Re: Boo Hiss to Hillside

["Exnarc" <gwrly@netspace.net.au>]

Vaughan Williams <ender2000@my-deja.com> wrote in message
83cva0$db9$1@nnrp1.deja.com">news:83cva0$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.

Then the PTUA would be the first complaining about bus cancelations!!!

>
> 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.

So a private bus operator is required to have "X" number of drivers and
buses standing by to provide replacement transport for it's competition???
Interesting concept!!!

> 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 now the railway companies need to employ bus drivers for standby
services, whose footing the bill???

>
> 4. Contingency planning dictates that it is known to the railways and
> tramways that major disruptions occur on a reasonably regular basis
> somewhere in the system, whether its a fire on the tracks, an overhead
> coming down or whatever. There has to be a plan and procedure for
> whenever this happens. This might include organising special extra
> trams if the affected stations are on a tram route, getting at least a
> couple of buses on standby (rather than doing a ringaround of the bus
> companies, the station staff should know exactly where the spare buses
> are and who to ring to organise them)

Get real!!!

> and going out of their way to
> assist passengers like the person who kicked off this thread - getting
> him on the first bus, or if necessary putting him in a cab.

I agree on this point, re the passenger who had to catch another connection,
but this is not an exclusive Hillside or Bayside problem, its the result of
selling off a public assett to the private sector, in PTC (pre Kennett) days
the culture was changing as a result of the Service Now program (for all its
faults) an effort would have been made to help this individual. But then the
emphasis was on SERVICE not PROFIT.

>
> 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. 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.
>
> 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.

How can you plan when some fool is going to jump in front of a train???

If you could do that you could arrange for the Police to arrive to arrest
him/her.

Whilst the operator should make every effort to arrange replacement
services, the reality is that you can't have buses/trams standing by on the
slim chance that something might happen.

Bob