|
Post by lysander on Aug 30, 2014 11:24:11 GMT
Yesterday, "management" and I, having saved for a while, bought our 50% off tickets to Doncaster! ( I am now awaiting comments about us Twirlies) . Anyway, having travelled there by "nodding donkey" my wife, who suffers not only me but also a bad back, positively refused to come back on another 144. We therefore caught the 4 coach X Country train to Southampton...which was full to bursting. So full of passengers and their luggage was it that neither ticket inspection nor the sales of refreshments were being done...and apologies were being made for this. I spoke to some standing passengers who had paid extra for seat reservations but having found nowhere to place their luggage except the vestibule were standing with it. I gathered this was nothing unusual. Whatever happened to the concept of service? Why do people put up with overcrowding on overpriced rail services? Isn't it about time the Rail Regulator insisted that something be done about this ( why just 4 coaches on a long distance train?) when Franchises are up for grabs?
|
|
|
|
Post by alemaster on Aug 30, 2014 12:00:02 GMT
There are some issues of capacity which are a result of Virgin's Operation Princess not being fully thought through - that revolution saw a Cross Country service transformed and become more frequent, more reliable, more modern with more advance purchase deals too. As a result it attracted a lot more passengers and the 4/5 car Voyagers running every 30 minutes that replaced a 7 car HST or loco hauled set that run almost every hour soon got overcrowded.
There are other issues with Cross Country too. It is supposed to be a quality, long distance Intercity express service but tends to get swamped with passengers on shorter journeys such as Sheffield-Leeds/Doncaster/Chesterfield....
The trouble is because of where MPs commute, it always seems to be the London routes that get the care from the DfT when they specify franchises. Just look how EMT and local stakeholders had to get together and really campaign to be allowed the extra rolling stock for Liverpool-Norwich....
|
|
|
|
Post by alemaster on Aug 30, 2014 12:01:28 GMT
ps Friday is a very busy day for long distance leisure travel....
|
|
|
|
Post by jakerton43 on Aug 30, 2014 19:44:06 GMT
Yesterday, "management" and I, having saved for a while, bought our 50% off tickets to Doncaster! ( I am now awaiting comments about us Twirlies) . Anyway, having travelled there by "nodding donkey" my wife, who suffers not only me but also a bad back, positively refused to come back on another 144. We therefore caught the 4 coach X Country train to Southampton...which was full to bursting. So full of passengers and their luggage was it that neither ticket inspection nor the sales of refreshments were being done...and apologies were being made for this. I spoke to some standing passengers who had paid extra for seat reservations but having found nowhere to place their luggage except the vestibule were standing with it. I gathered this was nothing unusual. Whatever happened to the concept of service? Why do people put up with overcrowding on overpriced rail services? Isn't it about time the Rail Regulator insisted that something be done about this ( why just 4 coaches on a long distance train?) when Franchises are up for grabs? Transpennine Express between Sheffield and Doncaster gets rammed at times but I have faced regular overcrowding on XC between Doncaster & Sheffield.
|
|
|
|
Post by tofskilemons on Aug 30, 2014 20:21:18 GMT
DFT continually dragging feet about extra stock purchasing. Franchises don't want to spend money from their own pocket, because their will be no return in the time of the franchise (hence why they're now extending newly let franchises)
First-Kelios (TPE) applied to have 51 extra cars built to insert into their 185's however they had to be ordered and built for the Euro 5 deadline because of the Cummins engine in them not meeting Euro 5 and any other engine would make them incompatible with the current fleet. DFT dragged until the day after the last possible chance they could be ordered before saying no to them, hence why we're stuck with 3 cars.
By now, Voyagers (220/221's) should be having an extra car inserted which holds a pantograph and would be used up the ECML between Doncaster and Newcastle for example. Upon realising it'd be of no use to London and the surrounding area, the DFT cancelled the project and we're now stuck with 4/5 cars on Cross Country.
Nothing is ever going to get done up this neck of the woods. It's only going to get worse soon with the transfer away of TPE's 9 class 170's to Chiltern, because surprise surprise, they'll benefit London!
|
|
|