Commuters at risk as network upgrades plagued by delays

The delay in upgrading the metropolitan rail control centre, Metrol, which runs on technology from the early 1980s, also poses a serious public safety risk. At present it can only visually monitor trains on 10 per cent of the network.

via theage.com.au

That’s just one of the scary facts in this article in The Age. One-third of all rail network projects are running late, and that’s not even counting the billion-dollar-plus calamity that is Myki.

Why is this? There’s another interesting quote in the article, saying that the Department is staffed with “lawyers, accountants and PR advisers … a department better at diverting attention from the real problems than fixing them,” said RMIT public transport advocate Paul Mees.

How I’d love to get in there and stir things up a bit.