At 6.08pm on Monday night, the Transport Management Centre issued an email to the media saying that no trains were running between Parramatta and Blacktown due to urgent track repairs.
At the height of the peak period, it was a nightmare for Sydney Trains and the thousands of people trying to get home from work.
Despite being able to tell the media what was going on, Sydney Trains apparently found it impossible to relay the message to the very people affected by the incident: their passengers.
For people travelling from the City to Penrith on the Blue Mountains train that leaves Central at around 6pm, their journey didn’t end until almost two and a half hours later.
But during that time, just one announcement was made to the passengers. It came at around 6.45pm and went something along the lines of: “It appears there must be a signal failure, but I don’t have any information”.
For the next hour and a half, the train went slower than a Clive Palmer power walk. No further announcements, no updates, no information.
Of course, the Transport Management Centre were still informing the media of what was happening, issuing another update at 6.37pm to confirm trains were running again but would operate slowly for the next few hours.
The story on that 6pm City to Penrith service was repeated across other services trying to make it west, according to people on those trains.
In truth a lengthy delay on a Monday night is not the worst situation a Penrith train commuter will face on any given journey.
Over-crowding means that for a lot of people, the trip to Parramatta or the City and back again is made sitting on the floor or steps, or standing.
That’s of course if you managed to get a parking spot at Penrith Station in the first place – they’re generally all gone by 7am, pushing people onto Sydney’s already congested roads or forcing them to leave earlier, which often means less time spent with family.
Fixing Sydney’s transport system is a long and painful process.
But there’s two things that can be implemented today that could at least assist passengers when incidents like Monday’s delays happen.
The first is to communicate. Surely it is not that difficult to make clear, constant announcements to passengers when there is a significant delay.
The second is to waive the fare. Commuters getting off trains at Penrith on Monday were dealt one final insult when their Opal card was charged the full amount. If you’re not delivering an acceptable service, you don’t deserve to charge people full fare.
On March 23, Transport Minister Andrew Constance issued a glowing press release with survey results showing train commuters had 90 per cent overall satisfaction.
I have no idea how that survey is undertaken or implemented but the results don’t line up with the feedback I receive week in, week out in relation to the way Sydney Trains operates, from its communication with passengers through to over-crowding, a lack of parking at stations and delays to services.
Mr Constance issued another release in early March saying that a new “nerve centre” was being built to reduce train commuter delays.
“Knowledge from across the globe has been sourced, from London, Hong Kong and Tokyo, to ensure the design incorporates the latest technology that will improve train services for customers,” the press release boasted.
A nerve centre? Really?
The jury’s out on that $276 million investment, but let’s see what happens.
At least they’re trying – one has to remember the mess the current State Government inherited.
But that excuse can’t last forever.
The statistics released by Sydney Trains and the State Government about customer satisfaction simply don’t seem to match the lived experience.
It’s time to get real about fixing what is a frustrating, never-ending problem.
Originally published in The Western Weekender