Has the British commuter railway been left to rot in private control?

[whole diary]

[RichardB]

But at least you could get a cup of maxpax tea and a stale ham sandwich from the beloved buffet bar.

To be very fair, I never had a stale sandwich from a BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) buffet - marg on both sides of the bread perhaps, but not stale.  Of course, no paper bags in those days so getting the maxpax back to your seat intact was quite a tricky operation.

[broadgage]

Back in the good old days

And why are modern trains so hugely expensive ?

Ah yes, the good ol' days when people used to fall out of slam door stock on a regular basis, and people with wheelchairs had to sit in the beloved guards van and pee into a bottle as the toilet was too small if they could even get to it.

And best of all in the good ol' days, trains used to be sliced open like tin cans in an accident, and so did all the people inside them.

But at least you could get a cup of maxpax tea and a stale ham sandwich from the beloved buffet bar.

Over 13 years since the last mainline passenger crash fatality in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom).  I prefer the bad new days somehow. 

I was thinking more of a pint of draught beer and a mixed grill, than tea and a ham sandwich.
Newer trains are indeed safer in accidents, but the risks never worried me, rail was still a very mode of transport even before modern trains.
Provision for disabled travellers has improved, IN THEORY, but in practice a lot of services are so overcrowded that the able bodied are left behind, so not much chance of a wheelchair user being able to board.

[IndustryInsider]

I can’t ever remember seeing a wheelchair bound passenger being prevented from boarding a train due to overcrowding in my decades of day in, day out journeys on our railways, both on duty and as a passenger.  Doubtless it does happen on very rare occasions - often due to mistakes I would imagine.  But, it most definitely does not happen routinely as you suggest.

[PhilWakely]

I can’t ever remember seeing a wheelchair bound passenger being prevented from boarding a train due to overcrowding in my decades of day in, day out journeys on our railways, both on duty and as a passenger.  Doubtless it does happen on very rare occasions - often due to mistakes I would imagine.  But, it most definitely does not happen routinely as you suggest.

I am aware of a couple - on a Summer Sunday in the westcountry on Paddington-bound services. Both trains were seriously overcrowded (as they pretty much always are on Summer Sundays), but platform staff were thankfully able to source a couple of wheelchair taxis for their onward journeys.

[Robin Summerhill]

We had lots of things in those days they haven't got today. Rickets, Diptheria, Hitler...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2AcJSkUw6M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2AcJSkUw6M

[broadgage]

We had lots of things in those days they haven't got today. Rickets, Diptheria, Hitler...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2AcJSkUw6M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2AcJSkUw6M

True, but perhaps we could bring back buffets and full length trains without having to re-introduce Diptheria, Rickets, or hitler ?
More research needed.

[TaplowGreen]

We had lots of things in those days they haven't got today. Rickets, Diptheria, Hitler...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2AcJSkUw6M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2AcJSkUw6M

True, but perhaps we could bring back buffets and full length trains without having to re-introduce Diptheria, Rickets, or hitler ?
More research needed.

Will someone please close the door properly? 

[eightf48544]

Talking of Buffets on short distant trains I regularly used to have Toast and jam between Victoria and East  Croydon. The best was to get it between Gatwick Airport and Three Bridges. also remember the introduction of  the 309s and their real steak baps.

On proper trains (HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train)) full breakfast between Reading and Bristol Parkway (non stop) and St Pancras Bedford.

[Ralph Ayres]

To bring the discussion back to the "British commuter railway" rather than railways more generally, my perception as a commuter on Chiltern in particular is that they have to a great extent neglected local commuters in favour of their more lucrative longer-distance traffic.  They have grown the latter of their own volition (to the benefit of its users as intended by the whole privatisation philosophy), but many shorter distance services and those calling at smaller stations only run at the minimum levels specified in the franchise because the market is broadly captive and unlikely to grow. For my own journey, the frequency is no better than it was 40 years ago, with reduced journey times only incidental to minimise delays to the longer distance trains. A 5 minute reduction in journey time on a half hour journey is little compensation for a half hour wait when work finishing time doesn't line up with train times.

[didcotdean]

Chiltern as it comes to the end of its franchise seems unwilling to lease more stock and hence were in normal times short-forming on a regular basis as they became stretched. Must be the last to have still been running two carriage trains out of London on peak-time commuter services (GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) having at one time also being guilty of this).

[RichardB]

For my own journey, the frequency is no better than it was 40 years ago, with reduced journey times only incidental to minimise delays to the longer distance trains.

40 years ago, Chiltern was, of course, still 1st Generation DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) territory and BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) were looking to close Marylebone.  What happened when Network SouthEast modernised the route and the Turbos were introduced?  Was there no improvement then?

[grahame]

For my own journey, the frequency is no better than it was 40 years ago, with reduced journey times only incidental to minimise delays to the longer distance trains.

40 years ago, Chiltern was, of course, still 1st Generation DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) territory and BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) were looking to close Marylebone.  What happened when Network SouthEast modernised the route and the Turbos were introduced?  Was there no improvement then?

Quick comparison ... from quite early in 1st generation DMU life, and early 2020:

1968 - 17:00 to 17:59 departures for the Chiltern Lines
4 from Marylebone via Harrow on the Hill
6 from Marylebone via South Ruislip
1 from Paddington via South Ruislip

1989 - 17:00 to 17:59 departures for the Chiltern Lines
3 from Marylebone via Harrow on the Hill
8 from Marylebone via South Ruislip
0 from Paddington via South Ruislip

2020 - 17:00 to 17:59 departures for the Chiltern Lines
4 from Marylebone via Harrow on the Hill
10 from Marylebone via South Ruislip
0 from Paddington via South Ruislip

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/nrtt20/Table%20115.pdf
http://www.wellho.net/oldpix/2020_04_22_16_02_27/image00006.jpg
(change 006 to 001 through 008 for rest of table if you want to make other comparisons)

Edit to add 1989 - from a paper timetable I have here / not yet online

[Robin Summerhill]

Going back even further to 1968, when the LMR had a new toy in the shape of the recently-introduced WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) electrics, what is now Chiltern territory north of Princes Risborough had a dire service.

Princes Risborough to Bicester North at 1637 and 1901 (SX) only on weekdays, 0953, 1753 and 2123 on Sunays.
High Wycombe to Bicester North at 0855, 1055, 1353, 1622, 1809 and 1848 (SX) on weekdays, 0937, 1534, 1738 and 2100 on Sundays.

And that was your lot!