - there is no mention on how trains are
being spread across the 4 platforms - e.g. is it only the off-peak
services that use 6 & 7, or peak only? Are people going to have to keep
changing platforms with little warning while trains services are shuffled
between the platforms?
The 'information stands' on plat. 2 & 3 were useless - on both Thu & Fri
evening (while there were still plenty of passengers around) they were
unattended & there was no other info in sight, and no staff who could
answer enquiries. Also, even though weekends are affected, how come no
weekend timetables are available. I asked at my local station, and was
told "normal services on weekends, and no w/e timetables available". Well,
I got on the the WEB sight, and sure enough, they ARE running special
timetables, and NO loop service at all! (There was a major error for the
Sunday timetable, but after an email to the feedback line, it was fixed
very quickly!)
What I'd also like to know is why all the changes to the loop service in
the first place? If they are only running the temporary timetable because
of platform reconstruction at F/S & Federation Square works, why can't the
loop service run as normal (or with relatively minor alterations)? After
all, the track works performed at Flinders St several months ago was
supposedly to allow trains from any line to be switched to any platform,
so it shouldn't be a switching problem.
The MET put a notice on their WEB site about what's happening on the
Upfield line, how come they haven't done the same for this change to
services? After all, it is NOT just a case of altered platforms, but
consists of MAJOR running & timetable changes.
Other points:
Why have ALL of the longer distance city TO Lilydale & Belgrave trains
been changed to stopping all stations in the morning peak, while most
shorter distance Ringwood trains now go express? For the next two weeks
it is going to take me an additional 15 mins to get home after a night
shift, assuming that trains still run anywhere near on time (which that
time of the day they rarely do....). More missed bus connections?
Many train drivers have been warning passengers about the temporary
services (thanks guys!), however the PA systems in many trains are next to
useless - badly distorted, feedback, too loud, or not loud enough. I've
yet to hear anything (as of Fri night) over the PA system at F/S or Melb.
Central.
Where are the "customer service" people? Too busy booking people for
travelling without tickets when ticket machines aren't in operation,
stations unmanned, nowhere close by to get tickets.....
I'm on night shift for the next few nights - it will be interesting to
see the mess at Melb. Central (& other loop stations for that matter). The
only GOOD thing about the temporary timetable is that when I'm on night
shift, I DON'T have to go anywhere near Flinders St! :-)
> Regards,
>
> Mike Alexander
> (malex@bigfoot.com)
And a final comment (or two)....
From what I've read in this newsgroup, we are going to be in for a
repeat of this again in a few months - if they are going to stuff around
with services, why not do it properly & do the whole lot in one hit.
Or better still, WHY DIDN'T THEY WAIT UNTIL AFTER XMAS???????? During
the holiday period, less regular peak period travellers would be affected
by the changes, not to mention schools are out. After all, there is at
least 4 weeks after xmas where modified services would be less of a drama.
So what happens - they pick the START of the busiest part of the year!
(Sporting events shuoldn't be a problem during the holiday period, as most
major events are centered around the Flinders St/Richmond area anyway.
And no, I'm NOT being biased by suggesting that this should be done during
the holiday period - I'll be working then anyway.
And a final note - i do NOT work for the railways. I've been
travelling by train for over 25 years on an almost daily basis (and as a
shift worker, I travel at various times of the day AND night, peak AND
off-peak periods), and am still waiting to see all the improvements to
services that the government keeps going on about. If anything, trips now
take longer, less express services, dirty trains (some shouldn't even be
allowed in service!), inspectors that act like nazi storm troopers,
unmanned stations, lack of ticket selling points (why DON'T stations sell
scratchies????), the list could go on....
Mick.
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| email: mzs@eastwood.apana.org.au |
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