Unpopular opinions

[NSE]

Oh, and that passengers need to have direct trains. Yes, of course if you're fortunate to live next to a station with a direct train journey to your intended destination then fantastic. But if a good connection can be made, such as the Nuneaton connection at Rugby, then I don't see why that isn't suitable. I agree with Zoe, that if the first train is late then the second one should try to hold on (within reason of course) and the connections should be well publicised.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

- Southern have done a good job with the 313s
- 377s with 3+2 seating (I forget which marks they are) are among the worst stock in the country
- HS2 is not needed
- 375s actually aren't bad trains
- 395s could be better
- Pacers are not the route of all evil and shouldn't be killed with fire as soon as someone can find a large enough furnace
- St Pancras, as a station, is one of my most disliked in the country. It's been turned into a shopping centre with the railway provision almost an afterthought
- Euston concourse isn't awful and shouldn't be replaced

And one for the TOCs:
- Not everyone wants custom-made, print at home, download to iPhone timetables. Please just let me get them at stations without having to be bombarding with the 'fact' that my actions alone are causing thousands of acres of forests to be demolished each year

 

[starrymarkb]

And one for the TOCs:
- Not everyone wants custom-made, print at home, download to iPhone timetables. Please just let me get them at stations without having to be bombarding with the 'fact' that my actions alone are causing thousands of acres of forests to be demolished each year

Makes me think of the Post Office travel insurance. "Click here to have us post your policy to you but please consider the environment" and on the same page "Please print your policy and take with you..."

 

[AlterEgo]

I think the Class 153 is a very underrated unit.
I think Southern are the best commuter/regional TOC going.
I like Pendolinos.
WSMR were doomed from the outset, they undercharged massively and their stock has been put to better use.
The ATW Premier Service is slightly overrated.
Electrostars > Desiros.
I like Milton Keynes, and the station.
There are too many staff who don't give a toss about the railway as a whole.
There are too many staff who don't care about the customer.

 

[387star]

I work for Southern and I care deeply about the railways as a whole and the customer

 

[Mike C]

Spotters think they know more about rolling stock design and operation than those doing it for a living.

 

[Schnellzug]

There's not really very much point running inter-city services (on London-Manchester kind of distances) ridiculously frequently, since the only way that most people (as opposed to the Elite) can afford to travel on them is to book weeks and weeks in advance, so that they're usually restricted to one particular train, or at best a very limited choice of trains, so the fact that they might actually run every 20 minutes is actually fairly pointless. It just hogs line capacity. Similarly, there are actually no advantages in practical terms (beyond it being Cheaper for the operator) in running little short trains at frequent intervals, since a two-coach train takes up just as much line capacity as a 12-coach one. The protestation that providing decently sized trains would make fares prohibitively expensive is a little disengenuous, since they already are prohibitively expensive.

 

[WatcherZero]

Another biggie;

Things wernt better under BR, investment is high, company profits are low, services are better than they were before.
The current boom in rail travel wouldnt have been just as large under BR.

 

[4SRKT]

The current boom in rail travel wouldnt have been just as large under BR.

Hard to see how you can know this.

 

[ainsworth74]

Hard to see how you can know this.

Well they can't, that's why it's an opinion

 

[tbtc]

Another biggie;

Things wernt better under BR, investment is high, company profits are low, services are better than they were before.
The current boom in rail travel wouldnt have been just as large under BR.

Hard to see how you can know this.

This is the "Unpopular Opinions" thread.

A few others of mine:

• Unions have been one of the biggest winners from privatisation (if we ever nationalised the railways then they'd lose that power)
• I really don't care about TOCs serving proper meals on board (a trolley is fine on almost all routes)
• Guided Busways are worth considering in a number of locations
• We are going to have more and more toilet-less stock being built in future(as new regs mean there's no option other than a toiletless train and a DDA-sized toilet)
• Instead of building 300 miles of HS2 we'd be better building three 100 mile lines out of London for fast services
• It'd have been better to have 51 additional 170s instead of building any 185s (if LM 170s can deal with Lickley incline okay)
• Same goes for 175s (would have been better to have more 170s)

 

[Failed Unit]

The difference between the working and public timetable is for the good of the public, not to avoid compensation.

 

[Flamingo]

This is getting very close to the railway myths thread (coming at the same thing from the opposite direction!)!!

 

[TEW]

- 377s with 3+2 seating (I forget which marks they are) are among the worst stock in the country

All of them accept the 377/3s and some early 377/1s. But they all also have 2+2 seating, the same seating as in the 375s.

 

[lm321412]

99.9% of people on here think they could run the railway better than those paid to do so.

 

[HSTEd]

Every station, no matter how small, should have ticket barriers.

 

[ainsworth74]

Every station, no matter how small, should have ticket barriers.

Really?

 

[YorkshireBear]

Really?

Yes!!! :roll:

On a serious note i dont think all should. For example, i doubt its worth putting some ticket barriers at dent.... i doubt it would earn back the installation cost over a 10000 year period as i bet fare evasion from dent is about 0.00001%

 

[Schnellzug]

Ticket Barriers, while, I suppose, good for revenue Protection, are otheriwse dreadfully user unfriendly, (a classic example of Automation very rarely making the travelling experience easier or more friendly for the customer), and should preferably be superseded by staff checking tickets, either at the entrance to platforms or (preferably) on Trains.

 

[43021HST]

Ticket Barriers, while, I suppose, good for revenue Protection, are otheriwse dreadfully user unfriendly, (a classic example of Automation very rarely making the travelling experience easier or more friendly for the customer), and should preferably be superseded by staff checking tickets, either at the entrance to platforms or (preferably) on Trains.

Hate the darned things for the main reason that I chipped the headstock of my Bass Guitar on one because the queue for the extra wide barrier was to long. So now I have personal grudge against them for chipping the precious.

The free market and the railway doesn't work together, (I'm not just referring to a pro nationalised railway system argument, I mean stations having all sorts of useless shops,advertising hoardings cluttering up stations etc) then again the free market doesn't work for any major utility.

Alsthom is bloody awful, everything they've made is crap, No exceptions.

Pacers are a worthy replacement to the Class 101s and are a solid and contributive train design, (hah only joking)

 

[Sapphire Blue]

Every station, no matter how small, should have ticket barriers.

So that would mean that every station, no matter how small, was manned then?

 

[Schnellzug]

Seperation of operations from Infrastruture is actually a good idea, in a world where there isn't one single national operator, since having seperate, vertically Integrated regional companies responsible for timetable planning, path allocation and traffic control would be a nightmare for any operator that covers the whole country (e.g. CrossCountry & freight and charter operators). Imagine how difficult it would be trying to plan a timetable for services from Plymouth-Edinburgh, for instance, having to negotiate with and pay access charges to perhaps four or five different companies. And does anyone think that vertically Integrated companies would treat interlopers with even handedness and fairness, and not give their own services preferential treatment?

 

[Flamingo]

Every station, no matter how small, should have ticket barriers.

Would work wonders for the unemployment figures, but may have a significant impact on ticket price.

Personally, I'd be in favour of it for the former reason

(Bags me Pilning, I'd get a chance to catch up on all those books on my "to read" list!)

 

[Schnellzug]

I don't actually dislike Voyagers; they sound good, and have most excellent performance, which after all are the most important things. They just need to be at least 8 coaches each, so they can put a few more bays of seats with tables in an a proper Buffet.

In fact, I think they'd be useful (221s, preferably) on Waterloo-Exeter, where on fast limited stop services (allowing 159s to provide stopping services) they could make it a proper inter-city route once again.

 

[33056]

Every station, no matter how small, should have ticket barriers.

Have no ticket barriers at all, they seem to manage quite well without them in most of the rest Europe though you do tend to get more on-train ticket checks.

For a potentially unpopular opinion, don't do away with ticket offices at many stations but turn them into shops as well. Many Danish stations in the Copenhagen area have 7-eleven shops which also sell tickets and there are a few stations in Germany that do the same thing. One problem with this could be that our ticketing system appears to be far more complex than most other countries.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

For a potentially unpopular opinion, don't do away with ticket offices at many stations but turn them into shops as well. Many Danish stations in the Copenhagen area have 7-eleven shops which also sell tickets and there are a few stations in Germany that do the same thing. One problem with this could be that our ticketing system appears to be far more complex than most other countries.

Done in our own country on Merseyside, known as 'M-to-Go' shops. Off the top of my head they exist at Southport, Moorfields, Lime St Low Level, Liverpool Central, Hamilton Square and Hooton, though I think there may be more. They sell a full range of tickets and some quite reasonably priced food / drink / snacks too - £3 for a meal deal on a railway station is very good! I fully support it, in fact I think it should be considered nationwide as soon as possible. It wouldn't work at larger stations obviously, but at places with good passengers flows and no other facilities, I think it would be quite worthwhile.

 

[33056]

That is interesting Matt - I havn't been on Merseyrail for years hock:.

Obviously the bigger stations in Denmark have a separate ticket office, but I did not realise the shops on the smaller stations did tickets until I saw somebody buying some (a few strips of carnet tickets) and noticed the DSB and 7-11 logo on the staff's shirt. The shops were quite good VFM as well (Denmark is on the expensive side)

The station in Germany I am most familiar with is Memmingen where the shop and ticket office are actually back to back with a passageway for the staff to walk between the two. If you are standing at the ticket office, you don't immediately realise the shop is behind, likewise if you go into the shop. I only really cottoned on (not having a need to use the ticket office) when the tea arrived in DB branded mugs and saw somebody come through from the ticket office whilst sat in the shop drinking said tea.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Aye, it's a good idea. A photo of Southport's is here - http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/sjp/SOP/images/photos/800/o3095-0000028.jpg. Not shown there is the other half of the shop, containing the self-service coffee machines and magazine racks etc.

 

[WestCoast]

There are also some stations that have ticket offices managed by local travel agencies or a small business proprietor. Examples I can think of are Gobowen and Chester-le-Street. However, it's also very common on some mainland European networks, there's a small station in Germany I use where the ticket office is ran by a large chain of travel agents. You can buy rail tickets and book your holidays to Spain at the same time. I've also seen a bike shop, newsagent and a cafe double up as a ticket office...

I'd like to see more of this kind of thing in the UK, where TOCs have deemed ticket offices as not viable.

 

[Gaztynan]

All units want burning! Bring back mk3's.......