Yarra Trams is the operator of our trams in Melbourne, the ownership being a joint French and Australian company, Keolis Downer. Just today I overheard someone complaining about the route 72 tram and I endorse his remarks as I too was waiting for a very late tram. He said 'the route 72 tram service just continues to deteriorate'. Spot on.
Aside from one route with a 15 minute service no where near us, every other weekday Melbourne tram route runs to a tram every 12 minutes, with some routes being better than that.
Here is a collection of screenshots and note, there weren't any reasons for a serious delay to trams at the time on Twitter by Yarra Trams. Keep in mind a minimum 12 minute service. These were all taken during the day and evening peak times.
Ok, this one was an exception as there was a reported delay. Operator skill should quickly sort this mess out. Three route 5 together. Three route 6 almost together.
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Sigh. Our buses/trams are still (for the moment at least) in public ownership but a far cry from perfect. And a big yes, when you see two of the same route close together there has been a big holdup somewhere.
ReplyDeleteHold ups are one thing EC, but so often ours are caused by heavy car traffic. It is known thing and should be better managed.
DeleteAck. Sorry you're dealing with this.
ReplyDeleteAbout my only complaint on my train ride was the outside of the train was dirty including the windows. I was a bit dismayed about that, plus the porters on the return trip--the windows were still dirty--griped over the loud speaker at the riders and shamed an old man.
Sandra, dirty windows are bad and create such a bad first impression. Train announcements should always be professional and often best if automated for regular services.
DeleteI remembered tram 72 route was previously managed by a Hong Kong company. The business was meant to operate on a loss. These companies were allegedly receiving government support to stay in business. They run their own timetables. They can also run their own audits. Similar to Contruction industries. Everyone knows what is happening but it is best to keep quiet.
ReplyDeleteRoentare, the whole system was operated by an HK company, that lost the franchise to a French and Australian consortium. Aside from subsidies in contracts, I think there was money to prop up the former operator. There was a lot of propping up in the early days of privatisation in the 1990s.
DeleteThe mighty dollar is always the bottom line but the difference between public and private is the former has to work with what it's given and the latter tries to keep as much as it can.
ReplyDeletePerfectly described Caro. Thank you.
DeleteMy bus route to and from the city runs every 30 minutes and is almost always late. I don't remember how often the trams run, but I think it is 15 minutes.
ReplyDeleteRiver, the trams were 15 minutes when we last visited but I have a feeling the service has improved since then. I should check. You are in an inner suburb and should have a bus every 15 minutes at least. That is getting close to a 'turn up and go service', where you won't bother checking timetables. Always late is just so bad, and I am sorry to hear that.
DeleteGoodness, those wait times don't look too good to me, I hate waiting.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, we all hate waiting and more so when we shouldn't in theory have to.
DeleteWherever you look private ownership is about profit, creaming money off for shareholders, suppressing wages as much as possible - with the exception of top managers. However, publicly run organisations can sometimes rest on their laurels and fail to remember that every penny of public money counts. It's a bit of a dilemma.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Yarra Trams should employ you for monitoring purposes.
YP, yes, we are in total agreement. Yes, Yarra Trams should employ me to monitor, except I know they do self monitoring very well. It knows where things are wrong and I only see a small picture, not a big picture of the system. It does generally operate for the greater good, but it is constrained by the need to meet performance levels, and hence make money.
DeletePrivatization is the curse of public amenities. Not everything should exist to make a profit.
ReplyDeleteYes Steve, especially essential services and public transport is exactly that.
DeleteI was going to say the same thing as Steve.
ReplyDeleteDebby, that's good as Steve is correct.
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