Monday 4th January 2016 - Rail Chaos/Meltdown predicted

[najaB]

Why? The bbc asks, i can answer that! UK Govt put in 5bn into uk's private railways GDR pay in to state owned DB 10bn!

To be fair to them, they did say as much in the piece.

 

[Antman]

How dare you take this thread off at such a ridiculous tangent ...........

I do apologise for having the audacity to mention railways

Apparently there is some sort of protest going on at Kings Cross this morning that Jeremy Corbyn has graced with his presence

 

[sprinterguy]

I was handed a promotional postcard from an organisation called "Action for Rail" at my local station this morning, suggesting that "a publically owned railway" will free us from "overcrowded, under-staffed and often late train services". Now I am very much for a unified railway system, and believe that British Rail were a pretty effective organisation towards the end, but I think that these folks could do with removing their rose tinted spectacles if they think that all our ills will be cured simply by making the railways publically owned.

 

[ainsworth74]

UK Govt put in 5bn into uk's private railways GDR pay in to state owned DB 10bn!

To be fair the GDR haven't paid anyone anything for quite a while now and even when they did they certainly wouldn't have paid DB anything and would have been paying DR instead!

 

[jimm]

See other thread. This one is about moaning newspapers and will inevitably descend into Godwinesque comments, which of course, I have studiously avoided. Actually, they are very slow off the mark this morning, probably new year office parties not recovered from yet (or political editors sunning in Barbados more probably).

Update I notice that the problems north of Carlisle have not been awoken to in any great degree, for instance. I had expected 'WCML meltdown' but nothing.

Slow off the mark? Or maybe the chaos and meltdown premise that this thread was based on was baseless this year, because, bar some early signalling issues at Purley that seem to have been dealt with, there was no chaos. Fancy that...

Why should the problems on the WCML prompt that kind of coverage? The issues are down to a bridge damaged by a river swollen by the heavy rain that has caused all manner of problems across the North of England and Scotland in recent weeks, including damaging a good few road bridges.

A whole different kettle of fish from over-running engineering work, and, as I pointed out back up the thread, hardly something that pretty much anyone, in the media or outside, is going to blame on the railway.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

To be fair the GDR haven't paid anyone anything for quite a while now and even when they did they certainly wouldn't have paid DB anything and would have been paying DR instead!

You know what I meant...... ??????

 

[455driver]

seemed fine this morning. Next!

Expect lots of front pages about rescuing puppies from rivers etc because they have had to pull the 'railways in distress' templates!

 

[hwl]

The evening standard effort:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/tran...n-the-first-working-day-of-2016-a3148221.html

NR and GTR on the case publicity wise to shut down criticism with facts.

 

[howittpie]

One Evening Standard online offering this morning talked about the Arrival Trains Wales strike affecting services into Waterloo

 

[Busaholic]

One Evening Standard online offering this morning talked about the Arrival Trains Wales strike affecting services into Waterloo

Only the Arrivals though - Departures were fine

 

[superkev]

The Yorkshire post couldn't resist some rail bashing.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news...times-as-much-on-fares-as-europeans-1-7654745
K

 

[455driver]

Oh come on lighten up a bit, its traditional, we have-

Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Day, Bash the railways Day!

We wouldn't have it any other way!

 

[cjmillsnun]

I was handed a promotional postcard from an organisation called "Action for Rail" at my local station this morning, suggesting that "a publically owned railway" will free us from "overcrowded, under-staffed and often late train services". Now I am very much for a unified railway system, and believe that British Rail were a pretty effective organisation towards the end, but I think that these folks could do with removing their rose tinted spectacles if they think that all our ills will be cured simply by making the railways publically owned.

Quite. Whilst the railway cost less under BR, and certainly under sectorisation it was efficient, it was overcrowded, under staffed, and often late. That is more down to the fact that the network, then as now, is run at capacity, and that brown smelly stuff happens.

 

[talltim]

We're still paying quite a heavy price for our predecessors going about building and documenting their railways in some of the most cack-handed ways possible at times.

And Railtrack throwing away (or passing to contractors) much of the vital records that BR had kept. One of the perils of privatisation, records cost money to keep.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Strangely, my trains today were on time, with plenty of seats and the there was no queue when I renewed my season, which didn't cost a noticeable amount more than last time.

 

[neilm]

Quite. Whilst the railway cost less under BR, and certainly under sectorisation it was efficient, it was overcrowded, under staffed, and often late. That is more down to the fact that the network, then as now, is run at capacity, and that brown smelly stuff happens.

Least it was cheaper under BR for the same thing then.

 

[RichmondCommu]

The Scum has Pandered to the lowest common denominator for years under Murdoch. He Belatedly realised that readers could get their daily dose of naked breast off the internet (especially via rival Desmond's subscription porn channels) so he moved on to migrant and minority bashing. Can't wait for the front page apology he has been ordered to make on that issue by the regulator.

Whilst the hate mail blames all our woes on immigrants, trade unionists and the crypto-communists embedded in the public sector. Therefore it hasn't moved on in the 75 years since it praised a certain inter-war German politician that also made a point of blaming all his country's woes on communists, ethnic minorities and trade unionists.

Just out of interest what do you think of the people who read / buy The Sun and The Daily Mail?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I was out today and far from chaotic everything seemed to be running quite well*, so no real fodder for the headline writers thankfully.

Passenger volumes seemed to be about half the normal Monday level so I suspect with today being the last day of school holidays many people will have taken the day off work and the true return to work will be tomorrow?



*apart from failing to get 68 009 for haulage when it failed with a brake fault at Moor Street when I was waiting at Leamington to intercept it at 13.22, but I recovered the situation by quickly getting myself a ticket for the 13.32 to Stratford upon Avon and back in order to get the Hatton chord in my atlas...

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Least it was cheaper under BR for the same thing then.

It must be wonderful to live in a world where retail prices stayed frozen at the level when BR finally met its demise.

I am sure that many forum members can come up with a list of "then and now" prices. I will start the ball rolling by suggesting the price of a first class stamp in the same period.

 

[RichmondCommu]

*apart from failing to get 68 009 for haulage when it failed with a brake fault at Moor Street when I was waiting at Leamington to intercept it at 13.22, but I recovered the situation by quickly getting myself a ticket for the 13.32 to Stratford upon Avon and back in order to get the Hatton chord in my atlas...

Just out of interest do you mark your atlas with routes that you've traveled on?

 

[miami]

It must be wonderful to live in a world where retail prices stayed frozen at the level when BR finally met its demise.

I am sure that many forum members can come up with a list of "then and now" prices. I will start the ball rolling by suggesting the price of a first class stamp in the same period.

Who uses stamps any more?

BR ceased to exist in 1997.

In 1997 I paid £70 per gigabyte for internet access. Today I pay less than 1% of that.
In 1997 I bought a new laptop for £1200. Today I saw one on sale for £200.

 

[455driver]

Who uses stamps any more?

BR ceased to exist in 1997.

In 1997 I paid £70 per gigabyte for internet access. Today I pay less than 1% of that.
In 1997 I bought a new laptop for £1200. Today I saw one on sale for £200.

Back in 1997 they were both new technology, why don't you price up comparable things, house prices, new car prices, washing machines etc!

 

[neilm]

Back in 1997 they were both new technology, why don't you price up comparable things, house prices, new car prices, washing machines etc!

Retail price index? If so tickets would be much less.

 

[Antman]

Just out of interest what do you think of the people who read / buy The Sun and The Daily Mail?

I really cannot understand the mindset of somebody who judges a fellow human being by what newspaper they read, just bizzare
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

It must be wonderful to live in a world where retail prices stayed frozen at the level when BR finally met its demise.

I am sure that many forum members can come up with a list of "then and now" prices. I will start the ball rolling by suggesting the price of a first class stamp in the same period.

I haven't bought a stamp in years!

 

[deltic]

If you want to compare rail fare increases over time you may find the attached table of interest taken from Gourvish business history of British Rail. It shows fare increases were well in excess of inflation during the 1980s

 

[neilm]

If you want to compare rail fare increases over time you may find the attached table of interest taken from Gourvish business history of British Rail. It shows fare increases were well in excess of inflation during the 1980s

They were insane raises I have to say

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Just out of interest do you mark your atlas with routes that you've traveled on?

Yes, when I've been over a route, I mark it with a red felt tip pen.

Otherwise I'd forget where I needed bits like that chord.

 

[dviner]

So, were there any over-runs causing Rail Chaos?

 

[deltic]

So, were there any over-runs causing Rail Chaos?

No but the Evening Standard was happy to report the usual signal problems that crop up form time to time causing "chaos" for comuters on the first couple of days back after New Year

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Just out of interest what do you think of the people who read / buy The Sun and The Daily Mail?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGscoaUWW2M

 

[deltic08]

I haven't bought a stamp in years!

Do you not send birthday or Xmas cards? What a miserable bleeder. I'm glad you are not related to me.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

If you want to compare rail fare increases over time you may find the attached table of interest taken from Gourvish business history of British Rail. It shows fare increases were well in excess of inflation during the 1980s

Thank you for the table. I have wondered if such data existed in one table. 20% in one year must have hurt but I can't remember it being so bad.

Of course the dates are inclusive of Thatcher's railways hating reign and John Major hated railways so much that he privatised them instead of just investing the money wasted on privatisation in the railways. Funds raised from the sale in 1995 were naturally put back into rail investment I don't think. The explosion in growth would have happened anyway even without privatisation.