Broken & Late Ltd: Britain's Railways

[Fussbudget]

If your train is cancelled for engineering works then yes most likely you'd have a rail replacement bus service running (though not all the way from Bristol to Edinburgh, just the portion of the line that's actually closed.) If it's for a strike though you're on your own

the train we'd be aiming to catch (the 10:35 from Temple Meads to Edinburgh Waverley) has run between the stations we need it to run between during this week's strikes (well, yesterday and today) even while the first leg (Penzance to Plymouth) has been cancelled.

I don't think there have been any strikes this week, only action short of strike from ASLEF (overtime ban basically, which means a shortage of drivers)

[Sam]

Thanks JoeysToe and Fussbudget. Joey's bit about it being highly unlikely the same route would be closed two days in a row explains why so many of the tickets seem to be being sold with a thing saying that in the event of strike action they can be used on the day before or the day after. The train we're looking at gets us to Glasgow at about 18:30ish, so should be fine regarding the no evening/night-time cut off, even taking into account that the UK considers the 'evening' to begin some time before either of us do.

[Sporting]

I liked this:

[Fussbudget]

So that thing about "simplifying our fares" with the disappearance of return tickets and advance tickets... that means there's no longer any cheap fares right?

Trying to book some tickets to Dundee and an off-peak return (aka two singles) is now just under £120 no matter what day or time. We normally try to travel mid-week and out of school holidays but it doesn't make a difference at all now, might as well travel on a Friday afternoon with everybody else. Also first class now seems to be a fixed price of £176 (!!) per leg so I imagine they're going to run a lot of empty first-class carriages

[Capybara]

So that thing about "simplifying our fares" with the disappearance of return tickets and advance tickets... that means there's no longer any cheap fares right?

Trying to book some tickets to Dundee and an off-peak return (aka two singles) is now just under £120 no matter what day or time. We normally try to travel mid-week and out of school holidays but it doesn't make a difference at all now, might as well travel on a Friday afternoon with everybody else. Also first class now seems to be a fixed price of £176 (!!) per leg so I imagine they're going to run a lot of empty first-class carriages

As I pointed out upthread, you will also find that your off-peak return (aka two singles) will now cost more in total than did the off-peak return previously. Another point is that the off-peak singles are only valid on the date on the ticket, whereas the off-peak returns they replaced were valid to return on any day within a month. So the off-peak return (aka two singles) is both more expensive and more restrictive than what it replaces. Incidentally, when I booked my off-peak single yesterday for today's return, advance singles (ie train-specific) were actually more expensive than the off-peak single which I could use on any train today. It's so nice to see how things have been simplified.

[Fussbudget]

The consultation on this is open until 26 July by the way (not that I imagine it'll make any difference but you never know):
www.londontravelwatch.org.uk for London-based folk
www.transportfocus.org.uk for the rest of the UK

Bump.

Just a reminder that the consulation on ticket offices is open until Wednesday

[Fussbudget]

I've only just noticed that Northern's proposal to keep only 18 out of 149 ticket offices involves keeping Hartlepool's (!!) rather than Sunderland's. The fact that each company is doing its own thing separately means we're going to end up with absurd stuff like Darlo (second busiest station and busiest interchange in the North East) not having a ticket office but Hartlepool (tiny one-platform station only served by local stopping services) having one. This franchise stuff is the gift that keeps on giving

[Big Boobs and FIRE!]

I've only just noticed that Northern's proposal to keep only 18 out of 149 ticket offices involves keeping Hartlepool's (!!) rather than Sunderland's. The fact that each company is doing its own thing separately means we're going to end up with absurd stuff like Darlo (second busiest station and busiest interchange in the North East) not having a ticket office but Hartlepool (tiny one-platform station only served by local stopping services) having one. This franchise stuff is the gift that keeps on giving

The equipment for the new ticket barriers at Hartlepool is all in the ticket office, so they need to keep the premises. The listing of it as being retained is somewhat disingenuous, as all the ticket issuing equipment will be removed, and it will just be the person from the barriers with a portable machine, sat in the office.

[Nefertiti2]

Network Rail bosses spend £10k a week on flights –because they are cheaper than trains

[DCI Harry Batt]

Ah that's no good. The site for the rest of the country has a generic consultation form that you can fill in without having to pick a company but obviously London stations are not in the list when it asks about your nearest station.

Wimbledon is a South Western station, assuming that's your local one

So I'm coming back to this to make sure I do it. I have to write an email, it seems. That's a good way to keep the number of responses down.

I've had a look round, and there are some templates out there. I'm really surprised not to be able to find a "click click click send" option done by anyone.

[Levin]

I think it's because they are detectable as coming from a particular source so it's easy for people running these things to automatically discount them as inorganic.

[DCI Harry Batt]

I might get an AI bot to write it for me.

[Fussbudget]

The equipment for the new ticket barriers at Hartlepool is all in the ticket office, so they need to keep the premises. The listing of it as being retained is somewhat disingenuous, as all the ticket issuing equipment will be removed, and it will just be the person from the barriers with a portable machine, sat in the office.

Thanks BBaF that explains it (also really depressing)

[Fussbudget]

So I'm coming back to this to make sure I do it. I have to write an email, it seems. That's a good way to keep the number of responses down.

As I was filling it in it did occur to me that it might contravene equality legislation as the whole thing seems to be online only and super badly signposted, and lo and behold they're being taken to court for it

[DCI Harry Batt]

It looks as if, in London at least, the deadline has been extended.

[blameless]

It looks as if, in London at least, the deadline has been extended.

Ach well. I got my angry rant in before the original deadline in any case.

[DCI Harry Batt]

https://twitter.com/ASLEFunion/status/1684154816530980865?s=20

[blameless]

From that article: "Organisers of the consultation said some train companies did not provide accessible formats"

There's a fucking shock. So the people who'd be worst-hit by this were the people whose views they tried very hard not to obtain.

[Big Boobs and FIRE!]

From that article: "Organisers of the consultation said some train companies did not provide accessible formats"

There's a fucking shock. So the people who'd be worst-hit by this were the people whose views they tried very hard not to obtain.

I would offer an alternative view that none of the operators are in any way aligned to this. It is something that had been foisted on them wholy by the Rail Minister (not the DfT).

Because they interact with customers and stakeholders on a daily basis, they were aware of the inevitably of the uproar from this, and maybe were not 100% focused on making this work.

Throughout its nationalised history, the one thing that the railway has been extremely competent at, is seeing off draconian proposals enforced on it from individuals in government who are trying to get a name for themselves.

The best way to to this is to fully embrace a proposal, and to take it to the public in its most draconian form, in the knowledge that the emmense backlash will kill the scheme almost in its entirety.

Just saying like, but I'd encourage people to read up on the Serpell report.

[diggedy derek]

I'd be interested to know what this means.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...don-birmingham

[Snake Plissken]

It means that it will be scaled back to just London-Birmingham, just as everyone knew it would be.

[Gangster Octopus]

Not even that; it's just Shepherds Bush to Birmingham.

[DCI Harry Batt]

It's not even Shepherd's Bush is it? Some backwater somewhere near Shepherd's Bush maybe.

[Gangster Octopus]

Wormwood Scrubs, basically.

[George C.]

Euston via Old Oak Lane, to the Mids & North West.