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Action for Public Transport (N.S.W.) Inc. |
WEEKEND TRAIN SERVICES CUT BY HALF
Weekend trains have been cut by half, despite statements by CityRail management that services have been cut by one third. On many of the major lines the number of trains during the daylight period when most people travel has in fact been cut by half.
For example:
At Flemington, the number of trains per hour has been cut from eight to two. This is a popular station for weekend shoppers at the markets.
MISLEADING STATISTICS
On many of these lines, the weekend service before 9 am and after 6 pm was already half-hourly. The total number of trains over 19 hours has been cut from about 60 to about 36. This is indeed a one-third cut — in numbers. But at the times most people want to travel, the numbers have been halved.
The fact that on some lines, such as the Main North, most stations will have no reductions (being already on a half-hourly service) also distorts the overall percentage of "trains cut".
MANAGEMENT SPIN-DOCTORS
The latest catch-phrases appear to be "we are not running a taxi service" and "trains running around with nobody on them". The comparison with taxis is absurd, and the other comment continues the Parry and Unsworth tactic of taking an extreme example and presenting it as the norm. Maybe the 6.14 am Sunday morning train from Campbelltown to Macarthur did have nobody on it, but it was still an essential part of the system.
The threat to withdraw evening or other train services "because there is nobody using them" demonstrates the Ministry's contempt for train users. They know, and the Ministry knows, that the provision of low-patronised night and off-peak services is intrinsic in a public transport system. Without them the "system" doesn't work. People won't use a train to go out if there is no train to get home.
CAPACITY
Minister Costa's assertion that an eight carriage train every 30 minutes has the same capacity as a four carriage train every 15 minutes is an insult to the intelligence of passengers.
It is of little comfort for passengers to be told that the trains will consist of eight cars instead of four. Over-crowding is rarely a problem on weekend trains. What is the next logical step after that? A 16-car train every hour? Do they think that passengers will just accumulate and wait for a train? Frequency and reliability are more important for most passengers than over-crowding, especially at weekends.
CUMBERLAND LINE (LIVERPOOL TO PARRAMATTA) CANCELLED ALTOGETHER.
Passengers from the south western suburbs going weekend shopping in Parramatta will go back to the bad old days of changing trains at Granville, waiting in the wind and cold for a connecting train which might be on time if they're lucky.
WEEKEND TRAIN SERVICES TO BE SLOWER
Weekend trains on most lines will also be SLOWER because express trains will make more stops, to replace all stations trains that have been cancelled. For example, weekend trains from Penrith to North Sydney will take 7 minutes longer.
But on top of this CityRail has padded extra time into many of its weekend schedules to make it easier for trains to look as if they are running on time, when actually the target has been relaxed. Weekend travellers will find that trains will crawl between stations or wait for long periods to avoid running early.
Some of the best examples include:
Not a good result for years of investment in track upgrading and new trains!
A FORERUNNER OF SLOWER WEEK-DAY TRAINS IN 2005?
APT fears this is a forerunner of slower weekday peak hour trains next year, which we reject! Whilst ever expanding motorways are making driving faster, CityRail is making trains slower!
A RUSH IMPLEMENTATION
APT realises that this timetable has been put together in a hurry — in less than six months. Normally a new timetable takes 18 months or so. There are bound to be some errors, but they can be ironed out after implementation.
THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS
APT accepts that the cuts in weekend services to release drivers for weekday services is the best that can be done under the circumstances. Trained drivers can't be conjured up out of thin air. Good management would have foreseen the crisis to some degree, and started training more drivers a long time ago. The smaller number of passengers at weekends will have to bear the loss to improve the weekday services.
WHO IS TO BLAME?
NSW Treasury is probably largely to blame for the present fiasco caused by a lack of train drivers. It has been Treasury which has forced cost-reduction policies on all government agencies in recent decades, and reduced driver training budgets were no doubt a part of that strategy. The media follows the government line of applauding big cost savings which had been achieved by the new breed of rationalist managers.
NEW TIMETABLE OCTOBER 2005
APT insists that weekend services be restored to at least their current level in the October 2005 timetable that is now being prepared. (As already stated, this is how long, at least, it takes to write a new timetable.)
APT suggests that in the 2005 timetable, the Bondi to Cronulla line be
selected as a Demonstration Project to show just how well a railway can be
run in Sydney, this International City eager to take its place on the World
Stage. This line is already segregated, so doesn't have to wait for the
Clearways Project. With efficient crew rostering, train stabling
arrangements, timetabling, signals, communications, etc, the line could be
a showpiece for CityRail and restore some pride to its management, staff
and long-suffering customers.
