Christmas Day services

[Zoe]

Presumably because there are no trains available...?

If there was a service though, how frequent would it be? If the service was limited to just one train in the morning and one in the afternoon then I doubt people would give up the convenience of a car of taxi.

 

[infobleep]

One year o had to get to work on the 27th. As no trains were running on the 26th, when I was more than happy to travel, they extended my network away break by 1 day. Would they let me travel during the Tuesday morning rush hour, bearing in mind I was willing to travel on the Monday, no they wouldn't. Not valid, yet they refused to offer a service on the Monday when I was more than willing to travel.

I guess it's my own fault for not owning a car and relying on public transport to get me around.

 

[Zoe]

I guess it's my own fault for not owning a car and relying on public transport to get me around.

Considering the high cost of cars these days it may well have been cheaper (depending on your route) to just get a taxi that day.

 

[bb21]

"The drivers deserve the day off, people can live without public transport for a day"

I can understand this response, however there are plenty of jobs out there where people have to work over Christmas, albeit with an enhanced level of pay. Many of them don't even get the choice as to whether they're rostered on for Christmas Day. The railway is supposed to be a public service, and therefore the needs of the public should come first. The demand on Christmas Day will inevitably be lower so why not run a skeleton service for people who really need it?

Drivers and guards don't have to be forced into working, however I'm sure a significant proportion will not mind a nice little pay-off.

The biggest obstacle I can see is the unions unfortunately.

 

[Zoe]

The railway is supposed to be a public service, and therefore the needs of the public should come first. The demand on Christmas Day will inevitably be lower so why not run a skeleton service for people who really need it?

At the end of the day though the railways are not a public service, they are a profit making business. In the case of the emergency services they are seen as essential so people have to work that day, public transport is not seen that way.

 

[Greenback]

The railway hasn't been considered a public service for many years!

My own perspective is that Christmas Day is a very rare day, where the vast majority of the country does not have to work. Yes, some people do, but I believe that this should be kept to a bare minimum so that most people can have a quiet, peaceful and relaxing day. After the frenzied build up to Christmas, it's nice to have a day of relaxation and contemplation, whatever religious beliefs you may or may not have.

I don't want shops open, and I don't want public transport to operate. Can't we retain just one day a year where almost everything stops for a rest?

 

[jon0844]

The unions bagged a great deal for the Olympics, so it could be done if someone saw value in providing a public transport service.

But, until that happens, taxi drivers will make a mint. Clearly there are plenty of people who quite like making money over the holiday period. There are plenty of people who may be happy to work on a day when others aren't. That said, anyone can become a taxi driver - but not everyone can become a train driver.

 

[bb21]

Of course I understand that the railway is not at the moment a public service, which is why part of my comments is in italics.

If we look at those people who have to work on Christmas Day: emergency services, nurses, social care workers, etc. None of these are big earners and it only makes a stronger case that some form of public transport should operate on such days.

As I said, I wasn't calling for normal weekday provisions to be made available for Christmas Day, however a reduced-level service is not an unreasonable thing to ask for.

 

[Greenback]

How would you define a reduced level service? What hours would it oeperate? Would it depend on local circumstances?

 

[anthony263]

Surprisinly clarkes coaches used to run 3-4 trips per day on route X4 between Merthyr Tydfil & Abergavenny on xmas day, boxing day etc which did carry a good number of passengers. I believe the driver was on something like £16 per hour.

I am already down saying that I am willing to work xmas day etc, heck I would work the megabus services from Swansea/Cardiff to London (inccidently there are no fares on megabus under £12 each way per person on xmas day) if I was working for stagecoach out of cwmbran depot and especially now that they are having those double deck coaches for megabus duties and which i think how are they going to fit in carmarthen bus stn lol.

Anyway yes people should hav ethe right to a day off, but there are still a lot of people in this country who would like to work xmas day etc

 

[Blindtraveler]

ya never know, they may draft you over to that depot due to willingness to work!

Due to disabilitty I hold a consess4on pass but on Xmas, I paid because I was simply happy to have a service

 

[bb21]

How would you define a reduced level service? What hours would it oeperate? Would it depend on local circumstances?

That surely would be up to local circumstances. Hourly services in many areas would be more desirable than no service at all, even two-hourly services can help.

Over the course of a couple of years I'm sure the local operator can match supply with demand well. If there genuinely is no demand then axe it, however at present there is demand in many towns and cities for travel on Christmas Day, but not any service.

 

[Zoe]

In the case of London I'd run the night bus network from the end of service on Christmas Eve through to the start of service on Boxing Day.

 

[Butts]

I can understand this response, however there are plenty of jobs out there where people have to work over Christmas, albeit with an enhanced level of pay. Many of them don't even get the choice as to whether they're rostered on for Christmas Day. The railway is supposed to be a public service, and therefore the needs of the public should come first. The demand on Christmas Day will inevitably be lower so why not run a skeleton service for people who really need it?

Drivers and guards don't have to be forced into working, however I'm sure a significant proportion will not mind a nice little pay-off.

The biggest obstacle I can see is the unions unfortunately.

There are also people working on Christmas Day who would consider a Nurses or Policemans salary a lottery win.

I am talking about Security Guards (from personal experience)

I agree the Unions would be the biggest obstacle to the provision of services.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The railway hasn't been considered a public service for many years!

My own perspective is that Christmas Day is a very rare day, where the vast majority of the country does not have to work. Yes, some people do, but I believe that this should be kept to a bare minimum so that most people can have a quiet, peaceful and relaxing day. After the frenzied build up to Christmas, it's nice to have a day of relaxation and contemplation, whatever religious beliefs you may or may not have.

I don't want shops open, and I don't want public transport to operate. Can't we retain just one day a year where almost everything stops for a rest?

I agree - the worst aspect is retailing with yet another "sale" - the first since the last one and just (in most cases) as bogus. Boxing Day is just another day and Christmas Day could go the same way

With large shops the Minimum Wage on Boxing Day should be raised to £25 hour that would stop them dead.

 

[anthony263]

Clarkes when they ran the service on xmas day, There was buses from Merthyr Tydfil at: 06:00,10:00,14:00,18:00 and from Abergavenny at: 07:15,11:15,15:15,19:15

journey time was 55 minutes end to end. Most of the staff on the 1st bus to abergavenny and last back were from the local hospital, while shoppers used most of the other buses. Bus used was a 25 seater optare solo, a change from the 40 seater man enviro 300's which are now used.

Clarkes closed back in august so i know the council will be looking for another operator. No chance of me doing though to far for me to travel

 

[Greenback]

Clarkes when they ran the service on xmas day, There was buses from Merthyr Tydfil at: 06:00,10:00,14:00,18:00 and from Abergavenny at: 07:15,11:15,15:15,19:15

I wonder how much it costs to run this service. I mena just the direct costs, fuel, oil, wages. How many passengers would they need to cover the costs?

journey time was 55 minutes end to end. Most of the staff on the 1st bus to abergavenny and last back were from the local hospital, while shoppers used most of the other buses. Bus used was a 25 seater optare solo, a change from the 40 seater man enviro 300's which are now used.

Shoppers? Were there a lot of shops open on Christmas Day? I can see that some people might want to get to a Spar or something that is open for a couple of hours, but wouldn't they then have a bit of a wait for a bus back?

Hospital workers would use services that are convenient for their shifts. Yet a lot fo ehalth workers can't get to their shifts on a normal day because of the lack of bus services early in the morning or late at night. Taxi firms in Swansea offer reduced rates at Christmas to NHS staff due to the lack of buses.

Clarkes closed back in august so i know the council will be looking for another operator. No chance of me doing though to far for me to travel

I'd like to know which council is so keen to run bus services on Christmas Day! Merthyr or Abergavenny? Given the budget cuts, which have led to the withdrawl of services this year, it seems a bit extravagant to want to put services on on the quietest day of the year! If there is a demand, let operators decide whether to run a commercial service.

Turning to trains, what would the Christmas Day travel patterns be like? Where would people wish to go? How many people, realisticalyl would use a service between Bristol and Cardiff? Some would, but perhaps many of them would otherwise travel on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day, so they would not be additional revenue to offset against any costs.

 

[Scotrail84]

How well used are the Christmas Day buses in Edinburgh?

Alot more than people think by the way. Also SPT used to run a service in Strathclyde on xmas day, i think they last ran a service about 4 or 5 years ago

 

[anthony263]

I wonder how much it costs to run this service. I mena just the direct costs, fuel, oil, wages. How many passengers would they need to cover the costs?



Shoppers? Were there a lot of shops open on Christmas Day? I can see that some people might want to get to a Spar or something that is open for a couple of hours, but wouldn't they then have a bit of a wait for a bus back?

Hospital workers would use services that are convenient for their shifts. Yet a lot fo ehalth workers can't get to their shifts on a normal day because of the lack of bus services early in the morning or late at night. Taxi firms in Swansea offer reduced rates at Christmas to NHS staff due to the lack of buses.



I'd like to know which council is so keen to run bus services on Christmas Day! Merthyr or Abergavenny? Given the budget cuts, which have led to the withdrawl of services this year, it seems a bit extravagant to want to put services on on the quietest day of the year! If there is a demand, let operators decide whether to run a commercial service.

Turning to trains, what would the Christmas Day travel patterns be like? Where would people wish to go? How many people, realisticalyl would use a service between Bristol and Cardiff? Some would, but perhaps many of them would otherwise travel on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day, so they would not be additional revenue to offset against any costs.

I think it is the council in Abergavenny, plus the NHS also provided some subsidy for the bus service. As for shopper, they were only really on boxing day and new years day.

As for the bus, the driver lived locally on the route so would park the bus up in between duties.

 

[Greenback]

I've no objection to buses on Boxing Day or New Year's Day, it's just Christmas Day I would like to keep special.