Article: Call to compensate commuters when trains run late

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Call to compensate commuters when trains run late

Call to compensate commuters when trains run late
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Ursula Heger

November 08, 2009 11:00pm

EXTENSIVE delays across three rail lines forced thousands of weekend travellers on to buses yesterday, as infrastructure failures again hit the southeast's rail network.

Almost 50 trains were delayed up to 80 minutes after signal failures and track points faults at Manly and Kingston, disrupting trains on the Cleveland, Beenleigh and Gold Coast lines.

Up to 3000 passengers were affected by the delays.

The Ipswich line was also out of service for commuters yesterday with scheduled track repairs between Rosewood and Corinda stations generating delays of up to 30 minutes.

The problems follow a horror week for rail commuters, with cancellations and delays affecting nearly every line on the network.

Rail unions have blamed the lengthy delays on a new safety procedure, which requires Track Protection officers to supervise entry on to the rail lines and a 3m exclusion zone from overhead powerlines.

But Queensland Rail yesterday denied the problem was a result of strict new safety procedures that restrict which workers can access the tracks to repair faults.

A QR spokesman said the delays, which disrupted the lines for more than three hours, were due to the difficulty of the repairs.

"We don't believe it was a result of the new safety procedures," he said.

Commuter advocacy group Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said the problems were becoming more widespread, and lines were still experiencing faults even after scheduled maintenance periods.

"If there are failures outside of peak times it often goes unnoticed, but it is a sign of ongoing issues with the network," he said.

Mr Dow said commuters should be compensated if they faced extensive delays.

"We have called for some compensation for where people experience extended delays in their daily travel," he said.

"It can include the cost of additional child care, loss of salary, in some cases people have had to spend on emergency taxi fares and also the cost of missed appointments."

Airtrain, which was also affected by the delays yesterday, compensates commuters by up to $400 if delayed trains cause passengers to miss flights.

[ozbob]

The Courier Mail has a poll going on compensation.

--> http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26328139-952,00.html

[#Metro]

If getting compensation does not work...

I have previously floated the idea that fines placed on operators should go into a grants scheme for PT research.
I'd like to add to the list of ideas "funding for different colour paint". This will help artists paint over ugly graffiti that seems to be everywhere on the network with real, nice-looking art as part of QR's positive pARTnerships program.

[ozbob]

The notion of fining operators for circumstances beyond the control of the operator is pointless.

If this bizarre practice is to continue the money could be used as potential compensation pool and other things as you suggest Tramtrain.

I have raised the possibility of the trains being painted with some nice murals and possibly tasteful ads.  Not to sure if the purists are with me on that, but have a look at the buses around town. 

Some painted trains here!

[O_128]

The notion of fining operators for circumstances beyond the control of the operator is pointless.

If this bizarre practice is to continue the money could be used as potential compensation pool and other things as you suggest Tramtrain.

I have raised the possibility of the trains being painted with some nice murals and possibly tasteful ads.  Not to sure if the purists are with me on that, but have a look at the buses around town. 

Some painted trains here!

this would be great give them a few EMUs. I dont know why trains dont have ads on the sides and inside it seems the logical thing to do

[#Metro]

Brisbane's signal boxes are very eye catching, and some well known artists paint the concrete;
Its just a matter of getting them to submit a draft and have it approved. Doesn't have to be paint either- the buses have some grid type film where only people outside the bus can see the image. People inside just see a sort of tint.

[p858snake]

Personally, i don't really like the look of the whole thing covered in artwork, I would prefer more of a thing where under the windows there is some sort of "display window" type thing where the artwork could be displayed. For example the artist/ad company does what they like and it gets approved then it gets transferred onto something like plastic.

To best describe what i'm talking about, I drew a little sketch (since i couldn't find any side on images to alter and display what i mean), a example of what i mean with the blue boxes being artwork.

[#Metro]

Radical idea.

Take all the fines from QR and other operators and put it in a fund.
Hold this over for a period of time (say 6 months to a year).
Grab the cash, and randomly select someone who used the system during a delay or breakdown from their registered GoCard details.
Give all the money to them.

I call it the GoCard Lottery!