One man's perspective of the daily grind on board the Connex Melbourne metropolitan train system.
posted by Connex Whinger at 7:45 pm
An extract from my first post best sums up what this is all about.
"Perception is reality" was one of the many glib phrases my ex-boss used to regularly use. Well my reality is that I have never had a full week of the train that I want to catch running on time. Let me rephrase that somewhat inelegant sentence - I don't believe that of the ten scheduled trains that I would wish to catch in any given week, all ten have ever run as scheduled. Ever. In over four years of commuting on the Sandringham line, my perception is that at least one train per week is either delayed or cancelled.
That's probably a pretty bold call, so to turn my perception into reality, I plan to keep a diary for a while and we'll see how often Connex can deliver me a full week of reliable services. Yes, I know that's a little self-centred, but isn't that the whole point of blogging?
3 Comments:
Another morning standing for 35 minutes on an uncovered platform with no seats, another really late start at work, another shit way ro start the week (hey, theres a Connex ad right there).
7:54am service at Ormond cancelled, we get the SMS at 7:58am. 8:02am arrives at 8:09 which is so packed as to leave some of us behind. I realise this morning that there used to be a train at around 8:07 but looking at the Connex website, this service has been axed. Fares go up, services get reduced. Hmmmmm. End up catching the 8:17 which is jam packed by the time it hits the loop.
Keep providing an unreliable, uncomfortable service Connex, go on. Oh and keep putting the fares up to, because I am now seriously looking at the costs of driving to the city and parking. It may cost more up front but when you factor in the cost of MY time that Connex wastes when I have to make up the time I am late each morning at work, plus the time I miss with my family at night, plus the fact that I can take the missus in as well a few days a week and save her train fare, not to mention the fact that I will have a much better idea as to when I will actually be at work, then it's starting to make more and more sense to me.
The road lobby must be loving Melbourne's declining public transport. Or for you consipiracy theorists, they must be paying well for it.
Sam
It crosses my mind now and again that I should try driving in. I'm not sure which level of frustration would be worse though, the cretin in charge of Connex or the cretins on the road!
They have been pushing that ever since the useless Metcard came into being. The effect has been confusion for first time users of the ticket machines and pretty much an elimination of the type of thinking that public transport needs - for people to be able to spontaneously say "hey I think I'll take public transport for this trip". Bad timetables and differernt transport modes that don't link up all mean the PT needs more planning than an interstate driving holiday.
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