I suspect it's a comparison thing, Bazz.

>>The constant knocking of the railway system is overdone. It is reasonably reliable in timing<<

Only if you are accustomed to island time.

On any given day, either or both of my inbound or outbound peak hour trains will be either late or cancelled. This is a classic case where anecdotal evidence from passengers is at odds with the official figures from the City Rail Central Soviet.

Compare us with, say, Hong Kong. They carry over four times as many passengers every day, but run trains regularly and without fuss.

City Rail also has an extremely annoying habit.

When they do actually manage to get the train to the station on time, they are officially allowed to send it out earlier than the published departure time.

True.

You arrive at the station on time, to be faced every day with the lottery of a) an already departed train, b) a five minute wait for a delayed train (that incidentally, is not considered "late" by the City Rail Central Soviet), c) a ten minute delay for a train that they grudgingly admit is actually late or d) a twenty minute wait to the train that follows the one that has been cancelled.

It may be your definition of "reasonably reliable", but it ain't mine.

Incidentally...

>>However when I travel by air I always go to the airport by train.
I think that speaks for itself.<<

It is still only four quid to take the London Underground from Mansion House to Heathrow. No-one in their right mind would take a cab.

Here, if there's more than one travelling, it is cheaper, and just as quick, to cab it from the CBD.

And did you know, that even today, in 2008, less than 70% of trains are air-conditioned. And that one in seventy employees is tested positive for drugs...?

Hey, I love the place. It would take skillful application of a crowbar, or the brute force of lotsa money, to get me to move.

But I cannot pretend we have a halfway decent mass transit system.

Pericles,
Well being retired I do not travel by train every day or every
week for that matter. So perhaps my perception is somewhat lacking in
sampling data.
On the Northern line and the North shore line it is mostly the older
rolling stock, being liberal voter areas, that we get but even so I
can't say I have noticed such a large percentage of non-airconditioned
trains. We almost never see the Millennium and later models.
We do see some Tangaras, but not many as those are on the North Shore
line only as they have come from Penrith.

Being only a couple of stations from Hornsby they are usually on time.
The big problem looming in the future is as freight shifts to rail
and Central Coast commuters get out of their cars it will be difficult
to slot the local services into the timetable because of increased traffic.
There seems to be problems already.

Snake and others ,you miss the point.It is not a matter of demanding too many services but a matter of too many bureaucrats as Michael Coster stated some 2 yrs ago.We have the most expensive Govt in the whole of Australia.This survey was done by Roy Morgan and the results published in the Tele.Many people in the West are copping a hiding and are rightfully angry.

You won't get results from the fat cats unless they are confronted with the reality.Unless the PS undergoes serious reform like Jeff Kennett instigated in Victoria,NSW is headed for disaster!

Bazz ,"Some advocate stopping further development.It would kill the building industry,but it might be needed."Have you noticed Bazz,that the building industry in NSW has been in the doldrums for at least 5 yrs? There is a shortage of housing;the Iemma Govt has taken all the fun out of life.They are punishing the very people whom they propose to represent.Typical Labor!

Actually the the most revealing statement by Morris Iemma totally by passed the media.Morris was asked during the papal visit what he yearned most from the pope.Morris answered that he wished for his family to be blessed.There was no mention of blessings for good judgement so NSW might prosper.Morris like most of Labor,are consumed with their own well being!Enough said.

Arjay
The whole thing needs a complete rethink.
Rail housing and electricity.
Both parties should stop, step back and examine all these major
infrastructure in light of energy depletion.
That applies especially to electricity generation.
First with the Feds thinking up ways to punish generators, who would want to buy them.
The government has said that they have falling value, and they are
wanting to sell them !
A salesman Ilemma is not !

He seems particularly stupid to me.

I met with Barry O'Farrell and we talked about peak oil and its
effects but I think like all politicians he is frightened to bring the subject up publically.
So from that conversation I know he is aware of it, and I think he
believes it is real, yet I have never seen a public reference by him
to energy depletion.

Electricity generation is so central to mitigation of energy depletion
that alone is reason enough not to sell the power stations.
Absolute control over the stations may be necessary to sustain the state.

Bazz,forget about Peak oil.We have plenty of energy in the form of coal,gas and solar if we develop the technology.

We cannot afford a single extra power station,yet China brings on line a new coal powered station every month.It begs the question"Why are we so impotent?"

We are too eager to find excuses not to achieve,rather than confronting the reality at hand.

The power will be sold off.It is just a matter of time.The Chinese Govt is interested.How can a communist Govt turn a profit when our Govts cannot.The Chinese will buy our coal at basement prices and sell it back to us a a premium.How stupid are we?