2017 Train & Bus timetable changes

[neilrex]

Politicians and senior public servants seem to only reply to questions that their media advisers have given them answers to rehearse. Ask 3 or 4 different people the same question and you will get near identical answers from each of them.

I got a response from Constance the other concerning a complaint to my MP about the lack of direct buses from Gordon to Berowra connecting to the central coast trains during the recent three-week shutdown.

Travelling from Gordon to Berowra via Asquith resulted in 19 extra sets of traffic lights. The one time I went to the coast during that period, the bus missed the train at Berowra by less than a minute.

Constance's letter contained a lot of waffle and completely did not address the issue.

I used to prepare these letters for NSW Ministers many years ago, if I had written a response that lame, there would have been consequences.

[neilrex]

What are these issues though? The only thing I can think of in particular is disability access. Deploying a ramp would have to be done by station staff or a customer service assistant on board (easier to hire/train than proper guards).

Melbourne seems to get by without guards, with relatively little consequence that I can see.

The driver has to handle the wheelchair users, which is done with the ramp at the front door of the train.

This usually doesn't hold up the train more than a minute.

On one event recently, it took about 5 minutes due to some kind of issue. This was somewhat annoying as I missed a bus which only runs once an hour in consequence.

[andy_centralcoast]

Politicians and senior public servants seem to only reply to questions that their media advisers have given them answers to rehearse. Ask 3 or 4 different people the same question and you will get near identical answers from each of them.

I got a response from Constance the other concerning a complaint to my MP about the lack of direct buses from Gordon to Berowra connecting to the central coast trains during the recent three-week shutdown.

Travelling from Gordon to Berowra via Asquith resulted in 19 extra sets of traffic lights. The one time I went to the coast during that period, the bus missed the train at Berowra by less than a minute.

Constance's letter contained a lot of waffle and completely did not address the issue.

I used to prepare these letters for NSW Ministers many years ago, if I had written a response that lame, there would have been consequences.

I got a similar appalling response to my complaint to the Minister. It was answered by a staffer who said the Minister asked her to respond.

She thanked me for my correspondence to the Minister and said my comments had been noted, but did not acknowledge any of the issues that I raised about the poor replacement bus routes, stops, connections and scheduling, and the lack of options or information for customers travelling between the Central Coast and lower north shore stations such as Chatswood.

The response said: "I am advised the trackwork that occurred between 29 December 2017 and 15 January 2018 was necessary to complete the Hornsby Junction Remodelling project. Work was scheduled during early January as this is a period of low patronage to limit disruption on the network. During this period, Sydney Trains operated replacement bus services and some Central Coast Trains still operated during the peak. I trust this information is of assistance and appreciate you taking the time to raise your concerns."

I was gobsmacked at how generic that response was, and have no idea why they think telling me really basic information about the trackwork period is an adequate response to a detailed complaint or how this could be of any assistance to me!

And surprisingly they did not even offer any sort of apology for the inconvenience (I detailed the significant additional travel time and higher fares charged for it).

[Tonymercury]

Melbourne seems to get by without guards, with relatively little consequence that I can see.

The driver has to handle the wheelchair users, which is done with the ramp at the front door of the train.

This usually doesn't hold up the train more than a minute.

And part of this has been solved with very simple concrete pads.

But the whole NSW fleet internal layout needs to be reconfigured and standardised to make this work. This would also erase disability access to toilets on Intercity services.

[1whoknows]

Andy

Like neilrex I also used to prepare letters for Ministerial response.

I can assure you that there is no interest whatsoever in addressing most of the specific issues raised in letters from individuals.

The only purpose of a response is to demonstrate that the Minister (or someone on his behalf) has indeed responded to you and within the specified timelines set for such responses. And with information that is consistent with government policy which may or may not be of assistance to you (that is why we always say "hope").

Taken slightly more seriously are those from opposition MPs. In this case it is also desirable to include in the response some sort of subtle dig as to how much better the current government is handling the issue than the previous one did - regardless of whether or not this is actually the case.

Higher up again are those from organisations considered friendly to the government of the day - say an employer association, union, other lobby groups, charities etc.

The hardest ones are those from "friendly" MPs who actually expect a result.

The real test of one's skill was to be able to produce either a response letter or a briefing to the Minister within one hour of it being requested. In my area several of us always listened to the morning news/ read the paper on the way in so we could have a response researched and in preparation between 8 and 9 before the request even came out from the Ministers office.

[Glen]

Yes, Minister.

[Richard290]

https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/ ... =applenews

A staff shortage is being partly to blamed for chaotic scenes on the Sydney Trains network.

A report written by Transport for NSW Secretary Rodd Staples investigated major incidents on the network in January.

It found too many drivers were on leave and there was "insufficient reserve capacity to deal with the magnitude of disruption that occurred."

Mr Staples said the new timetable does "not provide enough flexibility to support recovery" and there was "insufficient reserve capacity to deal with the magnitude of disruption that occurred."

A morning storm on the 9th of January took out signals and a substation and contributed to just 25.9 percent of evening peak trains running on time.

There will be "minor adjustments to scheduled services" likely to be some under used night services.

The government will also "accelerate the program for recruitment of new train drivers" to combat many heading interstate.

"We know Melbourne is more attractive fro people to go and work because there is a better rate of pay," CEO of Sydney Trains Howard Collins said.

"Can we guarantee it's going to be perfect every day? Sometimes things go wrong; what I'm expecting to happen and we're working on hard is building that resilience in to minimise the impact of those major delays."

The State Opposition claims the report proves the timetable is not working.

"What they've done today is establish a new normal. They're saying get used to the chaos, get used to the confusion that's going to continue," Shadow Transport Minister Jodi McKay said.

The State Government has said it will adopt all the recommendations of the report.

[molybtek]

I haven't caught the train to work since the timetable change because it takes a lot longer now than driving without a direct train.

Before the timetable change, I usually catch the T5 train from Wentworthville to Campbelltown (7:15-8:12)

A comparable journey on the new timetable to get to Campbelltown around this time is
Wentworthville - Parramatta (6:58-7:04)
Parramatta - Granville (7:12-7:17)
Granville - Glenfield (7:21-7:50)
Glenfield - Campbelltown (7:52-8:08)

Today, I decided to give them a go... However, in practice it appears even this doesn't work because the Campbelltown train would still close their door as the Leppington train pulls in to Glenfield (it arrived late at Glenfield right on 7:52)...

I don't understand why they can't have the Campbelltown train wait an extra 30 seconds to allow passengers to change, it's not like there's another train behind it... plus, the train is scheduled to arrive at Macarthur at 8:13, and isn't scheduled to depart until 8:29...

[neilrex]

They are determined to piss off as many people as possible, because some expert told them they are losing $x amount on every passenger they carry, and therefore by carrying less people, they save money. Actually, with the operating costs being fixed, then on services which are not at capacity then you actually lose more money per passenger, if you carry fewer passengers.

[simonl]

^ Why wouldn't you use the Cumberland line to Glenfield? Half hourly frequency doesn't arrive at a convenient time?

[boronia]

He could catch a 06.47 T5 from Wentwortville to arrive Campbelltown 07.58 or the next at 07.17 - 08.28

I notice some T8 services have a layover at Glenfield of up to 6 minutes

[Aurora]

They are determined to piss off as many people as possible, because some expert told them they are losing $x amount on every passenger they carry, and therefore by carrying less people, they save money. Actually, with the operating costs being fixed, then on services which are not at capacity then you actually lose more money per passenger, if you carry fewer passengers.

The Government's mantra is all about patronage growth (Rail) to justify the expenditure, and that is what is being delivered.

[molybtek]

He could catch a 06.47 T5 from Wentwortville to arrive Campbelltown 07.58 or the next at 07.17 - 08.28

I notice some T8 services have a layover at Glenfield of up to 6 minutes

I guess I would need to - it's about 30 minutes earlier than the old 7:15 T5 train in the old timetable (the 7:17 is too late for me to arrive). But I guess with a 15 minute interchange at Glenfield, it should be safe that the T8 wouldn't leave before the T5...

[molybtek]

I notice some T8 services have a layover at Glenfield of up to 6 minutes

Yea, then wonder why the 7:52 T8 service only have 2 minutes layover when the next train isn't scheduled to depart until 8:11... that's almost 20minute gap...

[Campbelltown busboy]

The cross platform connections are a great idea at stations with island platforms but they need to do more work with the connections at stations where people have to go up over and down or down under and up to get to their conneting service such as Liverpool to Glenfield then a walk over the concorse to platform 1 for a T8 service to the domestic airport

[neilrex]

If they are not in a hurry, then why not wait for the train from Liverpool, if it is only 1 minute late? If the guard looks out the window at Glenfield, he can probably see it approaching.

[boronia]

I notice some T8 services have a layover at Glenfield of up to 6 minutes

Yea, then wonder why the 7:52 T8 service only have 2 minutes layover when the next train isn't scheduled to depart until 8:11... that's almost 20minute gap...

I haven't checked all the timetables, but I presumed it was to provide connections between the two lines. Based of course on the T5 being on time.

I hope you sent in a complaint about your experience.

[andy_centralcoast]

On Thursday last week, Blue Mountains MP asked Andrew Constance in Parliament when Redfern would be reinstated for trains from the Blue Mountains and Penrith.

He answered that it would be in 2 weeks (after first saying Labor wants to slash hundreds and hundreds of services to Western Sydney, and blaming sick and drunk passengers for recent delays).

The Redfern stops are not yet reflected in the Trip Planner. Hopefully his announcement of 2 weeks was not a surprise to Sydney Trains!

[Aurora]

On Thursday last week, Blue Mountains MP asked Andrew Constance in Parliament when Redfern would be reinstated for trains from the Blue Mountains and Penrith.

He answered that it would be in 2 weeks (after first saying Labor wants to slash hundreds and hundreds of services to Western Sydney, and blaming sick and drunk passengers for recent delays).

The Redfern stops are not yet reflected in the Trip Planner. Hopefully his announcement of 2 weeks was not a surprise to Sydney Trains!

Starts Monday June 25 with three trains in each direction affected. Some trains will depart Central earlier to accomodate this.

[Aurora]

Starts Monday June 25 with three trains in each direction affected. Some trains will depart Central earlier to accomodate this.

Brought forward a week early at last minute. Started today.

[Fleet Lists]

No new timetable yet?

[boronia]

In Trip Planner

[Aurora]

On earlier thread chat, the ECRL closing in September, the Northern Line will see Epping services extended to Hornsby in off-peak as expected. Peak will have combination limited stops (from Central) and all stops (from North Shore). Rhodes, West Ryde and Eastwood with additional services (Meadowbank also but peak direction only).

[rogf24]

On earlier thread chat, the ECRL closing in September, the Northern Line will see Epping services extended to Hornsby in off-peak as expected. Peak will have combination limited stops (from Central) and all stops (from North Shore). Rhodes, West Ryde and Eastwood with additional services (Meadowbank also but peak direction only).

So the express will also operate in the contra-peak direction, that's good news.

[Transtopic]

On earlier thread chat, the ECRL closing in September, the Northern Line will see Epping services extended to Hornsby in off-peak as expected. Peak will have combination limited stops (from Central) and all stops (from North Shore). Rhodes, West Ryde and Eastwood with additional services (Meadowbank also but peak direction only).

Is that now official?