Rail related questions about moving to Sydney

["Reuben Farrelly" <reubie@bigpond.AAA.com>]

Hi people,

In the next 6 weeks I will be moving from Melbourne to Sydney, and have a
question (and comments) about the suburban rail system up there...

* How reliable is the system in regards to both cancelled trains and
delays - I don't have a car and so will be depending on rail transport to
get to work in Artarmon.  In particular, do most trains run late (by much)
or on time - if I was to try and connect at Hornsby would I be safe to be
there 3 mins before, or 20 mins beforehand?

* If I bought a ticket to Artarmon from say, Beecroft, and I wanted to go
further north from Hornsby, could I simply buy another ticket from Hornsby
or would I have to buy a completely new ticket from source to destination?
Why does the system run on the basis of station-to-station fares as opposed
to zones like what Victoria has?  [Seems to add a lot of complication to the
system, although I think that Victorian zones are _way_ too big]

The offline timetable download on the cityrail website is a good idea, all
of 3842 files and 555 folders all zipped up into 1 ;)

Thanks,
Reuben