Great Western Coffee Shop

Petition on missed village trains  
 
People wanting to use a Cornish railway branch line have started a petition because they say trains do not always stop at their station if requested. Some commuters in Perranwell said they had tried to flag down trains on the Truro-Falmouth line, but said, on many occasions, it was full or did not stop. Rail users said a cut in carriages had affected services.
 
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(http://premium1.uploadit.org/ChrisCornwall3/logos/logobbcn.gif) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/8114555.stm)

ahh now i understand, how long is the journey (eather way)

I knew this would be a problem. You can't just run a 2 tph service with half the carriages. Haven't the lessons of Virgin Princess been learnt?

1. "Key" trains will always be targeted by commuters, so will need the full amount of carriages.

2. With the increased frequency, passengers numbers will go up, exceeding the half stock threshold.

And before anyone comes in with sarcastic comments involving "Train Trees", I know that FGW have no stock spare. But the question is, why invest in increasing the service frequency with no extra stock secured?

However, I'm sure the comments about "sometimes it doesn't stop" are wrong. I expect the people haven't cottoned on to the fact that every other train is NOT scheduled to stop.

Footfall figures for Perranwell are about 10,000 per annum - so between 30 and 35 journeys per day to and from the station. That's just the 'stats' ... taken from afar - are they accurate?   I would be a little suprised is services that are scheduled to stop on request have been failing to do so - but as it's new for trains to be scheduled 'express' through Perranwell, perhaps it takes some getting used to.  And the changes to the timetable will - for some perople there - have led to less convenient times for the ones that do stop, and the clockface and connection changes at Truro lead to a further change from journey that people have got used to and run their lives around ...

((above is written from afar - an educated guess; please comment on my reading of the situation!))

I'm really not sure why they bother. Lets just not run any trains at all! That way people cannot pick faults!

It would be a collosal overkill of resources to have 2x2 carriage trains running the branch off peak when passenger numbers are not spectacular enough to fill a 153. These extra 2 wasted carriages would be far better placed in Devon where off peak loadings are excellent.

If something is good, bash it! Just wait till the new Kent commuter services, no doubt its too fast and makes people ill or something equally far fetched.  ::)

The train just doesnt ignore people on the platform on purpose OR not stop if its full thats rubbish!
It stops when booked to stop but passengers still ask it to stop when its not in the timetable.

Possibly because it's being announced as a 'request stop'.

The trains haven't been overcrowded at all, people just turn up for the trains that aren't booked to be a request stop! Perranwell has gone from having 13 trains per day to having 21! thats a mass improvement for 10,000 people per year!

Edit by Graham E. I have split this topic.   Btline suggested that there are all sorts of places where people will complain where a service is changed, even if that change in many (or most) ways is an improvement, and he cited the new High Speed Services from Kent into London - starting this December - as an example. Although I initially resisted the suggestion of splitting the topic, it became something that needed to be done (and has been done) ... and you may see a few odd bits about Kent in this Cornwall thread, and vice versa!


and the relevence to Perranwell is??????

so basically Perranwell feels left out because it hasnt recived the same increased service and the trains which ignore them on the platform are the ones they think they should have but are not timetabled to stop

The main issue seems to be the introduction of the request requirement, which I think they might have a case in respect of the non hourly service trains. If every train up to 0900 and from 1700 stopped as a matter of course I suspect the natives would be happy. A small but not insignificant gesture which could easily with only minor adjustments to the timetable be achieved.

The additional fact that the bus division of First have made a right horlicks of local services in the village and surrounding areas doesn't help the rail operations side of the company when dealing with the station problem. 

Indeed.  I had wondered whether to split the threads, but had come down against doing so. Reasons (a) a tricky one to decide which posts to put where at the division point (b) Members don't like threads being spuriously moderated - it's like changing history and (c) our members are perfectly capable of reading back and seeing what happened.

and my sincerest apologies for drifting so far off topic ;D

Don't worry ... I have split the topic as it had gone off onto two really long and disconnected branches (like Mallaig and Kyle of Lochalsh) ... and no-one had much of a chance of keeping everyone happy as they posted onwards.


The HSS / Kent topic is now at:
     http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=4930.0

And we can carry on with Perranwell here.

Interesting, the Kent changes, the Perranwell changes, the TransWilts changes in December 2006 and the removal of the Bristol - Oxford service a couple of years before that can all be characterised by alterations which withdraw services / facilities that some people have come to rely on (perhaps just a retiming by less than 30 minutes at Perranwell, more severe in the other cases). 

Even a small and apparently insignificant change can course major problems - such things are not just a matter of when a train runs, but can alter the whole social / economic setup for some or many.  I can find you people who have had to give up their jobs because of changes to train routes and timetables ...

I regularly use Perranwell station and greatly appreciate the improved service.

The only thing I have brought up with FGW is the connections at Truro with the main line. If the opposite hourly train stopped in the up direction the problem would be solved. This would also bring back hopefully the previous 0910 [0913 previously] first off peak train that had good connections to Penzance, St.Ives and Plymouth.

I have had no problems with trains stopping to alight or board in either direction and all train crew have been friendly when I have requested a stop..

I do not see why anyone should be confused or have anything to complain about from the notice that says 'some' of the trains stop on request when in fact 'all' trains that are scheduled stop on request.

Fuss about nothing.

Not quite sure I agree with your Comment. I think both "some" and "all" are both potentialy confusing in this situation.

"Some" is probaly worse, as it immediately raises the question "which" trains stop by request.

"All" I would take to mean all trains passing through the station, which I understand is not teh case at Perranwell.

This is a classic case of where you need to apply Kipling's poem.

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

If you provide answers to all of these acurately then you've probably given teh best inforamtion possible.

The interesting one to answer is "why" eg Why is it a request stop.

Does anyone know the percentage of potential trains that could stop, don't stop due to no potential joiners or leavers? If it's greater than 50% (possibly 60%) then why is it a request stop?

I basically feel that my local station at Perranwell with an approximate usage of 200 a week [assuming stats are correct] is extremely lucky to have an hourly service request stop or not. Especially in comparison to Melksham's problems.

I too use Perranwell, I now know why the stopping services are the 20 past departures from either end, apparantly the 50 departures tie in with the old times on the line and were therefore considered to be used more extensively rather than the 'newer services'. It makes sense to use the relatively heavier used single car to skip Perranwell. Hopefully when demand levels out this decision can be reversed, and the better connected 50 departures can be timetabled to stop instead. 

If the stats are correct that works out at about 28 passengers a day. Perranwell during the week has about 20 trains that can stop a day so that is just over 1 passenger per train. Does this seem sensible, or are the stats for Perranwell incorrect and underestimating usage? Does more than one passenger board each train as the article kind of implies this? What do the staff think?

There are definately more people travelling from Perranwell, seemingly due to the lack of buses which coincided with the new timetable. It also shows some people using it one way and busing the other (bus pass users mostly) I have met lots of new train users, both youg and old, mostly commenting on the convenience into Truro and how inexpensive thee journey is.

The residents of Perranwell should be even more delighted NR (Birse) are installing new lighting this week, the groundwork seems to replicate that done at Penryn so should be much better.

.... and the new information point trunking is now being installed. Unfortunately it seems to be passive like those recently installed in Truro. Would have liked some screen display but this is a good step forward.

It's meant to have a screen on it along with all the unmanned stations

All the trains booked to stop at Perranwell do so if there is a customer waiting on the platform.  Similarly, stops are made, (if booked), for pax on board trains who wish to alight there. 

I overheard a driver telling a guard that there is a laid down procedure of buzzer signals to indicate when a stop is required for passengers already on a train.

 ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

The new passive screenless terminal at Perranwell was cut into service yesterday afternoon, has three buttons, an emergency, a call for travel information assistance and a computer generated announcement message (as per the old small blue box type) one.