more on cubics problems

Can someone please forward this to Watkins and co:

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/comments/0,23836,23063682-3102,00.html

Patrick Lion and Robyn Ironside
January 16, 2008 11:00pm

SOUTHEAST Queensland's much-vaunted new smartcard system has suffered another devastating credibility blow - only a day after the Bligh Government boasted the long-overdue project was "going well" and nearing completion.

Thousands of morning peak-hour train commuters struggled to buy a ticket yesterday when all 179 high-tech TransLink smartcard machines across the CityTrain network went into meltdown for nine hours.

Besieged contractor Cubic Transportation Systems was supposed to be installing new software on a few machines overnight but instead crashed the whole system. Some machines even began spitting out Japanese to frustrated patrons.

The lack of purchase points forced Queensland Rail into an embarrassing backdown of a new fare-evasion campaign as commuters travelled free or battled queues at old machines and station windows.

Transport Minister John Mickel was not available to comment last night but the bungle came after Acting Premier Paul Lucas declared on Tuesday that the nine-year project would be finished by mid-March.

Mr Lucas had also pointed to the "bricks and mortar" of the machines as evidence to commuters to believe the latest promised deadline for the so-called Go Card.

"It is going and it is going well," Mr Lucas had said. "We will have the best integrated ticketing system, we will have the best smartcard in Australia."

The Opposition has seized on the problems, claiming people using the Go Card in trials are reporting difficulties.

Liberal transport spokesman Tim Nicholls said the card was now facing credibility issues.

Trial commuters had already told him they were not receiving discounts while encountering problems topping up the card.

"We hope it is fine, but none of this bodes well for the future of smartcard," Mr Nicholls said.