NSW transport minister avoids 'flogging'

NSW Transport Minister David Campbell has avoided a public flogging with CityRail
meeting all the criteria set out in its customer charter in its first three months.
The charter was launched in December 2008 with specific targets set in areas such as
train punctuality, crowd management, ticket sales, safe travel and complaints
handling.
Mr Campbell said at the time of the launch that he was prepared for a "public
flogging" should the charter fail to improve services.
But on Wednesday, he reported back on the charter's progress and said all of the
nine initiatives committed to for the first quarter of 2009 have been met.
"In three months time there may be another opportunity," Mr Campbell told reporters
when asked about a possible public flogging.
"I'll be continuing to drive CityRail staff that this is not about protecting the
minister from a public flogging.
"This is about making sure they understand this is about customer service."
Some of the improvements set out and achieved in the last quarter include
improvements to City Circle signalling to reduce train delays in peak periods and
paper recycling bins at 11 stations.
There was also the introduction of the "meet the manager" program to improve
complaints handling.
Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell said the report on the commuter charter was a
joke, lacking any independent scrutiny.
"If David Campbell was marking the village idiot, he'd be marking him a genius," Mr
O'Farrell told reporters.
"Commuters are still putting up with a service that is substandard."