Re: MET/Hillside madness

[L & D <daisyw@ozemail.com.au>]

Mick Stock wrote:

> 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!
>

What's changed?  I remember being at Flinders street on a Saturday night in
the early seventies around 7pm with a crowd of footy fans when we boarded a
7 car Harris train only to be asked to get off as they needed to shunt it
out. And guess what it was replaced by a red rattler of 3 or 4 carriage's,
we then reboarded the train pushing and shoving to get a seat the train was
still very full by time we arrived at Box Hill with people standing. I'm not
sure about the timetable then but I think once you got past Ringwood it was
a forty min between trains.

> Mick.