Five years ago today I posted this video: A Day on the Trains. The footage for it was gathered over the space of a month or two in the dying days of the Connex Melbourne Empire in late 2009, and it was designed to capture a few scenes I thought might be changing in the ... [More]
Tag: Connex
For some reason, while the government have been crowing about train punctuality this week… Our record investment in PT = 23 months of punctuality above 90%. Congrats to staff at @metrotrains #springst – Tez pic.twitter.com/8bclsZOyXh — Terry Mulder (@TerryMulderMP) April 9, 2014 …they haven’t been talking much about Service Delivery, aka Cancellations. I wonder why ... [More]
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The C word still lingers
They haven’t changed the seat design with the hidden word “Connex” in it — it’s not very obvious and probably a hassle to do. But even some of the electronic signs stubbornly revert to the former train operator’s name occasionally. These two were snapped in the last month or two, both on X’Trapolis trains. Perhaps ... [More]
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Moving forward
Julia Gillard apparently mentioned “Moving forward” some 22 times during her press conference today announcing the election. “Moving forward.” It sounds vaguely familiar. Ah yes: Well, it worked for them. Update: Had a text message from an ex-Connex management person saying they are “very proud” their slogan has been recycled! Also: Renowned author and former ... [More]
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The hidden message in the train seats
Many of Melbourne’s train seats look like this: Look closely. Those are not all just random shapes designed to hide the dirt. Anything look familiar?
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Stickers everywhere
Someone’s been busy with stickers. In their contract, Metro had until Monday to rid the train system of any mention of Connex. The Franchisee will apply stickers to cover all references to Connex, both internally and externally, on all Rolling Stock. These works will be undertaken at the various depots and sidings where the Trains ... [More]
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Farewell Connex
Connex took over running the Caulfield and Northern group lines on 18th April 2004, and to mark the occasion they put up a Welcome to Connex banner at Caulfield station. Evidently from day one, things didn’t go entirely to plan. Over the past five years they’ve seen the strain of record numbers of passenger trips, ... [More]
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They can’t perform miracles
Contrary to what some people seem to think, in December when Connex are gone and the new operator starts, miracles will not occur. Girl to friend on train: “I can’t wait till the Japanese take over Connex. We can then get to Frankston from the city in, like, five minutes in the bullet train. It’ll ... [More]
So, both Connex and TransdevTSL (operating as Yarra Trams) are being shown into the departure lounge, with MTM (MTR) and Keolis to replace them. I don’t think the former is a surprise, though the latter is. Some are celebrating. I know this for a fact, as yesterday morning at the station I heard one man ... [More]
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Who will it be?
The big announcement may well come in the next few days: who will take over running Melbourne’s trams and trains from November? Anybody want to put their predictions on the table? Leave a comment! Your choices: Trains: Connex (Veolia, incumbent) or MTM (Hong Kong MTR consortium) or Keolis Trams: Yarra Trams (TransdevTSL, incumbent) or Keolis ... [More]
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Travelling north
It was Sunday morning, and time to say goodbye to my grandparents. We did the customary photo-taking in the garden – it’s compulsory for everyone who visits to come home with a picture of themselves plus Grandad and Gran standing in front of the house. Then we drove to Bognor Regis station so I could ... [More]