Re: Countrylink GM Sacked

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

Michael <mk@netstra.com.au> wrote in message
8E7ACB75FtelstraNews@vic.news.telstra.net">news:8E7ACB75FtelstraNews@vic.news.telstra.net...

> Probably because he would have been one of the people to have the final
say
> on the matter ("make or break"). A person of such position, should do
> everything in their customers interests. This should include keeping
> customers informed on such issues as timetable changes BEFORE the day they
> turn up to Strathfield only to find their train went through Bankstown or
> wherever 15 minutes earlier, due to trackwork that has been planned for
> months.

That is not supposed to happen. When the trains are diverted via another
route, the computer will not allow reservations to be made from affected
stations. So when southern trains travel via East Hills, the computer will
not allow bookings to or from Strathfield.

The problem is that people often book from "Sydney" and then decide to board
at Strathfield. Whos job is it to advise them that the train will not be
stopping at Strathfield? Should Countrylink advise every single customer
ticketed to board at SSydney that the train will not be stopping at
Strathfield?

> If the XPTrash can't keep it's timetable, fix the timetable or fix the
> XPTrash, don't make customers put up with un-called for delays.

I agree with that - I just do not think the government can blame him for bad
timekeeping. The daytime Sydney turnarounds are at their minimums now, so we
cannot have trains arriving in Sydney later and leaving on their next trip
earlier, or else they really will start falling apart. And yet the
government will not allocate sufficient resources to enable appropriate
maintenance to be carried out.

Ideally, the Dubbo XPT should be replaced by a 3 car Xplorer (that is all it
really needs most of the year), built up to 4 cars at peak periods, and use
the XPT cars currently used on WT27/28 to reduce the total mileage run by
the fleet. More cars mean more time for maintenance and greater reliability.
They would then have 5 spare power cars - 19 to fill 14 rosters - and that
would improve timekeeping no end.

--
DaveProctor
thadocta AT dingoblue.net.au