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Journey by Journey / London to the Cotswolds / Re: Worcestershire Parkway Station project - ongoing discussion
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on: February 23, 2020, 22:46:02
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5. Car park machines do not take cash. Perhaps in London and the bigger cities this is the norm, but not in Worcester, and several people were caught short by it today.
I suppose the hope is people will become used to it - I recently used Keynsham car park for the first time and noticed that car park can only be paid via app or over the phone. Maybe being cash free, hopefully with less risk of criminal activity, is standard for the GWR▸ network now? |
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: WECA considers tolls
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on: February 23, 2020, 14:08:46
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I relatively frequently work in S-Wales and it definitely appears the traffic is much worse coming from Wales to England in the morning and vice versa in the evening. Probably linked to the removal of tolls, but also much lower house prices in Wales.
I've heard anecdotally that train commuters from S-Wales to the Avon area vastly outnumber those going the other way, which will tie in with the suggestion that it is as much symptomatic of house price costs as anything else.
Aside from improving public transport services, including potentially park and ride, I am not sure what else can be done. The suggestion of congestion charging seems ridiculous to me without a corresponding improvement in public transport because the existing services are often already at capacity.
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Severn Beach Line; trains, performance, tickets and usage
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on: February 23, 2020, 14:02:19
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What SCRP don't say is that revenue collection is at times very poor. How many journeys go uncounted because of this is open to conjecture, but in my estimation it must be a significant number.
Any regular user of the Severn Riviera Express (and I count myself as one) will know that it is a significant number. I'll carry out bit of unscientific research later today as I'm having a quick pootle to town (Redland to Temple Meads and back) and I'll post on this thread if I see any missed revenue in my carriage. Caught the delayed (by 11 mins) 12.50 from Redland. There was a Revenue Protection lady on the platform waiting for the same service so she had plenty of time to dispense tickets to everyone waiting. There was another RP chap already on the train so it looked like no missed tickets. Returned on the delayed (by 7 minutes) 16.36 from Temple Meads. Rather a different story. RP is carried out in a more "passive" manner with the RP person unmoving from the next carriage down and simply opening the doors and conjunction with another person at the head of the train. Plenty of opportunity to free hop and plenty of those opportunities taken.... largely because of no one coming to sell a ticket rather than blatant avoidance. So yes, looks like a lot of revenue leakage still but this would add to the argument that the latest figures are about real passenger growth rather than simply improved revenue protection. Similar to my experience. Undoubtedly this is a problem across the entire network - I used to witness the same when I lived in SE-England and saw the same between Parson Street and Keynsham yesterday. |
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Insufficient capacity - Oldfield Park and Keynsham
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on: January 28, 2020, 13:15:37
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Keynsham still seems to have issues with overcrowding and people unable to get on trains during the morning peak, which is covered in local press (The Week In etc). Its not surprising given station usage statistics and the development within the town but I can't help but think what rail usage would be like were this service to be better and it wasn't getting such bad publicity.
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All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / Re: Rail v fly - Southern England to Scottish Lowlands
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on: January 28, 2020, 12:56:44
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Figures were for the year to July to 2019 - I'd love to see updated figures to see whether the recent increase in environmental awareness associated with XR▸ , Greta, the Flygskam movement etc have had a noticeable impact. Anecdotally from colleagues who travel frequently between our Glasgow and London offices the trains are significantly busier with corresponding impact on prices. They also suggest it's time to build a second sleeper as the existing one is often fully booked even weeks in advance. I've also heard planes between London and Glasgow seem to have excess capacity and cheaper, despite several flights being cancelled. Official government statistics certainly show a massive decrease in domestic air travel since April 2019 - https://twitter.com/HelenJackson0/status/1217746925992271872?s=19Reduction in domestic air travel for environmental reasons, likely substituted with rail and/or road, would certainly explain Flybe's financial issues, plus Easyjet/ BA» /Ryanair trying to polish their environmental credentials. |
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All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: Station Usage Figures for 2011/12
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on: April 07, 2013, 21:34:29
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Good work there Grahame! Some weird anomolies when looking at the data - like I'm surprised there are 112 interchanges at Penzance!
I recognise the interchanges are estimates, however I think these should be as accurate as possible to assist with future planning. Also interestingly I have noticed several stations where I have personally interchanged yet none are recorded, specifically Stapleton road and Lawrence hill (when traveling between Bristol parkway and the Severn beach line these are often quicker than going in to temple meads as advised by the national rail website!). |
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Journey by Journey / Bristol (WECA) Commuters / Re: Bristol connections: Metro, Bus Rapid Transit, PTE, ITA and local councils - discussion
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on: January 27, 2013, 17:20:11
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Further news items this week: from the BBC» : Bristol transport expert panel appointed
Bristol mayor George Ferguson has appointed a panel of transport experts to advise him on matters such as bus routes and metro services. Mr Ferguson has recently said he wants to change the route of a planned rapid bus service in the city.
The panel will include John Grimshaw a founder of Sustrans, campaigner Pip Sheard, light rail businessman Trevor Smallwood and consultant Roger Key. The group will not be paid for monthly meetings with the mayor. A fifth person, who has not been named, will also join the panel.
Several members of the panel have previously supported the idea of trams coming back to Bristol's streets but Mr Ferguson said it was unlikely to happen now. Mr Ferguson said using railways around the city was something he was investigating. "Trams are expensive so they may play their part but they're not going to be the central solution," he said. "What is going to be the central solution is the Bristol Metro. Everything is based on making a bigger Bristol Metro that uses the existing rail infrastructure and improves on that."
Also from the BBC: Bristol mayor George Ferguson approves metro funding
Bristol mayor George Ferguson has approved ^1.8m of council funding for a business case towards creating a city metro rail system. The project would use existing infrastructure and see stations at Horfield and Ashley Down reopened.
The funding still needs full council approval. The cash to build the ^94m scheme would come from the government.
Mr Ferguson said: "This is a huge leap forward for the greater Bristol region."
The system would be delivered in two phases. The first, costing ^35m, would establish half-hourly train services for the Severn Beach line, local stations between Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa and Weston-super-Mare and reopen the Portishead line to passenger services. This could be completed by 2017/18.
The second phase, costing ^34m, would aim to introduce half-hourly train services to Yate and hourly services on a reopened Henbury line, with additional stations at Horfield and Ashley Down.
There is also a ^25m proposal to add stations at Saltford, Ashton Gate and Corsham in Wiltshire. Funding bids would be submitted to central government for each phase.
At a meeting of the city council's cabinet on Thursday, Mr Ferguson gave his approval for funding to develop a business case for the project. The money will be set aside with ^559,000 from the council's revenue and ^1.24m from its capital budgets up until 2016/17. If rubber-stamped, the decision will enable more funding to be released by central government in 2015.
Mr Ferguson said: "This is something around which the transport lobby seems to be agreed. It's making use of current infrastructure and adding to it in places. Over the next 10 or 15 years it enables us to make a more integrated approach to our transport and will hopefully lead to an integrated transport authority in the long term."
On Thursday, the government announced that the greater Bristol area, including Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset, could receive more than ^80m to spend on transport schemes. It comes as Transport Minister Norman Baker outlined plans to devolve decision-making on major local transport schemes to local transport bodies from 2015.
Definitely looking positive! Edited to fix quote. bignosemac. |
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Journey by Journey / Chiltern Railways services / Re: Chiltern's agressive advertising!
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on: November 17, 2012, 20:49:32
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I haven't got a photo but chiltern often seem to have massive advertising campaigns at euston. Not in the national rail station but on bus stops, billboards etc outside and also all over the London underground part of the station. this includes advertising on underground ticket barriers, on the walls opposite platforms, in the underground walkways and most glaringly what I can only describe as a wrap covering all of the walls, floors and ceilings of the escalators from the national rail part of the station underground. Can't see a problem with it myself - it is increasing competition on this busy route and hopefully helping to reduce prices.
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