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Transport
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On March the 12th
2002, two reports appeared in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle about the
Metro system, report number one included information that, miffed passengers
are swamping public transport bosses with complaints.
According to the report the complaints cover delays and disruptions which
have seen grumbles soar by almost 50 per cent in a year. Complaints rose
from 2,180 in 2000 to 3,236 last year. Of these, 1131 were
formal complaints and the rest were from people who informed staff about
a problem but left no contact details.
Report number two in the same issue announced that the Metro looks set
to be hit by a wave of strikes over pay, this story was echoed in the
News Guardian on Thursday 21st March. According to the Guardian report
the proposed strikes are due to take place on Tuesday April 2, Monday
April 8th, Monday April 15th, Friday May 3rd, and Tuesday May 7th the
day the queen is due to open the new extension to Sunderland.
In a year that has had so many reported complaints about the Metro service
and Transport problems in general we could be forgiven for being just
a little confused at the report in the latest edition of the 'Transportupdate',
North Tyneside Edition, Number 2 March 2002, headed:
Byers praises the Metro
North Tyneside MP,
Stephen Byers, heaped praise on the Tyne and Wear Metro recently, saying
he sees it as a model of public transport best practice the London Underground
would do well to emulate.
The Transport Secretary made his coments on the day his plans for the
future of London's Tube were announced to MP's and the public.
Mr Byers told reporters "if we could get the London Underground up to
the standard of the Tyne and Wear Metro, that would be a great achievement".
And he was certainly speaking from personal experience. Mr Byers has visited
the award-winning Metro several times and often commented on the systems
efficiency and value to the people of Tyneside and beyond.
Metro operator, Nexus, welcomed Mr Byers comments. Director General, Mike
Parker, said "it is very gratifying that Stephen Byers should look to
the Metro as a system the London Underground should aspire to".
"We have worked very hard indeed since the Metro opened in 1980 to offer
the people of Tyne and Wear a first class rail system with the result
that the Metro has been getting better and passenger numbers are up".
"We have a system here that is the envy of the world and London Underground
would be welcome to come and take a look at how we do things".
******But still a lot to do!
Nexus stated in the
same news letter "we are not resting on our laurels". The Metro
is well on the way to achieving many of its primary objectives, but the
hard work is not over yet.
Nexus has revealed.
The metro remains one of the most punctual and reliable railways in the
country while constantly striving to improve even further.
It would be interesting to know how many members of the public, who have
been let down by the Metro system this past year,did Mr Byers actually
speak to before he made his announcement.
Interesting News Story?
There was an interesting
story on the BBC News this morning 28th March on the Russian Metro System.
Although Russia is a poor country they believe that transport for their
people is a very valuable commodity. They also believe their customers
should start their day by using a happy reliable transport system. Built
in the 1930's their Metro stations are large completely covered in and
very ornate buildings,the trains arrive every 2-3 minutes and you can
travel anywhere on the system for the standard fare of 10p which make
access affordable to even the poorest people. A spokesman for the Metro
stated " We belive that cheap, standard fares gets more people using the
Metro and any profit must be put back into keeping the Metro a first class
transport system.
Maybe Britain has something to learn from Russia about how a good service
should be run.
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