Timetable Books From December 2022 Timetable Change

[Goldfish62]

Which is a crying shame. There is something very fulfilling about perusing a railway timetable from top to bottom.

Yes, in a non enthusiast way. If you're new to an area or decide to give the train a go for the first time a printed timetable is a great way of promoting what's on offer.

I regularly get printed menus through my door from local takeaways. Why would they do that do you suppose when they also have online menus?

It's all about commercial nous and promoting your product. Something seemingly sadly lacking on the railways.

 

[Ken H]

Yes, in a non enthusiast way. If you're new to an area or decide to give the train a go for the first time a printed timetable is a great way of promoting what's on offer.

I regularly get printed menus through my door from local takeaways. Why would they do that do you suppose when they also have online menus?

It's all about commercial nous and promoting your product. Something seemingly sadly lacking on the railways.

Northern should have timetables available in tourist areas. Places like Settle. Something simpler and cheaper than the current book. Sheet of A4 folded would be enough.

 

[dk1]

Yes, in a non enthusiast way. If you're new to an area or decide to give the train a go for the first time a printed timetable is a great way of promoting what's on offer.

I regularly get printed menus through my door from local takeaways. Why would they do that do you suppose when they also have online menus?

It's all about commercial nous and promoting your product. Something seemingly sadly lacking on the railways.

I think it’s lacking with some of the should we say less enthusiastic train operators. There are some proactive ones out there too.

 

[Dunnyrail]

Though I have a mobile on-line timetables are not really the best even when available, where are the full .pdf’s of the full timetable from TOC’s. Indeed we are at a race to the bottom of the pile currently in the U.K. Timetable wise.

That nice guy in Rail has linked a private enterprise timetable available to download free, he also mentioned a printed option of trains and busses in the lakes that I got a free posted copy of and it is great. Sorry no links, but readers of Rail may be able to help. My copies now passed on to friends.

 

[Goldfish62]

Here is an excellent blog post from Roger French, the retired senior bus manager who did such great things at Brighton & Hove. I think it describes perfectly the importance of printed publicity. It's far too long to reproduce here, but hopefully anyone that wants to can access it via the link:

Printed matters

Thursday 28th April 2022 I had an enjoyable evening last Saturday at The Hawth Theatre in Crawley (Tony Blackburn’s Radio 2 Sounds of the Sixties Tour since you asked – highly recommend…

busandtrainuser.com

 

[route101]

Northern should have timetables available in tourist areas. Places like Settle. Something simpler and cheaper than the current book. Sheet of A4 folded would be enough.

I have two timetables for Northern. One for Leeds - Carlisle/Morecambe and one that covers that line plus lakes, Tyne valley and Lake District bus times.

 

[Route115?]

I was in Switzerland last year. They have basically done away with printed timetables but I was able to pick up a free booklet at Chur covering public transport in Canton Graubunden and it was invaluable and made planning trips so much easier. I'm all for printed timetables. Yes you can check options before you travel but what if your train is delayed, or a meeting overruns, etc. Not everyone has or is happy using a smartphone.

 

[daodao]

Printed timetables for rail services are now wasteful of resources and dangerously misleading, given that the "timetable of the day", the only one that is actually valid, now usually has many of the previously planned services removed. Publicising originally planned timetables by printing them is therefore unwise, although they should probably still be available as an electronic resource on the web as pdf files, with a very big caveat displayed in bold and large font at the top of the page. This warning should state that the timetable is only indicative and that customers should confirm on the day of travel, or no earlier than 2200 on the previous day, that the trains that intend to use are actually scheduled to run. Customers should be encouraged to use journey planners on the web, as near to their planned travel time as possible.

I am personally fascinated by timetables, and find them useful, but now generally just consult them on line. I do download the planned electronic national rail timetable twice yearly as single pdf timetables for reference as an indicator of the service level offered, but no longer use them for planning prospective journeys.

 

[Goldfish62]

Printed timetables for rail services are now wasteful of resources and dangerously misleading, given that the "timetable of the day", the only one that is actually valid, now usually has many of the previously planned services removed.

Effectively what you're saying is that railways have become unusable in terms of planning ahead because they run what they feel like on a daily basis, and sadly I agree that's where we are.

But you're still missing the point that timetables are a great way of promoting what's on offer when things are running normally. If you haven't read the blog I posted the link to above I highly recommend it.

 

[30907]

But you're still missing the point that timetables are a great way of promoting what's on offer when things are running normally. If you haven't read the blog I posted the link to above I highly recommend it.

It gives an excellent example of a Northern promotional leaflet (incidentally, not their standard route timetable).
I would, slightly pedantically, phrase it differently: leaflets are a great way of promoting what's on offer... and should include a timetable (or a summary, in some cases). It's what heritage railways do, after all!

 

[Goldfish62]

It gives an excellent example of a Northern promotional leaflet (incidentally, not their standard route timetable).
I would, slightly pedantically, phrase it differently: leaflets are a great way of promoting what's on offer... and should include a timetable (or a summary, in some cases). It's what heritage railways do, after all!

Basically agree. However, most train services are quite mundane affairs without great scenery or special destinations to promote so really when the trains go, how often they run and the journey time as shown on a timetable are the only the things apart from sample fares that can realistically be promoted and will therefore essentially form the leaflet.

 

[Mike99]

Which is a crying shame. There is something very fulfilling about perusing a railway timetable from top to bottom.

Wheres the like button when you need it

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Jan 2023 ==

It's on amazon UK here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/bwegt-Kursbuch-Baden-Württemberg-2023-Regionalverbindungen-Nahverkehrsgesellschaft/dp/3943551180/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1J4M2ZZ4NKY14&keywords=bwegt&qid=1672834070&s=books&sprefix=bwegt,stripbooks,214&sr=1-2

It says 'map' but it's not. It's the 1060-page book.

But book+postage comes out cheaper to buy from Amazon.de: https://www.amazon.de/bwegt-Kursbuch-Baden-Württemberg-2023-Regionalverbindungen-Nahverkehrsgesellschaft/dp/3943551180

And having done some digging, cheaper still from Book Depository, who charge slightly more for the book but have free shipping: https://www.bookdepository.com/bwegt-Kursbuch-Baden-Württemberg-2023-Nahverkehrsgesellschaft-Baden-Württemberg/9783943551181?ref=grid-view&qid=1672834202305&sr=1-1

I've ordered one from the Book Depository, I do like to have a good read of a timetable, especially in book form

 

[MikeWM]

Printed timetables for rail services are now wasteful of resources and dangerously misleading, given that the "timetable of the day", the only one that is actually valid, now usually has many of the previously planned services removed.

'Misleading' doesn't strike me as an argument against printed timetables though - rather an argument that the railway needs to get its act together regarding running the services it is supposed to be running.

Indeed, as I speculated above, I believe a good amount of how the railway is getting away with this 'timetable of the day' nonsense is precisely because it is increasingly difficult to find what 'should' be running and/or to claim compensation when it doesn't.

 

[Birmingham]

Much more sensible to provide downloadable pdfs which people can print out themselves if they really want to.

At the very least, TOCs which aren't producing timetable leaflets should print them themselves at ticket offices for passengers who enquire. I've had a ticket office clerk in the past print me off a map of a rover's validity area from their own website — which is exactly what I knew they'd do, and wanted as I didn't have access to a printer!

 

[Basil Jet]

At the very least, TOCs which aren't producing timetable leaflets should print them themselves at ticket offices for passengers who enquire. I've had a ticket office clerk in the past print me off a map of a rover's validity area from their own website — which is exactly what I knew they'd do, and wanted as I didn't have access to a printer!

There is currently a free GWR leaflet available at Paddington which shows validity maps for about a dozen different rovers.