Summary 23-27 January

I see we've had the latest Connex newsletter - in that Bruce Hughes tells us that he has the "aim of operating a first class train network for Melbourne". Sure Bruce, got any harbour bridges you want to sell us?

This week we've gone backwards, reds are up to 17%, oranges drop to 23% and greens 60%. After looking half reasonable in September we seem to have gone back to the worst days of delays, cancellations and lack of information. Yet Bruce still manages to hang on, somehow.

Mon 23/01	Tue 24/01	Wed 25/01	Thu 26/01	Fri 27/01
07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14
17:38	18:01	17:49	N/A	17:07
Mon 26/12	Tue 27/12	Wed 28/12	Thu 29/12	Fri 30/12
N/A	N/A	07:59	07:29	07:14
N/A	N/A	17:27	17:17	15:45
Mon 19/12	Tue 20/12	Wed 21/12	Thu 22/12	Fri 23/12
10:04	07:14	10:32	07:29	07:49
18:01	18:01	N/A	19:35	N/A
Mon 12/12	Tue 13/12	Wed 14/12	Thu 15/12	Fri 16/12
07:14	07:14	N/A	N/A	N/A
18:12	17:49	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mon 05/12	Tue 06/12	Wed 07/12	Thu 08/12	Fri 09/12
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:49	18:50	18:01	N/A	17:07
Mon 28/11	Tue 29/11	Wed 30/11	Thu 01/12	Fri 02/12
07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14
18:35	18:35	18:35	N/A	17:49
Mon 21/11	Tue 22/11	Wed 23/11	Thu 24/11	Fri 25/11
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	10:47
17:49	17:27	18:01	17:38	18:01
Mon 07/11	Tue 08/11	Wed 09/11	Thu 10/11	Fri 11/11
08:49	N/A	N/A	N/A	08:49
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	18:12
Mon 31/10	Tue 01/11	Wed 02/11	Thu 03/11	Fri 04/11
07:14	N/A	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	N/A	17:38	17:27	17:49
Mon 24/10	Tue 25/10	Wed 26/10	Thu 27/10	Fri 28/10
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	17:38	17:38	17:38	17:07
Mon 17/10	Tue 18/10	Wed 19/10	Thu 20/10	Fri 21/10
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:49	18:24	17:38	17:17	18:12
Mon 10/10	Tue 11/10	Wed 12/10	Thu 13/10	Fri 14/10
07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14
18:12	18:24	17:38	N/A	17:38
Mon 03/10	Tue 04/10	Wed 05/10	Thu 06/10	Fri 07/10
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	09:49
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	17:38
Mon 26/09	Tue 27/09	Wed 28/09	Thu 29/09	Fri 30/09
N/A	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
N/A	17:38	18:01	18:01	18:24
Mon 19/09	Tue 20/09	Wed 21/09	Thu 22/09	Fri 23/09
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	06:59
16:57	N/A	17:38	18:01	N/A
Mon 12/09	Tue 13/09	Wed 14/09	Thu 15/09	Fri 16/09
07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14
17:27	17:38	17:38	N/A	18:50
Mon 29/08	Tue 30/08	Wed 31/08	Thu 01/09	Fri 02/09
07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14
17:27	17:38	18:12	N/A	N/A
Mon 22/08	Tue 23/08	Wed 24/08	Thu 25/08	Fri 26/08
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	17:38	17:38	18:01	17:27
Mon 15/08	Tue 16/08	Wed 17/08	Thu 18/08	Fri 19/08
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	17:38	17:49	17:38	17:38
Mon 08/08	Tue 09/08	Wed 10/08	Thu 11/08	Fri 12/08
07:14	07:14	07:14	10:17	07:14
18:01	17:38	17:38	17:49	17:38
Mon 01/08	Tue 02/08	Wed 03/08	Thu 04/08	Fri 05/08
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	09:24
17:38	17:38	17:49	17:38	N/A
Mon 25/07	Tue 26/07	Wed 27/07	Thu 28/07	Fri 29/07
N/A	N/A	07:14	07:14	07:14
N/A	N/A	17:27	11:42	18:24
Mon 18/07	Tue 19/07	Wed 20/07	Thu 21/07	Fri 22/07
06:59	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	18:12	17:38	17:38	16:27
Mon 11/07	Tue 12/07	Wed 15/07	Thu 14/07	Fri 15/07
07:14	06:59	07:14	07:14	07:14
18:01	17:38	17:38	18:50	18:01
Mon 06/06	Tue 07/06	Wed 08/06	Thu 09/06	Fri 10/06
07:14	07:14	N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mon 30/05	Tue 31/05	Wed 01/06	Thu 02/06	Fri 03/06
08:39	07:14	07:14	06:59	05:40
17:49	17:49	18:12	18:24	18:12
Mon 23/05	Tue 24/05	Wed 25/05	Thu 26/05	Fri 27/05
07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14	07:14
17:38	18:24	N/A	17:49	17:38
Mon 16/05	Tue 17/05	Wed 18/05	Thu 19/05	Fri 20/05
07:14	12:47	06:59	N/A	07:14
17:38	17:38	17:38	N/A	17:38
Mon 09/05	Tue 10/05	Wed 11/05	Thu 12/05	Fri 13/05
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
18:01	17:38	18:01	18:12	18:35
Mon 02/05	Tue 03/05	Wed 04/05	Thu 05/05	Fri 06/05
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
16:37	17:38	17:38	17:38	18:50
Mon 25/04	Tue 26/04	Wed 27/04	Thu 28/04	Fri 29/04
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	09:11
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	17:38
Mon 18/04	Tue 19/04	Wed 20/04	Thu 21/04	Fri 22/04
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:49	17:38	17:38	17:38	17:38
Mon 11/04	Tue 12/04	Wed 13/04	Thu 14/04	Fri 15/04
07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A	07:14
17:38	17:27	17:27	N/A	19:35
Mon 04/04	Tue 05/04	Wed 06/04	Thu 07/04	Fri 08/04
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
17:38	17:38	17:38	17:27	17:38

Fri 27 January - And again...?

At 06:28 we're alerted to the fact that the 06:40 is not running. By that time it should've already left Sandy, so not much use for most people I imagine.

Again the cheery intercom voice claims the 07:59 will not run today. Again there's been no SMS alert to tell us so.

The 07:14 sits in the yards for several minutes so we arrive at Flinders Street seven minutes late.

When will I learn? I want to get away early and the 16:48 is cancelled. I figure the 16:57 will be too crowded so I'll catch the 17:07 instead.

When I get to the station entrance the board is showing the 17:07 is next, so all good. The monitors on platform 8 are showing that there's a 17:00 train next that's not taking passengers. As it's already a few minutes after five, that's not very encouraging.

The monitors go blank and then show the next train is the 17:17... uh oh! Then at about 17:10 they go blank and somebody announces the 17:07 is running six or seven minutes late. The monitors are still blank a couple of minutes later.

At about 17:13 we're advised the 17:07 is defective so the next train is the 17:17. In it comes. Needless to say we're packed and I might as well have done this 20 minutes earlier on the 16:57.

At 17:21 the SMS alert comes through to say the 17:07 is cancelled. Yeah, thanks Connex, I think we kinda figured that!

Wed 25 January - Bruce, you still here...?

I keep hoping that I'll visit the Age website and see that you've resigned to make way for somebody who can actually do the job you're being paid to do - in case you'd forgotten, that's to run a rail network. I wish I could afford to come and heckle you at the CEDA conference next month, but 187 bucks is a bit much just to hear why Dennis Cliche can outperform his benchmarks while you constantly fail to get close to yours. Thanks to you, Melbourne's public transport system will be the laughing stock of our international visitors.

In case you're wondering about this latest outburst, it's because before 06:24, you (Connex) would have known that the 06:24 to Sandy was not running and therefore the 07:00 back to the city could not run either. So why didn't you tell us then? That way some of us could've had time to get ready and catch the earlier train instead of getting a later, more crowded one. If you're not competent to actually make the trains run according to the timetable, at least keep us informed.

Fortunately the 17:49 is pretty much on time for the homeward journey.

Tue 24 January - Better today...?

Platform one at Ripponlea is almost empty this morning so for a minute or two I'm wondering if others know something I don't about the 07:14. Anyway it shows up pretty much on time.

Yesterday was pretty bad for cancellations - seven SMS messages, how many more cancellations were not notified or were outside my notification window? This morning the system advises the 07:59 will not run, but there's been no SMS alert yet. Maybe they turned off SMSes after it cost them so much to send yesterday's?

No SMSes at all today and no sign of widespread problems either. As a bonus, the 18:01 is more or less on time too.

Mon 23 January - Good start...

At least we've started the week on a positive, the 07:14 is on time. The forecast is for temperatures in the high twenties, so that should mean this evening's trains are not disrupted too much.

After five cancellations on Friday evening Connex has some ground to make up. Mind you, both the 07:39 and 07:59 are gone this morning and it's not yet 07:30!

Well things are all downhill from there... a total of seven cancellation notices received today. That's right SEVEN. And that doesn't include the 17:38, which is effectively cancelled, since it leaves after the 17:49 is due to depart. We arrive at Ripponlea a full 15 minutes late. Luckily it's not too warm today, because there are hundreds of exposed armpits and some are a little on the whiffy side!

What the hell is going on at Connex? It sounds like the last couple of weeks have been chaotic and today seems to be continuing the trend. Oh, I see, Bruce Hughes is still at the helm!