Simon says

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Simon Calder has a plan to get Britains^s train network back on track in the Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/10-ways-to-fix-our-railways-8200238.html

1. Fare cuts, not rises, should be the norm
2. Make the right connections
3. Cut fares with no-frill trains
4. No tickets please, we^re British
5. Erase the false peaks

etc - total of 10 ideas, each explained in the article

Thoughts?

[TonyK]

Simon Calder has a plan to get Britains^s train network back on track in the Independent

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/news/10-ways-to-fix-our-railways-8200238.html

1. Fare cuts, not rises, should be the norm
2. Make the right connections
3. Cut fares with no-frill trains
4. No tickets please, we^re British
5. Erase the false peaks

etc - total of 10 ideas, each explained in the article

Thoughts?

First thought is that it is all too sensible to work here!

After further consideration, though, I think all except number 9 have some merit. I say that because I see buses in Bristol stand at bus stops for five minutes whilst a dozen or so people argue fruitlessly about the price, get thrown off for being pensioners before 9am, don't have the right money, can't find their pass, get off to look for the change they dropped that has rolled off the bus, then get ready for the whole sorry process again, 300 metres down the road. It's the major issue on buses in Bristol at peak times, and I wouldn't want to see the trains end up the same way. I noticed the TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) at Clifton Down has not survived its encounter with the Bristish public, so that's not likely to offer an alternative. ITSO cards, barcodes on phones, and self-printed tickets could be done, if the will was there, but we have the problem of persuading several companies to all work together.

The fare system is a shambles here. A ^3.00 return from BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) to SVB sees you on the train for roughly the same time as a ^89.50 single to Paddington. Now I know the laws of supply and demand apply here, but the walk-up figures , whilst fine if you're on expenses, are ridiculous otherwise. I would complain more if I hadn't found so many cheap fares in the past.

I quite like the idea of a cheapo from Parson Street to Shepherds Bush or something as a way of easing the strain on Paddington, even if it isn't very feasible.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Simon Calder has a plan to get them back on track

There you are, then: the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) should just use that, instead of any overly-complicated and excessively prescriptive franchise specification of their own invention, and save the taxpayer ^40 million. 

[ellendune]

1. Fare cuts, not rises, should be the norm

He goes on to say that Reading to London should be reduced from ^20.60 to ^15.  Given that this is half way to Swindon even ^20.60 looks a good deal to me.

His answer though is to implement McNulty in full no questions. I have a feeling I would not be able to pay the fare because the TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) did not work and did not sell me the fare I wanted even if it did.  Then I would be travelling on a train with wooden slatted seats and no heating.  Not sure that is the answer.

2. Make the right connections

He's got a point here, but better still make the timetable work so these rediculously short non-conections become proper connections (e.g. Changes at Parkway from XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to Swindon)

3. Cut fares with no-frill trains

Not sure what he is getting at here. A train rom straford to Sunderland still has to use the congested ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line).

4. No tickets please, we^re British

Am inclined to agree

5. Erase the false peaks

Generally agree but this will add complexity to the fares.  How about colour coding trains on the timetable to indicate the scale of fares?

6. All you need is one click

I never found it that complicated to book myself.  Certainly not more difficult than an airline.  Amazon does not need your to know when you want to read the book!

7. Extend the booking horizon

But then plannign of engineering works has to be much further in advance.

8. Get serious with rail cards

Agree.  Why do you have to be under 26 or over 60 to get a railcard?

9. Meet the driver

DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)) with the driver also selling fares?  It would make the stops at stations longer. Would definately slow the trains down and on lines shared with other services this might eb a problem.

10. Name your price for an upgrade

Worth a try.

[old original]

9. Meet the driver

DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)) with the driver also selling fares?  It would make the stops at stations longer. Would definately slow the trains down and on lines shared with other services this might eb a problem.

agree,  and...next step, rip up the tracks, tarmac it  and put something called a bus on it

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

No frills? ..... Has he not seen a voyager?

[grahame]

2. Make the right connections

He's got a point here, but better still make the timetable work so these rediculously short non-conections become proper connections (e.g. Changes at Parkway from XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to Swindon)

His suggestion is that a minute should be enough to change trains

You'll need to increase running-on-time from some of the current figures (we were seeing NR^» (Network Rail - home page) figures at TravelWatch yesterday hovering around the 90% mark for many travel groups) AND need to hold connections.  And remember, that the industry considers "on time" to be "not very late at final destination" for many evaluated factors.

I tightly timed my journey yesterday to see how many services arrived at my key points on time, as I was rather interested in following up this idea / taking a fresh look. As I go to B-o-A, the 07:47 towards Portsmouth was still due, and it left at 09:09.  Not a good start - lets look at significant timings on the trains I caught:

08:14 to BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains), left on time.
Left BTH^» (Bath Spa - next trains) at 08:36 (6 minutes late)
Arrived BRI at 08:48

08:56 to Taunton left on time (from the exteme end of Platform 10 - 1 minute would NOT have been enough)
09:09 at Nailsea (6 minutes late)
09:28 into WsM, or 09:32 by the analog station clock. (5 minutes late)
10:04 into Taunton (2 minutes early)

16:07 Taunton to BRI left on time
17:15 into BRI (4 minutes late)
Change NOT helped by on-train announcement as we came into BRI that the PMH train would be on 11 - and it turned out to be on 9
17:22 to Portsmouth left on time
17:49 at B-o-A (2 minutes late)

5. Erase the false peaks

Generally agree but this will add complexity to the fares.  How about colour coding trains on the timetable to indicate the scale of fares?

The DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) fare consultation looked at this - adding in more grades so that the step over becomes smaller, but there are more of them. So - High peak, Low peak, off Peak, super offPeak.

I agree with colour coding; issue is that some trains are peak for park of their journey and offpeak later on.  Take 17:40 Cheltenham to Southampton.   Hardly "peak" south of Salisbury!

6. All you need is one click

I never found it that complicated to book myself.  Certainly not more difficult than an airline.  Amazon does not need your to know when you want to read the book!

Ellundene - PLEASE tell me where I could have got all the information and book for my multimodal journey from SN12 6QL to TA1 5AX yesterday    (Car to B-o-A, so suggested time and car park ticket for station ... train to TAU^» (Taunton - next trains), so train fare to pay ... choice of walk, so map needed, or bus, so time needed and fare to be paid)

8. Get serious with rail cards

Agree.  Why do you have to be under 26 or over 60 to get a railcard?

Agreed.   Totally.

9. Meet the driver

DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)) with the driver also selling fares?  It would make the stops at stations longer. Would definately slow the trains down and on lines shared with other services this might eb a problem.

There may be some sense here on extreme rural lines, once people routinely have prepaid fares and just swipe onto the train as they pass the driver.  But I'm minded of my Melksham to Bristol trip last Saturday.  7 people got on the train without tickets, but the conductor was only able to sell 2 tickets prior to Chippenham because of the complexity of the system.  Had we had to wait at the driver's cab, the train would have been rather held up.

[ellendune]

6. All you need is one click

I never found it that complicated to book myself.  Certainly not more difficult than an airline.  Amazon does not need your to know when you want to read the book!

Ellundene - PLEASE tell me where I could have got all the information and book for my multimodal journey from SN12 6QL to TA1 5AX yesterday    (Car to B-o-A, so suggested time and car park ticket for station ... train to TAU^» (Taunton - next trains), so train fare to pay ... choice of walk, so map needed, or bus, so time needed and fare to be paid)

He did not say anything about multimodal journeys just rail journeys.  Yes the booking systems sometimes have their faults, but assuming all the fares have been correctly entered, I have never found them difficult to use.

Edited by Brucey to fix the quotes