Recent content by Gerald Fiennes

Even if that's not what is said when asked directly, the general direction of most rail industry publications is 'more rail is better'. Given where we are on HS2, this position is somewhat debateable!

One of the main problems with this 'innovative' approach is the woeful lack of information to the public about what is really going on. All the self-congratulatory stuff from LNER/GBRTT people reproduced above neatly obscures the point that this is just a major fares rise on the busier trains...

Yes, via a long tunnel of some kind but this, it seems, is being left for the next Government to resolve....

It really is high time for a mature discussion about the benefits of having direct trains to London vs. changing at major nodes such as Leeds. At present, even when the Harrogate LNER runs, it has to be timetabled to wait at Leeds for long periods of time to create a performance buffer between...

£375 roundtrip from Berwick to Devon the other week. OK, that was the 1st Class fare. But it was a collection of Advance fares (NB the claim about rail being 'flexible')..... You don't even seem to get a sandwich included these days....

Appeal, they might agree with you. But, as per kacper, it seems to me the Penalty Fare is correctly issued. Intent is not relevant: the Penalty Fare arrangement is solely about whether you held a valid ticket or not, not what your intentions were at earlier stages before the inspection. If...

Yes, Runcorn is certainly well-used. The other factor to bear in mind, though I shall only whisper it, is that the general rail industry perception is that demand from Runcorn and Liverpool has never been that strong compared with eg Scotland and Manchester, ie. 1tph does just fine in most...

You are certainly right about the chat and months (years?) it has gone on. The point is perhaps that Dr Kissinger simply wouldn't stand for "wibbling" of any kind and would discuss directly with the principles involved to seek a resolution directly with them...

The mud-slinging is very much the norm in our current rail set up but many people here probably recongise that, at heart, it doesn't get us very far. When something goes wrong, on the scale of the 2018 meltdown, the public and the politicians see the rail industry as a whole failing, and are...

In effect it seems that three Rail DGs are being merged into two meaning that there should be better communicaiton between the projects and the passenger service side of things. No bad thing! The High Speed Group continues unchanged although it seems that Network North (nee NPR) is going to...

Some of the ICEs to Duesseldorf and beyond could run via Moenchengladbach though, presumably (although loads of trains from the latter to Duesseldorf these days)? I seem to recall that some took that route in the 80s? Otherwise, it's much like the GB network: if all worked as per timetable...

Well, that's the theory but DB may not be that helpful in practice late at night at Koeln Hbf. Best to leave London earlier. Or have a Plan B, ie. the day train the following day....

It's possible but have a Plan B: the ES was not always that good on punctuality last year and the ES/ICE connections to Cologne willl not necesarily be held as they have to fit with trains in Germany, particularly through Cologne. With all ICE/IC/EC trains in Germany, one should allow at least...

Seemed to be OK three weeks ago in Annemasse but we are talking France here, anything is possible!

Indeed..... er ... the Super Off Peak/Off Peak was a 'consumer protection measure' by the Conservative Government that pushed through privatisation in the early 1990s. The protection was to ensure that there would be at least one fare on each flow (normally a leisure orientated flow on...