Re: Feedback needed

["WhaleOilBeefHooked" <daproc@sd5.mailbank.com>]

Roderick Smith <rodsmith@werple.net.au> wrote in message
01bf1bc4$c3fc6020$ed2d11cb@rodsmith">news:01bf1bc4$c3fc6020$ed2d11cb@rodsmith...
> David's timetable is a major improvement for north coast NSW, and a major
> reversal for southern NSW and Victoria.
> It is written with a 1950s or 1930s philosophy.

Sort of - a realisation that additional rolling stock will not be provided,
so I did the best thing I could with what was available.

> While there is now a realisation that overnight trains can and should form
> day ones,
> railway management still refuses to provide connections in capitals.
> The statement should not be that 'the connection is not guaranteed now, so
> I have made it impossible'; the statement should be that 'connection is
now
> guaranteed'.

Thus delaying trains that form other trains, thus ensuring that delays to
one train snowball onto three or four others?

> David's north-coast proposals echo my own: day and night services between
> Sydney and Brisbane; with a late-night service to Murwillumbah forming an
> afternoon turnround to be the first train into Sydney in  the morning.
>
> David has done nothing to improve capacity south, and has made less
> convenient times.
> 7.30 is awkwardly early for a Melbourne departure: the two main capitals
do
> have different cultures.  While I did use 7.30 in my own, I also had a
> 12.30.
> The 7.30 ex Melbourne fails to connect to Brisbane; it does connect to
> Murwillumbah, and hence Brisbane by bus.
> The 21.30 from Melbourne, arriving in Sydney at 8.00, is too late to get
to
> work after a weekend south, and fails to connect to any morning departure
> from Sydney.

Which was the total point - guaranteeing departures onto a western service
will do one of two things: a) delay the western train, thereby delaying its
return working; or b) cause the railways to have to provide compensation.
The same applies on the northern lines.

Remember that we do not have "rail" systems anymore for country travel, we
have integrated operations. There are co-ordinated services, connecting at
Lithgow on the west and Broadmeadow/Newcastle on the north, providing
through connections. To say that there is no connection is untrue.

As far as guaranteed connections go, we do not have them now. I have seen
numerous occasions whereby WT27 and NT3 have departed on time and the
connection with ST2 has been missed. This happens often enough, and will
always happen. By timing the services so that people CANNOT connect, you
avoid any problems when the inevitable delays occur (such as this morning,
for example).

> While the Overland (a different operator) has had an improvement to its
> schedule, it still arrives in Melbourne too late to be useful.

Only for business travel - and you and I both know that rail travel for
business travel will not happen again. For leisure travel, it is fine.

DaveP