Re: Boo Hiss to Hillside

["Dave Proctor" <daproc@sd5.mailbank.com>]

Vaughan Williams wrote in message <83cva0$db9$1@nnrp1.deja.com>...
>This reply is to a few messages:
>1. Suburban buses should all be running at a ten minute frequency
>during the peak, so the odd cancelled bus shouldn't matter much if
>buses DO need to be pulled off their runs to do train replacement.

They should, but they don't. The private bus companies are also profit
making companies, and have cut their operating costs to bare minimums. I
drive past the Penrith Westbus depot every day in the peak, and there are
quite often only 2 or 3 buses in there.

As for the "ten minute frequency" statement, are you serious? We get a 20
minute frequency during the peak, and that is from a major railway station
to a major new housing estate. There are no "10 minute frequency(s)" from
Penrith, which is a major station.

I am aware that I am talking about Sydney, and you are talking about
Melbourne, but they are similar cities.

As for your suggestion that a bus run could be cancelled, why would the
private (profit making) bus company cancel a service, thereby
inconveniencing one of their fare paying passengers, to provide a
replacement service to the railways?

>2. The bus companies should have a couple of spare buses for in case
>one of theirs (for example) breaks down. These buses could be organised
>for train replacement if needed. Bus companies, unfortunately, are even
>more administratively incompetant than the rail operators hence the
>hopeless service they provide.
>
>3. The railways probably should have a bus or two on standby (perhaps
>could be shared with the tramways) for any major service disruption. It
>might take 20 or 30 minutes to organise it and a little while for it to
>get to where its required, but it shouldn't take hours.

So you want them to spend $200K+ on a bus "just in case"? Will you gladly
pay the extra fares to cover the costs?

>5. The analogy someone drew with Vicroads not helping if theres heavy
>traffic is quite different. Vicroads do take prompt action to divert
>traffic around an accident, and even severe congestion shouldn't make
>you miss a train if you allow plenty of time. The railways are
>responsible for getting their passengers from A to B and must take all
>the reasonable steps to do so.

And nowhere is it stated what timeframe they have to get you there in.

>This includes having a mechanism to
>promptly secure at least a couple of buses rather than ad hoc searches
>for buses that show up when they show up.

And what you fail to realise is that those buses are not owned or operated
by the railways, and that the owners of those buses choose to place them on
more productive and profitable uses than merely sitting around *in case* the
railways stuff up.

As for the railways owning their own buses "just in case" buses are not
cheap, and would be a waste of precious resources to buy them for the
occasional hiccup.

>A year or two ago I was held up at Heidelburg because someone jumped in
>front of a train at Rosanna. It took almost two hours for the first bus
>to arrive, and there was no sign of any more for another half an hour
>after that. The disruption may be beyond the railways control but the
>poor planning and long delays in obtaining a substitute service is not.

You really do not have a clue, do you? While we are at it, why doesn't
Countrylink buy a fleet of 737's and leave them stabled at Tullamarine, for
th occasional time that the Sydney-Melbourne rail link is closed. Or to make
it slightly more reasonable, why not a fleet of buses, based at Cootamundra,
in case the line gets blocked at any time (Cootamundra being nice and
central to a blockage in any direction).

Dave