Summary 27 February - 3 March

One again there seems to be no hint that Sir Topham Hatt is going to hand over the Sodor railway system to somebody more capable, so it looks like we won't see any change to our current cruddy system. What a week, we are undoubtedly going backwards as we build up to the Games. Fortunately Plan B is shaping up OK, so at least I've got a vague hope of getting through the fortnight of chaos.

Anyway, green slips back to 60%, orange is up to 23%, while red is steady at 17%.

Mon 27/02	Tue 28/02	Wed 01/03	Thu 02/03	Fri 03/03
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
18:01	17:07	17:49	17:38	17:49
Mon 20/02	Tue 21/02	Wed 22/02	Thu 23/02	Fri 24/02
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14
18:01	18:12	17:17	17:49	N/A
Mon 13/02	Tue 14/02	Wed 15/02	Thu 16/02	Fri 17/02
07:14	07:14	07:14	07:14	09:37
17:38	17:49	17:49	17:27	13:42
Mon 06/02	Tue 07/02	Wed 08/02	Thu 09/02	Fri 10/02
08:49	07:14	07:14	07:14	N/A
17:49	17:38	18:24	18:01	N/A
Mon 30/01	Tue 31/01	Wed 01/02	Thu 02/02	Fri 03/02
07:14	09:24	N/A	N/A	N/A
17:49	17:38	N/A	N/A	N/A
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 3 March - A foretaste...

Now I'd be the first to admit that I'm hardly the world's biggest optimist in some areas (OK, Mrs CW might be first to point this out!). But I can't see how Pollyanna herself could be confident that Sir Topham's train set will cope during the Games if she'd witnessed yesterday evening's fiasco at Flinders Street. Yet I didn't see anything about the incompetent buffoon stepping down when I visited The Age website this morning...

In spite of Sir Topham's attempts to deliver us a third world rail system, the 07:14 arrives pretty much on time.

But of course the temperature is above 30°C so naturally the trains are all up the creek again. Fortunately ours are nowhere near as bad as yesterday and the 17:49 pulls in only a little late at Flinders Street. We get to Ripponlea about three minutes late.

Thu 2 March - Squeaking in again...

Like most mornings lately, the 07:14 just squeaks in to make it another green.

Having absorbed around 15 litres of other people's sweat into my clothes, I have one simple message for Bruce "Sir Topham Hatt" Hughes... it's time to go. Now. Right now. Don't even bother saying goodbye. Just clear your desk and go. You are an absolute disgrace. How you can take your monthly salary with a clear conscience is beyond me. You are utterly pathetic.

At 17:06 we're told the 17:07 is not running. At 17:41 we're told the 17:17 is not running either... although my guess is most people have probably worked that out by now. At 17:42 we're told the 17:27 is on platform 12... say what?! Suddenly I realise all those thousands of people on platform 10 are Sandy line passengers. They all surge towards platform 12, as do the hordes currently on platform 8. No chance I'll get there, so I'll wait and see what happens. As platforms 8 and 9 empty a train rolls in... surprise! It's the 17:38.

All the people who have raced over to platform 12 surge back to platform 9 and begin jamming themselves in. We're chockas as we eventually depart. We're nominally the 17:38, but we leave at 17:49. Hundreds more jam in at Richmond and South Yarra. Nobody can move. People are getting shoved all ways as we pull into each successive station. Finally we get to Ripponlea some 17 minutes late.

So let's try to summarise... we presume the 16:57 ran. After that the next departure was almost exactly 50 minutes later. Bearing in mind they're supposed to be about every 10 minutes, that's utterly hopeless. You had to be there to see how bad this was. Meanwhile, Sir Topham will be travelling home in his luxury limo, blissfully unaware of the chaos back at the station.

Wed 1 March - Two weeks today...

Two weeks until the Games start. Two weeks to finalise my coping strategy for the chaos that everybody now acknowledges will happen during that period. The chaos that Bracks, Batchelor and Sir Topham have strenuously denied over the last few years. I'm sure it'll be fun really...!

The 07:14 just scrapes in this morning.

Once again minimal aircon this evening - and the 17:49 is jam packed... At about 17:45 we have monitors showing the 17:49 to Sandy is next. At 17:46 they've gone strangely blank. Uh oh, this can't be good. The clocks roll through 17:49, no train, no monitor display, no announcement. Why don't you tell us what's happening? At 17:52 they announce that the train is six to seven minutes late. Why didn't they tell us that earlier? They must have known. At 17:57 it rolls in, that's eight minutes late and we still have to pile in. We arrive at Ripponlea nine minutes late, hot and sweaty. Gee, I hope our interstate and overseas visitors are a tolerant bunch!

Tue 28 February - Metlink warning...

On top of Weasel Batchelor's warning about only making essential train journeys during the Commonwealth Games, we now have Metlink issuing dire warnings. According to Mrs CW, yesterday they advised that trains into Flinders Street Station will be so bad that we should choose one of the following options...

- Get off at Richmond and walk
- Get off at another loop station (wonder if they know about the Sandy line?)
- Travel at a non-peak time
- Stay at home

So that's their great strategy for coping with the extra passenger volumes. You know, the ones that Batchelor assured us only a few months ago would be easily coped with. So employers, two weeks' holidays for all staff? No, didn't think so.

The 07:14 hops across several lines to come in on platform 6 this morning. Having made the perilous crossings safely we then wait for a while, coming in about three minutes late.

The 17:07 is pretty much on time after I make an early exit (Mrs CW is out tonight). And the aircon is hopeless again.

Mon 27 February - OK so far...

The 07:14 is on time.

When will I learn not to be so trusting? It might seem I'm the most miserable, cycnical, pessimistic bloke around if you read my rants in here. Despite that, I do try to be helpful sometimes.

Like last week when there's a bloke wanting to get change of $50 so he can use the ticket machines - you know, the ones that can't make change for more than $10! I didn't have it, but I had spare daily tickets on me so gave him one. He assured me he was a regular on the 07:14 and would return it the next day... haven't seen him since!

The 18:01 pulls in with seconds to spare then sits for a while. We arrive at Ripponlea about four minutes late. And where's the aircon? Why is it, just because it's only in the low twenties they think we don't need aircon? When you're running just a few minutes late you have that many more passengers crammed in - it gets hot and sweaty quite quickly. Turn the aircon on!