“systemic organisational change”, I can just see Sir Humphrey Appleby now!

William – and to quote Yes Prime Minister;

Hacker: You're a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynicism cynic, Humphrey!

Sir Humphrey: A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist.

From:tramsdownunder@... [mailto:tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Robbie Smith
Sent: Wednesday, 15 May 2019 5:37 PM
To:tramsdownunder@...
Subject: Infrastructure costs and project management (Was: [TramsDownUnder] "Auto" points)

Well then we need to change our operating practices and get with the programme. Honestly, I don't know why we can't just give up the obsession with short-term profit and target long-term gain instead, electoral cycles and political donors be damned.

I read a recent article[1] about why infrastructure costs are so much higher in English-speaking countries (particularly the US, but there are parallels here), and it boils down to us being terrible at project management and asset utilisation. I don't know what the solution is, as there's a lot of political and organisational inertia, and anyone who suggests systemic organisational change (especially a younger, less-professionally-experienced person like myself) is likely to be shown the door very quickly, or laughed out of the room. That is, of course, assuming that someone with positive change views is able to get in the door in the first place.

[1] https://pedestrianobservations.com/2019/03/03/why-american-costs-are-so-high-work-in-progress/

On Wed, 2019-05-15 at 14:20 +1000, William Jackson wrote:

Hal

Hmmm, this sounds very familiar…

Reliable operation calls for reliable maintenance, and proactive, not fault-response at that.

William

From:tramsdownunder@... mailto:tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com [mailto:tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Hal Cain
Sent: Wednesday, 15 May 2019 12:44 PM
To:tramsdownunder@... mailto:tramsdownunder@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [TramsDownUnder] "Auto" points

On Wed, May 15, 2019 at 11:41 AM Robbie Smith zoqaeski@... mailto:zoqaeski@gmail.com > wrote:

No there won't. If these kind of systems work perfectly fine in Germany, and have done for the last decade or so, then they'll work here. Australian drivers need to adapt to drive on a modern system, not a heritage tramway.

The catch is that Australian governments and their service contractors don't respect the need for regular maintenance. Reliable operation calls for reliable maintenance, and proactive not fault-response at that.

Hal Cain

Conservatism in our transportation planning is holding us back.

On Sat, 2019-05-11 at 23:19 +1000, Mick Duncan wrote:

Gday Richard, All

When run nos change points,there will be prangs and derailments
as some moderm drivers cant be trusted to look at the blades

Cheers, Mick, glad he had eyes and a bar

On 11/05/2019 7:16 am, 'Richard Youl' via TramsDownUnder wrote:

I understand your question Mick which I only pondered a few days ago.

Obviously they are not ‘Automatic’ when drivers have to initiate their operation from the cab.

Perhaps the title of ‘Powered Points’ would be more accurate, but decades ago when they were first introduced I expect that Automatic sounded more exciting. And old habits die hard.

The ‘new’ technology (new to Melbourne, decades old in some places) about to be installed in Melbourne where the tram’s run number changes the points automatically will finally be truly Automatic Points.

Richard