Simon Calder

[EbbwJunction1]

There was an interesting article by Simon Calder called "The rail industry needs to accept some painful truths - and finally act on them" in the i newspaper on Saturday 11th February.

It first of deals with connections between cities, and says that in his view Birmingham is the best-connected. There's quite a bit on why he thinks that this is the case now and will be in the future with HS2.

The article then goes on to report on the first annual conference of the Rail Delivery Group, which is the body that brings together the passenger train and freight operators with Network Rail. Apparently, several "painful truths" were said at the meeting, and the aim is to recognise these and act upon them.

Finally, there's also a report of another meeting, this time the Airlines for Europe conference in Brussels. Although it's not strictly relevant to this forum, Simon travelled by Eurostar, and he talks about the methods of checking passports, which seem to have changed to close a loophole recently (?) discovered.

Sadly, I can't find a link to the article, but if you can see it's it's worth a read.

 

[eastdyke]

This one?

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel...rk-rail-hs2-birmingham-brussels-a7571926.html

Britain’s best connected railway station? London St Pancras is in with a shout, since it dispatches passengers to exotic destinations, far and near: Marseille and Margate, Lille and Loughborough, Paris Nord and Penge East...

In terms of sheer number and diversity of destinations, though, Birmingham New Street is surely the clear winner – and the only location outside London to make the top 10 of Britain’s busiest stations.

The fortunes of the nation’s railways, and long-suffering passengers, are reflected in the city of Birmingham.

...............................

 

[DarloRich]

it hardly says anything new or unknown! Passengers aren't happy. duh!

 

[duncanp]

And surprise, surprise he manages to get the 'B word' into the article (Brexit)

The "Lille Loophole" is well known about and has nothing to do with Brexit.. What used to happen is that passengers from Brussels to Lille were confined to a particular section of the train, and checks are carried out at Lille ("controle de sortie") to make sure that the number of people getting off at Lille is the same as the number of people who checked in at Brussels with tickets just for Lille.

This doesn't happen on other trains from Brussels to London that stop at Lille, so what is the issue with the 17:56?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

And surprise, surprise he manages to get the 'B word' into the article (Brexit)
...
This doesn't happen on other trains from Brussels to London that stop at Lille, so what is the issue with the 17:56?

There's already a thread on Belgian passenger name regulation.
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=135923

It is about Brexit, in the context that we are now expected to put up with any amount of travel restrictions in order to "keep them out".
Bits of stamped paper in your passport was what used to happen when travelling to East Germany.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

This one?

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel...rk-rail-hs2-birmingham-brussels-a7571926.html

Yes, that's the one, thanks ... this version has a different title!!

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

The trouble with Calder, and Wolmar too, is that decent transport journalists are so thin on the ground that when one comes along who is prepared both to do some reasonable research and articulate themselves clearly they are treated by editors as being some sort of transport oracle and given more credence than they sometimes deserve. Calder's output on low-cost airlines has been pretty good but his railway work is less solid. And of course Wolmar is now an aspiring Labour MP so everything he says has to be put into that context. Certain writers for various railway publications are sometimes mentioned on this site as though they are infallible but ultimately all of the above are tending to simply express their opinions and as such they can be just as "right" or "wrong" as anyone else.

 

[dk1]

it hardly says anything new or unknown! Passengers aren't happy. duh!

Passengers never have & never will be happy. It's the nature of the beast. Not quite sure why we constantly try to convince ourselves on the railway that they ever will be.

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

Happiness is a sliding scale though. True, it might not be possible to make everyone happy, but when for years your customers have been flagging up the same issues and these problems still haven't been adequately tackled, then something ought to change.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Bits of stamped paper in your passport was what used to happen when travelling to East Germany.

Exit cards are issued for a great many countries, including much of South East Asia.

 

[CardiffKid]

Happens in Hong Kong

 

[HowMuch?]

Passengers never have & never will be happy. It's the nature of the beast. Not quite sure why we constantly try to convince ourselves on the railway that they ever will be.

But do you have to try quite so hard to sound like you've given up trying?

Some passengers/taxpayers reading this might not get your humour and imagine they have found support for their completely unjustified predjudices about rail staff.

 

[ivanhoe]

The trouble with Calder, and Wolmar too, is that decent transport journalists are so thin on the ground that when one comes along who is prepared both to do some reasonable research and articulate themselves clearly they are treated by editors as being some sort of transport oracle and given more credence than they sometimes deserve. Calder's output on low-cost airlines has been pretty good but his railway work is less solid. And of course Wolmar is now an aspiring Labour MP so everything he says has to be put into that context. Certain writers for various railway publications are sometimes mentioned on this site as though they are infallible but ultimately all of the above are tending to simply express their opinions and as such they can be just as "right" or "wrong" as anyone else.

Calder maybe good for his writings on Low Cost Airlines but there are people out there with lots more knowledge; Passengers. Most have probably never heard of him but I know of football fans who are so knowledgeable of multiple ways to get to Sofia from the North West, that Calder would be best listening to for at least a chapter in his latest upcoming LCA saga. He comes across well on tv for the usual 30 second slot to fill in on News at Ten. Wolmar is as upto date as the average Rail reader nowadays. His columns are as cheery as Barry Doe. Christ, why do I still subscribe!

 

[Joe Paxton]

I like Simon Calder - he's clearly an enthusiast, in the sense that he has a very enthusiastic personality. He does a late evening travel travel slot on Radio 5 that I've heard occasionally, which takes questions from listeners and is quite entertaining and informative.

Shaw's earlier point about decent transport journalists being thin on the ground is a good one though,

 

[Marklund]

I'd say you'd get much more detailed information from dedicated travel forums than relying on Calder.

His Rip Off Britain pieces are poor, but so is the rest of the programme.

 

[Bertie the bus]

Wolmar is as upto date as the average Rail reader nowadays. His columns are as cheery as Barry Doe. Christ, why do I still subscribe!

I find both Wolmar and Doe quite refreshing. They are just about the only railway journalists who don’t subscribe to the everything on the railway would be perfect if it wasn’t for Network Rail / the DfT (alternate every 6 months or so) mantra.

 

[Tetchytyke]

I'd say you'd get much more detailed information from dedicated travel forums than relying on Calder.

You shouldn't rely on any one source, but I'm not sure I agree with this. You get some intelligent and informative sources on forums, but you also get a lot of chaff. Just look how many Bertie Big Balls there are on FlyerTalk, for instance, stroking their egos (and more besides) about how often they fly at the front of the plane.

Wolmar is good for what he is, and you do need to take him with a pinch of salt. But he's one of the few journalists prepared to actually criticise the railway industry, you read Rail these days and most of the articles are just puff-pieces stroking the egos of bigwigs at the Rail Delivery Group or TOCs. I'm expecting another flurry of marriage proposals in-depth articles about Alex Hynes when he starts at Scotrail...

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Simon Calder is at least not in the pocket of the industry, and is more of a consumer champion really, though he does know a lot about rail.
The railway mags have to take the official industry/DfT line if they want privileged access to information/events.
They will also have to sign non-disclosure agreements at times.

Roger Ford has a slightly different stance as he has very good contacts in the supplier world rather than the TOCs and DfT.
But I think he's finding the new brigade of Hitachi, CAF and Stadler harder to crack than Alstom, Bombardier and Siemens.

Wolmar grandstands a lot but isn't really an "expert" in anything.
Barry Doe is good at the nuts and bolts of the current fares system, but he never gets to grips with DfT fares policy, yield management etc, and keeps harking back to BR.
He doesn't travel by air or abroad and seems to have a limited view of how transport retailing systems are evolving (eg smartcards, e-tickets etc).
Wolmar and Doe don't hide their politics either.
They are all getting on (aren't we all!).

The Man in Seat 61 (Mark Smith), however, is a real expert, having worked in both the TOC and DfT worlds.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Mark Smith is great - though I doubt he would describe himself as a journalist!

...
The railway mags have to take the official industry/DfT line if they want privileged access to information/events.
They will also have to sign non-disclosure agreements at times.
...

The other issue, as with any specialist magazine, is where's the money coming from in terms of advertising.

I agree with Simon Calder being more of a consumer than transport journalist in terms of his output. (Though I freely admit to never having ever watched "Rip Off Britain" - not really my idea of television, at least not from the title!) The fact he's stuck to being 'the man who pays his own way' is admirable.

 

[455driver]

Happiness is a sliding scale though. True, it might not be possible to make everyone happy, but when for years your customers have been flagging up the same issues and these problems still haven't been adequately tackled, then something ought to change.

Two of the biggest problems are-
1/ overcrowding
and
2/ ticket prices.

Now the easiest 'cure' for number 1/ is to put ticket prices up to price some people off the trains (there simply isnt the money or will to build more trains) but the cure for 2/ is to lower the prices,so what do you do?

 

[cjmillsnun]

There's already a thread on Belgian passenger name regulation.
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=135923

It is about Brexit, in the context that we are now expected to put up with any amount of travel restrictions in order to "keep them out".
Bits of stamped paper in your passport was what used to happen when travelling to East Germany.

It's **** all to do with Brexit. We're still in the EU for now. It is to do with UK Passport control which has been the case since forever. We are not in the Shenghen agreement, and as such a passport or EU ID card is required to enter the UK. Nothing has changed. After Brexit, we will see.

As far as the Belgian passenger name regulation, that is little more than security "theatre". It will have little or no effect as people can walk across the border quite freely.

 

[Hophead]

Simon Calder and his Brompton are regular travellers on Southern down to Crawley (presumably that's where his parents still live?). He was on the train last night, in fact.

 

[HowardGWR]

It's **** all to do with Brexit. We're still in the EU for now. It is to do with UK Passport control which has been the case since forever. We are not in the Shenghen agreement, and as such a passport or EU ID card is required to enter the UK. Nothing has changed. After Brexit, we will see.

As far as the Belgian passenger name regulation, that is little more than security "theatre". It will have little or no effect as people can walk across the border quite freely.

It's Schengen, a town. You pronounce it as you would schedule if you were American.

 

[Busaholic]

I like Simon Calder - he's clearly an enthusiast, in the sense that he has a very enthusiastic personality. He does a late evening travel travel slot on Radio 5 that I've heard occasionally, which takes questions from listeners and is quite entertaining and informative.

Shaw's earlier point about decent transport journalists being thin on the ground is a good one though,

I like him too, and not only because he mentioned in print the point I made to him on the one occasion I contacted him. I've heard him many times on Radio Four's 'You and Yours' and 'PM', and I get the impression he doesn't drive: in fact, he's still an enthusiastic hitchhiker, though maybe not in the UK.

 

[Tetchytyke]

The railway mags have to take the official industry/DfT line if they want privileged access to information/events.
They will also have to sign non-disclosure agreements at times.

Roger Ford has a slightly different stance as he has very good contacts in the supplier world rather than the TOCs and DfT.
But I think he's finding the new brigade of Hitachi, CAF and Stadler harder to crack than Alstom, Bombardier and Siemens.

Oh, I understand why Rail and the like are how they are. They're a professional magazine now and you don't get access to the bigwigs unless you blow smoke up their fundament.

You see that with the frankly nauseating way they gush over Alex Hynes, as they see him as a rising star in the industry. It makes sense from a business perspective.
It's not journalism though.

And yes, agreed about Roger Ford. Who is actually proving the point, really. He thinks the IEP is an overpriced plastic waste of money and so Hitachi and DfT mandarins won't have anything to do with him. Shame, as he'll be proven right.