Connex - OVER 1 in 10 late

More trains running late: report
Posted Fri May 1, 2009 3:09pm AEST

More than one in every 10 Connex trains ran late last month. The latest figures
from Connex show that only about 88 per cent of Melbourne's trains ran on time
in April.

Last April about 91 per cent of trains ran on time.

Connex spokesman John Rees says the key reason for the poor punctuality is the speed restrictions on its Siemens trains entering platforms.

But he says a solution is imminent.

"We now know that the brakes on the Siemens trains are not at fault, it is something to do more with the adhesion factor between the rail and the wheels of the train itself," he said.

"We believe it is only isolated incidents, we think we have a solution for it but we need to tick all those boxes - a 100 per cent guarantee on safety at all times."

OK, So it wasn't the train drivers, sick passengers, trains, the government, too many passengers, vandalism, dodgy brakes, or trains. This time it was slippery tracks.

Note to Connex - Accept some blame once in a while.

Delay of the Day

Bugger! 4538 Cancelled trains in 3 months! That is unreal!

Maintenance problems behind major train delays - Terry Mulder
Matthew Schulz
April 28, 2009 03:13pm
SEVERE delays plaguing trains over several hours today were caused by the State's failure to replace creaking infrastructure, the Opposition claims.
A points failure about 8am at the crucial East Richmond junction caused “several hours” of delays on four rail routes, with the problem worsened when the points failed again at 8.15am, Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said.
Routes on the Alamein, Glen Waverley, Belgrave and Glen Waverley lines were all affected, with delays of over half-an-hour on some lines, causing major frustrations for commuters.
Connex spokesman John Rees confirmed the delays at East Richmond today at the “extremely important” junction, but said services returned to normal by 9.45am.
About 11am a separate power surge saw a further string of cancellations at nearby Richmond station.
The signal relay fault slowed trains for up to 15 minutes as trains were forced to travel through the station at low speeds.
Cranbourne, Frankston, Pakenham and Sandringham trains were all affected.
Mr Mulder said the problems were the latest symptom of “Labor's neglected metropolitan rail network”.
“There have been severe delays to eight of Melbourne’s 15 electrified lines today,” Mr Mulder said.
And he blamed the government’s failure to replace crucial rail infrastructure for the troubles.
He said Victoria’s rail asset strategy showed 22 metropolitan points and crossings a year should be replaced.
Instead, just eight a year had been replaced under Labor.
“Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky should wear the blame for the East Richmond points failure because of Labor's refusal to spend sufficient money on fixing the basics,” he said.
He said commuters were paying more for less since ticket price hikes in January, with 4538 trains cancelled in the first three months of 2009.
“Minister Kosky should resign or be sacked by John Brumby,” he said.
“She never wanted the job of Public Transport Minister in the first place.”
Connex said they were so far unsure of the cause of the points failure.
“At this stage Connex is waiting for a full report back from its maintenance crew as to the exact cause of the fault. No cause has yet been specified,” Mr Rees said.
A spokesman for Ms Kosky this afternoon said the government was committed to properly maintaining the rail system.
"The Government invests $80 million for maintenance every year on the metropolitan rail network.
“The Government is getting on with the job of improving the rail network through the $38 billion Victorian Transport Plan."
Meanwhile, Ms Kosky has denied suggestions by Mr Mulder that had been delays in providing off-peak train services from next month on the Sandringham and Frankston lines.
Those trains would be introduced in July, she said.

I'll Call your 328 and raise you 370

Connex can say all it wants. Hell I'll tell you what, lets have trains every 1 min on every line. Does not mean that they can deliver on it:

Off-peak trains plan put on hold
Clay Lucas
April 27, 2009

A CONNEX plan to increase off-peak services on overcrowded train lines has been delayed at least two months because the Government doubts the operator can deliver the changes.

In a business plan handed to the Government in October, Connex said it would add a small number of off-peak services next month. But the changes have been delayed, probably until July, because the Department of Transport wants to be certain Connex can deliver the extra services without mass cancellations or a big jump in late trains.

Extra services were added last November, but the additional trains were swamped by a surge in cancellations, leaving passengers worse off.

Connex added 328 weekly services in November, but this was quickly overtaken by a corresponding increase in cancelled services, averaging 370 a week in the three months to March.

This month, the number of trains being cancelled has fallen, after the train drivers' union signed an enterprise agreement with Connex.

The Connex business plan, obtained by the Opposition, states that Connex planned to increase off-peak services on sections of the Werribee line next month, to a train arriving every 10 minutes. It also planned to put extra off-peak trains on the Frankston and Dandenong lines.

The Government and Connex have disagreed over whether services should be increased during the mid-morning off-peak window, or during the mid-afternoon (the extra services are now likely to be in the afternoon).

A spokesman for Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said she had been "briefed on some minor changes to the timetable and has (asked) the department to do some more work on the proposal".

Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said far too many public transport projects had run late while Ms Kosky was minister. "Like everything Lynne Kosky touches, this is running late," he said.

Another recently leaked Connex business plan showed that the State Government had been warned of a chronic shortage of trains on Melbourne's rail system for the past four years.

Connex had reported to the Government that, since 2005, it regularly has not had enough trains to meet its plan for coping with morning and afternoon rush hours.

Despite this, the Government will not deliver its first new train for Melbourne until December.

Connex also announced last week that it failed to run 14 per cent of its trains on time in March.

So the Connex tact for this week is to blame someone else again. And to have 14 percent late trains is hopeless. That means that around 1 in 7 trains is late! not good enough.

Bingle Effect Worse Than First Thought

You know i have a theory. Well it appears that the effects are worse than first thought.

Today I recieved an email which states:

After the Aussie Shield Final the Bushrangers and Bulls were having a beer.

Young Vic player was chatting with Andrew Symonds who’d had plenty to drink. He asked what Lara Bingle was like. Symonds said that he was bonking her when he was in the UK and introduced her to his roomy, Michael Clark so they could "double team."

The 3-some relationship went on for some weeks until Clark said "she's mine."

What happened in Darwin, when Symonds went AWOL was that he was again very pissed - and trash-talking Bingle to other team-mates. Clark apparently went nuts. They’d been very close friends but when Symonds was told he was out of line he said "fuck you" and went fishing.

Most Aussie players backed Clark cos he’d decided to marry Bingle and they’d already bought a $5.5 million house in Sydney. However, insiders know what a tart Bingle really is........remember the Fevola incident?!

Big friction over Lara contributed to crap team performance in Australia v’s South Africa. Clark as next Australian Captain = plenty of baggage.

Theory is that Symonds is pissed off and once his career is over he’ll spill the beans to the press for money.

Yeah Yeah each day we all get rumour emails like this. But add to it some background stories from news sources:

January 15, 2007

Bingles for puppies

Michael 'Pup' Clarke seems have run into red-hot form. Of course he made 57 in the CB series opener at Melbourne but here's what matters: according to news.com.au he's "emerged as the latest casualty in model Lara Bingle's pursuit of champion sportsmen". Clarke's girlfriend of nearly eight years Erina-Lea Connelly confirmed that "the man I thought I was going to marry'' had called off their relationship.

Now starts the fun. Connelly's comments were in stark contrast to what AFL star Brendon Fevloa's wife thought. Mrs Fevola said that her life had been "turned upside down'' by Bingle's behaviour. She said Bingle had continued to call her husband after news of their alleged affair broke. A snippet from last week adds further tension to this nail-biter: Bingle was among the guests at the Ashes-winning party on James Packer's luxury yacht on Sydney Harbour. She boarded with allrounder Andrew Symonds. Her car remained in a hotel car park, her coat and handbag inside it.

and then:

Sept 12, 2008

Bar brawl with Michael Clarke ended Andrew Symonds’ career

Australian Vice Captain Michael Clarke and all rounder Andrew Symonds allegedly had a blow-up in a hotel bar in the Caribbean when Clarke chipped Symonds one night when he found him drinking in the bar with former West Indies great Brian
Lara.

Clarke is said to have suggested that Symonds had better be in good shape to take the field the next day, a suggestion not taken in good humour, Fox News reported.

Symonds blew up and the pair had a very heated argument. They later patched things up, but relations have again become strained with Clarke leading the charge to have the belligerent all-rounder sent home from Darwin last month and placed on notice about his cricketing future.

The Australia team has been concerned about Symonds for some time, but things have grown worse of late and missing a team meeting for a fishing expedition was the last straw. When disciplined by his peers, Symonds showed no contrition.

“I have had some time to reflect on the events that took place in Darwin. I would like to say thanks for the many messages of support that I have received over the past day or so. I appreciate your best wishes. I''ve been asked to think about what is important to me and I will take this time to do that,” Symonds said a few days after his ejection.

Symonds went as far as to suggest that it would be nice if he was left alone. He was sent away to work through a “process” before being readmitted to the side but has shown little interest in it.

. . .

So the story goes on. So far Bingle has sabotaged the Australian Tourism Campaign, Clarke, Carlton, F1 and Symonds.

WTF 25 - How Loud?

Sex-crazed housewife arrested for loud love making

Staff reporters
April 24, 2009 12:45pm

A SEX-CRAZED housewife banned from making too much noise during sex has been
arrested for breaching the order.
Caroline Cartwright, 47, was served the anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) in the UK last Friday following 25 noise complaints to police.
The Daily Mail reports the order came after magistrates found her guilty of breaking an initial noise abatement order.
But Mrs Cartwright was arrested by police just two days later after her loud love-making breached the Asbo.
Despite the threat of a prison sentence for the continued breaches, Mrs Cartwright remained defiant and vowed to carry on with her love life.
"I'm not going to stop," she told the Daily Mail. "I've been making the same noises since the Asbo was imposed, and this morning, we were making noises for three hours. "I can't stop making noise during sex, it's unnatural to not make any noises, and I don't think that I'm particularly loud.'"

Sex crazed? c'mon she isn't sex crazed.

The DailMail in the UK has the better headline:
Oh, oh, oh not again! Woman is given Asbo against noisy sex ... but lasts just two days before breaching it

right... and here she is:

Why The Current Transport Model Does Not Work

I have mentioned on this blog and on others that the current public transport model does not work. there is too much finger pointing between the various operators, maintainers and asset owners over the current situation on Melbourne's train network.

Today we have another example:

'It's too hard to fix this mess', says Connex

Ashley Gardiner
April 22, 2009 12:00am

RAIL operator Connex has admitted it can't fix the train system's woes.

In a stinging rebuke to the State Government, Connex said that its reputation had been ruined by recent woes, and called on politicians to fix the mess.

In its 2008 business plan, sent to the State Government, Connex said it could not fix the train problems.

"Connex can only partially mitigate the impacts of heavy loads, network congestion and projects through its own endeavours," the document says.

"It is clear that the ultimate resolution of these issues will also require continual strong support from the state in a number of areas."

Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said the Government had failed to properly plan to make the transport system cope.

"Connex are trying to say that, 'our number one priority was to increase patronage, and we did that'," Mr Mulder said. "The role of the Government was to support the operator with sufficient rolling stock and rail infrastructure, and the Government hasn't done it."

The Connex name will disappear from trains, with a new brand with a Melbourne focus to be adopted after this year.

In its business plan, Connex said overcrowding had risen because the number of users had risen 40 per cent in three years.

Connex's parent company, Veolia, is competing against two international rivals for the right to run Melbourne's train system until 2024. But the bidding process has been rocked by the leaking of more documents despite strict secrecy requirements.

Sources said the confidential documents had been leaked to the State Opposition, which had already obtained the 2008 business plan.

Connex spokesman John Rees said the company had already made major improvements, with 660 new and extended services a week since 2004.

"But only long-term and major infrastructure investment will provide the capacity required to meet record patronage growth," Mr Rees said.

Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky attacked the Opposition when questioned about the content of the documents.

"Again the Opposition ignore that this Government has $1 billion worth of public transport projects already under way," spokesman Stephen Moynihan said.

A couple of points of interest in the article:

• Connex said it's reputation had been ruined and asked Politicians to fix it.
• The Connex brand name will dissappear.

The other issue I have with the whole sorry state of affairs is still the buck passing and finger pointing. Now the train drivers have a pay rise there are less cancellations.

Personally I feel an Alliance model where all parties invest in the system and share the returns will result in more co-operation and a consistent approach to managing and operating the system.

WTF24 - Polly waffles?

A bit of a round up on what is making Noos on News:

If it was dog poo would the headline say "Pooch Poo in Pool"

Poo-in-pool battle rages on Gold Coast waterfront

Why First Class is better:

Passengers allegedly had sex in crew rest area on Cathay Pacific flight

Nothing like a bit of cross promotion of Ralph via Hi 5:

Former Hi-5 star Kellie Crawford's naughty new look in Ralph magazine draws anger

and Dick Branson somehow forgets which way he should be facing:

Good old news corp. Sex sells.