Recent content by Dryce

I suspect that rail routes such as Edinburgh or Glasgow to London benefit from this airline behaviour. These days sorting out the pricing on the flying option is such a hassle that I suspect many rail passengers don't bother even looking at the airlines and just book the train.

Ummmmmmmmmm ........... maybe not all. Yes the HSTs are past their sell by date. But I can't remember being on a 220, 221, or 222 and ever thinking they were actually better. And they seemed to buzz and rattle and shake a lot more. At the moment if I was doing a trip across Scotland then I'd...

As stated by @scotrail158713 - you would take the bus. They are reasonable frequent throughout the day - and while they thin out a bit late at night they run late and early enough to deal with departures and arrivals that would be impractical with rail/tram. The bus concessions for those in the...

There is the actual "High Street" station (code: HST) on the actual High Street in Glasgow.;)

I think in general if the operators are making an attempt to run a service then under the circumstances passengers are likely to be rather more phlegmatic about the delay aspect. Any time I have been on a weather affected service I've been glad that it's getting me to my destination. In terms...

There are buses to/from Thurso that provide a means to get the hospital Inverness without changing - and on that route the train doesn't really offer a speed advantage. (However the train probably does have the advantage of significantly better on board toilet facilities - which may be...

And how is this sort of performance parameter an operational problem that technology cannot deal with?

The 170s felt like a step down from the push-pull mk3s and class 47 on the Glasgow-Edinburgh. And even worse on the Glasgow-Aberdeen. (That said the 170s were a step up on the older DMU operated routes). At the time the 156s seemed like a step up from the older DMUs - and the 2+2 seating was...

The railway treats it as a bit of a game where passengers are just supposed to 'know'. It might be better if there was a stated number of minutes for each large station that passengers should allow in order to be on the station concourse at a reasonable time to purchase a ticket and join their...

There is the 'cost of doing nothing' works both ways - but arguably if you have such huge sums as the cost of HS2 there is also the question as to how that money might have been spent on other projects. The cost of HS2 spread across multiple projects in the UK would potentially deliver greater...

On routes north of the central belt such as Edinburgh or Glasgow to Dundee, Aberdeen, and Inverness the buses compete directly with the train. The train does have an advantage for intermediate stops en-route. So Stirling to Aberdeen is less convenient on the bus than say Glasgow or Edinburgh to...

Or perhaps cynically realistic given some of the inconveniences being experienced over the last few year. It also doesn't help that the off peak fares are not very attractive on some routes - even more so if two or more are travelling and can use the car. And then there is the issue of the...

My recollection of a few decades of using suburban electrics around Glasgow is that the OHL hasn't been an issue apart from the odd power issue. Delays I have experienced have been down to reported faults with signalling or points, staff shortages, or the odd dispute. I can't recall ever being...

Is this what happens in real life on these services? When I commuted on slam door stock the 1970s it was the norm at busy times to see people opening the doors as the train slowed on the platform and people to jump out before it came to a halt. But I have not seen that on mainline tours using...

My observation is that the railways in Scotland hit their nadir around 1982 or 1983. And since then we've seen a pattern or opening / or re-opening / improvement across the succeeding decades. Moreover there was a strong and effective railway transport setup in the west around Strathclyde which...