I suspct that the reason why getting a photograph with a train driver pays double that of a bus driver is that it is distinctly more difficult. A train will stop a station for only about 30 seconds and it's not like a train driver can simply stop the train just for the sake of one person taking a photograph.
As I was taking this, both Geoff and I had our minds on the signals changing just beyond the station. My phone has no backward facing camera and so I had to take this on a 2 second delay, but at the same time I was also painfully aware that the train might pull away at the same time.
This then is a photo of a race with the clock as much as it is a photo with a train driver.
I think Sydney has a suburban train system which is equal to the world's best. Although people might complain, it's one of the biggest both in terms of number of stations and in terms of total track length. I've blogged at length before about how it desperately needs another few lines to help decongest the city's traffic woes, and I still am annoyed that Mr O'Farrell who has appointed himself Minister for Western Sydney but hasn't as yet had his government start work on the proposed North West Rail link despite promises made by the Lang Government as far back as 1930.
That however is not the fault of the train drivers nor the NSW Railways who it must be said have cried out for years for more money for better rolling stock, trackwork and signals but whose cries have always seemingly fallen of willingly closed and deaf ears.
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