Broken & Late Ltd: Britain's Railways

[Fussbudget]

Oh sorry, do you mean return? My cold makes me a complete idiot today (not that I need any help etc.) On my train a few people seem to do Boro to Leeds daily, which is almost 2 hours each way, but yes that's a tiny number.

[ursus arctos]

That’s interesting. Very few people would spend two hours each way on a train here (New Haven/New York is almost certainly the most travelled route of that length, and those tend to be academics and medical professionals who don’t do it every day).

The preferred option for semi-regular commuters here are ten trip tickets, which are a bit cheaper than ten singles. The other options are weeklies or monthlies, as we don’t do annual season tickets, which I’ve always associated with Britain.

[Tubby Isaacs]

This country.

[Lang Spoon]

I am very shaky on English geography but Boro to Leeds taking two hours seems mad. I’m guessing shitty track and trains is more at fault than distance.

[Tubby Isaacs]

That’s interesting. Very few people would spend two hours each way on a train here (New Haven/New York is almost certainly the most travelled route of that length, and those tend to be academics and medical professionals who don’t do it every day).

The preferred option for semi-regular commuters here are ten trip tickets, which are a bit cheaper than ten singles. The other options are weeklies or monthlies, as we don’t do annual season tickets, which I’ve always associated with Britain.

We do monthly and weekly passes, but the season ticket (annual) is much cheaper.

We used to have a carnet of ten tickets on the underground, but don't think we've ever had that on National Rail.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I am very shaky on English geography but Boro to Leeds taking two hours seems mad. I’m guessing shitty track and trains is more at fault than distance.

There are 2 upcoming trains in the 1h 20s. That seems slow enough.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Cheltenham to Swindon on the train is slow, involving the driver "changing ends" at Gloucester and as Mitterand would have said, the opportunity to enjoy the Stroud Valley.

[Capybara]

Cheltenham to Swindon on the train is slow, involving the driver "changing ends" at Gloucester and as Mitterand would have said, the opportunity to enjoy the Stroud Valley.

I used to do this on a weekly basis ie out on Monday and back on Friday and, as said, the route is very 'round the houses' so I can't see why anyone would actually do it as a commute. However, there were plenty who seemed to commute from Stroud and, particularly, Kemble which is nothing more than a village. I guess some would have driven there from the Cheltenham area as well as other places in the Cotswolds. And cheaper from there as well.

I went and had a look at London Bridge today. I’m sure it will function very well at what it’s supposed to do but it’s very airport-like.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

One of the season tickets that has been singled out for attention was Cheltenham Spa to London.

Does anyone actually do that every day? It would seem to take a minimum of five hours, even if one lived and worked close to the stations.

I once met someone through work who did Chepstow to London every day, including Paddington to Victoria by folding bike.

[Tubby Isaacs]

Kemble is close to Cirencester, but it's a distance from Cheltenham.

As you say, people do commute from Stroud/Stonehouse. I expect that's seriously expensive, but I doubt there's much capacity for more people to do it. People at Didcot and Reading have to be able to get on the train too.

[Fussbudget]

I am very shaky on English geography but Boro to Leeds taking two hours seems mad. I’m guessing shitty track and trains is more at fault than distance.

Yeah just realised I'm making the TransPennine line sound very bad here when it's actually decent enough time-wise, I think the advertised time is closer to 1h30 as Tubbs says (though it's almost always late at rush hour). But some of the trains (including the 7.15 one that has most of the commuters on in the morning) stay at York station for 15 minutes or so which accounts for the extra time.

[Tubby Isaacs]

The more you tell me, the worse it gets. 15 minutes at peak time stuck waiting at York?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Network RailVerified account
@networkrail
Follow Follow @networkrail
��️ Our CEO, Mark Carne, was at London Bridge station this morning where the final section of the huge, modern new concourse and the final five platforms opened. ����️

Mark Carne might be wondering why he didn't have the Secretary of State with him.

[Paul S]

It's getting to the point where I seriously wonder why major companies continue to have their offices in London. Why be in central London when you could be in Norwich with a fraction of the costs, cheaper housing, cheaper train tickets and a much nicer city? The same applies to many other towns and cities across the UK. A lot of archives, IT, helpdesks have already left London and I'm fairly sure a lot more could be moved out as well.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I think lots of the staff like working in London. The senior ones likely got on the housing ladder yonks ago, and lots of the younger ones are having a good time living with their mates in rented accommodation, with the London wage making them feel well enough off for the time being.

I wonder if when you've got more generation rent people in executive positions then that will change.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Most major companies demand international airports, that go to all the major business destinations (and on airlines offering business class).

[Tubby Isaacs]

Well, Reading is an option then, at least.

You'll piss off Danny Dorling too who was blaming people from London moving to Reading and other places and turning them into "shells" the other day. Something called "community" will apparently take "2-3 generations" to recover.

Hope he never moves out of Oxford to somewhere cheaper when he retires.

[Tactical Genius]

Tubby, most of the tech companies have their headquarters in the Thames Valley with small offices in Central London and has been since I have been in the business.

[sw2borshch]

Faeces and fluids absent from Sunderland station today, but contaminated area still cordoned off and still only one platform in use.

[Etienne]

Kemble is the closest train station to Cirencester which doesn't have a station (to revisit a conversation from a couple of days ago)

[Tubby Isaacs]

Tubby, most of the tech companies have their headquarters in the Thames Valley with small offices in Central London and has been since I have been in the business.

Cheers. Would they consider moving outside Thames Valley?

[Felicity, I guess so]

There's still faecal matter all over the platform at Sunderland. The good news is, it seems to be fresh each day.

Missed/can't find your original post on this sw2bureau: are you changing to Grand Central there or are you working in Sunderland?

I occasionally use the Sund Central stop for Northern Trains to Newcastle, if the metro is f-ed up or there's a reason to be going to Newcastle Central rather than Monument, as it gets there quicker (and I happen to be in the centre of Sunderland in any case).

Is it a recent issue or fairly common?

[Tubby Isaacs]

Kemble is the closest train station to Cirencester which doesn't have a station (to revisit a conversation from a couple of days ago)

Yep. Kemble is "Cotswold Parkway".

[Tubby Isaacs]

"Part-time season tickets" (non appearance thereof) is one of the things that needlessly gets UK rail a bad name. It has to be DfT led. That it's not happened shows up the effect of departmental cuts. The capital budget has been (comparatively, within austerity) not too bad. It sounds clever and long term if you're cutting more "running costs" but it isn't. Delaying a minor bit of infrastructure would have been a far better call.

[Dav O'Roso]

Yep. Kemble is "Cotswold Parkway".

Literally there now!!