Sydney train delays: All aboard the excuse express

YOUR train is late but, as recompense, at least part of your fare is refunded. You also have the satisfaction of seeing the management announcing that they sincerely regret what happened and even publish a seven-page apology. No prerecorded “regrets” here.

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YOUR train is late but, as recompense, at least part of your fare is refunded. You also have the satisfaction of seeing the management announcing that they sincerely regret what happened and even publish a seven-page apology. No prerecorded “regrets” here.

Surprise, surprise, this is not happening in Sydney.

But, if we want to avoid a repeat of the “Train-ageddon” that has gripped Sydney’s shambolic ­system this week, it needs to happen.

Japan is rightly held up as the gold standard because trains running later than one minute are the source of apologies and angst. Meanwhile, Britain’s various rail companies have a policy of “delay repay”, where you get refunds for shabby service.

The chaotic scene at Central Station last week. Picture: Richard Dobson

In Sydney, you get a prerecorded apology and a refusal to refund any money because apparently the network needs every cent to keep running, albeit badly. The government blames the union, the weather and even God, while the union blames the sniffles, the timetables and the lack of pay.

Incidentally, if the union thinks that striking will win them sympathy with commuters, they are on the wrong track ­entirely. Their dispute is purely about money, so linking that to questions over staffing and timetables is, at best, disingenuous. Besides, paying them more won’t fix the problems we suffered this week. Let’s face it, if excuses were trains, we’d all be able to get a seat.

The time for excuses is over. One way to stop this happening again is to put repercussions in place. Following the lead of other countries, refunds for disadvantaged travellers should be the minimum.

Wynyard station was packed during the peak hour commute last week. Picture: Christian Gilles

Trains running on time, or in this case showing up at all, should be properly measured and tied to the financial fortunes of those who run the network.

Both the Government and Sydney Trains have been allowed to just shrug this off as an unavoidable inconvenience. And, while the God and the weather did indeed play a part in our transport perfect storm, there was a clear lack of planning, forward thinking and preparation by the authorities.

The government was warned there weren’t enough drivers or proper infrastructure to cope with the new timetable once the holiday period was over and yet they went ahead with it anyway.