Re: Countrylink named as World's Worst Passenger Service

[Graham Duffin <duffin@dyson.brisnet.org.au>]

thalytgv@my-dejanews.com writes:
> Why is for the last 12 month all the sudden there are frequent
> complaints about Country Link services and they are all from the
> States?

Here are some reasons from my own experience:

1) In recent times there seems to have been more late running than
   several years ago.  For some weeks in December the Brisbane
   XPT ran late nearly every day.

2) The attitude of some of the on-board staff is not very user friendly.
   I know they sometimes have to deal with troublesome passengers but
   all of us aren't troublesome and don't deserve to be treated as such.

3) The seats placed in the refurbished trailer cars are unsuitable for
   overnight travel.  You can't place your feet under the seat in front
   of you because they are so low to the floor.  It means you can't
   stretch out to try and have a snooze.  The seats don't recline back
   very far either.  The seats on the QR tilt trains have plenty of
   leg and foot room and recline back much further than the seats in
   the XPT.  There is a Countrylink brochure that says something about
   the seats being similar to those in the TGV.  Do the TGV's run
   overnight services?  Basically the XPT has the wrong seats for night
   travel.

4) Because of the age of the XPT's and the way they are being flogged
   they are showing their age.  When I've travelled on them lately I've
   had seats with broken tables, a number of the toilets and drinking
   water dispensers seem to have faults and so forth.  Are Countrylink
   planning a replacement for the XPT?

5) The lack of variety in the on-board meals.  For a single journey it's
   not too bad however travel Brisbane to Melbourne and return and that's
   up to 10 on-board meals.  The menu never changes between meals or
   days.  It gets boring when you have to eat so much of the same stuff.

No doubt there are other reasons but they are some that readily come
to mind.

Go for a ride on the new QR tilt train and then compare that trip with
one on the XPT and you then realise how old the XPT's have become.

Graham Duffin,
Salisbury, Qld.