Metlink switches to a weekend schedule for their buses on weekdays - so people are left standing angrily as the bus whizzes by full

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Metlink switches to a weekend schedule for their buses on weekdays - so people are left standing angrily as the bus whizzes by full

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BlakJak

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#3025210 21-Jan-2023 15:59

SomeoneSomewhere:

Yeah, that's a problem. It doesn't really take any more staff to use a longer train - a second ticket collector would be good, but not really necessary.

To some degree the problem is probably predicting ridership in advance. That could explain the mostly-empty buses running around and the mix of over-crowded and empty-but-massive trains.

I think you'll find it does take more staff to use a longer train - this is the reason they're running shorter trains!

I'd rather have a packed train ride than no ride at all. I ride the J'ville line regularly and to be honest, compared to many routes we have it pretty good.

Though the fact they've cancelled several runs in the timetable is a niusance, it incentivises me to make sure I'm at the station on-time ;-)
It has caused me to drive my car in a few extra times when i've been running late and I don't want to wait a full 30 minutes for the next peak-time run.

If they ran hourly i'd be having a rage, so the bus routes that've dropped to this are frankly unacceptable.
I personally get travel-sick riding in buses so rarely do so, the train is at least a viable alternative (I have to drive to the train station, but still).

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PolicyGuy

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#3025221 21-Jan-2023 16:23

BlakJak:

SomeoneSomewhere:

Yeah, that's a problem. It doesn't really take any more staff to use a longer train - a second ticket collector would be good, but not really necessary.

I think you'll find it does take more staff to use a longer train - this is the reason they're running shorter trains!

I'm pretty sure they have to have at least one staff member per carriage for safety reasons, as 'what to do in an emergency' is part of their job.
In some ways this is similar to commercial aircraft having to have one cabin crew per fifty seats.

SomeoneSomewhere

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#3025245 21-Jan-2023 18:12

Per 2-car unit, perhaps, not per carriage?

But part of the reason for the front-end doors (besides evacuation in tunnels) is to allow staff to move between units. I'm pretty sure I've been on four-car sets with only one train manager, and Auckland was looking at (not sure if implemented?) driver-only trains, which are very common overseas.

More staff is generally for revenue collection only.

BlakJak

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#3025263 21-Jan-2023 18:30

SomeoneSomewhere: Per 2-car unit, perhaps, not per carriage?

But part of the reason for the front-end doors (besides evacuation in tunnels) is to allow staff to move between units. I'm pretty sure I've been on four-car sets with only one train manager, and Auckland was looking at (not sure if implemented?) driver-only trains, which are very common overseas.

More staff is generally for revenue collection only.

Respectfully - this smacks of uninformed conjecture. If they could have gotten away with less staff they would've done it already as a cost-saving measure.

One of the many things i've observed on multi-crew trains is that the staff communicate with eachother to confirm it's safe to close doors and continue from a station. This is based on a ratio of staff:doors and the length of the train, the number of doors and the number of passengers that need to be managed, will all play in based on their current standards. If they did want to reduce staff numbers they'd have to do a risk assessment of this and it'd be something that'd probably take them longer to organise than they've had so-far.

There's been pretty persistent advertising for new staff within the wellington rail network for months, so they clearly need the headcount... if they could've found another way that was feasible they'd probably have done it already.

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SomeoneSomewhere

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#3025276 21-Jan-2023 19:11

Reducing staff count would impact the ability to collect all tickets, especially on crammed services. It's not just staffing for safety.

I just confirmed with someone who used to work at KR Wellington that, at least as of ten years ago, all that's [I]required[I] to dispatch a reason is a driver and a guard/train manager. Extra staff are not required, regardless of length.

Could have changed with the move to Transdev.

freitasm

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#3036250 14-Feb-2023 08:11

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/metlink-officials-admit-fault-after-january-bus-chaos-in-wellington/46URPGPZE5GXZBUI2WQDU7UPOE/

They admit the SNAFU.

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johno1234

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#3036252 14-Feb-2023 08:38

No idea about staffing on Wellington trains but on Auckland trains as often as not you won't see any staff. Not saying they're not on the train, but they haven't come through the carriage I'm aboard on the one stop from Orakei to Britomart or back. Definitely not one staff member per carriage. Maybe a driver plus one per train?

lchiu7

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#3038587 18-Feb-2023 13:49

It is impacting weekdays also. Went to the bus stop outside the Cable Car at 4:10 top catch a 24 bus. Three were cancelled in a row spow I didn't get a bus until 5:20 :-) :-)

When I mentioned this to my wife later, she said why didn't I call her and then take a 25 bus (tons of them) to the Khandallah Village and she would pick me up. Must admit never occurred to me - I just stood there and caught up on my TV viewing but it was a waste of time.

floydbloke

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#3056517 30-Mar-2023 13:36

I shouldn't have bothered putting clean underpants on this morning, my chances of getting hit by a bus around here are pretty much nil today.

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

elpenguino

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#3056571 30-Mar-2023 13:50

BlakJak:

SomeoneSomewhere:

Yeah, that's a problem. It doesn't really take any more staff to use a longer train - a second ticket collector would be good, but not really necessary.

To some degree the problem is probably predicting ridership in advance. That could explain the mostly-empty buses running around and the mix of over-crowded and empty-but-massive trains.

I think you'll find it does take more staff to use a longer train - this is the reason they're running shorter trains!

You are correct @BlakJak, more staff are needed for a longer train, in order to check the doors are clear before leaving the station.

When 4 unit trains are operated on the Johnsonville line, it's not possible for one person on the platform to see the entire train's doors from a single spot. This is due to some stations being on convex curves.

When short staffed at peak times, a two unit train is run and the conductor probably won't check tickets.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

BlakJak

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#3056572 30-Mar-2023 13:58

Can confirm my ticket is checked on almost every ride I take on the J'ville line. They make a pretty good effort at it.

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