GrodsCorp

Take with one hand, give with the other

Monday 14 May 2007, 1:12 pm

The Editor

Categories: Melbourne, Politics, Public transport

Tags: Connex, fines, performance, subsidies, YarraTrams

Large sums of money are changing hands: Melbourne train network operator Connex has been fined $62 million for poor performance since April 2004 while tram operator Yarra Trams has been slugged just under a million bucks for the first three months of 2007.

However, these hefty fines shouldn’t be a problem for the private companies running Victoria’s public transport infrastructure. The Victorian government paid them $1.2 billion in subsidies between 1999 and 2006, with the subsidy total tipped to hit $2.1 billion by 2010.

Why would these companies make any effort to improve their services if they know any fines paid will be reimbursed many times over in the form of ever-increasing subsidies?

2 Comments

Strider (Monday 14 May 2007, 4:56 pm) #

Of course, you must remember the days of pre-privatisation public transport as some sort of rosy and romantic paradise where everything ran on time.

We’ve got far more reliable services now than we did a decade ago, and these services are far more accountable.

If you are really interested in Vic Govt waste, perhaps you want to look at all the consultants they are blowing money on, instead of spending money on building us the dams we need to safeguard our water supplies.
Bridgit Gread (Monday 14 May 2007, 7:31 pm) #

I think it is you who is talking out your hat, Strider, if you’re arguing that public transport now is the same or better than it was 10-15 years ago. I’m old enough to remember when public transport in Melbourne was still publicly run, and I can assure you it was a significantly better service, both in terms of punctuality and reliability.

I agree with you about the consultants though; most of it is all payback to ex-ALP operatives.