Metro Trains PR fail

April 11, 2011 in Rants & Raves
Tags: Metro Trains, public transport, rail infrastructure, state government, Victoria

Metro Trains is pushing its PR people hard with their latest effort to overcome spectacularly poor service outcomes. Tonight, Channel 9 news will have a ‘expose’ of why our public transport network is so terribly ineffective and inefficient.

And the new provider is picking up some tips from the old provider by blaming the hooligans and vandals.

It’s not the first time that our rail providers have attempted to use hooligans and vandals as scapegoats. But unfortunately for our rail providers, they really have nothing to stand by.

On one occasion, after being told our service was cancelled due to ‘vandalism’ and to go to North Melbourne for connecting services, four empty and apparently undamaged trains went through North Melbourne. It seems like there were more than enough trains to run the service. This kind of thing happens all too frequently.

However, it’s not the hooligans and vandals that are the largest problem for our ailing public transport network. The largest problem is the complete lack of coordination across the entire network. There is no coordinated planning between the rail, light rail and bus services. There is no coordination of anything really whether it’s services or urgently needed maintenance and infrastructure upgrades.

Unfortunately the kind of public relations that Metro Trains is rolling out tonight will only help to further demonise public transport.