Fact: In 2005, John Watkins, the NSW Labor Transport Minister, reduced train services to commuters by 416 services a week.
Fact: Trains in Sydney today are slower than they were in the 1930s.
Fact: While Sydney's population has increased by more than 40% in the last decade, no new public train stations have been built, and all major roads are tollroads.
Fact: The performance and on-time running of Cityrail trains are among the worst in the Western world.
I am a regular commuter. Not by choice, I love my car and enjoy driving. But parking in the city is hardly worth it, and its no fun waiting for hours in unmoving traffic. This is the 21st century and we are in a very difficult era, one where on one hand we pay far too much tax, and secondly, we are receiving very little return for our tax dollars. We expect that Governments will act in our interests, but we are seeing less accountability and transparency. We are being conditioned to accept inefficiency, waste and poor service, and tell ourselves everytime the bus does not show or the train breaks down that the opposition could not possibly do any better so we may as well just accept and not question. And we do.
Every year I see my ticket going up at least $2, and every week I wait in a long line to put money into a machine which does not give more than $19 change and only in coins, and my trainticket does not work on buses or ferries. Everyday I know that the train is so crowded in the morning and that 60% of trains do not have airconditioning, that I sit there and suffer in silence, unable to read my book, or move so I listen quietly to my ipod. I know that if the train is cancelled, I could wait up to half an hr for the next one, but my boss will understand, because he is one of many employers whose productivity suffers due to poor public transport. But i'll make up for it by working later, maybe even ill miss the afternoon rush making up for lost time. Hopefully not too late, because there's never any security on the train at night, and sometimes it can be quite scary.
Oh how simple it would be just to drive, but they keep closing roads and urging people not to drive to town. Parking stations are charged $900 per space per year for parking space levy, and the cheapest parking is around $39 a day (that is early bird). With petrol as expensive as it is, it is mind boggling that GST is charged on the excise inclusive price, and state governments are whinging that they want to be compensated if this "tax on a tax" anomaly is corrected. What happened to putting our interests first? I often wonder if politicians have any idea what it is like trying to make it to an exam on time or get home from work on a dirty, non-airconditioned old train - they all get chauffeur driven right?
My train yesterday missed its stop, and when I went to see the guard, she said I should complain to Cityrail by ringing 131 500. When I spoke to the stationmaster he said the same thing. Meanwhile I was stranded at an unfamiliar station with other angry commuters having to wait 25mins for the next train to go back again to my stop. The next day, sure enough, I rang 131 500 only to be told that they are an outsourced call centre and can't really do anything but pass on a message along with the thousands rec'd every day.
I am just one person and am resigned to the fact that I cannot bring change alone, and change will never happen as long as we the people sit back and do nothing and continue to reward incompetence, waste, corruption and lies. One train can get up to 1,000 cars off the road, yet we have fewer than ever before with no plans to add more trains or increase services. So what happened to the last Cityrail CEO Vince Graham? He's now been appointed CEO of integral energy.
How long until the next waterfall disaster? It could be anytime, the trains are so old and the railnetwork falling apart. The entire Ferries fleet need to be replaced, so I am a little weary about catching one of them to work. But that's okay, we will all forget about it when the next election arrives and just accept higher fees and poor service. Afterall, maybe we just don't deserve anything better?
