You totally failed to address my point, as you do with others on a regular basis.....
Sorry, ChrisB - I have my opinions as do you. I don't deliberately fail to address anyone's point, but replies can get very messy if you try to do so. If others have noticed me deliberately evading other peoples points in my answers then nobody has ever said to me, and I strive to always acknowledge the other side of an argument if there is one when I state my opinions - something, which with respect, your own occasionally brusque manner of posting doesn't allow you to do. That being said I agree with many of your opinions.
I will answer your points as fully as I can now though.
Why should TOCs▸ make a loss on Boxing Day?
Why should TOC's be obliged to operate
any loss making services? Because they are required to under the terms of their franchise, and to a certain extend, paid a subsidy to do so. That way the delicate balance between making money and providing a service is largely maintained. Why should Boxing Day be any different, and what makes you so sure that they would all run at a loss? In my opinion it should be automatically included in the franchise commitments - and as you say it will hopefully happen soon.
Eurostar compete with the airlines, not other TOCs, hence they run when the airlines do. Simple.
And there's enough people wanting to travel on planes and Eurostar on Boxing Day (and the road network) to indicate that there is a passenger demand to be satisfied. As 'bignosemac' says, who knows how many extra people would get the train that would return on 26th and can't wait until 27th?
Southeastern are still a Government-run TOC, I believe, so probably do the
DfT» bidding - and are under a different payment regime to the DfT, hence easier to organise.
As 'bignosemac' has said, no they're not. And Southern certainly aren't. So, I'll ask again, why would it not be just as possible to organise a similar suburban service on
FGW▸ and
SWT▸ etc.?
Other TOCs are under franchise contracts which don't require them to run Boxing Day trains. Simple.
You need to argue your case with the DfT, not the TOCs.
I agree. The DfT should be taking some responsibility for this too, by including a Boxing Day specification within the franchise agreements.
Yes, I reckon the DfT will be specifying Boxing Day running one day in new franchises. Until then, I don't agree with you - the staff are entitled to their time off. Simple.
And, if you re-read my post I was agreeing with you that it should be done on a volunteer basis only - I think there would be enough volunteers to operate at least the service I have been suggesting. There are enough volunteers every year to operate the
TfL» sponsored late evening services out of Paddington on New Years Eve, why should that not be the case on Boxing Day?
Double time and a day in lieu is effectively triple time, but not so costly for the TOC as the day in lieu would be taken in line with existing agreements on the number of drivers from any one depot off at any one time, so the train service doesn't suffer.
Finally, I agree with you that it isn't as simple to organise as it looks on paper (as I said in my earlier post), as issues over other staff, access charges and fares would all need to be addressed. But if all those things can be arranged in other industries, and also for 363 days of the year on the railways, I don't see why we should just dismiss it as too complicated. Simple.
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