Article: Metro signals cash demand

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Metro signals cash demand

Metro signals cash demand
CLAY LUCAS
April 24, 2010

JUST eight months after signing an $8 billion contract to run Melbourne's trains, Metro is trying to force the Brumby government to bring forward millions of dollars in funding.

A leaked ''action plan'' obtained by The Age shows the operator was last month preparing to demand more money from the government, after its ambitious tender failed to take into account millions of extra dollars needed to run Melbourne's trains.

Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula this week denied he had received any requests for additional funding.

But the leaked minutes of a meeting of Metro's senior management last month show the operator is struggling to cover its costs. The document suggests that to slash costs Metro will:

- Retrench staff.

- Request the government bring forward funding for train maintenance by more than a year.

- Force staff to use up leave.

- Defer payments to train maker Siemens.

They also show Metro should have been liable for a fine of $1.7 million for poor performance in February but because of the contract granted by the government last year, fines are capped at $1 million a month.

The document also accuses drivers of deliberately sabotaging the city's train system. ''Suspicion of driver slowdown in current month,'' the report notes, and then recommends ''collecting evidence regarding driver slowdown''.

Staff costs in particular have blown out. The report suggests a ''reduction in head count'' may be carried out in June.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union secretary Trevor Dobbyn said Metro had got its costs wrong in its bid. ''And they are now trying to save money by reducing staff. The travelling public and our members should not have to be the ones that pay because Metro got their sums wrong.''

Metro had already failed to employ promised staff, he said. ''Their own figures show they are 44 staff below the levels committed to. The system needs more staff, not less.''

Metro chief executive Andrew Lezala said the company had not asked for more money but for funding for projects to be brought forward. ''Metro ... does not have any cash-flow problems,'' he said.

Metro promised to recruit 217 new staff, and Mr Lezala said it had so far employed 128 platform assistants, ticket inspectors, maintenance workers and track staff. Another 80 would soon start, he said. ''We are still recruiting all the people we said we would.''

The Transport Department, which spent $60 million re-tendering Melbourne's train and tram systems last year, said Metro was entitled to ask for funding to be brought forward. ''This flexibility does not impact or change the overall funding,'' a spokeswoman said.

But RMIT transport academic Paul Mees said Metro had ''low-balled'' its bid. ''You bid for a contract, get entrenched and then push for more money than you are entitled to. In 2004, we paid Connex and the previous owners of Yarra Trams $1 billion more than they agreed to in 1999. Metro are trying the same tactic.''

Metro and the Transport Department were now discussing major financial issues in secret, Mr Mees said.

[#Metro]

They should get rid of those troublesome Siemens Trains.
There is a lot of work to do- they seem to have track and train faults galore like we do.
The reasons are the same- a long record poor maintainence it seems.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/problems-grand-central-20100423-tjbg.html

Many of the problems were not of Metro's making. The company inherited an antiquated infrastructure and unwieldy organisational structure - both of which it has set about trying to fix.
In its first seven months it will have spent $137 million of public money replacing rotting wooden sleepers with concrete ones, replacing circuit boxes and re-tensioning overhead wires that sag in the heat.

It has also restructured the organisation. Previously three separate companies were responsible for maintaining rail stock and tracks - an administrative mess that encouraged finger-pointing when things went wrong. The new structure brings all responsibility into one company, with chief executive Andrew Lezala at its head. Getting it to work right is proving difficult.

[longboi]

If they scrap the siemens units how will they run their services? They might break down sometimes but they're better than no trains at all...

[#Metro]

They know that there is something not quite right, they have a history of problems with those trains, so they will get sued if something goes wrong. And the lawyers would surely ask in this hypothetical situation "You knew something was wrong, why didn't you pull them?".

IMHO they should aim to get rid of them- safety first- even phase them out. If a train has trouble braking, that is a very serious thing, IMHO worthy of scrapping/selling the train.

Apparently 3 trains caught on fire. On fire!
I'd don't know what brand they were (does anyone know?), but anyone would be concerned about something like that.

Aug 12, 2009 http://www.theage.com.au/national/train-fire-delays-commuters-20090813-ejq5.html

March 16, 2010 http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/wires-cause-train-fire-20100317-qfm2.html

April 20, 2010 http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/1042396/commuters-evacuated-after-vic-train-fire

[longboi]

Well they're obviously not endangering passengers or they wouldn't be run. They're problematic but maybe a more rational solution would be to overhaul the braking system and whatever else is causing problems - Similar to the BT B10Ls which had electrical conduits put through the inside of the bus because there were problems with them catching fire.

[#Metro]

Well they're obviously not endangering passengers or they wouldn't be run.

Look I would have to disagree on this one. It is possible that the train poses a danger and it is being run.
Trains that don't stop properly are a danger. Connex had the same problems. Trains that catch on fire are too.

Yes one solution could be to overhaul the braking system, but there has already been a lot of money thrown at fixes, and likely more money to be thrown on fixes in the future.
And you can't prove that the train is safe with checks etc, you can only disprove that a train is safe.

Lets hope the fixes work.