Friday, October 21, 2005

Fri 21 October - Ah that's better...

I'm up the back of the train today and we come in on platform 10 again, this time no queuing to get out. It worries me sometimes the little things that niggle me. And the distorted sense of satisfaction I get from solving them, or at least working around them!

Home on the 18:12, it leaves a minute or so late, but the driver's making up for lost time!

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Thu 20 October - Guess which platform...?

Yes, it's platform 10 again. There seems to be some scaffolding under the concourse on the line that goes to platform 8, so presumably this is going to be happening for a while. Note to self, go up the back of the train tomorrow.

Home early on the 17:17, since I'm doing the sole parent thing for the evening. It's on time.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Wed 19 October - OK this morning...

The 07:14 is on time and we are on platform 9, thankfully.

The 17:38 is on time too.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Tue 18 October - Platform 10 again...

Why are we suddenly starting to use platform 10? There's enough Connex stuff to whinge about as it is without adding this to the mix! It's ridiculous that nearly two-thirds of the trainload of passengers have to squeeze through a gap a few feet wide to get into the single set of stairs at the western end of the platform. If you're going to insist on dropping us there, at least stop the train about three carriage lengths further back - better yet just stop at platform 12. Or you could even go back to using platforms 8 and 9!

For some reason platform 8 seems to be inoperative this evening, there's no obvious reason for this. Sandy trains are going from 9, while Williamstown trains have been shifted over to 12. So of course all these people are trying to get through the fenced off bit connecting platforms 10 and 12. Dangerous? Yes, of course it is, but that doesn't stop them. Any helpful Connex staff around to stop them taking the risk? Of course not!

Anyway, the 18:24 gets away pretty much on time.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Mon 17 October - Spoke too soon...

At the weekend I posted in my summary the following "There's no doubt now that they are performing much better than when I started this blog" - which was tempting fate, of course!

When the SMS alerts are working, they're a real plus. At 05:55 this morning I get the message that the 07:14 is cancelled. Plenty of time to have breakfast, make my sangers, have my shower and still catch the earlier train. And it's only a little bit late too! It's good when the alert service actually delivers as advertised.

Of course I still need to have a whinge... The train pulls in about two minutes late on platform 10. I used to think 12 and 13 were bad, but that's worse. Half of it is closed off because it's falling apart. And if you're in the front half of the train you're all having to double back down the platform and queue to get out of the one exit. Just the start to the week that I wanted - not!

Starting to feel like old times now... 17:18 we receive a message that the 17:27 is cancelled. Decide to let the 17:38 go as it's going to be carrying a double load and go for the 17:49 instead. It ends up a couple of minutes late.

So my planned inbound train was cancelled and my planned outbound train was overloaded due to the previous cancellation - feels like we're back to April!

Sunday, October 16, 2005

Summary 10-14 October

Another good week for Connex with a single orange as a result of some fun and games on Monday. There's no doubt now that they are performing much better than when I started this blog.

The stats reflect this improvement with the green percentage up to 62%, orange down to 23% and red down to 15%.

Mon 10/10Tue 11/10Wed 12/10Thu 13/10Fri 14/10
07:1407:1407:14N/A07:14
18:1218:2417:38N/A17:38
Mon 03/10Tue 04/10Wed 05/10Thu 06/10Fri 07/10
N/AN/AN/AN/A09:49
N/AN/AN/AN/A17:38
Mon 26/09Tue 27/09Wed 28/09Thu 29/09Fri 30/09
N/A07:1407:1407:1407:14
N/A17:3818:0118:0118:24
Mon 19/09Tue 20/09Wed 21/09Thu 22/09Fri 23/09
07:1407:1407:1407:1406:59
16:57N/A17:3818:01N/A
Mon 12/09Tue 13/09Wed 14/09Thu 15/09Fri 16/09
07:1407:1407:14N/A07:14
17:2717:3817:38N/A18:50
Mon 29/08Tue 30/08Wed 31/08Thu 01/09Fri 02/09
07:1407:1407:14N/A07:14
17:2717:3818:12N/AN/A
Mon 22/08Tue 23/08Wed 24/08Thu 25/08Fri 26/08
07:1407:1407:1407:1407:14
17:3817:3817:3818:0117:27
Mon 15/08Tue 16/08Wed 17/08Thu 18/08Fri 19/08
07:1407:1407:1407:1407:14
17:3817:3817:4917:3817:38
Mon 08/08Tue 09/08Wed 10/08Thu 11/08Fri 12/08
07:1407:1407:1410:1707:14
18:0117:3817:3817:4917:38
Mon 01/08Tue 02/08Wed 03/08Thu 04/08Fri 05/08
07:1407:1407:1407:1409:24
17:3817:3817:4917:38N/A
Mon 25/07Tue 26/07Wed 27/07Thu 28/07Fri 29/07
N/AN/A07:1407:1407:14
N/AN/A17:2711:4218:24
Mon 18/07Tue 19/07Wed 20/07Thu 21/07Fri 22/07
06:5907:1407:1407:1407:14
17:3818:1217:3817:3816:27
Mon 11/07Tue 12/07Wed 15/07Thu 14/07Fri 15/07
07:1406:5907:1407:1407:14
18:0117:3817:3818:5018:01
Mon 06/06Tue 07/06Wed 08/06Thu 09/06Fri 10/06
07:1407:14N/AN/A N/A
N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
Mon 30/05Tue 31/05Wed 01/06Thu 02/06Fri 03/06
08:3907:1407:1406:5905:40
17:4917:4918:1218:2418:12
Mon 23/05Tue 24/05Wed 25/05Thu 26/05Fri 27/05
07:1407:14N/A07:1407:14
17:3818:24N/A17:4917:38
Mon 16/05Tue 17/05Wed 18/05Thu 19/05Fri 20/05
07:1412:4706:59N/A07:14
17:3817:3817:38N/A17:38
Mon 09/05Tue 10/05Wed 11/05Thu 12/05Fri 13/05
07:1407:1407:1407:1407:14
18:0117:3818:0118:1218:35
Mon 02/05Tue 03/05Wed 04/05Thu 05/05Fri 06/05
07:1407:1407:1407:1407:14
16:3717:3817:3817:3818:50
Mon 25/04Tue 26/04Wed 27/04Thu 28/04Fri 29/04
N/AN/AN/AN/A09:11
N/AN/AN/AN/A17:38
Mon 18/04Tue 19/04Wed 20/04Thu 21/04Fri 22/04
07:1407:1407:1407:1407:14
17:4917:3817:3817:3817:38
Mon 11/04Tue 12/04Wed 13/04Thu 14/04Fri 15/04
07:1407:1407:14N/A07:14
17:3817:2717:27N/A19:35
Mon 04/04Tue 05/04Wed 06/04Thu 07/04Fri 08/04
07:1407:1407:1407:1407:14
17:3817:3817:3817:2717:38