ryan125hst
Established Member
I have just been looking on UK Steam's website and noticed that The Pilgrim Fathers railtour from London to Skegness and return, hauled by 63106, has been cancelled. I am disappointed to hear this as I have never seen Mayflower and was planning on going to see her pass through Peterborough and Grantham, two stations that I have only ever passed through at speed. Now the tour has been cancelled, I'll obviously have to cancel this plan.
Disappointment aside, it got me thinking of just how many railtours are cancelled. In fact, three are cancelled this week and five next week, and these are only tours that were planned to use steam traction for part of their journey.
Now I fully understand how difficult it is to run railtours using old machines on a railway that is getting ever busier and moving on from the times of the past, but why are the tours advertised only for them to be cancelled so frequently? This will disappoint people who have booked, or at least were planning to book onto, the tour as well as those, like myself on this occasion, who would like to see and photograph the train. On top of all this, it must take a considerable amount of effort to plan a tour and cost a not unsubstantial amount of money (presumably every tour listed has been mentioned to Network Rail) as well. And then there are the jobs of the drivers, guards, stewards and catering staff who suddenly find themselves without work on a given day.
Now I know some cancellations are unavoidable, particularly where infrastructure issues are to blame, but do you agree with me that far too many railtours are cancelled and what do you think can be done to make sure as many advertised tours run as possible? Scheduled services are, of course, the priority, but with so many cancellations, I'm wondering if they are often advertised too early, before the tour promoters know that the tour is possible.
Your thoughts please
Disappointment aside, it got me thinking of just how many railtours are cancelled. In fact, three are cancelled this week and five next week, and these are only tours that were planned to use steam traction for part of their journey.
Now I fully understand how difficult it is to run railtours using old machines on a railway that is getting ever busier and moving on from the times of the past, but why are the tours advertised only for them to be cancelled so frequently? This will disappoint people who have booked, or at least were planning to book onto, the tour as well as those, like myself on this occasion, who would like to see and photograph the train. On top of all this, it must take a considerable amount of effort to plan a tour and cost a not unsubstantial amount of money (presumably every tour listed has been mentioned to Network Rail) as well. And then there are the jobs of the drivers, guards, stewards and catering staff who suddenly find themselves without work on a given day.
Now I know some cancellations are unavoidable, particularly where infrastructure issues are to blame, but do you agree with me that far too many railtours are cancelled and what do you think can be done to make sure as many advertised tours run as possible? Scheduled services are, of course, the priority, but with so many cancellations, I'm wondering if they are often advertised too early, before the tour promoters know that the tour is possible.
Your thoughts please
