Hello

[whole diary]

[zebedee]

Hello, I've been doing the Newton Abbot to Exeter St David's run for about four years now (probably the most beautiful bit of railway in England!) and I'll just share with you some of my thoughts...

I normally get the 8:03 from NA which was Virgin and is now Cross Country (aka Arriva).  Since Cross Country took over the franchise the train is a carriage shorter and has been cancelled a few times!  Not a good start and the funny, quirky announcements seem to have stopped as well....

I did get the 17:33 FGW^▸ (First Great Western) home from Exeter but I have got sick of it being late most evenings, so I've started going for the 16:45 Cross Country service instead which seems more punctual.

I refuse to ever get on the little boneshaker trains which stop at every station in between - a 18 min journey turns into 40 mins and the trains have the insides of buses!

However, the train is still the cheapest way for me to commute (my employer loans me the money to get a yearly ticket which is ^1052 - about ^87 per month out of my pay) and the walk to and from the station is good for me (I think!) and it also means we can just keep to being a one car family.

I find the staff of FGW could be a bit more helpful sometimes and I rarely see them helping elderly people or people with very young children which I thought the Virgin staff were always very good at.

Overall, the slog on the train is a pain sometimes (mainly when it's raining and the trains are full) but it's cheap and I get to see the sea every day which can't be too bad.

I look forward to exchanging views with you all.....

[vacman]

Welcome to the forum!

[zebedee]

Thanks, and I hope my first post doesn't seem too negative!  I have a few gripes (like every commuter I guess) but the train services do safely get me to and from work everyday and there is a certain atmosphere and culture associated with "riding the rail".  Sometimes after a crushingly bad day at work, I get off the train at Newton Abbot, tired and not looking forward to walking up the hill to get home and then I see people meeting loved ones of the train, old friends reunited, etc and then suddenely it doesn't all seem quite so bad.

[grahame]

Hi, welcome to the forum, Zebedee.  Your post doesn't come across as too negative; we're all looking to make our use of the railway as efficient and pleasant as possible and - let's face it - most of us wouldn't be here if we were totally happy with our lot.  Given a service from Melksham to Swindon at 07:45, returning an hour later, and another at 16:45, also returning an hour later this board probably wouldn't even exist!

Parts of the rail systems / some of the things done are great; the staff (in my area at least, and from what I read elseswhere too) are very helpful and I wouldn't want to swap 'em.   Some other things are not ideal of far from it; those tend to be the things we concentrate on. discussions on some can help us think of solutions.   Explanations from professional railway staff help us understand things and once we know WHY, a lot more can be accepted.  And there are just certain things we may campaign to get improved!

[devon_metro]

Thanks, and I hope my first post doesn't seem too negative!  I have a few gripes (like every commuter I guess) but the train services do safely get me to and from work everyday and there is a certain atmosphere and culture associated with "riding the rail".  Sometimes after a crushingly bad day at work, I get off the train at Newton Abbot, tired and not looking forward to walking up the hill to get home and then I see people meeting loved ones of the train, old friends reunited, etc and then suddenely it doesn't all seem quite so bad.

If the Voyager is cancelled, there is always the 0806 HST^▸ (High Speed Train) from platform 1. Guaranteed to get a seat, although admitadly it does stop everywhere apart from Dawlish Warren!

The 1733 (1505 Padd - Penzance) is very often late and just as unpredictable that seems to use the Berks and Hants line. I've travelled on it many time and often arrive into Newton Abbot 2o or so minutes late... Hence missing my connection to Paignton. I've had to run once as they put it in platform 3 for some reason 

[smokey]

Hello Zebedee, I not a fan of the Boneshaker Railbuses, I hold the view they should never have been built, about your comment about FGW^▸ (First Great Western) staff being helpfull, I suggest you try asking some of the never ending stream of Contractors working on the Railway for Help or Information, if lucky you are told "Sorry Don't work here" or you get told to "S** off pal".

In times past, BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) had it's own maintenance teams whose Job WAS to give PAssengers as much help as they needed if they ask. The customer is always right speard to BR.

PS: Welcome to, and hope you enjoy the coffee shop.

[vacman]

Hello Zebedee, I not a fan of the Boneshaker Railbuses, I hold the view they should never have been built, about your comment about FGW^▸ (First Great Western) staff being helpfull, I suggest you try asking some of the never ending stream of Contractors working on the Railway for Help or Information, if lucky you are told "Sorry Don't work here" or you get told to "S** off pal".

In times past, BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) had it's own maintenance teams whose Job WAS to give PAssengers as much help as they needed if they ask. The customer is always right speard to BR.

PS: Welcome to, and hope you enjoy the coffee shop.

If BR were so perfect then why did they build 141/142/143/144 units?

[devon_metro]

Didn't we agree the other day that they weren't that bad? 

[vacman]

Didn't we agree the other day that they weren't that bad? 

I'm pointing out smokeys double standards, he's saying that the 14x units should never have been built, but then he's saying how perfect BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) were in the same post.

[smokey]

It's not double standards, BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) was a WHOLE LOT better than the mess we call a railway today.

BR had FAULTS, buying Railbuses was one of them, but that was down to the Government telling BR what to buy.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again the Victorians realised long wheelbases caused track damage, so only short wheelbase, 6 wheelers and bogie stock was built.

[vacman]

It's not double standards, BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) was a WHOLE LOT better than the mess we call a railway today.

BR had FAULTS, buying Railbuses was one of them, but that was down to the Government telling BR what to buy.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again the Victorians realised long wheelbases caused track damage, so only short wheelbase, 6 wheelers and bogie stock was built.

A bit like the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) do today then!, the railway is a mess these days, but lets think back 10-15 years, it was FAR from perfect then, St Ives had 15 trains per day, Mon-Sat only in winter, the last train from St Ives at 1930, today St Ives has all year round Sunday service and the last train is 2150 from St Ives which connects with the sleeper, oh, and in 1996 a CDR^▸ (Off Peak Day Return [ticket type] (formerly 'Cheap Day')) from Siv-Pnz was ^2.80, it's ^3.00 now, 20p in 11 years?? Falmouth had no Sunday service apart from the six weeks of summer, now it has a Sunday service all year round, last train from Looe was 1830 even in summer! its now after 2000 in summer and 1930 in winter, Gunnislake, no winter sunday service, all year round now, oh, and Newquay had SEVEN trains per day all year til the late '80's, then it was reduced to the four we have today.

[smokey]

Mr Vacman, thankfully MORE people are using trains than under BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)), that means that more services are Viable.

Passenger numbers have grown with many passengers tempted to make use of Book Ahead Cheap tickets, this would have come along under BR, they are a BABY of the computer age.

Service levels like the St Ives you quote are due to the Service being "Safe-Guarded" by franchise service requirements.

Falmouth was crying out for a all year Sunday Service, it might even have happened earlier if Regional Railways was still going.

In some ways the Sectorised BR was the Best BR ever got as Money WAS invested in Secondary services. The Class 158 was a Regional Railway baby.

[zebedee]

Good to see all the lively debate!  I have got the 8:06 from Newton on occasion and, like you say, it's usually very quiet but a bit slow because of all the stops....but then that does offer better views of all the herons on the riverbank and the deer at Powderham, not bad for your morning commute!  I am quite lucky as I work near St.Davids so the straight through trains are the best generally, I don't have the added hassle of trying to get a connection at the Newton end either.  On the subject of Paignton, awhile ago they had an American (I think) announcing all the stops on one particular train I was on and he said PAYN-ING-TON instead of it's correct pronounciation (PAY-TON) - it was pretty funny!

I appreciate the smaller trains are needed to pick up the other stations along the way but they seem pretty old - although First Great Western have swapped them over quite recently, are the newer (?) trains generally any better? 

One thing I will miss since Virgin have left the scene are their class 57 rescue trains - Lady Penelope, FAB 1, etc...

[oooooo]

On the subject of Paignton, awhile ago they had an American (I think) announcing all the stops on one particular train I was on and he said PAYN-ING-TON instead of it's correct pronounciation (PAY-TON) - it was pretty funny!
One thing I will miss since Virgin have left the scene are their class 57 rescue trains - Lady Penelope, FAB 1, etc...

Canadian I expect!! 

57308 'Tin Tin' is at Plymouth right now incase of trobule during this mornings bad weather!!

[vacman]

Mr Vacman, thankfully MORE people are using trains than under BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)), that means that more services are Viable.

Passenger numbers have grown with many passengers tempted to make use of Book Ahead Cheap tickets, this would have come along under BR, they are a BABY of the computer age.

Service levels like the St Ives you quote are due to the Service being "Safe-Guarded" by franchise service requirements.

Falmouth was crying out for a all year Sunday Service, it might even have happened earlier if Regional Railways was still going.

In some ways the Sectorised BR was the Best BR ever got as Money WAS invested in Secondary services. The Class 158 was a Regional Railway baby.

The St Ives spec upon privatisation was for 15 trains per day with one through service to Penzance to arrive before 0900, Wessex introduced the higher service level off their own back, along with the Sunday service, YES they were then put in the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) franchise spec but Wessex introduced it, you say about Falmouth you say MIGHT, well it might well have done but it didn't, it's all stuff that you say might have come under BR but unless you've got a crystal ball then we'll never know, but what is blaitently obvious is that these improvements have come around under privatisation whether thats despite it or because of it we'll never know, the railways did start making a step in the right direction under sectorisation because it was run on a more business style management, it had to otherwise no private operator would touch the railway! Privatisation was the right thing that was done the wrong way i.e. it was too fragmented (the wonderful "C" word, CONTRACTOR!), had Network rail being created in 1994 and kept everything in-house then things would have been better! Like I said before, it's a mess now BUT BR was far from perfect!!