Re: Whale watching observations.

["Michael Walker" <walker@hotkey.net.au>]

Thank you for the quick response, something I suspect from other posts many
railway companies don't appear to do!

>There are two staff dedicated to taking 'whale' bookings.  As luck has
>it, you get periods where no phones ring, then you get all of them
>ringing at once!  The answering machines are provided and request that
>people leave their name and number, our staff call them back asap.
>

I must admit, having done computer technical support over the phone most of
my working life, I should have remembered this, Monday mornings used to be
worst - up to 30 minutes wait for some customers. Friday pm on the other
hand used to be dead boring as noone would ring.

>I accept that quality of PA's can be up and down.  I recognise that as a
>day tour passenger you aren't really interested in most of the
>announcements, but it's important to remember that we also have many
>'roadside' travellers (ie, not going Melbourne-Warrnambool, just going a
>section or so), so things like station stops, opening and closing of the
>snack bar etc are essential.
>

Actually, most PA announcements were our tour guide John reading the part of
the brochure on whales over the PA. Hardly a necessary announcement given
most of us could read I am sure and he certainly didn't need to read it more
than once!
    I guess for interest sake, it appeared that the noise came from two
sources - static from cheap nasty ex-Vline PA equipment and lots of
background noise from wherever PA announcements were made (from the toilet
by the sound of the noise 8^)  ). How much more expensive is good PA
equipment compared to the fact that people stand a better chance of hearing
the announcements (especially those likely to be hearing impaired as most of
the PTFV travellers who the tour seemed to attract probably would be)? Also,
I suspect relocation of the PA to somewhere quieter would help your cause
too.
    Now you mention the snack bar, I was a little surprised that it was only
open for 1 hr 15 mins between 6pm and 7.15pm. I can understand that it saves
crewing costs as the snack bar crew can get on the down train at Winchelsea
but it still strikes me as odd as I am sure the potential for more sales
exists between Geelong and Melbourne, especially as the normal Vline
Melb-Geel trains don't have snack bars either.

>passengers on the platform, then allow them on.  This is the way I board
>the train at Warrnambool.

Speaking of boarding the train at Warrnambool, you may want to consider on
cold freezing days like last Wednesday to board the train sooner than 20
minutes before departure. The waiting room at Warrnambool was nearly full 45
minutes before the train was due to leave and it was annoying seeing the
empty carriages just off the end of the platform whilst we were standing in
a progressively cooler waiting room as more people entered and the kids ran
around in the only empty space available - in front of the door where the
sensor triggers.

>The dining car (RMS2380, ex Southern Aurora) is currently under
>restoration at Ballarat.
>
How far off finishing is it?