Hi Bob,
Looks like a holiday to southeast Queensland is overdue :-)
Our Gocards are tap on tap off on all vehicles or at tram or rail stations.
Additionally the latter two have machines which can top up cards and in the case of the trams, also issue new adult Gocards.
All those machines sell single ride paper tickets as well as rail station ticket offices.
Bus drivers sell the single ride paper tickets (somewhat dearer than a Gocard fare for the same trip). On top of all that, while Brisbane bus drivers cannot top up Gocards, Gold Coast bus drivers can, and maybe other outer areas.
One further GC-only ticket is a $10 all day pass, quite a bargain considering all the tripping around you could make here over quite long distances, maybe as much as 50km.
While topping up the cards does not take very long, this is usually much faster than serving a confused cash fare customer. A few of them is enough to cause a bus to miss a train connection, if it was not going to fail before that.
So with 24° in the shade, and roasting in the sun as I type this, now may be a good time to head east!
I won't bite into the argument about train guards.
Regards,
Richard
> On 26 Jul 2017, at 11:58 am, 'Bob Pearce'frerrick@... [TramsDownUnder] TramsDownUnder@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> If a station (railway stopping place) is provide with CCTV with a screen and reception available to the driver's cab a-la-Perth - then you don't need Guards, and you don't need station staff if there are ticket machines that backup tag-on tag-off travel cards - again a-la-Perth.
>
>
>
> AND before someone writes that Perth is NOT the only place with tag-on tag-off travel cards, I don't think there are other places with that travel card system in place that also has paper ticket machines as well?
>
> Again, Perth has paper ticket machines to cater for the one-off traveller, of which there are many.
>
>
>
> As far as driverless trains are concerned, I was under the impression that a person (with an employee description to suit the pay scale) would be on the loco in case of mishap, train failure and so on.
>
>
>
> A driverless unmanned locomotive will have a lot of trouble re-coupling a train that has separated, or rectifying a failed loco or hand operating points (switches) that have failed and so on.
>
>
>
> Perhaps the theory is that these events are so rare that the cost of having to put some recovery plan in place to rectify such events, is miniscule compared to the cost of employee savings to be realised.
>
>
>
> I wonder if the Train Controller will be recompensed for the extra duties and skills they will need?
>
>
>
> Bob in Perth – watching these developments with much interest.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:TramsDownUnder@... [mailto:TramsDownUnder@yahoogroups.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, 26 July 2017 9:11 AM
> To:TramsDownUnder@...
> Subject: Re: [TramsDownUnder] New trains on Gold Coast line to have impressive modern features | Gold Coast Bulletin
>
>
>
> On 26/07/17 10:51, Richard Youltressteleg@... [TramsDownUnder]
>
> wrote:
>
> > Hopefully they have solved all the problems with these Indian built trains.
>
> >
>
> > However with the guards now located at the rear of these trains, a station employee will have to meet each of these trains near the centre cars to assist on or off any wheelchairs. That clearly will be an ongoing expense, from first train to last.
>
> >
>
>
>
> Why have guards at all then ?. If they are no longer providing passenger assistance, why are they there ?.
>
>
>
> A modern train doesn't need a second person to operate the doors. It's arguable that a modern train needs a driver up front either.
>
>
>
> Rio Tinto is about to put driverless unit ore trains into production.
>
> Even train drivers are not safe from computerization.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Posted by: Matthew Geier matthew@...>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
>
>
> Yahoo Groups Links
>
>
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TramsDownUnder/
>
>
>
> Individual Email | Traditional
>
>
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TramsDownUnder/join
>
> (Yahoo! ID required)
>
>
>
> TramsDownUnder-digest@...
>
> TramsDownUnder-fullfeatured@...
>
>
>
> TramsDownUnder-unsubscribe@...
>
>
>
> https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/
>
>