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I've been watching it intently while being put off from using the train. Driving and ubering is an option for me now because it's that bad
If you read their own reports, crew growth in the last 4 years was only 0.9%
Underneath the paper, maintenance has been cut, work has been outsourced (those BRI guys haven't even been trained to work on the network, only the security part of their position). The government got a bit excited at the looming privatisation (not really privatisation, more taxpayer lining the pockets of a private company like in Melbourne) and metro which would've displaced drivers and allowed for somewhat more sufficient crewing, implementing the timetable too early. Now, they've fucked up and will blame anyone but themselves, while having sold off everything that hasn't been nailed down, everything that has been nailed down, and the nails themselves. Despite the surplus, they're too stingy to give anyone in PS except the cream a pay rise
Why does Transport for NSW exist in its current state? Simple - privatisation. Centralised planning allows timetables to be dished out and bureaucrats to be overpaid while hanging front line workers out to dry. Doesn't matter that they don't know how to design a timetable or shifts, just have to blame it on someone else. Same thing with the NIFs, they didn't learn from the Tangaras because they weren't around when the Tangara response was heard
There is a lot more dirt than a few paragraphs, let alone a book can fill, and the only way to clean it up is to give power and autonomy back to the railway or call in the Japanese (or both). The Richmond crash is just the start of safety lapses from maintenance and fatigue if this keeps going. Have a 111 car shitbox from the old world
