Username1 wrote:TrickyMario7654 wrote: Looks like they'll be cheaping out for years to come as our "friends" at the Andrews Labour Government have renewed Metro's contact to run the system for another seven years, but with tougher monthly targets. I'll guess this will also mean that the bell nazis are to be on our nerves for seven extra years.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-12/m ... rk/8895462
Sigh.... there's gonna be no Hybrid bells left by the time they're done... I hope at the next election, one of the party's come s up with a government by back plan for the suburban network. I heard stories of how wonderful the trains were before privatisation, and just the other week, trains were delayed for over an hour on the Frankston line... I hope they have a huge meltdown (even though they've already had one) and the government says enough is enough and kicks them out!
Btw I just thought of a great A current Affair story called: "Metro trains, waisting thousands of tax payer dollars on pointless "upgrades", while leaving stuff that really needs upgrading to wait".
I've seen pictures and videos of the suburban rail network from the 1980's and 1990's. Sure would of been a great time for a rail and signal fan. During that period, the suburban trains wore the Green and Yellow MET colors. There were only two models of suburban trains back in the 1990's (not counting the failed 4D Double Decker train), the Hitachi trains (most were replaced with Siemens and X'trapolis trains between 2002-2005 and the last remaining sets were retired in 2013-14), and the Comeng trains (still in service today). They also had cloth seats and carpet. Most V/line passenger trains were loco-hauled and carried an orange and gray paint scheme. As for crossings, there were loads of Teardrop bells, and black and white gates (plus, no e-bells!). Most country crossings with active protection had only lights and bells (gated crossings were rather rare, although they were reasonably common in major towns or lines). Sadly, these days have long passed.
Sadly, I was born in 2001 and missed out on this era.
Also, LOL on that ACA story. But seriously, we need to spread the message about how Metro are replacing perfectly good m-bells but not fixing the important stuff.
