Some comment:

TfNSW's predecessor,the NSW Department of Transport was already in a
mess long before TfNSW came into existence.  It was a department bereft
of technical and operational competence and firmly in the pockets of the
private bus industry in NSW. Where else would you see a department
putting the boot into Sydney Buses (or whatever it was called at the
time) on one hand while at the same time having a section producing spin
responses to public complaints on behalf of the private bus industry
(usually without any input from the guilty private bus company) and this
nonsense occurred during the Labor government times.  DoT's highlight
was probably the handing of the development of bus service planning and
operation for the 2000 Olympics to the privates and then having at one
minute to midnight to turn to their despised Sydney Buses to rescue the
situation from the disastrous mess that had been created.

One of the noticeable factors of Transport administration in NSW in
recent years has been the influx of  'British expertise' in both the
government agencies and the multinational consulting engaged by these
agencies.  It is notable that these, mainly London Transport,
expatriates, are well versed in the production of the party line and
avoid any comment detrimental to their source of remuneration. Perhaps
the outstanding example would, be Andy Byford who after his sterling
contribution to Sydney Trains moved on to bigger and better fields with
the Toronto Transit Commission with its current growing multitude of
woes under his 'leadership'.

I would suggest that the two people you had discussions with would
certainly have no allegiance to truth and responsibility as they would
be toeing the corporate line.

If one comes to Britain from the Continent one does not see very fast
trains, one sees a multitude of colours and operating companies (would
you like fries with that as one of our valued CUSTOMERS), fragmented
services, scandals over cost cutting on infrastructure and alongside of
Switzerland the most expensive fares in Europe.  Switzerland does of
course have to operate across some of the most challenging terrain in
the world and is an expensive country anyway.

I was recently in the UK and noted (outside of London but in other major
cities) the continuing streams of double deck single door buses passing
by.  Wonderful expertise, not.

As for their glacial expansion of tramways/light rail systems again a
disaster.  By comparison Google the current developments taking place in
Sweden for example.

Greg

Tony P wrote:

"I agree with your summary of what happened over the last few decades
Tony, as I also observed it closely and worked with many of these people
inside Transport House. Also, it wasn't just the railways,but this
malaise spread right throughout the NSW public service. TfNSW is in the
mess it is today as a result of this process. All competence has been
bled out of these organisations, on top of being hammered into political
submission and being very constrained in being able to provide impartial
professional advice, which is what a good public service should be
doing. Any sense of achievement has also been battered out of them.

I recently spoke with somebody high up in the railway administration
about the problem of slow long-distance commuter services and he said
straight out that he didn't see a problem and their services were up
with best-practice. When you have denial that there's even a problem,
let alone a willingness to address that problem, it's a case of abandon
all hope all ye who enter here. This is why I have such a black view
that nothing is going to change. It's now at a stage of needing to go
back and start over again with a deep cultural change - but these
careerist people aren't going to be rooted out so easily, they have too
much personal interest at stake.

The only thing that might change it is electoral anger. There's so much
public anger on the NSW south coast about all this and its backed up by
the local press, but the political setting (lack of swinging seats)
thwarts it. Both political sides treat the region with contempt.

Incidentally, the last time I recall a similar conversation with a
senior jobsworth was several years ago when an certain transport
academic and I went along to the then manager of Sydney Light Rail with
a paper explaining how the agonisingly-slow service could be speeded up
and he responded that he didn't see that there was a problem in the
first place. The fightback is going to have to start very deep down.

Incidentally, in the current Railpage news, somebody is having a good
spray at UK management in PTV in relation to the Metro contract renewal!
While everybody loves to have a go at the poms in our transport
administrations, I'm not 100% convinced. After all, they run some very
fast trains in UK. You'd think the first question asked by the average
UK management recruit, when they arrived in their NSW job, would be "why
are your trains so slow?" Presumably the first thing that happens after
asking such a question is that they're gagged and tied to a chair."