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John R
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« Reply #15 on: March 08, 2008, 08:28:01 » |
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Just 5 hours without a train.  |
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #16 on: March 08, 2008, 13:15:16 » |
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Rather similar to ... er, just taking an example, completely at random ... Melksham?   |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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Lee
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« Reply #17 on: March 08, 2008, 13:48:20 » |
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Just 5 hours without a train. Rather similar to ... er, just taking an example, completely at random ... Melksham? Chalk & cheese, Chris..... Melksham has a twelve and a half hour gap in services towards both Swindon and Westbury Interesting to note that Nailsea had no late evening services back then, just like Melksham now. |
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vacman
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« Reply #18 on: March 08, 2008, 14:54:44 » |
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Newquay has 5hrs 33mins between trains in the afternoon! I believe Newquay is infact bigger than Melksham?
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grahame
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« Reply #19 on: March 08, 2008, 17:47:35 » |
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Newquay has 5hrs 33mins between trains in the afternoon! I believe Newquay is infact bigger than Melksham?
Very interesting comparison. Wikipedia says of Newquay:According to the 2001 census it had a permanent population of 19,423 and The town has a resident population of around 22,000 but this can increase to 100,000 or more in the summer. And Of Melksham:The 2001 UK▸ census cited Melksham as having 20,000 inhabitants, including sizeable environs such as Bowerhill and Berryfield. And I will addMelksham has grown since 2001, and a figure of 23500 (+-500) is probably correct at the present day - to compare to the 22,000 (winter) and 100,000 (Summer) of Newquay. We do have an excellent hotel in Melksham, but wouldn't pretend to be able to house anywhere like the Newquay numbers. On - and, Lee - if you look at the gap in service times overnight, it's only a gap of eleven and a half hours |
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Coffee Shop Admin, Chair of Melksham Rail User Group, TravelWatch SouthWest Board Member
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Lee
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« Reply #20 on: March 08, 2008, 17:50:31 » |
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Newquay has 5hrs 33mins between trains in the afternoon! I believe Newquay is infact bigger than Melksham?
I dont condone the fact that Newquay has a long gap between trains either, although this is half the length of the daytime gap at Melksham. Good to hear from you earlier that this is being addressed though : summer timetable is in the system now, Newquay gets an afternoon train at last! 1559 Par-Nqy and 1733 Nqy-Par.
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devon_metro
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« Reply #21 on: March 08, 2008, 17:53:58 » |
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Meanwhile AXCs» timetable to Paignton on saturdays is looking very poor, unless of course you live in Manchester |
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Lee
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« Reply #22 on: March 08, 2008, 19:00:15 » |
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vacman
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« Reply #23 on: March 08, 2008, 19:19:12 » |
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Sorry Graham, wasn't implying that Melksham wasn't worthy of a decent service, was just making a comparison, what annoys me about the Newquay service is that it is one of those places that people would use the train if there was a half decent service, whereas Looe on the other hand gets a near hourly service all year round and yet hardly anybody uses it! when FGW▸ did the half price promo last month, loads of people were travelling from Newquay to Plymouth on a saturday.
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Lee
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« Reply #24 on: March 09, 2008, 01:45:03 » |
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Sorry Graham, wasn't implying that Melksham wasn't worthy of a decent service, was just making a comparison, what annoys me about the Newquay service is that it is one of those places that people would use the train if there was a half decent service, whereas Looe on the other hand gets a near hourly service all year round and yet hardly anybody uses it! when FGW▸ did the half price promo last month, loads of people were travelling from Newquay to Plymouth on a saturday.
I seem to recall that we once had a conversation related to this..... Not good Smokey! If anything should be axed, it should be Looe! I think there is potential to do more to boost passenger numbers on the Looe line. The proposed Park & Ride scheme is one example, if set up in an appropriate manner (yes I have read the reservations of forum members.) Quote from Insider (link below) : http://indefenceoffirstgreatwestern.blogspot.com/2007/10/im-back.html"I've been trying to get a word with Julian Crow about this park and ride idea, although I haven't been able to get hold of him lately. I do know, however, that it is something that people have been asking for and it is likely to be very useful as we are trying to promote usage on the Looe line. I'll try and bring you more details when I have them." It should also be noted that the Looe line is well used in the summer months. The Looe line is busier in summer but is still nowhere near as busy as Newquay and St Ives in summer, the Looe branch in summer is usually manageable with a single 153, even in July and August. It would be interesting to hear Richard B's view on that, as he had a row with Alistair Darling which resulted in the claim (by Richard B) that the guard couldnt get down the Looe train to sell tickets because it was so packed in summer. That probably was the case, what i'm saying is that even with a 153 you'll never get to the point of leaving passengers behind on the Looe line, where as I remember one bank holiday when Wessex sent a single 153 out to Newquay, when they arrived there were over 300 passengers waiting on the platform, the guard rang control and they said they'd send a bus, trying to fob the 200 passengers off that couldnt fit on, the guard then refused to move the train until the busses arrived! couldn't imagine the same situation at Looe! View noted. I have now had time to seek out the RichardB/Alistair Darling disagreement. Quotes from a Times article (17/03/2006, link below) : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2090057,00.htmlAlistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, admitted that he was partly responsible for the West Country cuts. He said: ^I am not seeking to avoid blame. We cannot be in the business of carting fresh air round the country. If we are terrified to go near any service for fear of flak, then sooner or later we will come a cropper.^
Mr Darling said that the Liskeard-to-Looe branch line, in Cornwall, which is losing five of its thirteen daily services, had attracted an average of only nine passengers a train in the twelve months to last April. But the Devon and Cornwall Community Rail Partnership said that Mr Darling was using misleading figures based only on tickets sold.
Richard Burningham, the partnership^s manager, said: ^Trains on the Looe branch are so crowded in summer that the conductor cannot get down the aisle to sell tickets.^ Interestingly, RichardB seems to have partly won the argument. Quote from the DfT» Review of Community Rail Development Strategy (link below.) http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/strategyfinance/strategy/community/revcomrail?page=3#a10072.35 The Looe Valley story is less happy and demonstrates how increases to the number of trains do not guarantee improved patronage. The timetable on this line was changed in Summer 2004 to provide an hourly service. Initially this was followed by a drop in patronage ^ though this has been reversed in Summer 2006. The initial drop was believed to be partly due to changes in the local bus services which can provide access to the town centres of Looe and Liskeard and which are faster than the train service. Although this was disappointing, the trains are still often full during the summer ^ on a typical day in the summer around 600 journeys are made on the branch. Further work is being done on increasing capacity when the trains are full and the timetable is being re-focused on timetabled connections rather than more frequent services. It's the same story on a lot of summer services with reagards to revenue collection, the hourly service on the Looe branch didn't really work because it was clock face and was timetabled so that it missed some mainline connections by about 2 minutes sometimes! I certainly don't agree with the earlier post by someone saying that Looe should be shut! It may not be the busiest branch but it is still used and there is usually a handfull of people on each daytime service. As for Alastair Darling, well, I couldn't possibly say what I think of him here because it would be a personal attack!  There you go, that should save a lot of time. Look on the bright side, at least we agreed on Alistair Darling I should also point out to forum readers that Btline did clarify his earlier remark.... It's the same story on a lot of summer services with reagards to revenue collection, the hourly service on the Looe branch didn't really work because it was clock face and was timetabled so that it missed some mainline connections by about 2 minutes sometimes! I certainly don't agree with the earlier post by someone saying that Looe should be shut! It may not be the busiest branch but it is still used and there is usually a handfull of people on each daytime service. As for Alastair Darling, well, I couldn't possibly say what I think of him here because it would be a personal attack! Please let me clarify: I do not want Looe to be shut!!!!!!!! I was mearly saying that if Totnes and Whitby should be shut, then Looe should be anyway. I hope it does not happen! Sorry for misunderstandings! |
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Lee
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« Reply #25 on: April 12, 2008, 21:12:05 » |
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vacman
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« Reply #26 on: April 12, 2008, 21:21:32 » |
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #27 on: April 12, 2008, 21:28:29 » |
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To be fair: " Other examples" - as well as Melksham! Glad to see some of the 'scenic' lines getting better services this summer, though, vacman!  |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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devon_metro
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« Reply #28 on: April 12, 2008, 21:39:18 » |
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You missed Melksham!
Heaven forbid |
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Chris from Nailsea
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« Reply #29 on: April 12, 2008, 21:45:22 » |
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Heaven may well forbid it, d_m - but FGW▸ do still miss Melksham, most of the time! |
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William Huskisson MP▸ was the first person to be killed by a train while crossing the tracks, in 1830. Many more have died in the same way since then. Don't take a chance: stop, look, listen.
"Level crossings are safe, unless they are used in an unsafe manner." Discuss.
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