Re: Granville Train accident

["Barry Campbell" <campblbm@ozemail.com.au>]

David Johnson wrote in message <34F536FC.B526B366@ozemail.com.au>...
>Vaughan Williamson <vaughan.williamson@tafensw.edu.au> has asked me to post
the
>following:
>
<gigantic snip - read the post yourself if you want to know what was in it>


An excellent commentary on the attitudes of some managers to the operation
and maintenance of large infrastructure organisations. I don't know anything
personally of Shirley but I do know how he was hated. I think the criticism
of some accountants is justified and this is one of the concerns of
privatisation of railways, electricity suppliers, airports etc in this
country. I'm not against privatisation but it just has to be done properly.
Postponement of maintenance is a foolish way to boost profit in the short
term. But if the focus is profitability, which has long term implications,
rather  than short term profit then proper maintenance becomes an obvious
requirement. I think this focus is in danger of being lost in many
organisations which depend on their success in their ability to provide a
reliable service over a long period of time.

The day of the Granville accident I was relieving as Stationmaster at
Tottenham. At Tottenham we got one train a week which came and went at
night. The local carrier came down and picked up the goods from it the next
morning and I collected the freight from the consignees after that. Any
waggons left by that train stayed for the rest of the week until they were
picked up. The Tottenham branch supported 3 SMs at Tottenham, Tullamore and
Trundle plus a porter at Trundle. Until Mr Shirley cut them out in the "fuel
crisis" of 1974 there were even more staff and there was a 2 or 3 day a week
rail motor service. God knows what it carried. This situation was repeated
all over the state. As well as this waste there were enormous armies of
clerks in the Greenhouse at Wynyard, for a system that couldn't tell you
where its rolling stock was located at any time, and  grossly ineffiecient
workshops. The money to ensure that maintenance was done was at least partly
there but it was not used wisely. The various governments did not want to
offend their constituents (The unions for Labor and the country people for
the Coalition). If there is responsibility it went higher than Shirley.


Barry Campbell