Re: RIP Austrack??

[desktop@pipeline.com.au (Frank Jones)]

On Fri, 28 May 1999 20:14:20 +1000, "Rod" <comtrain@mpx.com.au> wrote:

>Heard that the X Class on lease to Austrack has been returned to Victoria,
>and the joint venture with FV ran its last train today.....or so the rumour
>goes!!
>Wonder if FV will go it alone, or perhaps partner with Freight Rail as was
>originally planned??
>

Hmmm... yes, I have heard the *rumour* of Austrac's insolvency from
two other separate sources as well.

But, if this is so, my recent dealings with them makes me wonder if
they are any great loss to the industry.

As a tour organiser with the Rail Tourist Association, I and fellow
Committee persons have recently had to deal with Austrac regarding the
possibility of operating a tour in the Riverina area, originally
planned for the June long weekend.

Verbal negotiations began early in the year, and initial discussions
were positive. The problems began when we sent a formal letter of
application and a proposed timetable (to the 2 people in the
organisation we had earlier spoken to) in March.

Some weeks went by without a response so follow up phone calls were
made, and we sent a reminder letter and fax to both people. Still no
response until about 5 weeks after the original letter.

It turned out that one of the people concerned had resigned. His
replacement (according to the office person who rang me one morning)
basically had a desk piled high with unanswered correspondence. The
phone call inquired about the gist of our letter - that same day I
received a 3 sentence fax which basically just said 'Austrac cannot
accommodate your request'. No further reason was given - was it a
crewing issue or a rolling stock problem or what? Could the problems
be addressed somehow? The reply really seemed like someone was merely
trying to get rid of a mountain of correspondence in the minimum of
time.

Anyway, that was only one of the two people we wrote to. We never
received any acknowledgement from the other at all.


=> All this made us wonder whether the response would be the same if
you rang them and asked for a quotation to move 20 containers from
Sydney to Melbourne.


Is this just 'sour grapes' because of an isolated incident? No. I
received the ARHS Canberra Div. 'Federal City Express' a couple of
months ago. There was an article about their proposed Easter tour to
Melb. which had been cancelled for a number of reasons. I quote:

'Organising such a tour has not been made any easier by the lack of
professionalism shown by some organisations outside the Society.

We first thought of running this tour using CPH rail motors so I
attempted to contact The Rail Motor Society's tours officer. My call
was never returned. We then thought of using a 48-Class loco and
contacted Austrac in the hope that they may have been interested in
doing something with us. Verbally, the signs looked good so a written
proposal was put to them. It was made clear that to meet the necessary
deadlines we would need a fairly quick response. As of February 4 I
have not heard a squeak from Austrac and I have since learned that we
are not the first enthusiast group to be treated in the same manner.'

Funny that... I also had some dealings with The Rail Motor Society
about 12 months ago and achieved the same response. We certainly got
the same treatment from Austrac.


On the other hand, we have over the last few years operated tours
involving Great Northern Rail Services and on every occasion we have
experienced excellent customer service.


We also approached Freightcorp when it became apparent that we were
getting nowhere with Austrac. Their representative actually apologised
to me for his 'late' reply - only 24 hours later!! I told him not to
worry, that it was a lot better than we had experienced previously.
Luckily I was sitting down though; they estimated ~$14 grand for just
the crew and loco for 2 shifts - not including carriage hire!!!