Baker calls for highlighting of overcrowded trains in timetables

[whole diary]

[Lee]

From The Guardian:

Rail firms asked to come clean on overcrowding

Minister urges operators to highlight crowded trains on their timetables to give passengers the chance to choose alternatives

Rail companies are to be urged to be more transparent about overcrowded trains in an effort to encourage passengers to travel at less busy times.

Norman Baker, the rail minister, is writing to the main train operating companies to ask them to highlight crowded trains on their timetables so that passengers have the option of choosing alternative services.

Baker is urging train companies to follow the example of London Midland, which runs trains between London and Birmingham and the north-west, and which colour-codes trains using a red, amber and green "traffic light" system.

The government faced criticism earlier this month after it was announced that rail fares in England would increase by an average of 4.1% in January next year. Off-peak intercity tickets and season tickets will increase by 1% above July's RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) figure of 3.1%.

Baker said the government had ruled out fare increases at peak times and that the idea of colour-coding crowded trains would help passengers.

"Publication of train-by-train crowding information is, in the short term, an important tool for allowing passengers to make informed choices about which trains to travel on, and convincing those passengers who can change their travel patterns to do so," he said.

"The coalition government is delivering real benefits to passengers. We have ruled out making further increases to fares at the very busiest times and we are investing record amounts in improvements to the network, but where it is simply not possible to increase services, encouraging passengers to change their travel patterns is the best way to tackle a crowded network.

"The innovative approach taken by London Midland is helping to smooth the peaks in demand for their services and is making the most of the investment going into rail services in their area. I am keen to see the rail industry working together to follow London Midland's example."

[Electric train]

............. and so speaks he who has a Ministerial car, the regular travelling public (ie the commuter) does not need to be told which are the busy trains ........... they already (expletive deleted) know

[Trowres]

I'm not a regular traveller but make a variety of journeys around the network. Overcrowding information would be useful.

[ellendune]

I'm not a regular traveller but make a variety of journeys around the network. Overcrowding information would be useful.

Agree

[Worcester_Passenger]

I'm not a regular traveller but make a variety of journeys around the network. Overcrowding information would be useful.

Another agree

[anthony215]

I think London Midland have some posters at stations along the cross-cityline in Birmingham which show how many carriages each peak hour service from station station has and whether or not there will likely be any seats available.

Perhaps that could be expanded

[Kernow Otter]

Can think of a few services running through Cornwall which are regularly overcrowded.  Bring it on.

Still all the investment in HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) should sort that out...........

[Lee]

I think London Midland have some posters at stations along the cross-cityline in Birmingham which show how many carriages each peak hour service from station station has and whether or not there will likely be any seats available.

Perhaps that could be expanded

It's interesting that the Guardian article quotes Baker as singling out the London Midland approach as an example for other TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) to follow.

[bobm]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) do make a distinction on their long distance timetables between services where reservations are available and those where they are recommended - the inference being that the latter are the crowded services.

I agree knowing which trains are likely to be crowded would be useful but I wonder how accurate it could be.  For instance I was on an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) last week from Cornwall which has no coach E - as a result it was "crowded".  Had it had the missing coach I suspect it would have more comfortable. 

I just fear publishing this sort of information could become another stick to beat a TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) with - "you didn't say this train would be crowded and it was" type of thing.

[grahame]

It's interesting that the Guardian article quotes Baker as singling out the London Midland approach as an example for other TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) to follow.

Indeed ... First Great Western do a similar thing for peak departures from Weymouth (and I mean true peak in terms of busyness rather than peak fare times).  Useful to help choosing which train to travel home on after a day / weekend at the seaside.

[Network SouthEast]

One reason London Midland are able to provide fairly accurate crowding charts is that the majority of their fleet (172s and 350s) are fitted with automatic passenger counting equipment. It's simple for them to quickly establish loadings on services.

As far as I'm aware, none of the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) fleet has such equipment fitted, so it would be difficult to provide accurate crowding data for now. However, the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) trains will have passenger counting equipment, and I expect it to feature on the new EMUs^▸ (Electric Multiple Unit) for Thames Valley services. Maybe we'll see it refitted to the West fleet too eventually. Having said that, I can't see why FGW couldn't publish data on the diagrammed number of carriages for each service with at least an idea of how busy the service is likely to be.

[Fourbee]

SWT^▸ (South West Trains) did this around 6 months ago, with colour-coded posters on stations describing the chance of getting a seat on morning peak services into London.

I cannot find a link online and the posters have long since gone.

Generally up fasts arriving in London around 8.30 were heavily loaded. You were more likely to get a seat on stoppers.

[IndustryInsider]

I think it's an idea worth pursuing. It may not suit every route, but if you take Oxford for example, the difference in rolling stock used for services means there is widely differing loadings on some services.  It would be very useful, for example, to point Oxford/Slough to London off-peak passengers towards the 11:01 from Oxford (HST^▸ (High Speed Train) which starts there and always has masses of seats), and away from the 10:01 (a packed Class 180 from Worcester), 10:31 (pretty full 3-Car Turbo from Moreton), and 11:31 (packed Class 180 from Great Malvern).

A Red/Yellow/Green system is easy to understand, and granted having automatic passenger count systems would help to refine that, but manual observations are pretty accurate as they don't change that much over time.

[didcotdean]

There might be some merit in highlighting the relatively lightly loaded trains for infrequent travellers; without a seat reservation I look out for first at Didcot if there is a train around the time I need that has come from Cheltenham. I am aware for some there is no such thing though, especially at certain times of the day.

The busy trains aren't always obvious - a couple of weeks ago someone expressed to me her complete surprise that a Sunday mid-morning train from Bristol TM^‡(resolve) was already rammed full when it arrived at Didcot.