Article: You've got it easy, city commuters told

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

You've got it easy, city commuters told

You've got it easy, city commuters told
June 2, 2010 - 1:05PM

Commuters forced to stand on crowded metropolitan trains have it easy compared to country travellers, a public transport users advocate says.

Public Transport Users Association regional spokesman Paul Westcott expressed concern over a government document that said city commuters were happy to stand on trains for 45 minutes.

The government document also said passengers needed just 40cm x 40cm of space.

Mr Westcott however, said metropolitan users were at least provided with some safety features inside train carriages.

He said regional commuters were regularly forced to stand for at least 45 minutes at peak times along popular country lines including Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.

But carriages for regional commuters were not designed for anyone to stand, including disabled and elderly passengers, he said.

"They have minimal amount of handholds - at least suburban carriages have straps and bars to grab on to if people do have to stand," he said.

"Clearly on regional trains there's no expectation that people will be standing at all really, let alone for any length of time."

He said the best strategy to combat overcrowding was to increase the frequency of services during peak times.

Public Transport Minister Martin Pakula said he did not support the views expressed in the document and they were not government policy.

"This is a document that was produced more than a year ago and was given to the tenderers for the franchise back at the time they were tendering in 2009," he said today.

"It doesn't reflect my view, it doesn't reflect government policy."

Mr Pakula has overruled departmental bureaucrats, saying it is not government policy for commuters to stand for 45 minutes on trains, squeezed in like sardines.

He would not identify what was an acceptable amount of time to stand on a train but said the government was putting on more services to minimise passenger discomfort.

AAP

[ButFli]

40cm by 40cm sounds pretty good compared to what we get on the Ipswich Line in Brisbane!

[#Metro]

What about the Gold Coast Line?
People sit on the floor or bring their own chair. Maybe it has improved by now.

[Arnz]

What about the Gold Coast Line?
People sit on the floor or bring their own chair. Maybe it has improved by now.

Pfft.  GC commuters has it easy as opposed to the Ipswich/Caboolture lines in peak.

Plenty of backward facing seats available when it passes Park Road.  Some people are too picky to seat backwards.

[ButFli]

What about the Gold Coast Line?
People sit on the floor or bring their own chair. Maybe it has improved by now.

If there is room to sit on the floor there is more room per passenger than on Ipswich Line trains. Sitting on the floor on an Ipswich Line train would be like sitting in the middle of a Rugby scrum.

Gold Coast commuters seem to QQ about the "bombay express" if there is just one passenger without a seat. Not only is it racist, it is being very precious.

[longboi]

What about the Gold Coast Line?
People sit on the floor or bring their own chair. Maybe it has improved by now.

If there is room to sit on the floor there is more room per passenger than on Ipswich Line trains. Sitting on the floor on an Ipswich Line train would be like sitting in the middle of a Rugby scrum.

Gold Coast commuters seem to QQ about the "bombay express" if there is just one passenger without a seat. Not only is it racist, it is being very precious.

Sounds like the average GC resident to me