What is your controversial railway opinion/idea?

[backontrack]

If you don't support Beeching's ideas or believe that only totally urban areas should see rail transport investment, then that doesn't make you 'deluded', a 'fantasist', a 'crayonista' or anything of the sort.

 

[johnr57]

People who are not railway enthusiasts should not be surprised when railway enthusiasts post on a railway discussion forum.

People who are railway enthusiasts should not be surprised when railway non-enthusiasts post on a railway discussion forum

 

[b2311e]

Renationalisation isn't the brilliant idea people think it is.

Provided it would be done with enough thought, planning and organisation; sure, but I doubt that'd happen

 

[CaptainHaddock]

There should be no "dry" trains on the rail network. The 99% of people who enjoy a beer or two on the train without causing any trouble shouldn't be penalised because of the 1% who overdo it.

 

[tbtc]

If you want to improve the environment, improve social mobility, giving young people access to jobs, stick in some buzzwords about Social Justice, provide accountable public transport etc (like Corbynistas tell us they want) then you'd be better nationalising buses than the Dear Leader's obsession with nationalising trains.

 

[416GSi]

By 1994, British Rail was a well managed efficient organisation who ran a good railway service.

If privatisation had not happened, and the same amount of public funding was made available to BR as was made available in reality post privatisation, we would have a significantly better railway now compared to today's reality.

Yet we would still be complaining about poor service on BR.

 

[B&I]

People are too busy to acquit Beeching for his hand in the Reshaping Report when he genuinely supported the mass closures (and wanted even more of them to close). He wasn't sure of how much he could realistically get closed, but - had he had his way - we would have seen even more lines shut.

Saying that Beeching was right does not make you an edgy iconoclast. It suggests instead that you are someone who is incapable of learning from past mistakes

 

[B&I]

If you want to improve the environment, improve social mobility, giving young people access to jobs, stick in some buzzwords about Social Justice, provide accountable public transport etc (like Corbynistas tell us they want) then you'd be better nationalising buses than the Dear Leader's obsession with nationalising trains.

1. Buses AND trains should be nationalised under regional companies, or at the very least provided via franchises closely specified by a nationwide network of PTEs (with apprppriate provision for national and cross-boundary services), to provide an integrated transport system which will get as many people as possible out of their cars.

2. Getting as many people as possible out of their cars, rather than providing a large, guaranteed subsidy from the British taxpayer to a collection of private transport companies and state-owned railways from overseas, should ve the main function of our public transport network.

 

[B&I]

People who are railway enthusiasts should not be surprised when railway non-enthusiasts post on a railway discussion forum

Railway non-enthusiasts should not be surprised when their antipathy to the railways is continually scrutinised and challenged, on a railway discussion forum

 

[alistairlees]

No new line or station should be opened unless it has at least a 2-car (pref 4-car) train every 30 minutes. Opening stations with one 1-car train an hour (Kenilworth, I'm thinking of you here) is not how to get the most efficient use from railways.

 

[alistairlees]

1. Buses AND trains should be nationalised under regional companies, or at the very least provided via franchises closely specified by a nationwide network of PTEs (with apprppriate provision for national and cross-boundary services), to provide an integrated transport system which will get as many people as possible out of their cars.

2. Getting as many people as possible out of their cars, rather than providing a large, guaranteed subsidy from the British taxpayer to a collection of private transport companies and state-owned railways from overseas, should ve the main function of our public transport network.

The OP specified (in the very first words in the very first post) "no debates allowed".

 

[Bromley boy]

External door open buttons should be wired up to the power unit line, energised to 750V DC, until a door release is put up.

That will ensure:

1. Impatient door “woodpeckers” will get a big “shock”, that the doors don’t open until the BIL lights come on;

2. Those who are impatient will only get to be impatient once.

 

[alxndr]

Modular signalling equipment should all be scrapped and proper solid equipment and relays should be reinstated.

 

[adrock1976]

External door open buttons should be wired up to the power unit line, energised to 750V DC, until a door release is put up.

That will ensure:

1. Impatient door “woodpeckers” will get a big “shock”, that the doors don’t open until the BIL lights come on;

2. Those who are impatient will only get to be impatient once.

Although I agree with the spirit of the post, could you translate what the bolded bit is please?

It is mentioned in the forum rules not to use abbreviations without first saying what they mean.

 

[adrock1976]

Anybody who pushes on the train before passengers have left should be removed off and made to wait for the last train of the day.

 

[GW43125]

Although I agree with the spirit of the post, could you translate what the bolded bit is please?

It is mentioned in the forum rules not to use abbreviations without first saying what they mean.

BIL=bodyside indicator lights.
The orange lights at the top middle of each carriage that light up when (amongst other things) the doors aren’t locked.

 

[Bromley boy]

Although I agree with the spirit of the post, could you translate what the bolded bit is please?

It is mentioned in the forum rules not to use abbreviations without first saying what they mean.

Apologies, BIL = Bodyside Indicator Lights.

Although, where does it end? I assume that everyone participating in these forums is reasonably au fait with railway vernacular.

 

[peri]

Apologies, BIL = Bodyside Indicator Lights.

Although, where does it end? I assume that everyone participating in these forums is reasonably au fait with railway vernacular.

Actually that was the first time seeing that for me too. It would be good to have a jargon list somewhere that lists all acronyms, slang and abbreviations.

 

[Daz28]

Trespassers on the line should accept the consequences. Keep the trains running at full speed and have Network Rail keep a specialised clean up train on standby to pick up the pieces and jet wash the remains.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Get rid of the incessant "see it say it sort it" security announcements. Ideally they should be replaced with complete silence but if you must have an announcement how about a soothing voice saying "Hey, chill out, there hasn't been a significant terrorist attack on the railways for years so there probably isn't going to be one now. Put your luggage wherever you like and if you see something you think is suspicious, ignore it and mind your own business!"

 

[Iliketrains123]

Ban the Metro newspaper. It creates so much litter.

Pacers should've been turned into Coke cans years ago.

 

[Matt Taylor]

Railways should either be fully private with no Dft micromanaging or they should be fully devolved and accountable to (and financed by) local authorities and council tax payers.

 

[Masbroughlad]

Revisit all Beeching closures and apply modern ways of working to revisit costs eg de-staff stations, single man driver, improved signalling etc.

Reopen any that would have been cost-effective today.

 

[vlad]

4. Journeys longer than 2 hours or 150 miles have compulsory restaurant/catering supplied and not bloody trolleys.

Do you mean: "This journey comes with a compulsory 3-course meal - we'll fine you if you choose not to eat it"?

 

[dviner]

Modular signalling equipment should all be scrapped and proper solid equipment and relays should be reinstated.

I'll state upfront that I have no expertise in railway signalling equipment, and I am in no way criticising your viewpoint, but I am curious why you have this opinion.

 

[trainophile]

Anybody who pushes on the train before passengers have left should be removed off and made to wait for the last train of the day.

Anybody who decides eventually to start getting off, when no-one has alighted for a good half a minute and the vestibule is clear except for boarding passengers understandably assuming that their turn has come, should be carried on to the next stop and have to pay for a ticket back.

 

[alxndr]

I'll state upfront that I have no expertise in railway signalling equipment, and I am in no way criticising your viewpoint, but I am curious why you have this opinion.

I'm hesitant to break the "no discussion" rule of this thread but it feels less reliable and with less back up for when things go wrong. There's something much more reassuring about a heavy metal and bakelite object than something that wouldn't look out of place surrounded by Lego. It also sometimes speaks to you in German.

My viewpoint could well be biased as I find it incredibly unsatisfying to work on modular stuff (there's a huge difference between being able to say, with confidence, "contacts A1-A2 of x relay have gone high resistance" or saying "I think there's an issue in this sealed box, we're going to try swapping it and see if that fixes things") and there are probably some figures somewhere that have proved the new stuff is more reliable or we wouldn't have it.

That said, as some people want to zap people into oblivion for pressing a button in this thread, I think finding something a bit dull is grounds enough for me to dream of scrapping it!

 

[Ianno87]

Ban the Metro newspaper. It creates so much litter.

Just ban the Metro newspaper generally.

 

[Cowley]

What a great thread EM2 (nearly 300 posts already).
Anyone would think that there’re some folks on here that have a few things to say...

 

[backontrack]

Saying that Beeching was right does not make you an edgy iconoclast. It suggests instead that you are someone who is incapable of learning from past mistakes

Agreed. In a similar way, don't mock people because they disagree with you. It doesn't help your argument in the slightest.

Also: the concept of rail renationalisation is not the preserve of left-wingers. In a 2014 poll, it was revealed that a majority of the members of all the major parties supported renationalisation of the railways; I'm not saying that we can draw an accurate conclusion on whether there is national support for rail renationalisation based on the outcome of one poll - not everyones a member of a party - but it still proves my point that it is disingenuous to portray the policy as a 'Corbynista' thing.

Also, please stop saying that. Not all Labour supporters are 'Corbynistas'; it's a Murdoch media invention. Have you ever hear about 'Mayistas', or 'Cablistas', or 'Govistas', or 'Battenistas'? No, because the right-wing media are hardly going to describe their own readers that way. See, the only other 'istas' are 'Boristas'; and they work in pretentious coffee shops.