Recent content by sulli_os

Not read all the way through the thread so forgive me if I'm being repetitious... I would re-map the franchises so they are all roughly revenue neutral i.e. combine routes requiring subsidy with route generating premiums. Require all bids for these new franchises to have revenue/subsidy...

The thing that strikes me with this idea (and the report in general) is it seems at odds with the building of things like HS2. For example, if you are going to cut off-peak services, the obvious thing to do is to not run fast services and only run semi-fasts, eliminating some the repetition of...

Not read the entire thread so forgive me if I'm repeating something that's already been said... i) Scrap domestic flights and get people to use the rail network. If you look at domestic flight times, they fall mostly in the off-peak times of the railways, so we'd be getting more out of our...

Too young to remember it but sounds about right. So much for "privatisation will bring innovation to the railways" eh? Edit: I was thinking it could be part of a remapping of franchises, so Manchester wouldn't be served by the West Coast franchise at all. That said, I think it's a good thing...

I know that the money isn't in a pot somewhere so won't necessarily become available, but there are other projects that it could be used for that would still alleviate some of the capacity issues on the WCML. One would be to properly upgrade the MML: * WCML spec, including in-cab signalling...

How many TOC managers travel to work by train? My guess is none, so the massive disruption going to be caused will have ZERO affect on those with whom the dispute is with.

If costs need to come down (in order to prevent fare increases) could we not reduce the number of off peak services required, thereby making a saving. I know it's not ideal, but as others have mentioned, if you need to use the train to get to work, you NEED a train at peak times - we can't...

Just a thought though - what would the railways look like if it wasn't nonsense? Would, for example, all services be OA with PTEs etc paying for the services necessary to plug the gap? *Shudders at thought*

Just looked at the Pulsar - now hoping that 1) At least one of the companies bidding for the Northern/TPE franchise propose purchasing these, and 2) DafT selects that (or one of those) bid(s).

Sounds better than what XC call First Class. Doesn't sound much worse than what passes for First Class on EMT either.

I think everything should be done to allow such proposals to succeed. Lots of private money (and jobs) coming into the railways cannot be a bad thing. Given that they seem to favour the promotion of "parkway" stations, I can't help but think there would be merit in a Sheffield Parkway station...

Am I right in thinking that Beeching actually recommended that the Woodhead route between Sheffield and Manchester remained open, and that the Hope Valley line should have closed? If so, why didn't that recommendation get followed?

Shame they couldn't go to First's other venture TPE. A few 180s on the peak services across the Pennines or even running the Man Airport - Scotland services, releasing 185s for Pennine peak services. Oh well...

I've encountered EMT staff at Sheffield not adhering to this. It wasn't a proper barrier (planning permission refused because they wouldn't be in keeping with the building - lol!) but a human barrier made up of staff. When I informed them that I was travelling from the Supertram stop (East of...

I think that people travelling from smaller stations have to accept that long distance "fast" trains cannot stop at every minor station en-route. I realise it's not ideal, but I have to accept that XC and TPE services wont call at Rotherham Central or Barnsley, and it's not like replacements...