Playing with trains/ HS2 & 3

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  • Bryn
    Banned
    • Mar 2007
    • 24688

    Originally posted by oddoneout View Post
    Ironic given the ease with which, in theory, such information can be disseminated these days, so that the first passengers to present with the expectation of ticket exemption should flag up the need to check for messages from HQ? The old version had the advantage I suppose of not needing the driver to do anything other than hear the message, and so be forewarned.
    This following may be three years or so out of date but TfL bus drivers had/have access to a radio communication system with two levels of urgent contact, "Code Red" for the most serious situations and "Code Blue" where urgent communication is needed but mainly to impart information regarding a newly developed situation on the road. The former can take a few minutes to procure a response, the latter is all too often greeted with something close to dismissal of the need for the alert. The audio quality of the system is often very poor, with frequent drop-outs, etc. The system is also used to alert drivers to the need to accept rail and tube passengers when disruption to those services occurs. However, due to the variable quality of communication, such alerts can be missed. How different drivers deal with such circumstances rather depends on how much of a 'job worth' the driver is, or how good their day has been.

    Comment

    • teamsaint
      Full Member
      • Nov 2010
      • 25231

      Probably fair to say that the DFT would do poorly in a contest to differentiate arses and elbows.



      “ what is more important to you, personal safety or wifi ?”

      “ Yeah, but no but….”

      Really extraordinary.
      I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

      I am not a number, I am a free man.

      Comment

      • alywin
        Full Member
        • Apr 2011
        • 376

        As a not-infrequent business traveller on the trains, I have to say that losing Wi-Fi would probably push me far more onto coach services.

        Comment

        • smittims
          Full Member
          • Aug 2022
          • 4384

          There's a programme on Radio 4 at 8pm (2000 BST) this evening called 'what are the railways for?' . Apparently Britain's railways are about to be reorganised (this was news to me); I'm told it happens every thirty years or so, traditionally the interval between generations, maybe reflecting the notion that everyone thinks they now better than their parents did.

          Comment

          • alywin
            Full Member
            • Apr 2011
            • 376

            Oh, does that include dispensing with the free onboard Wi-Fi, as is threatened?

            EDIT: Oh, sorry, I'd forgotten I'd mentioned it upthread already.
            Last edited by alywin; 03-06-23, 00:29.

            Comment

            • Dave2002
              Full Member
              • Dec 2010
              • 18045

              There's a programme on Channel 4 tonight - Ben Elton on how/why the railways don't work!

              Perhaps worth picking up on catch up later.

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              • oddoneout
                Full Member
                • Nov 2015
                • 9306

                Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
                There's a programme on Channel 4 tonight - Ben Elton on how/why the railways don't work!

                Perhaps worth picking up on catch up later.

                https://www.channel4.com/programmes/...ilway-disaster
                Broadcast here on Monday, I watched it. Horribly depressing as one would expect, and very well presented I thought - no histrionics, just one devastating example/piece of information after another.

                Comment

                • teamsaint
                  Full Member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 25231

                  There is no catering on South Western Railway.
                  None at all.
                  Some journeys take several hours.

                  Edit. The strikes may never end either.
                  I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

                  I am not a number, I am a free man.

                  Comment

                  • oddoneout
                    Full Member
                    • Nov 2015
                    • 9306

                    Originally posted by teamsaint View Post
                    There is no catering on South Western Railway.
                    None at all.
                    Some journeys take several hours.

                    Edit. The strikes may never end either.
                    I don't know what their excuse is but it has to be said if trains are routinely overcrowded then operating the mobile catering becomes impossible. Need the trolleys to operate up and down the platforms at stations perhaps(posting food through the windows as in India?), but I suppose the franchises wouldn't like it,, even though they wouldn't get customers from a "moving " train anyway as there isn't a long enough stop at many stations to get off, find the outlet, queue and then get back on the train.

                    Comment

                    • Sir Velo
                      Full Member
                      • Oct 2012
                      • 3268

                      Originally posted by teamsaint View Post
                      There is no catering on South Western Railway.
                      Given the standard of rail catering, some might see that as a blessing!

                      Originally posted by teamsaint View Post
                      Some journeys take several hours.
                      That would be expected of Waterloo to Weymouth or Waterloo to Exeter, hein?

                      Comment

                      • smittims
                        Full Member
                        • Aug 2022
                        • 4384

                        As a long-term railway enthusiast it gives me no pleasure to read these posts, but it's comforting, perhaps, to know that I'm not alone in lamenting the decline in rail services in recent years.

                        Last week we had a pleasant holiday marred only by our encounters with rail travel. I chose to go by rail to allow us both to relax and enjoy the view and the comfort. The first day our train, for which I had advance-purchased first class tickets and seat reservations, was cancelled , and we had to travel on two alternative overcrowded trains with no catering or luggage spaces. Mid week we took a trip up into the hills. Our train coming back was cancelled and we had to wait three hours for a coach, after repeated telephoning to find out if it really was going to come. Coming home on the last day we were misinformed that our train was cancelled until I discovered three stops later that it was running. We boarded it to find that there was no at-seat service in first class and nearly all the food had been snaffled by a ravenous horde who had waited an hour for it as the previous train had been cancelled.

                        It's no wonder that non-enthusiasts elect to go by car, contributing to the unwelcome spectacle of queues of vehicles , all with engines running, one person in each, repeated all over the civilised world.

                        Comment

                        • EnemyoftheStoat
                          Full Member
                          • Nov 2010
                          • 1136

                          Originally posted by oddoneout View Post
                          I don't know what their excuse is but it has to be said if trains are routinely overcrowded then operating the mobile catering becomes impossible. Need the trolleys to operate up and down the platforms at stations perhaps(posting food through the windows as in India?), but I suppose the franchises wouldn't like it,, even though they wouldn't get customers from a "moving " train anyway as there isn't a long enough stop at many stations to get off, find the outlet, queue and then get back on the train.
                          The trains aren't routinely overcrowded enough for that to be an excuse. I did Waterloo to Exeter regularly for several years and there would be a trolley service doing drinks and various snacks, but that was dropped during Covid (I think) and never brought back. Various other aspects of SW railways are poor too; no charging points in 2nd class (on the WAT-EXD line) and the toilets are usually a mess (ridiculous dryers as well).

                          Comment

                          • teamsaint
                            Full Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 25231

                            Originally posted by Sir Velo View Post
                            Given the standard of rail catering, some might see that as a blessing!

                            That would be expected of Waterloo to Weymouth or Waterloo to Exeter, hein?
                            Well, yes, the point obviously being that it is a long time to go with no refreshment facilities.
                            I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.

                            I am not a number, I am a free man.

                            Comment

                            • Dave2002
                              Full Member
                              • Dec 2010
                              • 18045

                              Originally posted by teamsaint View Post
                              There is no catering on South Western Railway.
                              None at all.
                              Some journeys take several hours.

                              Edit. The strikes may never end either.
                              Re SW Trains - or whatever they are called these days. There are some lines where the trains do not have toilets - not even ones which aren't in good condition. One example is Guildford to London via Effingham. Sometimes that presents problems, particularly if there are delays, which happens a lot.

                              However, some of the issues in the northern parts of the UK are absolutely pathetic compared with what happens in the SE.

                              Comment

                              • smittims
                                Full Member
                                • Aug 2022
                                • 4384

                                I believe there are no toilets on Merseyrail trains, maybe useful to know in advance!

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