Cotswold Line redoubling: 2008 - 2011

[whole diary]

[eightf48544]

Just shows what a mess the rail industry is in regarding planning. Too may fingers in the pie.

In BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) days if the Traffic Manager didn't talk to the Civil Engineer the General Manager  would bang their heads together.

It was proved in concusively in 1825 after the free for all on the Stockton and Darlington Railway that the railway must be a vertically integrated organisation.

 All the "bean counters" should be sacked.

[Tim]

My big concern (and I speak as someone who doesn't use the line to Worcester) is not that passengers on that line will have to wait slightly longer for improvements, but that the momentum behind improving our network is being lost. 

Will Kemble-Gloucester now be delayed/defered/cancelled, what about electrification?  Reading, crossrail, HST^▸ (High Speed Train) replacement?   

[Btline]

All of those you mentioned are likely to be shelved, axed or scaled down; definitely if we have a Conservative government next year, and even possibly under Labour!

I agree about the planning. When it was just BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) is was so much simpler - only one company. Now we have several TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) sticking in (ok, in Cotswold, it's only one) Net Rail and then all the contractors etc. No wonder nothing ever gets done, getting pushed back a year here and there...

[IndustryInsider]

It doesn't take much to encourage the harbingers of doom on here does it?!

As Willc says, nothing has yet to be officially announced, and whilst there is almost certainly 'something' a little amiss with the project from the range of respectable sources who've heard things over the last few weeks, perhaps we should all wait to see exactly what it'll mean until it's confirmed by NR^» (Network Rail - home page)? After all, it's the project completion date that's the only important one - not the postponement of possessions in February.

A 6-month delay would be a little frustrating but not the end of the world, anything over a year would be very disappointing (and cast doubts over NR's ability to sort out the much bigger projects looming), so let's hope they can sort out any problems!

[Chris from Nailsea]

And given the belief among some posters here that all the media are liars, why would you believe anything I wrote anyway?

Erm ... for the same reason we would believe what was written in the Irish Times - despite your apparent doubts as to their accuracy? 

Perhaps not quite normal, as there appear to be some pretty stringent speed restrictions in place for the next few weeks, if the Irish Times is to be believed
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1114/1224258814850.html

_{(My emphasis in bold)}

[willc]

I had no doubts about it all - I had my tongue firmly in my cheek at the time, given the attitudes to the media I referred to above.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Worcester News:

It^s going to cost you more to use the train

Train passengers in Worcestershire have been struck a double blow.

They are facing a 15 per cent price rise for some tickets, while work on line improvement has been delayed.

Network Rail said that planned work to redouble the line between Worcester and Oxford, which was due to take place next month, has been delayed.

And the price of a single ticket with First Great Western will jump in price from today.

The price of an off-peak single between Worcester Foregate Street and London Paddington will increase by ^4 from ^25.50 to ^29.50. But it is not all bad news. The price of an off-peak return ticket from Worcester to London has dropped by 30p from ^43 to ^42.70.

First Great Western were keen to stress the sharp increase on its single tickets was the result of an adjustment of a special offer on off-peak tickets, which it started in September 2009.

^Our average price rise is 2.47 per cent and the vast majority of our customers actually will see a decrease,^ said Dan Panes, a spokesman for the train company. ^The 15 per cent price rise is not a completely accurate representation. The rise is on promotional tickets.^

This means, even with the apparently sharp increase, passengers travelling only one way with First Great Western will still be better off than if they travelled with Virgin, whose off-peak single from Worcester to London, via Birmingham, will cost ^43, as opposed to a return fare costing ^44. But passengers will have to wait longer for a more frequent and reliable service on the North Cotswold line.

The delay in work means it seems there is little chance of the improved line coming into operation before late 2011, instead of the hoped for early 2011.

Derek Potter, chairman of the Cotswold Line Promotion Group ^ which has been campaigning for an improved service for decades ^ is confident the delay does not mean Network Rail have given up on the project.

He said: ^The scheme overall is still down to be completed in 2011, but as yet we have not seen any proposals of when they will do the work. I am confident that everyone is committed to getting the work done. They have already spent a considerable amount on the redoubling at Chipping Campden ^ they^re not going to be able to waste that.^

No one from Network Rail was available for comment.

[JayMac]

If I read the quotes accurately from the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) spokesman in that story then he appears to be saying that the 'half the return price' off peak singles introduced in September were in fact special offers and a promotion.

Funny that. They never called them a special offer or a promotion at the time. Bit of revisionist history there. Shame on you FGW.

[paul7575]

As I put in a different thread, that 15% rise in some of FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s fares seems to have made the headlines across the country - appearing as a completely irrelevant headline in a fair number of regional or local papers.

Give a dog a bone...

Paul

[ChrisB]

And it's only singles that have risen that much....

But 'Promotional' fares - my foot! I shall have words.....



Edit by GrahamE  ChrisB posted this useful follow up while I was actually splitting the topic.   I have quoted him in the new thread, and answerd there.

[grahame]

I have split off comments on the "it was a promotion" assertation by First Great Western on the 15% rise on Off Peak Singles, as it's of far wider concern than just in the Cotswords.   See:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=6047

[willc]

http://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/4834306.Cotswold_Line_improvement_work_is_still_on_track/

[IndustryInsider]

Ahh, the first official denial that there's problems. Let's hope Mavis is right!

[Chris from Nailsea]

I am delighted to read that. Really. 

However, it doesn't explain why willc's fellow journalist, only a few days ago, wrote as follows, in the Worcester News:

Train passengers in Worcestershire have been struck a double blow.

They are facing a 15 per cent price rise for some tickets, while work on line improvement has been delayed.

Network Rail said that planned work to redouble the line between Worcester and Oxford, which was due to take place next month, has been delayed.

... passengers will have to wait longer for a more frequent and reliable service on the North Cotswold line.

The delay in work means it seems there is little chance of the improved line coming into operation before late 2011, instead of the hoped for early 2011.

No one from Network Rail was available for comment.

That sort of mixed message - same source, different journalist - is why some people apparently disbelieve much of what they read in the press, I'd suggest ... 

[willc]

But it wasn't the same source - Network Rail never said anything about a delay - it was extrapolated that they had, via the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) 'unannouncement' - note the final line of the Worcester News piece. Sloppy writing, yes, and they really should have waited to get a Network Rail comment, but if FGW hadn't started the muddle rolling to begin with...
And of course, someone may also have come across the odd post or two earlier in this thread.