Whale watching observations.

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

Given the recent scrutiny of this news group to the real or imagined or
misallocated blame of poor service by GSR in the running of the Overland and
other services, I thought I would turn some attention to another private
railway near and dear to some on this newsgroup - West Coast Rail. (If
unsure look up www.buslines.com/westcoastrail ).
    My girlfriend knowing I like trains saw the WCR ad in the Diamond Valley
News, our local rag, and suggested we go on the whale watching tour run by
WCR. After ringing up and receiving helpful service from Rupert, we booked
our seats on the tour and went down to our local suburban station to book
our seats from Tazzie at Greensborough.
    Today we took the tour and below are a few positive comments, areas for
improvement and some questions that interested me:
POSITIVES
- Excellent value for $25. I would recommend anyone wanting a brief day trip
to Warrnambool or couple of days taking it.
- The phone service was good although some of the people in our compartment
complained of getting an answering machine and having to try a couple of
times to get through.
- Excellent service from on-board staff, they seemed very friendly and
helpful.
NEGATIVES
- The PA system is typically appalling. It was extremely difficult to
understand what was said and was an annoying interruption rather than
helpful. Having said that it was an unrefurbished carriage (BS201) and maybe
in the newer carriages, a better PA system has been installed.
- The people in our compartment complained of not being able to sit with
their friends despite reserving seats. Whilst I think they mistook booking
seats/buying tickets with reserving seats, their point is valid. Perhaps WCR
should consider reserving seats for small groups, especially in a tour
situation such as this.
- The information given seemed to be not quite accurate. The people in our
compartment argued over whether the first, first 2 or first 3 carriages were
set aside for whale tour people. They each spoke to somebody in authority
and received totally different answers. In addition, despite the carriage
being reserved for whale tour passengers, three people in our compartment
got off at Geelong including a lady with a dog in a bag!
- My girlfriend complained about the lack of sanitary facilities in the
ladies toilet. She ended up wrapping up the offending article and putting it
in the rubbish bin - hardly hygienic I am sure. How hard would it be to
provide such a service that whilst overlooked by male management is missed
by females in need.
- The Warrnambool RSL was an extraordinarily disappointing part of the
package to the point where WCR are better off leaving them out. The
afternoon tea provided consisted of serve yourself tea and coffee in foam
cups and there was evidence of biscuits being provided (although I couldn't
for the life of me find any - I suspect they were all eaten). When I tried
to compensate for this by buying afternoon tea from the menu, I was told
that they didn't serve food until 6pm. My girlfriend and I ended up walking
to the nearest supermarket in the rain and buying some biscuits instead.
Also, some of the people we travelled down with were pokie players and told
us on the way home that the promised by $10, get $2 pokie voucher free deal
didn't exist and that the staff at the RSL had no idea of the deal. As I am
sure this is mentioned in the ad, WCR either need to sort out their pokie
deal or don't mention it in the ad unless they want to be had for false
advertising.
QUESTIONS
- When WCR first took over the service, I remember there being talk of
having a dining car with all sorts of promises made of supporting the local
food technology industry by using their products and almost showcasing them
on the train. Was I hallucinating or what is the current status of this? The
reason I mention it is that whilst the lunch boxes and prepacked chicken
dinners were quite nice (although the plastic cutlery is flimsy), the people
in our compartment were expecting (although I think for $25 they expected a
bit much) a dining car and a sit down meal. Although perhaps a premium fare
could be charged for a more elaborate meal.
- How hard would it be to run a Motorail service between Warrnambool and
Melbourne? I guess why I ask is that whilst myself and my girlfriend would
be extremely interested in going to Warrnambool again after todays taste, we
would probably not take WCR again but drive instead. The reasons are it
would be cheaper, faster and we would have the convenience of a car down
there to go on day trips. Then again, the cost would probably be too
prohibitive.
- Why do WCR charge $20 extra return on Mondays compared to the rest of the
week? ($66.40 vs $46.40 return per person)

Don't get me wrong, For $25 the tour was excellent. For $46.40 per person
return, I would probably drive to Warrnambool as the day ended up costing
the two of us (me really) $143 for train and tour, all of which I could do
by car for about $50 petrol, $19 entry to Flagstaff Hill Museum and a small
amount for food. It's alright for pensioners on free travel vouchers (who
these tours seem to be aimed at) but WCR have a little way to go before I
can convince my girlfriend and my hip pocket to use them again. Plus the
couple from the farm in Whittlesea were planning to go back to Warrnambool
by car too and weren't very complimentary of WCR after the food and pokie
expectations weren't met so perhaps we aren't WCR customers unlike the
silver haired travel voucher types.

Am I being unreasonable, anyone like to comment?