MET/Hillside madness

[Mick Stock <mzs@eastwood.apana.org.au>]

How to lose customers in 10 minutes or less - MET style.
--------------------------------------------------------

What sort of morons are in charge of operations, at least as far as
deciding
how many carriages to use on a particular run, at the MET/Hillside?

Tonight the 8:05pm City to Belgrave train arrived at Flinders St with
about
3 minutes to load up. It consisted of 6 Comeng carriages, and there were
AT
LEAST 400 people who boarded it.  Approx. 3 mins after it arrived,
everyone was
unceremoneously kicked off it, with the explanation "train has to be
divided....".

WHY WAS THIS SO??????

There were more than enough passengers to justify 6 cars, especially
after
picking up from Spencer St, Melb Central & Richmond, and because of the
stuffing around while the train was divided, by the time it left
Richmond
it was 8 mins late.  Why did they let everyone on board, leave them
there
until the train was due to depart, then decide to divide the train?
Also, a Glen Waverly train which left at 7:59pm consisted of 6 cars, but
there
would have only been enough passengers to fill one, with room to spare.

Could someone in authority at the Met please explain this moronic
situtation
- it is not the only time this has happened in recent months (especially
on
Saturday evenings). And don't give the standard excuse "to prevent
vandalism &
for passenger comfort" - no-one was comfortable, especially with
temperatures
in the mid 20's and the totally unjustifiable overcrowding of this
train!  And
as far as vandalism is concerned, how about fixing the problem instead
of stuffing
around the 99.9% of people who just want to get home.  Since the
Belgrave trains
were also only going as far as Bayswater anyway and because of the
shuttling
at this particular time, I'm sure the train could have quite easily been
divided
there for the return trip to the city, or stabled at Bayswater.

And if I sound pissed off, then I have every right to be. I pay FULL
fare,
I'm then forced to stand almost all the way to Box Hill (approx. 25 mins
+ additional
8 mins for late running), I'd been at work since 6am...., and the Met
caused the
train to run late due to stuffing around (plus an additional 2-min delay
for reasons
unknown between Richmond & East Richmond stations).

I can also guarantee that the Met lost several dozen potential new
"regulars"
as well - may of whom had been at the Melb Cup were quite open in their
complaints
during all this!

 All this in the face of "the minister's statement" on provision of
services and
overcrowding which private operators will face - but the Met is
unable/unwilling
to abide by themselves!

Mick.