Three weeks is long enough till 31st December for the Andrews team to pull a rabbit out of the proverbial hat.
Mike.
Yes the coach or bus gets you into almost the centre of the CBD where as the train dumps you on the outskirts and you have to make your own way into the CBD baggage and all and at extra cost to the traveller as well. You can step off the bus in the city and take a walk out of the bus station and it is not far to go to find accomodation or whatever from there. You have to go into the city from Keswick anyway if you use public transport if you have to go to most places anyway. It would be a rare few that Keswick was along the route they had to go to get somewhere.
We don’t hate the Overland, we just acknowledge that it’s a relic from a past era, ‘serving’ a market that effectively doesn’t exist. Victoria’s country services are Victoria’s problem, the idea that the Overland serves country SA is taking the piss.
Murray Bridge isn’t really a country town, listen to people from there smeg about the freight costs of goods from Adelaide and they’ll soon tell you ‘how close to the city’ they are...
As for Bordertown - I would be very surprised if more than 10% of the few thousand people that live there ever caught to train. I used to deal with a lot of residents and landholders from out that way, and NONE of them ever caught the Overland to Adelaide, unsurprisingly choosing to make the less than three hour journey in their own cars which took them directly from home to wherever it was they were going.
Yes the coach or bus gets you into almost the centre of the CBD where as the train dumps you on the outskirts and you have to make your own way into the CBD baggage and all and at extra cost to the traveller as well. You can step off the bus in the city and take a walk out of the bus station and it is not far to go to find accomodation or whatever from there. You have to go into the city from Keswick anyway if you use public transport if you have to go to most places anyway. It would be a rare few that Keswick was along the route they had to go to get somewhere.Yeah I feel as a regular (3 or so times a year) user of the corridor I'd prefer the bus for that reason, that and the fact that the train just doesn't take me exactly where I want to go. I stopped using the train when it just became too much of a hassle to use so now-days I either drive or its the bus. The bus leaves at 7am on the dot and I can make it to Franklin Street bus station by public transport pretty easily by then - also easy when I'm coming back the other way. I also have the option of the Jet Bus Adelaide Metro service if I want to get a plane from this end.
Someone please mail Margaret a copy of the relevant timetables. The coaches depart Nhill and arrive Adelaide/Melbourne and v.v. with almost the same timings. How this doesn’t suit disabled people has me mystified. Indeed, the coach gets her to Adelaide in particular in a truer sense than the Overland ever could.
Mike, if only the Overland bought 100 people to Adelaide, I know it’s hard to believe given the confected outrage expressed here and on FB etc by ‘twain’ lovers that it’s actually LESS than 100 people.While Aaron and I do not see eye to eye on some things we both do on this. I have to agree with his post though less than a hundred passengers per trip is just running a sentimental journey for a few. It is not like there is a queue waiting to use every time it is docked at Keswick and as some said getting to Keswick is a pain in the butt for starters if you do not have a car. Then getting to a small building in the middle of no where almost what are you going to do to kill time for that hour that you have to be there for before it leaves. Last time I was in the new terminal there it had virtually nothing at all that could take up an hour of your time doing something. Probably even less now.
I am confused, as are you, as are GSR and as are everyone else that wants to keep the Overland running. Are we doing this for the disabled, OAPs and other concession card holders or are we doing this for tourists? 100 tourists is a drop in the ocean, more tourists drive into SA day than catch the train every three.
Aviation numbers? Off the proverbial chart in comparison to both.
Mike, if only the Overland bought 100 people to Adelaide, I know it’s hard to believe given the confected outrage expressed here and on FB etc by ‘twain’ lovers that it’s actually LESS than 100 people.Whilst I agree that the Overland is a relic of the past if it is 50 tourists per trip, 2 inward per week that's 5200 per year. At a cost to the SA Government of $300K that is less than $60 per pax. Many of them will contribute many times that to the economy while they are there (not to forget the $$$ contributed to SA's under performing economy just by having the train in the first place, staff costs etc)
I am confused, as are you, as are GSR and as are everyone else that wants to keep the Overland running. Are we doing this for the disabled, OAPs and other concession card holders or are we doing this for tourists? 100 tourists is a drop in the ocean, more tourists drive into SA day than catch the train every three.
Aviation numbers? Off the proverbial chart in comparison to both.
Mike, if only the Overland bought 100 people to Adelaide, I know it’s hard to believe given the confected outrage expressed here and on FB etc by ‘twain’ lovers that it’s actually LESS than 100 people.
I am confused, as are you, as are GSR and as are everyone else that wants to keep the Overland running. Are we doing this for the disabled, OAPs and other concession card holders or are we doing this for tourists? 100 tourists is a drop in the ocean, more tourists drive into SA day than catch the train every three.
Aviation numbers? Off the proverbial chart in comparison to both.
Whilst I agree that the Overland is a relic of the past if it is 50 tourists per trip, 2 inward per week that's 5200 per year. At a cost to the SA Government of $300K that is less than $60 per pax. Many of them will contribute many times that to the economy while they are there (not to forget the $$$ contributed to SA's under performing economy just by having the train in the first place, staff costs etc)I would be extremely surprised if each trip into SA had even 20 inbound tourists, let alone 50.
Sorry SA guys you just don't get it...Well we're the people who are the potential users of the service and all of us (pretty much) have decided not to use it. That in itself says volumes about the impracticality and inconvenience. Eighty-two passengers per train, that's not even two full buses.![]()
If you're all gung-ho on saving it then when was the last time you used it, Mike? End-to-end, not just for a jaunt out to Ararat.I don't think you are going to win any arguments questioning Mike's commitment to rail travel. He may not use the Overland but he posts VERY regularly of his trips to Melbourne, Swan Hill and well beyond as far as Qld by rail.
In virtually every case, young people only think of the destination as quickly as possible and cannot comprehend that the journey is sometimes even better than the destination, so they don't really factor into the traveller demographic.When an argument depends on the customer being wrong, it's probably a good time to retire it.
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The tired old XPT, combined with cheap airfares has killed off interstate bus travel between Melbourne & Sydney and the same could occur between Melbourne and Adelaide, provided a timely daily rail service is implemented. There are MORE pax travelling the full journey between Melbourne and Sydney than most 'pagers realise.
Sorry SA guys you just don't get it...Well we're the people who are the potential users of the service and all of us (pretty much) have decided not to use it. That in itself says volumes about the impracticality and inconvenience. Eighty-two passengers per train, that's not even two full buses.![]()
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