The Melbourne train system astonishes me every day. Today I realised something - the design in the carriages is all wrong. It's built for seated passengers. 4 seats across, a narrow corridor up the middle of the train, barely allowing 2 people to pass with bags. Wrong wrong wrong.
Seated passengers are sitting comfy (until they need to struggle through the crowds to get off !) while those standing are squeezed together sardines. Lots of sorries and excuse me's as the fat passengers squeeze past to the door.
There's no straps to hang from. Sorry, that's not true. There are approximately 10 straps in the WHOLE CARRIAGE, the hardest part in the morning can be finding something, ANYTHING, to hold onto. Unforgivable. Today our train was delayed for a few minutes as a lady had collapsed, no doubt due to claustrophobia.
Contrast this with Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway, or Tokyo's efficient train system. Most the carriage is for standing. Lots of things to hold on to.
Simple.
Then just to hammer it in, once you get to Southern Cross station, passengers are bemused that staff are literally loitering at the turnstiles, at the exit gates, STARING as the frustrated passengers stick their Daily Ticket through the turnstile. What are the wanting? What are they looking at ?
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