Wed 8 February - Not OK...
So far so good... the 07:14 is on time.
But home time is another example of how utterly hopeless Connex can be. Arrive on the platform at about 18:20 - there's a train on platform 8 and one on platform 9. The monitors on 9 are blank, on 8 they're advising the 18:18 is not taking passengers. They're trying to seperate the platform 8 train into two so the Williamstown commuters can have a half train to get home on. There's a bloke in a Connex vest holding a walkie-talkie who's frowning in consternation at the coupling between the two halves, somehow willing them to come apart. "You could just run a full-length train", I helpfully suggest. He scowls at me.
Meanwhile there's a small mob of us crowding around asking about the 18:24 Sandy train, since it's now just gone 18:24. He has a quick chat to somebody over the radio who then announces it'll be seven minutes late. Of course... it's over 30°C!
The train on platform 9 slides out unnoticed but empty. Why didn't they just give us that one?
Anyway, the 18:24 comes in, we shoehorn oursleves into it and eventually we depart. We have a very friendly and courteous driver who announces over the loudspeaker system that there had indeed been a defective train at Flinders Street and he apologises for the inconvenience. Given that it's out of his control, he should not need to apologise. But I'm sure we all felt a little less annoyed after he did. We hit Ripponlea about eight minutes later than scheduled.
But home time is another example of how utterly hopeless Connex can be. Arrive on the platform at about 18:20 - there's a train on platform 8 and one on platform 9. The monitors on 9 are blank, on 8 they're advising the 18:18 is not taking passengers. They're trying to seperate the platform 8 train into two so the Williamstown commuters can have a half train to get home on. There's a bloke in a Connex vest holding a walkie-talkie who's frowning in consternation at the coupling between the two halves, somehow willing them to come apart. "You could just run a full-length train", I helpfully suggest. He scowls at me.
Meanwhile there's a small mob of us crowding around asking about the 18:24 Sandy train, since it's now just gone 18:24. He has a quick chat to somebody over the radio who then announces it'll be seven minutes late. Of course... it's over 30°C!
The train on platform 9 slides out unnoticed but empty. Why didn't they just give us that one?
Anyway, the 18:24 comes in, we shoehorn oursleves into it and eventually we depart. We have a very friendly and courteous driver who announces over the loudspeaker system that there had indeed been a defective train at Flinders Street and he apologises for the inconvenience. Given that it's out of his control, he should not need to apologise. But I'm sure we all felt a little less annoyed after he did. We hit Ripponlea about eight minutes later than scheduled.
posted by Connex Whinger at 7:45 pm
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