Connex, You Suck.

I had a horrible day on the trains wednesday. I had to be in class at 9am, so I had to take the rush hour train. 8am. The 8am was 'delayed', but really cancelled and there were heaps of people waiting for the train. Which is a sign that by the time it gets to my station, I'll have to stand. I try and aim to stand near one of the dooray barriers, then at least I can try and create a little bit of personal space in front of me. And have something to hang on to.

My station is early on in the line, there are about 6 stations before me, and about 8 after me. When the train finally pulled in, just after the announcement that it was delayed again, it was packed. I was lucky to get on. Then there were all the other stations that we stopped at, and a few people managed to shove their way on, but most were left stranded. 30 to 50 people at each station.

This happens to train travellers every morning. They have to stand crushed up against each other, fighting to stay standing when the driver slams on the brakes at the station, and slams on the accellerator to get going again. Connex KNOW that this happens, yet they don't do enough to fix the problem. There should be trains on that line, on every line, every 5/6 minutes, all day. Like the trams. Trams have to deal with traffic to stay on time. Trains don't. Yet every day the train is delayed, its cancelled, its late without warning, why can't they just run on time? What is so damn hard about having the train arrive on time, every time? And having enough trains? Surely the fact that it happens every morning should give them enough practice to work out a solution.

So anyway, later that night I waited a half hour on the platform for the train back into the city after piano lessons. The train I would have caught was delayed, and arrived 2 minutes after the next scheduled train. Which was also 'delayed'. If you ask me, that just sounds like they are trying to keep up their percentages so they don't have to count so many cancellations. The train, which was late, arrived into Flinders street at 7.40pm. The train home left at 7.39. There is a half hour wait on trains at night. Then cause there were so many people waiting on the platform, I had to stand up again. And this guy kept bumping into me. I was sooooo angry.

Connex, I hate you. Do your job! Worlds most liveable city? Not if you rely on the train every day!