Rubénerd!

It's the built in excuse every Sydneysider has heard a million times: I was late because of CityRail. Today an alleged "twisted wire" overhead caused delays or total outages across two of the lines, including the ones my girlfriend Clara and I take to commute to town. Over all, a 37 minute express trip turned into a two hour ordeal with packed replacement buses and a skipped connecting train because of overcrowding.

Where to begin!?

The problems with the CityRail system (or "network" as they refer to it as) are too numerous and complex to detail here. From what I've seen as an outsider moving back to Sydney, most of these issues stem from the system's age, the lack of foresight and planning that went into various line extensions, chronic lack of investment, and the bizarre convolution of CBD metro and suburban rail into one tangled, brittle, fragile mess.

Numerous politicians have proposed to fix the system. Our latest transport minister talked a big game as she entered her seat in state parliament, but unsurprisingly has failed to deliver. The problem is all these issues will take planning and foresight that will last longer than an election cycle to implement, and no politician wants future leaders taking credit for their work. Democracy in a nutshell.

What we need is for the City Circle to be severed from the rest of the network (ah they have me calling it that no!), expanded and turned into a true metro system. The suburban trains should be expanded with more lines and stations, and their electrical systems completely re-engineered. The result would be a more reliable, efficient system more people would use.

Of course the chances of those happening are slim to absolutely-friggen-nothing, so I propose a shorter term band-aid solution that's so simple even our current Premier will understand.

Image by Kishi Nisen on Pixiv!

More communication

Most times when something bad happens, the poor staff at CityRail stations seem to know little more than we do as commuters. Automated announcements regularly contradict themselves. The CityRail website offers terse explanations.

It's akin to going to a doctor and having he or she tell us that condition isn't anything to worry about, but that we need a ton of tests and we should prepare a will just in case.

We just want to know what's going on, and how we can get to where we're going. You have all those wonderful LCD monitors everywhere, why not use them more effectively during such problems? Whichever system you're using to inform your staff, it's not enough. I can't imagine how much grief they must get when another piece of your failing network falls off, and they're the public face of the corporation that irate passengers have to deal with.

I'd love for the system to be fixed, but for now I'd just appreciate more information. Be kept in the loop, as it were. That's not too much to ask for, is it?

If I were into paranormal stuff, I'd claim it was a syncronicity.

Today, in Sydney:

Trains across most of the CityRail network are delayed up to 40 minutes after a fire safety alarm activated because of smoke in the Strathfield Signalling Complex earlier.

Today, in Singapore:

[a fire in an MRT tunnel] involving electrical wiring disrupted train services on the North-South line at about 9.05am. [..] Train services between Marina Bay and Toa Payoh stations resumed at 11.30am

So a fire alarm goes off, and the entire CityRail network goes down in Sydney for the rest of the day. A fire hits the Singapore MRT, and the affected line is fixed in less than 3 hours. Good to know.

Photo of the Newton MRT station by Terence Ong. Newton was the station I lived closest to for most of my time in SG, funnily enough ^_^

With all the chaos on CityRail today, this incident seems almost quaint. Still, wrote it up last night, so may as well release!

So I was making my way home from a particularly wonderful date, and was still feeling rather giddy. As I made my way to Town Hall station, I joked to myself that even a broken down train couldn't dampen my spirits. It seems I was overheard ;).

After waiting the usual amount of time on Platform 6 for our Airport and East Hills Line Revesby service, we boarded the tin can S-series strain at Town Hall, and proceeded around the City Circle without incident. Admittedly the carriage I was sitting in seemed a little louder and rattlier than usual, but it didn't bother me.

It was when we arrived at Central that we got the first inkling that something was wrong. While frantically tweeting before being plunged into the Airport Line tunnel (which has barely enough usable phone reception to send a text message let alone use data) our driver informed us that "the train has malfunctioning doors, and to please stand clear of them".

Malfunctioning doors, huh?

As we proceeded into their Airport Line tunnel, it became clear something was amiss. From my vantage point on the second level I couldn't visually make out what was going on, but I started hearing loud swearing, followed by even louder rattling sounds. That bone chilling metal-on-metal grinding sound... and it was only getting louder.

It wasn't long before the lights in our carriage started to flicker and go out, causing me great inconvenience as I sat there attempting to read my eInk Kindle! Around that time we started to decelerate, and eventually came to a stop inside the tunnel between Central and Green Square.

After a few minutes of sitting there doing nothing, people in my carriage started worrying and discussing what was going on. The driver came on the PA and informed us there was a door malfunction, and that he'd let us know what was going on shortly. An engineer in a CityRail uniform walked past us in the carriage and back down the stairs, obviously to see what was going on.

Fifteen odd minutes past, and the train jerked into motion again, the way only the older R/S series trainsets can without their chopper control! We didn't seem to be going as fast as usual though, meaning our trip to Green Square seemed to take far longer than usual. When we arrived, we sat there for another few minutes, before being told the last two carriages in our train were being shut down and locked, and that we'd have to move down one!

We huddled in this carriage, now clearly full to capacity with these extra people, and stared through the window into the one we'd just left. It looked eerie through the darkness of the tunnel; the lights kept flickering and the malfunctioning doors kept shaking around and causing all sorts of noise. It was downright creepy!

The train limped along the Airport Line up to Wolli Creek, then connected to the East Hills line for the final leg home. I was dearly fortunate enough that the carriage was finally deemed unsafe when we arrived at my station; shortly after I got off everyone was told to, and wait for the next one! It was the biggest crowd I'd ever seen at our sleepy little Bardwell Park station!

The last time I was stuck in the Airport Line tunnel for an extended period of time was in November 2011. At least an hour to get home was less than the three hours I went through back then, I suppose!

For those of you with existing student cards wishing to embark on a grand quest to update your transport concession sticker:

1. Enrol into at least one semester of subjects.
2. Go to this form site and enter your student details.
3. Log into My Student Admin and click the ID Card tab.
4. Click "Email my enrolment details for ID card".
5. Wait five minutes or so, then check your student email.
6. Print the PDF attachment, tick the boxes and sign your name.
7. Hand the form into Student Services on campus and get your sticker.

Clear as mud!

Lots of people were getting on board with #adayinthelifeApril2 on Twitter today, so I took the opportunity to reboot my Trains Ruben Taketh blog, and snap the above photo.

At some point I'll upload more train photos from around the world, for now it's just a terrible site where I take photos of Sydney trains I've been on. As exciting as it sounds!

I've decided whenever I recieve one of Sydney's CityRail new information-laden tickets, I will impart their knowledge here so we may all learn from them.

Your line, online. Oh you ;).

Trackwork across almost all lines and a derailment! Our tax dollars at work.

Makes me think there's more to this than trackwork. Perhaps there's a more serious issue, like a malfunctioning control system. One would think the CityRail folks wouldn't be short sighted enough to have effectively scheduled trackwork across the entire network at the same time.

This could count as a NaNoWriMo entry!

The beginninninninng

So I had just finished my two university exams today and was blissfully making my way to Central. I was physically exhausted from a lack of sleep of late, and my brain was fried enough to feel as though it was starting to leak out my ears, but I felt nothing could ruin my good mood!

My fortunes only seemed to get better when I arrived at platform 23, and low and behold the train to take me home was waiting there for me, its open doors inviting me in from the gentle rain. It was one of the new air conditioned units our tax dollars had paid for, and though I was forced to stand in the corner, I nevertheless was glad to be out of the muggy air into some coolness.

The train doors closed on the train (surprising though it may seen) and we were soon plunged into dark surroundings as we entered the Airport and East Hills line tunnel taking us under the city.

The first few stops were relatively uneventful. We arrived at Green Square, then Mascot without a hitch, other than perhaps one young and seemingly distracted women who somehow managed to get her skirt caught on the handrail. As someone who spends far too much of his time using his phone when he should be paying attention to where he's walking and going, I could relate. I get my skirt caught on things all the time too, it's rather embarrassing to say the least.

Hey, we aren't moving!

Upon arriving at the International Airport stop, the fun started. Sitting at stations for a few minutes at a time is part of the commuter rail experience in Sydney sometimes, but we were all starting to get a little wary when we'd been sitting there, doors open, at the station for ten minutes.

As a few people started shifting in their seats and looking out the windows in earnest, the driver came onto the PA system an announced there was a "person running on the tracks in front of us" and that we had to wait. Another ten uneventful minutes past before we were told a "person had been injured on the tracks".

One could start to see the expressions change from irritation to worry on many of the passengers' faces. Was someone injured? Were we stopped because they had their foot caught or something equally painful?

After what seemed like an age, the announcer came on the PA again, this time changing his story completely and claiming "due to electrical problems we cannot proceed" and that "there is no power in the tunnel ahead of us". Leaving the carriage and walking to stretch my legs, I took a peek into the tunnel ahead of us which seemed illuminated enough, though I surmised the lighting and catenary systems were probably independent of one another.

I read a lot of Gibraltar Earth

After a few minutes shy of an hour, the driver came back onto the PA system to announce we were moving again, albeit cautiously and slowly! His explanation changed to "the signal systems are all dead due to a lightening strike at Wolli Creek station" and that we'd essentially crawling along the tunnel blind. Excitement most thrilling!

As we started to move, I picked myself off the floor where I had slunk down to after my feet began to protest and prepared for the slow trip home. We made it as far as one more stop (the Domestic Airport station) before stopping again for another half an hour! Most amusingly, the indicator boards started informing us we were at St James, a station several stops away in the opposite direction!

When we started moving again, we'd been in the tunnel for over an hour and a half. With a trainload of bored passengers it was inevitable many would turn to their phones for entertainment, and to inform relatives and friends they'd be late, causing the entire phone network to be brought to its knees. If phone networks had knees, presumably. I attempted tweeting, SMSing and watching The Bird is The Word on YouTube dozens of times before finally giving up.

Home finally! Kinda

We arrived at Kingsgrove around 2 hours after we'd entered the tunnel, and a special train had been arranged for us to take us back to Bexley North and Bardwell Park. By that stage, all the signs along the platforms informed other passengers to expect delays, with the City Service even being rerouted through Syndenham to avoid the Airport tunnel.

Tired and drenched in rain, I made the trek home, where I plopped down in front of my computer, fell asleep for a few short moments, then had dinner and wrote a blog post containing a great deal of overly verbose and long sentences. WHEW!

Twitter, SMSs and phone calls largely didn't work while I was stuck, but thanks to @Sebasu_tan, @hanezawakirika, @leehopkins, @intoyourheadpod and @elkee for the tweets while I was trapped... despite not being able to read them until I'd surfaced!

All things considered, the CityRail staff were extremely friendly and dealt with the situation pretty well, particuclarly when we arrived at Kingsgrove and weren't sure how to interpret all the conflicting service disruption warning signs. It also could have been a lot worse, we could have been stuck in an old S or R class train in that tunnel for two hours. In this muggy weather, in a tunnel, without air conditioning, what a frightful prospect!

In any event, I'm done regaling you with my First World Problems! Time for some tea.

Upon asking our house guest and my sister what I should discuss for my PostADay2011 challenge, they elected I regale you with our adventures with CityRail on the weekend. As requested, the requested post!

Disclaimer

First of all, an admission if you will. The above image, while being factually relevant to the current issue we find ourselves discussing this evening, was in fact taken by your narrator in this tale of public transport adventure back on the 2nd of July 2011, for a blog post about the closure of Borders. It still hasn't sunk in that Borders is gone. But I digress, and rather verbosely I may add.

Well that was a redundant sentence

Like all but the most sophisticated self-healing systems, public transport networks require a certain degree of maintenance in order to perform reliably, safely, and within acceptable guidelines.

Most public transport rail operators around the world perform preventative maintenance on their networks during the wee hours of the morning, in some places every night. This has several advantages to performing said work during light hours:

• The maintenance work doesn't interfere with the day-to-day operation of the trains, as closures are not required

• Vampire labour is cheaper per hour as they are not bound by the same laws and regulations that govern minimum wage, acceptable working conditions and benefits that must be bestowed upon daywalkers.

Sydney's CityRail network however prefers to perform their network maintenance, track alignment work and inspections in broad daylight, and over the course of several days. This not only ensures the maximum amount of disruption per tax dollar, but causes as much inconvenience as possible.

Secondly, with many of the roads closed due to the Sydney Half Marathon over the weekend, this trackwork along the city circle ensured that some folks couldn't get to work or other important establishments by either train or car. I suspect this was a conspiracy orchestrated by those who don't like their brethren working on Sundays.

Because this marathon was done over The Bridge, here's a stock photo of it which I took myself.

But back to the people at hand...

Over the weekend, one of our friends from Canberra visited us in our fair, public transport crippled city. Of course we drew the short straw with CityRail, with the Airport and East Hills Line chosen as one of the two to receive scheduled trackwork.

Fortunately, CityRail compensated for their missing eight car, double decker trains with single buses that looked as though they were built in the 1960s. Aside from the waiting at stations and on the side of the road for our sardine trips, the buses themselves had an old timely quaint charm to them, and were reasonably clean. I was just fortunate our friend enjoyed retro design!

As of today the trains are operating again, and to their credit Bardwell Park has received a fresh coat of paint. We still have the only station on the entire line that doesn't have extended under-cover roofs, or isn't in the process of having them installed. Here's hoping this changes soon.

Speaking of trains, it seems Sydney is taking another shot at a contactless stored valued public transport card, and it finally has a name!

Photo by this rather dodgy fellow on Flickr.

EZLink cards make sounds like supermarket checkouts

I only just recently moved to Sydney, but was already well aware of ticketing problems here having studied the farce in high school commerce class. HSC commerce class taken abroad, ironically enough ;).

Promised in time for the Olympic games in 2000, public transport in Sydney was supposed to have an integrated contactless stored value card for trains, buses and ferries, along with a spiffy new logo they could have used an episode of The Simpsons to promote. Unfortunately, a series of legal squabbles over who should develop it, software problems, details of its operation, privacy concerns and usual state government ineptitude killed the project.

These smart cards aren't new. In the last decade Hong Kong, London and Singapore to name a few have implemented Octopus, Oyster and EZLing card systems respectfully, and most recently Canberra -- a city with a fraction of the population and resources of Sydney -- has adopted their own.

Take two!

As of 2011 we still use paper cards in Sydney, though apparently this is about to change:

The Opal card is the name of the contactless smartcard ticketing system that is planned to be introduced on public transport in Sydney by 2012. The smart card is expected to replace the existing Automated Fare Collection System on all CityRail, Sydney Buses, Western Sydney Buses, Sydney Ferries and Newcastle Buses & Ferries services along with incorporating all private-sector bus and ferry operators into the integrated ticketing system.

What's important now though is the card finally has a name as of yesterday: The Opal Card. When asking for names, I submitted "late". Oh well, can't win them all.

Yeah, so?

As a public transport advocate and aficionado, I'm a completely impartial source when I claim contactless stored value cards are great because:

• travellers don't have to purchase tickets on a regular basis
• the system calculates fares as they're needed, rather than travellers having to calculate before buying each ticket
• they save us from masses of dead paper tickets strewn everywhere
• they allow speedier validation which helps get people off buses and through stations more quickly

Of course, the downside of such a system is the movement of people can be more easily tracked, though this can be somewhat mitigated through the purchase of the cards with cash, and by making some nonsensical trips every now and then to places you wouldn't normally frequent. It's a great excuse to explore :).

Anyway, with plans showing a rollout for 2012 for ferries and with other modes of public transport soon following, I predict we'll have our new ticketing system by around 2035, give or take a couple of years for elections and their effect on political priorities. Not that I'm cynical or anything!