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?
9 Comments:
I think I discovered a scam that Connex runs to manipulate their stats.
This morning they announced at 8:00am that the 8:01 service is delayed and is expected in 7 minutes. Now guess what, the 8:01 showed right on time at 8:01 and arrived on time in town.
Now, it seems that they now count trains that run on time as delayed which would explain why CWs stats differ from Connex offical stats.
It's a shame as this has been pretty much the only publicly accessible outlet to air and discuss Victorian public transport issues. From a regular commuters point of view anyway.
Thanks for the effort put into this blog Phil and all the best in Perth.
Sam
Mr Taggle will be happy to hear that you go! Talking of him, we haven't seem him here lately.
Anyway, sad to hear your intention to wind this blog down!
Dear Esteemed CW,
as a fellow beleaguered Sandringham commuter, I will miss your blog, it's kept me from going postal and also helped me "maintain the rage".
Hope you're back up and blogging soon.
...just making sure punctuation is up to some fellow posters' exacting standard...
Thanks for the kind words everybody. With any luck it'll only be two or three months and then if I'm back into a regular commuting routine you can be sure the Connex Whinger will be back looking for Connex related issues to complain about... doubtless there'll still be plenty!
Phil
ip kinghtly - "a thorn in the flesh of Connex"
well ignorance is bliss.
Your description of "Railpage Forums" (god knows how you would get access) of a group of enthusiasts, and more specifically 'railway' enthusiast. You're pedantic uncivil tongue will be cut if you use it unwisely.
I certainly doubt why people should believe your pure account on what really goes on, and let people judge for themselves. That would be like my saying your a dickhead and everybody believing it - sorry for the example but it's true.
Don't let words be put into your mouth by one of anothers.
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anonymous, one too many "g"s in my name.
I've been busy, with more important business. And whoever would like to make some smart alic comment can [insert offensive comment here]
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You'd be amazed who many views are expresssed ever so similarly.
http://www.railpage.com.au/f-t11318973.htm
"...Your an asshat Mr Batch..."
interesting topic, perhaps you may follow.
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"We are nothing without out enemies"
Goodbye Mr Whinger, perhaps i could take the fill in? Hah, i doubt it; not in this life.
I'm nor happy nor sad. Well perhaps just that inch happier.
Toodles,
Annoying Met
Can't-spell Met
Eccentric Met
Chris
IP Knightly, despite Chris's disparaging response, yes I think I have ruffled a few feathers within Connex - whether that's achieved anything or not is another matter.
The point is you can't expect a complete victory, it's more of a dripping tap... If enough people keep hassling the likes of Bruce Hughes and that slimy weasel Batchelor then it may just influence things slightly. And in the end it can be satisfying just to make the CEO of a large corporation lose his rag with you!
And let's not forget the stupidity with the complaint forms going back to the early days... it was a nice little victory of commonsense over bureaucracy.
Looking back, I can't really say much has been achieved, but this is just a pause, it ain't over yet!
I've actually had a look at Railpage and I've never seen such a collection of sad, boring people in all my life. Similar to how you described it really. I mean these guys know the individual trains by the serial numbers. They also appear to hold regular commuters in contempt.
Thanks, but no thanks.
A good public forum to discuss PT issues for Vics is a space the PTUA has failed to fill, and the CW blog here did to some extent. I guess we'll see where everything stands in September.
Sam
"Spoken like a true madman, The Met."
Thankyou. Always was and always will. ;)
Connex Whinger i bid you good luck in your future conquests...
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