Grand Central Discussion

[Nym]

Would be laugh if the bitterness of first over losing their GW franchise, and then they go into partnership with GC, using all of their nice new HSTs . and then it will be a war of First Group and NX on the ECML

 

[schmoo_smith]

Was he in GC uniform or was he in civvies,i.e a suit,its possible you spoke to Sean English,Operations Director,if not,you spoke to Stu,Conductor !!!hock:

It wasnt Sean English, I have seen him a few times at York. He was in a suit but with a Grand Central tie, he was doing all sorts on the train at one point he served me on the buffet car, he then got off at Thirsk.

 

[yorkie]

Quite right BOSCH, I have spoken to the guy at York and he did say he has to count the level of ridership everyday and report back to NXEC!!!!

Saying that he is also a fan of GC!!!!:?

Is this an NXEC employee or ATOC?

Although it goes without saying that ATOC will do whatever NXEC asks them to do, I am sure.

 

[Nym]

Don't be so sure, NEXC have been ****ing off ATOC recently...

 

[Sir_Clagalot]

They count at the Cross too. Might have to start doing that to their trains one day!! IIRC you cant use BVRs on NX trains that arrive before 1030?

 

[yorkie]

They count at the Cross too. Might have to start doing that to their trains one day!! IIRC you cant use BVRs on NX trains that arrive before 1030?

*looks it up*

10:20 to be exact! So the first train to allow them is the 10:25 arrival from Harrogate, followed by the GC service and then the 10:40 arrival from Edinburgh (0600 ex EDB).

As for counting them - good idea!

 

[Donny Dave]

As for counting them - good idea!

I've got a plan forming about that. It means several people spending the day travelling between York and Kings Cross all day though.....

 

[Nym]

Erm...
I'd do it if I get a day Rider out of it

*Bows before the Banministrator*

 

[yorkie]

Oh dear, GC have some negative publicity..

http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Passengers-rail-against-price-increases.3856777.jp

Of note is the speach by the GC spokesman, which I will correct...

"Grand Central fares remain substantially below those available by other operators, even with the addition of this peak-time supplement."

Oh no they don't! Without a railcard it's 30% more expensive for an "Any Permitted", which given the massive increase in flexibility is not "substantial". With a railcard it's cheaper for the any permitted!!! I'm sorry but GC's spokesman can't make a sweeping statement like that and ignore many railcard holders.

"It should also remembered that this supplement is only being levied on the basis of each leg of the journey, so anyone travelling in only one direction at the peak time will only have to pay a supplement for that leg of the journey, as compared to the alternatives of Standard or First Open Returns, which make no allowance for a return journey made outside the peak travel period."

No, no, no!! The equivalent to a GC-only ticket IS NOT A STANDARD RETURN! it is a Business Saver return!

As I keep saying, I really want GC to succeed, but their current pricing policy means that many people are dissuaded from purchasing GC's fares, and in some cases may deter people from using GC at all.

GC are, effectively, not in the York-London leisure market at all. And I can't see how they can remain in the business market UNLESS they rename their "STD" return (which is no longer a standard return) as something like a "SVR" or "Off Peak" return and introduce a new product.. if there is no full fare product I predict a lot of trouble ahead... I will be very interested to see what the booking process looks like tomorrow, but suffice to say if the "STD" return is not renamed there will be problems... I just hope they've thought very carefully about this...!!

 

[paul1609]

I think the reality is that unsubsidised rail travel isnt cheap. At the current prices GC must be running at a substancial loss. This is not sustainable for a private company.
People will say I'm anti Grand Central but thats not so.

The problem is Grand central is a trainspotters dream, its not a viable business long term without subsidy. Thats why BR discontinued through services from Sunderland some years ago!

 

[Metroland]

Not so, costs can be covered if 40% of seats are full.

But I think we should leave the commercial detail to the people that run the railways, rather than 3rd parties who do not have access to the revenues etc by law. It's about what the market can stand, and we just don't have access to the data.

Sunderland and Teeside is not what it was like years ago. There are substantial numbers of students and people that have moved to the north compared to years ago who would like to travel.

 

[Guinness]

Quite right BOSCH, I have spoken to the guy at York and he did say he has to count the level of ridership everyday and report back to NXEC!!!!

Saying that he is also a fan of GC!!!!:?

At the end of the day he's getting paid to do a job, whatever his personal opinions are.

 

[Sir_Clagalot]

I spoke to Ian Yeowart last Saturday, and he said the loadings now are what were predicted for THREE years time!! The fourth path is of utmost importance, as it will give passengers more choice. Personally I think the Supplement should not be applied until the fourth service is running.

 

[theblackwatch]

Apologies if this has been mentioned earlier, but am I right in thinking the fourth service should start in December?

 

[Metroland]

I spoke to Ian Yeowart last Saturday, and he said the loadings now are what were predicted for THREE years time!! The fourth path is of utmost importance, as it will give passengers more choice. Personally I think the Supplement should not be applied until the fourth service is running.

Congratulations! Nothing like a success story, especially if it's rail related!

 

[voyagerdude220]

As I keep saying, I really want GC to succeed, but their current pricing policy means that many people are dissuaded from purchasing GC's fares, and in some cases may deter people from using GC at all.

The above paragraph completely ditto's exactly what I think about GC, and why I wouldn't travel with them at all (or at least I wouldn't buy a GC only ticket) , if I needed to travel say York-London etc.

GC are, effectively, not in the York-London leisure market at all.

I was looking for some plans for a day out in a few weeks time, and the only thing I came up with for GC, was York-Sunderland return as part of the day.....

 

[Nym]

I wanna see the bradford trains run now after the WCML modernisation thingey, have them order some nice shiney new super vomiters to run it Class 223 anyone? Make them a proper length of train aswell, and rate them to 140 Or better yet, run through the MML

 

[devon_metro]

I think there need to be a promotion, where by there is one carriage per GC service that is designated to a first some first serve £30/£15 return ticket within one day.

Would pull in the punters

 

[yorkie]

I was looking for some plans for a day out in a few weeks time, and the only thing I came up with for GC, was York-Sunderland return as part of the day.....

For bashers, who enjoy travelling on trains, it's a very expensive hobby and so it's only really possible to do it on Rovers/PRIVs/Cheap AP tickets, GC is only really feasible north of York.

In fact, you can do the trip for £9 by combining a York-Hartlepool (route Direct) and a Hartlepool-York (GC). Sadly TPE/NT will get a sizeable slice of this money through ORCATS, I'd love to give the whole lot to GC though, but GC won't let us!

 

[yorkie]

I wonder if GC was a bit busier on the 11:27 today, as I see the 11:30 was cancelled?

Also, I saw an advert for GC the other day mentioning wireless. Did m8internet install and demonstrate it then? Shame I missed it if so!

 

[diligentdave]

I wonder if GC was a bit busier on the 11:27 today, as I see the 11:30 was cancelled?

Also, I saw an advert for GC the other day mentioning wireless. Did m8internet install and demonstrate it then? Shame I missed it if so!

Don't worry, you haven't missed a thing. Apart from the fact that m8internet has not been seen or heard of since his debunking from power in this thread, the WiFi hasn't been fitted to a servicable set as of yet (although it has to the set currently under test at Heaton)

 

[yorkie]

NXEC have given up on wireless now, according to reports. I and a few others I know have tried it and on the last 10 or so HSTs it has NOT been working. A train manager I spoke to said it's done by an external company and that they couldn't remember the last time it was working on a HST.

So if GC can get it up and running reliably it will be a big bonus compared to useless NXEC.

The 0646 Sunderland-King's Cross is showing as terminated at Peterborough today, presumably weather related. However the 1127 from Kings Cross to Sunderland did get away on time, did it run ECS ?

There was no log of the 0800 from King's Cross, so perhaps the 0804 would have been busy? It made it to York but no log of it north of York and the return working 1230 from SUN is showing as cancelled north of York.

 

[djw1981]

I have been on a few cl91 recently and it works fine there. The wifi on the HSTs was always slower north of Edinburgh anyway due to the reliance on the satellite and not on the GSM connections, thus introducing a satellite lag....

GNER were IIRC the pioneers as far as Intercity goes, and at least they try to offer it, as opposed to Virgin who offer nothing....

 

[1D53]

I believe the 1127 from Cross started at Peterborough where 0646 terminated.

 

[yorkie]

I have been on a few cl91 recently and it works fine there. The wifi on the HSTs was always slower north of Edinburgh anyway due to the reliance on the satellite and not on the GSM connections, thus introducing a satellite lag....

I tried it on a 91 between YRK and DON and got a very, very slow connection. I've tried it on several HSTs south of Edinburgh and not had any luck.

GNER were IIRC the pioneers as far as Intercity goes, and at least they try to offer it, as opposed to Virgin who offer nothing....

Absolutely. Sadly NXEC are not in the same category as GNER.

I believe the 1127 from Cross started at Peterborough where 0646 terminated.

That's weird, it is showing as departing at 1128 and expected early into York. The 1110 and 1130 were both cancelled.

 

[1D53]

Maybe they ran it in all the way, especially if diesels have managed to avoid the speed ban.

 

[yorkie]

Good news for GC:

"Grand Central is running fine though. I'm on them now. Seems like GNER are stuck their go slow timetable as we've overtaken at least one. " - Tim from uk.railway

 

[parker]

Good news for GC:

"Grand Central is running fine though. I'm on them now. Seems like GNER are stuck their go slow timetable as we've overtaken at least one. " - Tim from uk.railway

Yes the 0646 ran to KSX but not before diverting through Grantham due to a failed Natex....then dropping off at Peterborough to collect Natex's passengers!!!!

We also had to divert back into Grantham for another failed Natex train....

 

[djw1981]

The issue seems to be that i the router on board is overloaded - bear in mind GNER guestimated at a lower usage (due to cost) than NX are receiving (cos it's free people use it). On many systems, according to friends who deal in network stuff, this means the router will shut down for a bit, or until reset by an administrator.

Certainly one time when i was on NX and it wouldn't connect, I called their helpline, told them what train etc, and they said they could deal with it remotely, and 5 minutes later it was working again.

It is an advertised service, like toilets and catering - if it is not supplied, complain. Frequently and vigorously, to Mr Bowker or Mr Franks directly.

 

[Demps]

I'm not up to date on the ticketing, is there anyway i could get tickets for the same as, or cheaper than natex fairs? Its this reason alone i dont travel with them.