Rail Corp continues to be useless

[Tas]

this story says it all about how Rail Corp handle things. every other weekend they seem to be doing track work for ~3days and the bus replacement system is a disgrace every time. just think this story epitomises their attitude as an organisation - doubt the people involved got an apology. didn't even say they'd review "policy" that in future would allow the driver to use an ounce of common sense in future. cripes

Bring on the election, they other guys couldn't do it any worse. 10yrs of corrupt Labor. they're so busy looking at their leadership group and spending resources reshuffling they haven't a moment of spare thought for actually running their government,.

(.......hmmm maybe this belongs in Aus section?.....)


"Bus ride home ends in BrisbaneAndrew West"
August 12, 2009
They only wanted to go as far as Gosford, but when seven passengers travelling from Sydney on a CityRail bus saw the outskirts of Newcastle they realised something was wrong.

The full extent of their predicament was revealed moments later when the driver told them they were on their way to Brisbane.

And regulations prevented him from diverting from his route, he said.

''The driver told us, 'Sorry, mate, too late. You're going to have to go all the way to Brisbane,' " said Jerome Conway, one of the passengers. ''I just wanted to get home to Gosford."

The ordeal began on Sunday evening when the CityRail service to Newcastle, via the Central Coast, was held up at Hornsby station after an accident. After a two-hour delay, the passengers were herded off the train and on to coaches hired by RailCorp.

Mr Conway, a postgraduate student from California who is studying at Sydney University, said there were no signs or announcements to indicate the destination of the buses.

''There was just a security guard waving us toward the buses saying they would take us where we needed to go," he said.

With six other passengers, also bound for the Central Coast, he boarded a Pegasus coach. Unfortunately, it was a vehicle hired to transport passengers from an interstate CountryLink train, which had also been delayed at Hornsby.

The unwitting travellers included an elderly couple and, as Mr Conway recalls, a teenage boy from an institutional home who was supposed to make it back in time for a curfew.

Mr Conway said the driver had told him that Pegasus's contract with RailCorp did not permit it to pick up or set down passengers between stops. While the bus would make two stops along the way, they were in small towns, and the passengers were better off enduring the 10-hour bus ride to Brisbane.

Mr Conway arrived in Brisbane on Monday morning and was told he would need to pay his own way back to Sydney on that afternoon's train.

A spokesman for Pegasus told the Herald the use of buses as last-minute replacements for trains often created ''confusion about who goes where … because everyone is upset about having to get off the train".

He said the driver would have stopped on the way to Brisbane for meal and rest breaks but would not have been able to deviate from the route.

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Transport, David Campbell, said: ''In this instance, while the majority of people were re-directed to their destinations on buses, there was a significant mix-up for a small number of people.''

She said RailCorp had offered to reimburse the passengers for their return journey and additional costs.

[Fat Bob]

1: yes, it probably does belong in the Aussie section.

2: Those involved should ask for compensation from the rail company. If the company won't give it freely, they should be taken to a small claims court or similar body.

3: didn't the aussies vote in a new guy just recently? OK, still gotta sweep out the 10 years of pain from Labour (sound familiar, UK voters?) but surely this new guy is the saviour to it all? Or should Pauline Hanson get another shot at things?

[daffodil]

Kevin Rudd is the (Labor) Prime Minister since 2007. Don't want him to go yet, thanks.

The NSW Govt (Labor) Premier Nathan Rees has been in since 2008 I think. But yes, the NSW Labor party is built on in-fighting and mateship, and really could do with a bit of a clean out.

[Tas]

Still belongs in Rant Section though

The NSW Labour govt been in power for ~14yrs. I wasn't enrolled in time for last State election, was furious didn't get to vote against them. They are full of bribe takers, and the frightening thing is the biggest bribe takers and tax funded jolly takers are the ones with the most party room power. hope to gawd that people finally vote the crims out this time, but not untill 2011 or something!

[Kooky]

It's a cracking story, this one. How ridiculous can a person get? Jobsworth to the nth degree.

It does amaze me how easily they can shut down a whole line for the weekend, Tas, and it's usually ours isn't it?