Connex Trains, THE best form of transportation.

[TUF.EB]

Hi

I just wanted to say that Connex are so uselss its not funny.

I catch the train on the Pakenham line, up from Hallam to the city on weekdays, 5 times a week.

Guaranteed to be delayed, cancelled or so packed your hugging the rest of the commuters on the carriage.

This morning I went to the station, no room to stand, soaking wet because it was raining, and the train I wanted to catch, 7:48am was cancelled..

Next train they didnt know when it would be, and it wasnt running past Springvale due to "signal failure."

Went home, caught another train at 8:59am, and I am supposed to start work at 9am in the City. This train runs smoothly.. get to Noble park, 2 stops from where I got on, and then they announce the train isnt going to run past Springvale and to get off and get a bus to Caufield where there will be a connecting train..

Then I get told there will be a train running to the city, awesome.. I wait.. and wait, and wait.. No train. Its now 9:45am and Im still in Springvale, 45 minutes late for work.

So Im like stuff this, I get back on the train to go home, and guess what! The piece of korean crap *no offence* doesnt run past Dandenong, 1 station before where I need to get off!

Then I have to get on a bus, at Dandenong of all places, and it takes me a further 20 minutes to get home from there.

Im freaking ****ed off, its now 11:46am, I missed work and wasted my whole morning, Ive been up since 7am and I am pretty cranky.

Ok well Im all done, thanks for reading.

[4.9 EF Futura]

Lol, the bungled public transportation follies of Victoria are famous throughout the land!!

Geez the company that first took it off the state govt got burned hey!!!

[RavenLS1]

connex train derailed at oakleigh this morning.

[XRated]

How sad.

Anyway, don't Siemens make the trains? Since when was Siemens Korean?

On the other hand, I find their service very good. It's not perfect; but think of how many trains they run per hour, per day, per week, per month. They have pretty decent thresholds for services to run a set amount of times and to be on schedule. Some things are simply unavoidable.

I take it after whinging here that you wrote a formal letter to Connex also?

I've had some lousy experiences too - more so with Invicta Bus! What a shocking service they provide.

[T3ts50]

The worst thing is we are stuck with this crap til 2009.

[BZINGA]

[QUOTE=XRated]

I take it after whinging here that you wrote a formal letter to Connex also?

Writing to Connex will not make any difference at all. Frankston station has been needing some taxi rank shelter for some time now, many thought it was owned by Frankston council but its actually owned by Connex. Connex have received so many phone calls, letters etc, just asking for maybe 2 bus shelters for the people especially the elderly who rely on the taxi service and they REFUSE to come to the party. Speaking to alot of taxi drivers myself in the past 16 months, this problem is always brought up and the end result is usually ' good luck but it will never happen ' being said by the taxi drivers.

[XRated]

Originally Posted by T3ts50

The worst thing is we are stuck with this crap til 2009.

What do you mean?

Originally Posted by TRIK67

Writing to Connex will not make any difference at all.

Fair enough. But surely if enough of these situations/complaints were brought to the attention of a governing body like the Department of Infrastructure, something would be investigated and hopefully done?

[42.57lb]

Better than writing to Connex, write to today tonight and tell them how Connex are directly responsible for extra greenhouse gases because people simply cannot rely on them to get them to work on time and as such are FORCED to drive, thereby increases the burden on the planets fragile ecosystem. I'm sure they'll love it. And there's nothing like top notch quality reporting to make a big company like connex do something about their customer service standards!

[TUF.EB]

Originally Posted by XRated

Fair enough. But surely if enough of these situations/complaints were brought to the attention of a governing body like the Department of Infrastructure, something would be investigated and hopefully done?

Its been all over the new's and papers for how long now?

I read The Age and Herald sun almost every day as well as the MX on the way home, every day there are articles about Connex's poor service, train delays and cancealltions and un-happy commuters, but nothing changes..

[TUF.EB]

Originally Posted by RAVEN81

connex train derailed at oakleigh this morning.

Oh ok.

Would have been so much easier if they told everyone that at the station when people where piling onto already over packed trains..

Did anyone get hurt? Hopefully no one was injured.

[pb02]

Originally Posted by XRated

On the other hand, I find their service very good. It's not perfect; but think of how many trains they run per hour, per day, per week, per month. They have pretty decent thresholds for services to run a set amount of times and to be on schedule. Some things are simply unavoidable.

I find it quiet poor! My wife uses the train to go into the city, always running late and frequent delays.... In this day and age and with what we pay for taxes and tickets it's a joke!
I was in Hong Kong and China a while back. Cheap, very clean, and trains arrived on the dot! The system was amazing and for the whole month I was there ran perfectly! I don't know why we can't have that here???

[mcflux]

Abu,

You should further tarnish Connex's image by writing a whinge story to your local rag, or to the Herald Sun 50/50 or Age equivalent. Private companies (and govt ones for that matter) just love seeing their name dragged through the mud in the media!

It might not cause them to smarten up their act, but at least you'll get your own back on them :P

[RG]

Originally Posted by XRated

Anyway, don't Siemens make the trains? Since when was Siemens Korean

Siemens made the trains that were bought by the other company that went bust, M>Train. Connex's fleet are made or refurbished by Alstom here in Ballarat. The Trains are good but the management of the system and the fact that Bracks is too **** weak to really do anyhting about it, and connex knows that, is really the problem.

[disco_tezz]

[QUOTE=XRated]

what do you mean

Well the trains that have been ordered to help ease the train system do not have a delivery date until 2009, so thats why we stuck with this poor service until then, it is also why the state government spent many thousands of ($60,000 per whole train) $$$ buying back they old crap Hitachi trains from collectors, (who only paid like $18,000 for a whole train) as they need the parts to keep the old ones running until then.

[Pinkbits]

Originally Posted by disco_tezz

it is also why the state government spent many thousands of ($60,000 per whole train) $$$ buying back they old crap Hitachi trains from collectors, (who only paid like $18,000 for a whole train) as they need the parts to keep the old ones running until then.

Nothing wrong with the Hitachi's, apart from not having a/c they were more reliable than the Comeng.

[TUF.EB]

Originally Posted by REDXR8BLOKE

Nothing wrong with the Hitachi's, apart from not having a/c they were more reliable than the Comeng.

They got a weird smell but, something like a farm crossed with urine. And the seats look so filthy, the inside of them reminds me of a public toilet.

[TUF.EB]

This would be the cause of the delay, yet another fine example by Connex. Atleast no one got hurt..

[TUF.EB]

It did actually start with a signal fault at 6:50am, then a train derailing at 7:10am, both at Oakleigh station.

Quoted from The Age;

"Lightning strikes are causing signalling faults on the Broadmeadows and Werribee lines, and problems with boom gates on the Frankston line between Carrum and Seaford, causing delays on each line."

[SirJuggsalot]

Trains are late because 'most" of the time passengers make them late. Im not sure if Victorians have a similair setup as us here in NSW, but if a train is late because some knob got stuck in the door because he was late then its going to make every train after that late too.

I work for Railcorp in NSW and I hear countless stories from drivers and guards of how junkies pass out on trains (therefore cancelling it), kids throwing rocks at trains, and people commiting suicide etc etc. Just a bit of trivia but the average train driver will kill 4 people in his career in NSW, and about 4-5 people commit suicide everday on the NSW network.

[RG]

Originally Posted by SirJuggsalot

Trains are late because 'most" of the time passengers make them late. Im not sure if Victorians have a similair setup as us here in NSW, but if a train is late because some knob got stuck in the door because he was late then its going to make every train after that late too.

I work for Railcorp in NSW and I hear countless stories from drivers and guards of how junkies pass out on trains (therefore cancelling it), kids throwing rocks at trains, and people commiting suicide etc etc. Just a bit of trivia but the average train driver will kill 4 people in his career in NSW, and about 4-5 people commit suicide everday on the NSW network.

Nah not the same here, they're just crap here for no reason.

[mcflux]

Originally Posted by SirJuggsalot

the average train driver will kill 4 people in his career in NSW

Is this while they're working? Or venting their frustration after hours?

Just OT, the Melbourne trains look tiny compared to Sydney double decks. How much capacity do they have?

[4.9 EF Futura]

Originally Posted by SirJuggsalot

I work for Railcorp in NSW and I hear countless stories from drivers and guards of how junkies pass out on trains (therefore cancelling it), kids throwing rocks at trains, and people commiting suicide etc etc. Just a bit of trivia but the average train driver will kill 4 people in his career in NSW, and about 4-5 people commit suicide everday on the NSW network.

Mate that's just plain frightening. Hope those engineers are paid well.

[TUF_302]

By a car! Feck the trains!

[HLC]

and i thought sydney trains were bad...

[new2ford]

Originally Posted by BlackLS

Just OT, the Melbourne trains look tiny compared to Sydney double decks. How much capacity do they have?

There are several models of double deck cars but say about 130 seats, about 50% more seating capacity than the single deck cars they replaced. Including standing I think you can jam a couple of thousand people on an 8 car Sydney train. The long distances travelled here probably influenced the decision to go double deck but the downside is long dwell times at stations as people get themselves in and out. (A wonderful Sydney specialty is that when the doors open to let people out there are about 50 people on the platform jammed against each of the doors waiting to get in, so nobody moves! Sheep would have more sense.)

There are a lot of problems in Sydney, all of which can be traced back to politicians so I won't hijack the thread!

[Daniel]

I used to get the train from said Hallam Station 5days a week also into Caufield and I know all too well what you speak of.

Hallam station itself is a joke; however the addition of the traffic lights have helped a little and I read in the local paper today City of Casey got a heap of funding authorised to be spent on Hallam station.

What they need is bigger platforms (huge to allow for the inevitable groth to come yet) undercover most of the way, better bus shelters/bays, propper taxi rank and bigger/supervised carparks!

I cannot believe how such a popular station which is just getting worse and worse by the month has had NO attention other than a set of lights for almost 10 years.

And that before you even start on train reliability.. i worked out i generally ran late 3-4 days a week on average, never less than twice - service worth paying for, right?

[TUF.EB]

Originally Posted by Daniel

I used to get the train from said Hallam Station 5days a week also into Caufield and I know all too well what you speak of.

Hallam station itself is a joke; however the addition of the traffic lights have helped a little and I read in the local paper today City of Casey got a heap of funding authorised to be spent on Hallam station.

What they need is bigger platforms (huge to allow for the inevitable groth to come yet) undercover most of the way, better bus shelters/bays, propper taxi rank and bigger/supervised carparks!

I cannot believe how such a popular station which is just getting worse and worse by the month has had NO attention other than a set of lights for almost 10 years.

And that before you even start on train reliability.. i worked out i generally ran late 3-4 days a week on average, never less than twice - service worth paying for, right?

Well thats pretty much said it all.

The lights were a start, and well overdue, the next improvement will be atleast another 10 years from now I suspect.

There is like 1 bus stop, that a car drove through earlier this year, real safe! Car park is a freaking joke, if you get there past 730am your will NEVER find a parking, either side! I used to drive my EF there last year, and even when catching the 7:27am train I would never ever get a parking. I used to have to park my car accross the road the whole time.

The one day I did manage to park my car at the station it got stolen! Ended up parked in Frankston with minor damage, 1 week later!

The platform sucks, the undercover area's are limited and suck, there is NO taxi rank, the station is a hole.

Make's me angry just thinking about it..

What I found funny this morning was, there was 2 uniformed Connex representatives standing at almost every station from Hallam, to Parliament where I got off to go to work, handing out complementary coffee cards! Couldnt quiet understand why, then when I got off at Parliament station another Connex guy handed me a card, and said " Appreciate your patience with the delays on Pakenham line"..

:

Dirty pricks where giving out complementary coffee cards to all Pakenham/Dandenong/Cranbourne line commuters to make up for the huge delays and inconvenience caused from yesterdays incident..

My god! :

[castek]

I catch the train 4 times a week to school. on the weribee line. i drive down to the station, get out of the car, and start walking towards the station. i'm hurrying along as its 8:18 on my phone and the train is supposed to arrive at 8:20am. anyways, i get an sms, and its from connex, the 8:20 has been cancelled. thanks for the heads up

out of the 4 times a week, at least twice it is delayed, and get a cancellation a week at the moment.

today, the train is stopped for ages just before a station. then it goes fowards, takes passengers, another 5 mins waiting. We finally get moving, and i start to notice that i am seeing things i dont usually see. turns out it was running express, passing 3 stations, the third being the one my car was at. There was no announcement, nothing, to let us know so we could get off and wait for the next train.

honestly, if the west gate wasnt so bad, i'd drive it, but $7 a day parking, plus fuel, pluss the added risk of an accident outweigh it.

I think my school (RMIT) is trying to organise a strike, where we dont use the system for a week or something. and protest on the stations.