Summary 20-24 March

I've had minimal exposure to Connex during the two weeks of the games, but I'd have to acknowledge the handful of trains I have caught have not been too bad. We expect this of the early morning trains anyway, they're generally pretty reasonable. But even the one homeward journey on Connex was more or less on time. So this recent performance has pushed green back up to 61% again, orange steady at 23% and red drops back to 16%.

Mon 20/03	Tue 21/03	Wed 22/03	Thu 23/03	Fri 24/03
07:14	06:59	07:14	06:59	N/A
N/A	17:27	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mon 13/03	Tue 14/03	Wed 15/03	Thu 16/03	Fri 17/03
N/A	07:14	N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mon 06/03	Tue 07/03	Wed 08/03	Thu 09/03	Fri 10/03
07:14	07:14	N/A	N/A	09:11
17:38	N/A	N/A	N/A	18:01
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 24 March - Well done Connex...

If you believe the spin in this article then Connex has delivered a great service during the Games. As I've mostly used the early morning trains or been interstate, I can't really comment. But there seems to be a lot of complaint from people that trains are very crowded and there were some VERY long waiting times. Queuing for an hour just to get onto the platform holds very little appeal to me, but if Connex considers that fine, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

In the end it all depends on your perspective I suppose. If you're a visitor to Melbourne for the Games, you'll be advised to allow a lot of time to get to your venue, get through your security check, find your seat etc. So you probably won't be all that fazed by hanging around waiting for a train that has enough room for you and the missus to squeeze into. But if you're a curmudgeonly commuter who just wants to get into work and get home again and couldn't give a toss about the Games, I doubt you'd be so forgiving about all this disruption to your daily routine.

Anyway, it's just about over for most people and it is over for me. I have the day off today as Mrs CW is going away for a few days leaving me to look after the kids and finish a uni assignment. Might even watch some of the Games on TV... Looking forward to getting back to normal next week, whatever "normal" is!

Thu 23 March - Planes or trains...?

There's been quite a few ideas bandied around since the weekend. And one of the obvious problems that's not really been clearly stated is that Connex is not Qantas, nor should it be operating like it is. This crystallised in my mind after some private email exchanges with Chris/The Met and reading that Qantas is looking at buying into the Toll/Patrick rail operations if that merger goes ahead. Here's the link to that story.

Just think about it... Qantas is all about maximising profits for shareholders, like all good businesses should be. One of the biggest factors in achieving this is ensuring that as many seats as possible are sold for as much as possible on every aeroplane that flies. Can you imagine applying the same approach to Connex?

This is the fundamental problem with a privatised public transport system. If we really want it to work then we have to accept that it cannot be a profitable business. It needs to be heavily subsidised by the whole community. It's a basic service, just like Medicare, and should be funded in a similar manner. It needs a massive injection of public funds. The billion plus that was spent on Spencer Street, sorry Southern Cross, is an absolute joke. It utterly disgusts me to think how that money could've been used to actually provide some decent service to commuters. Now all we have is a legacy to the worst Transport Minister in history. Batchelor you are a pathetic weasel!

The 06:59 is pretty much on time.

Home again on the pushie.

Wed 22 March - Plenty of debate...

After a few days of feedback via this blog, the www.connexwhinger.com website and email, it's pretty clear that I'm not alone in my views about Connex management and Batchelor with regard to their incompetence. So what are we going to do about it?

I've tried contacting various senior management people at Connex. I've had no success there. I've tried that weasel Batchelor and his care factor is zero. Terry Mulder? Not sure he's likely to be much use.

Maybe as a community we're ready to take the Sydney approach and try a no ticket day? I know this gets raised now and again and the response has been less than overwhelming... Perhaps it's time to give this serious consideration?

The 07:14 is on time this morning.

Home again on the pushie - 35 minutes door to door is as good as it gets on the train, so gotta be happy with that.

Tue 21 March - Define "regular customer"...

As somebody pointed out in recent feedback, Connex has to compensate "regular customers" due to the number of late and cancelled trains. Their definition of a "regular customer" is "a customer who used a monthly, half yearly or yearly ticket on our train network" in the affected month. Now I would maintain that I'm a regular customer, and few could doubt that I feel I have been greatly inconvenienced by the delays and cancellations. But because I choose to buy five-packs of daily tickets I'm not a "regular cuustomer". Yet another weaselly worded piece of legislation from the biggest weasel of them all, presumably!

I'm on the 06:59 today and there are fewer cyclists. We arrive on time.

An unplanned purchase that is too big for the backpack leads me to be on the 17:27 instead of cycling home. For some reason it's departing from platform 12, so I barely get there on time - the passengers disgorging up the stairs do their damndest to stop people getting down those same stairs to catch the train. Fortunately there's not too many Games visitors on this one so it's not too bad. And it's pretty much on time too.

Mon 20 March - Bikes everywhere...

I may be imagining it, but there appears to be far more bikes than usual this morning - we're almost tripping over each other. I wonder if everyone else is going for the same approach as I am?

Anyway, the 07:14 just scrapes in again this morning.

Home on the pushie, so no idea how the trains are. It's nice not to be left waiting and wondering what's in store...

Sunday Age

The Sunday Age has had the spotlight on Connex in a series of articles recently. There's an article that mentions the CW blog here - thanks Clay.

I've also added an FAQ/Background page on the CW website http://www.connexwhinger.com/faq.html