Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
What about passengers who have travel like medical staff who can’t work from home or students who need to attend their colleges because their college isn’t offering home learning
I fully understand that their are significant staffing issues but the total removal of services to one of London’s main termini is very extreme.
This is one of the reasons their should have been some restrictions as soon as Omicron was found to protect those working in the public sector so that services could be continued
This saga does reinforce my view that today's railway is very fragile regarding service re-arrangement. It is now far too common to see buses put on to replace trains when anything goes wrong and even planned well in advance because it's now just too hard to re-arrange the railway even where physical route options exist. I'm NOT saying that this is necessarily the case here, as clearly C19 poses problems not previously experienced in modern times. However, I really would have thought an East Croydon to Victoria 12-car regular shuttle service SHOULD be possible and achievable even with severe staff absences on an otherwise virtually empty four-track railway, and is only thwarted by the vast complexity of staffing that has built up, particularly as a result of privatisation.
On the other hand, I fully expect to see severe semi-permanent cuts to the railway as a whole, forcing huge numbers of people into cars and direcrly contradicting Johnson's promnise of a green recovery from C19.
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Quite, but I can see an exodus from the railway being a very realisitic possibility as services are slashed and not re-instated, especially as this government continues to favour roads and airlines in its budgets and strategies, despite trying to pass itself off as a 'green' one.
An exodus from the railway is a very real risk now, in places at least.
In my case I’ve all but abandoned rail travel now, and to be honest I can’t see myself coming back any time soon. This is for a combination of reasons:
* Unsatisfactory trains
* Unsatisfactory timetables
* Unsatisfactory reliability
* Increasingly drossy clientele
For many users one could add
* Expensive fares
* Masks
What is unfortunate is pretty much all of this is down to the way the railway is nowadays seemingly run by politicians.
There really is little incentive to want to travel by rail at the moment. It’s been made a complete distress purchase.
An exodus from the railway is a very real risk now, in places at least.
In my case I’ve all but abandoned rail travel now, and to be honest I can’t see myself coming back any time soon. This is for a combination of reasons:
* Unsatisfactory trains
* Unsatisfactory timetables
* Unsatisfactory reliability
* Increasingly drossy clientele
For many users one could add
* Expensive fares
* Masks
What is unfortunate is pretty much all of this is down to the way the railway is nowadays seemingly run by politicians.
There really is little incentive to want to travel by rail at the moment. It’s been made a complete distress purchase.
Ultimately a lot of this is down to costs associated with Covid and the impact it has had on the railways (rightly or wrongly) and some are in denial about what that will mean in reality. Unfortunately it will be a negative feedback loop if people like yourself feel the same and the service will continually decline.
Ultimately a lot of this is down to costs associated with Covid and the impact it has had on the railways (rightly or wrongly) and some are in denial about what that will mean in reality. Unfortunately it will be a negative feedback loop if people like yourself feel the same and the service will continually decline.
This is where the industry needs leaders who can make the case for the railway to stop DofT just reducing it to a cost game. However, im not convinced anyone is going to step up to the plate.
This is where the industry needs leaders who can make the case for the railway to stop DofT just reducing it to a cost game. However, im not convinced anyone is going to step up to the plate.
January's Hertford loop services are being reduced to every 30 mins - the same as Sat- Sun - reasoning understood.
This is tonight's (Saturday)
Next train to Moorgate after 2035 is 2205 - are we really expected to believe that they can maintain a regular 30 min service?
I'm sure all sorts of reasons (excuses) will be proffered - I doubt any of them will deal with the perception of the railway's decline.
It is not that long since the route to Stevenage was augmented with P5 at considerable expense and disruption - the operational side does not seem to keep up with the infrastructure improvements and expenditure.
This is a monopoly service - no other passenger trains run on tis line - not good enough.
44% of trains cancelled on Great Northern Moorgate services today.
Mass cancellations when there is a big football match on TV is not uncommon for that line (Arsenal v Man City today on BT Sport). I've lived near that line for over 10 years and whenever there is a big football game on, you see a large number of cancellations!
@andystock - I trust you are not suggesting that this is anyway a justifiable reason (excuse) for not running the service?
My understanding is that the trains are driven by well salaried employees with good pensions - it is not a volunteers service - or is it?
An exodus from the railway is a very real risk now, in places at least.
In my case I’ve all but abandoned rail travel now, and to be honest I can’t see myself coming back any time soon. This is for a combination of reasons:
* Unsatisfactory trains
* Unsatisfactory timetables
* Unsatisfactory reliability
* Increasingly drossy clientele
For many users one could add
* Expensive fares
* Masks
What is unfortunate is pretty much all of this is down to the way the railway is nowadays seemingly run by politicians.
There really is little incentive to want to travel by rail at the moment. It’s been made a complete distress purchase.
Ultimately a lot of this is down to costs associated with Covid and the impact it has had on the railways (rightly or wrongly) and some are in denial about what that will mean in reality. Unfortunately it will be a negative feedback loop if people like yourself feel the same and the service will continually decline.
When you have operators like Great Northern (GTR) not operating a single train from a station like Winchmore Hill to London from 18:05 to 19:35, due to two cancelled trains in a row, people become very negative of the railways.
You don't have to have worked in the railway business to know that some people who work their way up from the bottom can make very good managers, equally some from outside the business can too.
Equally both routes can produce some monumental disasters - the skill - presumable currently lacking - is attracting the best whatever their history.
When you have operators like Great Northern (GTR) not operating a single train from a station like Winchmore Hill to London from 18:05 to 19:35, due to two cancelled trains in a row, people become very negative of the railways.
Precisely - meanwhile the London Mayor wishes to penalise driving a car into town (again understood) - does this hasten the move of this line to London Overground and get someone to square the circle?
So my take is DofT was already going to need additional budget above the £2.1B for Covid revenue support before the latest WFH edict was issued so its going to have an even greater deficit on its hand now. So it will have needed to have gone to HMT for more budget and im surmising it wasn't very favourable and told to find some savings although ultimately HMT haven't got much choice currently but to pay up. However, you can see HMT getting peeved here as public transport is turning into a bottomless pit out of all the government expenditure areas.
Because there's no platform on the Up Fast at Battersea Park, and there's no platform DOO equipment on the Up Fast at Wandsworth Common should 455s call there
Yes. However, I thought the discussion was about running fast trains from ECR to VIC - either as a shuttle or if LBG is disrupted next week. I've obviously missed something.
44% of trains cancelled on Great Northern Moorgate services today.
Mass cancellations when there is a big football match on TV is not uncommon for that line (Arsenal v Man City today on BT Sport). I've lived near that line for over 10 years and whenever there is a big football game on, you see a large number of cancellations!
Trying to run a full Saturday service on New Years Day whilst omicron decimates staffing in all areas of the industry as people have to isolate is probably a bigger issue.
Yes. However, I thought the discussion was about running fast trains from ECR to VIC - either as a shuttle or if LBG is disrupted next week. I've obviously missed something.
Its about running anything to Victoria. People who live at or want to get to Wandsworth Common or Battersea Park might still want to use those stations
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Trying to run a full Saturday service on New Years Day whilst omicron decimates staffing in all areas of the industry as people have to isolate is probably a bigger issue.
At least they ran the schedule - I think is the point - binning two consecutive services without notice (Moorgate services) shows a lack of competence somewhere in that chain
This may be the case with the immediate Covid situation, but the rot started long before that. In particular an attitude that “the passengers will come no matter what”, and that does seem to have emanated from the DFT.
Trying to run a full Saturday service on New Years Day whilst omicron decimates staffing in all areas of the industry as people have to isolate is probably a bigger issue.
I've lived near that line for over 10 years, when ever there is a major football game involving Arsenal or Spurs we wend up seeing a mass number of cancellations!
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
At least they ran the schedule - I think is the point - binning two consecutive services without notice (Moorgate services) shows a lack of competence somewhere in that chain
Exactly, both the Moorgate lines to WGC & the Hertford Loop have mass cancellations at weekends.
Especially when Arsenal or Spurs have a major game. When Spurs played Liverpool in the Champions League final yhe service had significant number of cancellations due no drivers.
I've lived near that line for over 10 years, when ever there is a major football game involving Arsenal or Spurs we wend up seeing a mass number of cancellations!
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
Exactly, both the Moorgate lines to WGC & the Hertford Loop have mass cancellations at weekends.
Especially when Arsenal or Spurs have a major game. When Spurs played Liverpool in the Champions League final yhe service had significant number of cancellations due no drivers.
They often run extra trains for Arsenal matches (I assume GA does for Tottenham). Maybe it's worse on the Hertford Loop but I don't recall mass cancellations on the ECML.
Saturday is a nightmare but not because of football.
Story across GTR. Doesn't look like a good saving now
Exactly this. Also the fact that GTR Management decided from the safety of their Work-from-home environment to eradicate all social distancing requirements in mess rooms/taxis/ driving cabs and remove the need for testing when in close contact situations.
They still haven't reintroduced spare-at-home again. And they wonder why their sickness levels are through the roof ?
We are aware of an issue with emails from the Forum to Microsoft-based email accounts (hotmail/outlook/live.com email addresses). This is being looked into currently, thanks for your patience meanwhile.
