'Shoppers stymied by skeleton rail service' - from The Times, 27 December 2009

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From The Times:

Rail chiefs have been attacked by politicians and passenger groups for providing only 30% of a normal bank holiday service yesterday, despite it being one of the busiest days of the year for shopping, sports and family trips.

Every train service in the country was closed down with the exception of lines between London and its airports — Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted — a small number from southeastern England into the capital and a few in and out of Glasgow.

The result was that an estimated 12m shoppers going to the sales and millions more on other trips had no alternative but to travel by car. Only 3,000 trains were in service compared with 10,000 on a normal bank holiday and 20,000 on a working weekday. Services were due to resume at 6am today, but some passengers face rail replacement buses because of engineering work.

Critics said Network Rail’s policy was badly outdated and designed for the days when few people ventured out on Boxing Day.

Thirty-eight MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) have signed an early-day motion critcising the transport department and rail companies. Tabled by John Grogan, the Labour MP, it “expresses deep disappointment that once again during this festive season the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)’s railways will undergo a 58-hour shutdown”.

“To shut the whole network is inexcusable,” said Stephen Hammond, the Tory rail spokesman.

The Association of Train Operating Companies said: “In the past there has not been too much demand to travel on Boxing Day but we do recognise that things are changing more and more people want to get around then and that is why we are running 50% more services than last year. We do want to meet increasing demand and will talk to the Department for Transport and Network Rail about how we can do this.”

Renewed heavy snow threatens further travel disruption. The Met Office forecasts 4in-6in in parts of the Midlands and Wales on Tuesday and Wednesday. Smaller amounts of snow may spread to the southeast on Thursday.

[IndustryInsider]

Every year there's criticism about the fact hardly any trains run on Boxing Day. My views haven't changed since we debated it last year: http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=4057.30

It doesn't look like anything is about to change on FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s routes. There's a drivers restructuring referendum currently taking place for the LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) drivers, which makes no specific mention of the Xmas and Boxing Day commitments changing - currently drivers don't work Xmas and Boxing Day and if they would normally be rostered to work they are obliged to use their Annual Leave entitlement on those days.

[TerminalJunkie]

Every year there's criticism about the fact hardly any trains run on Boxing Day.

And, just like every other year, virtually all the bus routes in North Devon have had their normal Sunday service on both Xmas Day and Boxing Day...

[ChrisB]

Just because some people want to cure their boredom by going to the shops shouldn't mean that rail workers should have to give up their Christmas break! Fine to let them volunteer in advance & run whatever service they might be able to provide, but it should certainly be voluntary.

In Spain, the buses run a Saturday service on both days.....

[amiddl]

The 08.40 ex Plymouth was interesting to say the least this morning.

By the time the train had got to Newbury it was impossible to get anymore passengers on board and those hoping to use the train to go shopping in Reading had no chance.

We stood in First Class  to Reading which was full down the aisles (both 1st and standard) along the buffet and in all of the vestibules (1st and standard).

[rogerw]

A visit to Trowbridge about lunchtime revealed a hand written message " The next train to Bristol is not until 1300.  It is currently suffering from delays and severe overcrowding".

[grahame]

I think this subject is going to add a great deal of heat to Christmas at The Coffee Shop every year.

It strikes me as odd that the public transport is almost completely shut down on Boxing day when so many people want to make journeys to go to the shops, to visit relatives, and to sporting fixtures. Indeed, carrying on with the sporting analogy it's something of an own goal by the public transport industry; it shows that many people can travel without the need for it on that day ... so why not on other days too?

The press was also telling us that this was the first time in 11 years that Boxing Day fell on a Saturday ... and with the different superimposition of the Christmas holiday on the week each year, it must be almost impossible for the public transport industry to knwo how much traffic to predict.   I venture to suggest that things have changed sufficiently in 11 years for the 1998 statistics for travel on Sunday, 27th December to be useful in gauging what service to provide.

P.S.  It wasn't really even a Sunday service today at my local station .... only one train in three actually ran ...

[John R]

Having seen the hordes waiting at Reading this morning for a London bound HST^▸ (High Speed Train) as it pulled in, it struck me that a few more services would not have gone amiss. Fortunately we were in 1st, but I reckon there were enough people trying to board to fill every seat on the train. And previously the TM^‡(resolve) had been announcing for people to take their reserved seats only, which makes me suspect that it was full even before arriving at Reading.

Though I have less sympathy over Boxing Day morning. I don't subscribe to the view that the railway (and hence its employees) should put on a service just to pander to the retailers and people who wish to indulge themselves in sales on Boxing Day. Though some service later in the day would be a useful public service in years when the 27th is neither a weekend or a public holiday, otherwise people have no means of travelling home in time to return to work the following morning.

It's a difficult balance, and one that will never please everyone.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

why dont they do work on the line at night?

[super tm]

Nothing is likely to change until the next franchise.  Perhaps we should diarise the discussion for then!

[Super Guard]

I don't understand why a full Sunday service wasn't provided on the 27th?  I am in agreement that have Xmas & Boxing shut-down but then get back to "normal" immediately. 

I think if you can't put up with relatives until the morning of the 27th then shame on you all... you all have another 363 days of making excuses not to see them until next Christmas eve

[devon_metro]

Talking of busy trains, todays 1000 Penzance - Paddington left Liskeard 18 mins late due to the sheer number of people try to board it. It spent 5 mins at every single Cornish station, and its a "High Density" set. Cosy!

[IndustryInsider]

Just because some people want to cure their boredom by going to the shops shouldn't mean that rail workers should have to give up their Christmas break! Fine to let them volunteer in advance & run whatever service they might be able to provide, but it should certainly be voluntary.

Those who work in the shops have give up their Christmas break to cure those bored people - why should rail workers be any different? Anyway, a Boxing Day service would provide for far more than a few shoppers. There are a significant number of people who would want to return home from a short break later on Boxing Day and this would relieve the immense pressure early on the 27th which I have witnessed in previous years and from comments in this thread was as bad as ever this year. There are also a significant number of sporting events.

We're not talking about a service of anywhere near the usual frequency, but on key routes I am convinced that a workable (and financially viable) service could and indeed should be provided. It's more negative press for the railways every year as long as they continue not too.

There are probably enough staff who would volunteer to work (at a suitably enhanced rate) without 'forcing' anybody to go to work on Boxing Day - a special system could be introduced where volunteers commit a few months in advance to ensure you have enough people on the ground - though I can appreciate that arranging for it to happen (station staff, guards, drivers, booking offices, signalboxes, maintenance staff etc.,) makes it not quite as easy to introduce as it may look on paper.

[ChrisB]

The unions want very silly money to work on Boxing day - very  silly money - TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) would need peak fares all day just to get close to paying for it.....and we all know what furore there would be in the gutter press.

No, everyone would expect usual bank holiday fares (Groupsave, cheapo advance tickets etc) - I can understand why TOCs effectively say "Why should we make a large loss just so that retailers (mostly) can fill their pockets".....

[matt473]

No, everyone would expect usual bank holiday fares (Groupsave, cheapo advance tickets etc) - I can understand why TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) effectively say "Why should we make a large loss just so that retailers (mostly) can fill their pockets".....

Why should they run any service if it makes loss? It's all down to whether a decision is made that TOCs have to run a service by the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) as the TOCs will not run the service on their own. As you said about the unions wanting silly money though, it also shows how difficult it can be to sort this out anyway as sadly this could be another area for Bob Crow to encourage his RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) union to cause yet more disruption