Train travel
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foxe
Posts: 53
Joined: Apr 2008
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29-07-2008 04:13 PM
[Moved from 'SE23 Topics: Ticket Barriers and Gates at FH Station']
My heart sinks when I get on the 'buffet car' during rush hour. About 6 very small seats, and some pointless little tables. I sat down once an clearly they'd designed the seats for my kids so I had to stand up!
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brian
Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
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29-07-2008 04:28 PM
Yes I agree Foxe seats quiet small , clearly designed for earlier decades.
I was very pleased train quiet and no one was there to sit on next seat.
Would it not be great to have open buffet .
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Baboonery
Posts: 581
Joined: Sep 2007
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29-07-2008 06:06 PM
I quite like the buffet car on the 0842. Quirky, like. The single seats are very comfortable, even for a big feller like myself. If no seats available (or only the doubles, which might fit Posh Spice next to me, but nobody else) I do like scuttling behind the bar and leaning in that corner.
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barty
Posts: 19
Joined: Jul 2008
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03-08-2008 03:21 PM
I wonder how many train passengers actually consider the sheer complexity of running a railway when their train rolls in a few minutes late in the morning?
It isn't simply a matter of a train driver driving a train along and keeping to a timetable. Delays can occur for any number of reasons, some of which are nothing to do with the train operator.
For instance, if an elderly passenger takes a few moments longer than average to board or alight from a train, what does the driver do? Shut the doors at the appropriate departure time regardless?
When a lorry strikes a bridge it is too tall to get under, what does the rail company do? Continue running trains over said bridge, keeping fingers crossed that it hasn't been damaged by a large heavy lorry crashing into it?
When a person decides to take their own life by jumping in front of a train, what does the rail company do? Continue running services past the scene subjecting passengers to the horror?
When an electricity sub-station explodes alongside the railway line, what does the railway company do? Continue running services past, hoping that the fire doesn't spread to its lines?
Any small delay has a knock-on to all trains behind it. Drivers then arrive late at their destination, which means they leave late taking a train to another destination.
Rail staff are subject to regulations regarding the length of their shift like lorry drivers and coach drivers. Late-running trains cause all sorts of chaos in terms of staff needing breaks and needing to end their shift at specific times.
The logistics of successfully running a railway to time are staggering, but the travelling public are quick to denounce.
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brian
Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
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03-08-2008 03:39 PM
Well said and I totally agree. In general , as I have said , the staff do a great job.
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nevermodern
Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
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03-08-2008 04:09 PM
The point is, though, that most people would be quite happy to accept any of those reasons for delay, if those were usually the reason for delays.
But they *aren't*.
The unusal reason for delays are faulty trains or defective signals, all of which *are* the fault of the train companies/network rail/the government.
And people have every right to complain about them.
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barty
Posts: 19
Joined: Jul 2008
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03-08-2008 04:28 PM
Defective signals are not the fault of the train operating companies, who are entitled to claim compensation from Network Rail when their services are delayed, and pass this onto passengers, who are entitled to claim compensation if punctuality falls below a set guideline which the Government sets when granting them the franchise.
And the biggest cause of delays are these kinds of minor, everyday delays which snowball to the point where a train misses it's "path" - which is basically a way of plotting whereabouts on the track a given train shoule be at a given time.
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nevermodern
Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
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03-08-2008 04:46 PM
Well, I didn't say the signal errors were the fault of the operating companies.
I'm intrigued by your examples of everyday delays: a lorry striking a bridge it's too tall to go under, an electricity substation exploding.
'Everyday' from Hotton to Emmerdale maybe (doubtless in a three-carriage train rammed to the rafters)
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barty
Posts: 19
Joined: Jul 2008
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03-08-2008 04:51 PM
everyday being delays allowing passengers on and off the train in peak times, when people take precious seconds squeezing into impossibly small gaps, and fellow passengers do not move through the carriages to allow people on.
If a train loses, say, 30 seconds doing this at every stop, by the end of a journey calling at ten stations its five minutes late.
So, therefore, is the next service(or indeed services) which that train and driver are due to run.
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barty
Posts: 19
Joined: Jul 2008
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03-08-2008 04:53 PM
.....and all the trains following it.
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Applespider
Posts: 285
Joined: Feb 2006
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03-08-2008 05:21 PM
To play devil's advocate a little... if the trains had sufficient carriages and doors, then perhaps it would be quicker for passengers to alight/board thus avoiding those delays due to people trying to squeeze on or off. I do see your point though - there are now more stopping trains at Denmark Hill between 8 and 9am (which I assume are also stopping at other places too) and the trains, while busy, aren't as packed and are far more punctual than previously.
It's exactly the same story on buses. If the service is running frequently enough that it's not crammed, people get on/off quickly and the journey takes a far shorter time.
I do appreciate the complexity and can understand the odd delay here and there. What I (and my boss) find harder to understand is where the delays are everyday - in that case shouldn't the train be re-timetabled to meet its actual running time?
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barty
Posts: 19
Joined: Jul 2008
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03-08-2008 05:34 PM
".....if the trains had sufficient carriages and doors....."
Yeah I was waiting for someone to say that!!!!
I suppose, ultimately, I am of the belief that the railways shouldn't have been privatised, but I, along with every other member of railway staff, have to work with what we've got.
Which is a system where the train operators, who are only responsible for some of the delays, are perceived by the vast majority of the public to be responsible for all of them, and passengers take out their frustrations on frontline staff who are in most cases trying their best.
The railway system nationwide is a victim of its own success, with passenger numbers now past their previous highs just after WWII on a network which, thanks to Beeching in the 60's is now somewhat smaller.
The only solution is to increase train sizes or track capacity - work which in itself is expensive, which train operators on short term franchises are understandably reluctant to fund, and which will itself cause the disruption to services which the railways are forever criticised for!
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Sherwood
Posts: 1,413
Joined: Mar 2005
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04-08-2008 01:27 PM
Actually, some people take a very long time to get on and off a bus, especially if the ramp has to be lowered or they have got two push-chairs jammed together!
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brian
Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
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04-08-2008 06:49 PM
Now now Barty please show some respect it was Dr Beeching , not Beeching. He was only carrying out govenment orders.
His secretary , now 96 , very nice lady lives in SE 23. She says very nice man.
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Londondrz
Posts: 1,538
Joined: Apr 2006
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05-08-2008 09:00 AM
I lived in Japan for 5 years and took two trains to school every day. The only time we EVER had a delay was due to a suicide.
The trains ran on time (within 15 seconds) and the doors opened exactly where they always did on the platform. Sure it got crowded (those people you have seen pushing people onto the trains on Youtube do actually push you on) but no one complained as they were doing what they did every day.
If the Japanes can do it why cant we?
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nevermodern
Posts: 653
Joined: Feb 2007
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05-08-2008 09:28 AM
Why can't we have someone kneading us into a train every morning like we're pieces of dough?
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Dotcom
Posts: 39
Joined: Apr 2005
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05-08-2008 10:12 AM
I'm not keen on being pushed anywhere, any time, for any reason whatsoever, thank you very much.
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Baboonery
Posts: 581
Joined: Sep 2007
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05-08-2008 10:38 AM
Because they don't have incompetents running their railways, or a culture of excuse-making?
Viz Virgin's "Well, Sunday engineering works are going to continue until 2039, so why not make a long weekend of it and stay until Monday!!!" braying ********. Of course, this after you've been cooped up in one of their faeces-smelling trains for five hours, doing a journey that takes two-and-a-half on a weekday, and a scheduled three-and-a-half on Sunday (because a third of the engines have to have the day off, presumably).
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barty
Posts: 19
Joined: Jul 2008
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16-08-2008 06:41 PM
Maintenance of the railways has to be done, and doing it at the weekends inconveniences fewer travellers.
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As part of my training I had to travel from Croydon to Littlehampton last week.
I suffered a delay of almost 30 minutes....due to someone being taken ill on a train at Clapham Junction.
Fault of the train operator??????? No, I think not.
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Baboonery
Posts: 581
Joined: Sep 2007
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17-08-2008 10:32 PM
Thanks for pointing out that train operators are not at fault for people being ill.
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