Paul,

You can be a pain in the bum, but I regret that you were called a moron, which you definitely are not.

Some people don't seem to understand that Australia has a mixed economy. Making rules, regulating and protecting are important functions of the government, but they aren't the limits of what the government should do. One of he other functions of government is the provision of services - and when doing so, it's a big mistake to blindly assume that contracting something out to the private sector is the most efficient way to get it done. Likewise it's a big mistake to blindly assume that it isn't.

MBAs do not equate to business acumen, and nor are public sector businesses directly run by the politicians. Rest assured there are plenty of people in the public sector who do have business acumen, and plenty with MBAs too.

Thanks ttbn, I really take no offence.

Aiden said "As for the Airport Link, you claim the government was forced into the choices it took. Have you any evidence for that? Your claim that "the trains were running 92% empty" is very dubious, as the trains continued on to the East Hills line which was always in public ownership."

What an ignorant statement, the train could run 100% full, but the 'Airport Link' in the same train is running at 92% empty. Wow, that would tax your brain, now would it not Aiden.

The train in question runs from Town Hall on the City Circle to Macarthur some 33 stations, the vast majority are part of public South T8 line only 4 stations are operated privately as 'Airport Link' stations Green Square, Mascot, Domestic Airport, International Airport. From memory the carrying capacity of a standard 8 carnage train is 1300. If 1300 got on at Town Hall and all got off at Macarthur the good news is occupancy on the South line is 100%, the occupancy on the "Airport Link' is zero. The revenue to the private operator is therefore zero, as no passengers got on, or off, at one of his stations. To hard to comprehend a Aiden, that is basically how it works. You could run trains from Town Hall to Macarthur via Sydenham and you would have no use for an Airport line.

Not been called the East Hills line for sometime, showing your age there Aiden.

What I should add is, that when the State government started to subsidize fares at Green Square and Mascot Stations the patronage surged. And in fairness, after much residence to the now $17 CBD to airport fare the patronage has increased and the government is now collecting decent revenue off the $13 airport station access fee. It took a while but the privatization in this case is starting to work, but it has cost the taxpayer a lot of money.

"What an ignorant statement, the train could run 100% full, but the 'Airport Link' in the same train is running at 92% empty."
The ignorant statement is entirely on your part! The Airport Link is NOT in the train; the train is in the Airport Link!

If you wanted to accurately state the situation, you could have said something like "passengers to and from Airport Link stations used only 8% of the service capacity". But you didn't; you instead chose to falsely claim the TRAINS were running 92% empty.

I'm well aware of the route of the Airport and East Hills Line (as they've referred to it as the last few times I've been in Sydney). Your claim that it's "not been called the East Hills line for sometime" is at odds with my experience - how old do you imagine me to be?

Old enough to know better. Given your use of juvenile insult you might only be a 12 year old. I will concede my wording is rather bad in regards to the number of bods sitting in the train. Although when it first kicked off, the trains did appear to be rather empty at times. State Rail were still running trains through Sydenham on the 'East Hills' line, but that's no longer the case. The big boosts was created with the Wolli Creek interchange station linking the Macarthur line with Woolongong line along with big apartment developments around Mascot, Green Square and Wolli Creek, plus the population growth in the south west of Sydney. All combined it has seen a boost in patronage.
The irony is the chaotic road conditions around Sydney Airport has made the train the most effective way to get to the airport from the CBD if you want to catch your flight, so pay your $13. Looking at this 'Airport Link' closely over many years, from the days Old Barry Unsworth conducted an inquiry into the best way to go with the project to now. Was the private partnership the best way, or should have the government simply built the whole thing themselves. Well, the private partnership was like a breech birth, where a straight forward state run infrastructure project might have been a normal birth. But, today both mum and baby are doing well.