150 years on and they still can't get it right
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Rubbery rail figures
Geraldine Mitchell and Jacqueline Freegard
Herald-Sun
January 31, 2007 12:00am
CONNEX is covering up the true number of late trains plaguing the rail system and leaving frustrated commuters waiting at platforms.
The private rail operator, which pockets hundreds of millions of dollars a year from the Government, has only admitted 42,501 trains ran late last year.
But the real figure is much higher as Connex only counts a train as late if it runs six minutes or more overtime.
Any train that arrives before that period is considered on time.
But Connex has refused to tell the Herald Sun how many trains arrive in that six-minute window.
In other developments:
IT has been revealed cancellation numbers topped 5000 in 2006.
MARCH, May and February were the worst months for punctuality.
A SECRET report emerged showing the Bracks Government was warned four years ago Melbourne would face a shortage of trains.
Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said the actual number of trains that did not run to timetable would be huge.
Mr Bowen said Connex's definition of "on time" did not correlate with the working population.
"Most people, if they go to a job, couldn't say to their boss they were on time if they were 5 1/2 minutes late," he said.
"It wouldn't be acceptable, and it shouldn't be acceptable for a train system either."
But Connex spokesman Andrew Cassidy said its definition of on time was a "common measurement tool" which had been used in Victoria for several years and was recognised around the world.
It comes as a report, drafted in 2003, warned there would not be enough trains to cater for the growing commuter population, even before the current brake problems emerged with the Siemens fleet.
Greens MP Greg Barber said the Bracks Government was to blame for the train shortage problem.
"Until they buy more trains, there's no guarantee these services will return, leaving us all squashed like sardines in the remaining trains," Mr Barber said. "The Government should ditch the contracts, take back responsibility for the system and invest in more trains and services."
But a spokeswoman for Acting Public Transport Minister Tim Pallas, Louise Perry, said the Government acted quickly after identifying the need for more trains in 2003.
"We purchased five extra trains that year, in addition to the 31 that had been ordered shortly before the Metropolitan Train Plan, and immediately moved to investigate and plan the purchase of more trains to ensure we had enough trains on the network," Ms Perry said.
Connex's Mr Cassidy refused to guarantee the remaining 41 trains in the 72-strong Siemens fleet would remain on track.
Mr Cassidy said extra carriages had been added to the suspect trains to help with braking.
Trains would also reduce speeds near stations and boom gates would come down earlier.
Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu called on the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to investigate.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21145552-661,00.html
