Post by ferryfast admin on Feb 14, 2006 19:45:44 GMT -5
Sydney Ferries told to get shipshape
By Jordan Baker and Jonathan Pearlman
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
www.smh.com.au/
February 15, 2006
THE State Government has ordered Sydney Ferries to come up with a way to lift its performance by next week, saying too many vessels were out of service.
The Transport Minister, John Watkins, said at least 80 per cent of ferries were supposed to be available, but the rate over the past two months has been 77 per cent - too low to ensure ferry services run on time.
"I have made very clear to management that the Government expects better because the travelling public deserves better," Mr Watkins said.
Yesterday, the Herald revealed that half of Sydney's most modern ferries, including most of the RiverCats, were lying idle at the Balmain maintenance depot.
Mr Watkins yesterday met with the corporation's head, Sue Sinclair, to demand a plan for improving reliability.
"There is a large amount of money that has not been spent on maintenance. I want to know why that is not providing the reliability that the travelling public has a right to deserve," he said.
Mr Watkins said the ferry fleet was not old - the average age is 15 years - and the Government's $20 million a year maintenance funds were adequate to meet scheduled services.
But the Opposition transport spokesman, Barry O'Farrell, said the Government was partly to blame. "Travellers are constantly being stranded and ultimately late for work or late arriving home to their families," he said.
The ferries' 80 per cent availability requirement is not as high as that for State Transit, which needs to have at least 90 per cent of its bus fleet on the road at morning peak hour.
On the trains, it is understood that 150 XPT carriages which have been sitting in a Sydney railyard since Thursday undergoing tests will start being brought back this week.
But safety concerns shifted from the axles to the condition of the tracks.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW warned the poor state of country tracks could be contributing to the axle problem. It urged the Government to conduct a safety audit of the rail network.
Its secretary, Nick Lewocki, said train drivers feared the condition of the track between Sydney and Melbourne was putting extra stress on the trains.
Drivers were also imposing their own speed limits on the Sydney to Brisbane run due to the state of the track, Mr Lewocki said. "They say it's the worst they have ever seen," he added.
The union is also worried that overloaded freight wagons operating across country and city tracks were making the deterioration worse and contributing to wheel defects.
By Jordan Baker and Jonathan Pearlman
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
www.smh.com.au/
February 15, 2006
THE State Government has ordered Sydney Ferries to come up with a way to lift its performance by next week, saying too many vessels were out of service.
The Transport Minister, John Watkins, said at least 80 per cent of ferries were supposed to be available, but the rate over the past two months has been 77 per cent - too low to ensure ferry services run on time.
"I have made very clear to management that the Government expects better because the travelling public deserves better," Mr Watkins said.
Yesterday, the Herald revealed that half of Sydney's most modern ferries, including most of the RiverCats, were lying idle at the Balmain maintenance depot.
Mr Watkins yesterday met with the corporation's head, Sue Sinclair, to demand a plan for improving reliability.
"There is a large amount of money that has not been spent on maintenance. I want to know why that is not providing the reliability that the travelling public has a right to deserve," he said.
Mr Watkins said the ferry fleet was not old - the average age is 15 years - and the Government's $20 million a year maintenance funds were adequate to meet scheduled services.
But the Opposition transport spokesman, Barry O'Farrell, said the Government was partly to blame. "Travellers are constantly being stranded and ultimately late for work or late arriving home to their families," he said.
The ferries' 80 per cent availability requirement is not as high as that for State Transit, which needs to have at least 90 per cent of its bus fleet on the road at morning peak hour.
On the trains, it is understood that 150 XPT carriages which have been sitting in a Sydney railyard since Thursday undergoing tests will start being brought back this week.
But safety concerns shifted from the axles to the condition of the tracks.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW warned the poor state of country tracks could be contributing to the axle problem. It urged the Government to conduct a safety audit of the rail network.
Its secretary, Nick Lewocki, said train drivers feared the condition of the track between Sydney and Melbourne was putting extra stress on the trains.
Drivers were also imposing their own speed limits on the Sydney to Brisbane run due to the state of the track, Mr Lewocki said. "They say it's the worst they have ever seen," he added.
The union is also worried that overloaded freight wagons operating across country and city tracks were making the deterioration worse and contributing to wheel defects.