Recent content by setdown

Previously yes, but I don't think the regulation argument holds up much weight now, alas. Look at LNER getting rid of super-off peak fares on a whim. I doubt they would have got away with that as a fully-privatised TOC, but as they're being run by the government (pretty much), now anything goes.

Interestingly, the ORR issued 4 improvement notices in 2023. This includes the notice issued to Network Rail re: Euston management. All notices, except one, are complied with. No prizes for guessing which one isn't! (and it had an extension too)...

Assuming that's true, that's absolutely shocking behaviour from the station operator. There's no way my parents would be able to make it from concourse to train in that time, especially with everyone running around them.

I believe that's happening now at Paddington Elizabeth Line. When I've been there recently, there's been one member of staff stood in the wide gate scanning e-tickets.

Does/can the third rail provide some mitigation against derailment, keeping the train relatively straight? It looks like the wheel has tucked in between the rails.

I think in some places you can tell that some thought has gone into avoiding this issue. For example, arriving into Hartford, the auto announcement goes off immediately after passing the points after Acton Bridge. So only when there's no more chance of a late-running Avanti holding it up...

Depending on your route (and flexibility of days), it may end up cheaper to buy a weekly season on a Wednesday to cover Wed/Thurs/Fri/Mon/Tue, and then buy a single day ticket for the third day in the second week. Certainly much cheaper than buying flexi-seasons where I travel.

Having travelled on a Class 755 for the first time last week, I would love to see something similar back up north. Wonderful trains. Modern technology allows us to have step-free access now, it really ought to be the standard going forwards.

I swear I'd heard of this plan a few years ago, could this be the origin? Or maybe even earlier than this. https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/rdg-making-another-attempt-to-get-rid-of-off-peak-fares.228169/#post-5534793 In hindsight the thread appears to be both depressing and foreshadowing.

Out of all the TOCs for this to happen on, it's certainly ironic it's happened on SWR! ;) Joking aside though, if the guards weren't required to repeat the auto-announcements almost verbatim, I wonder if miscreants would even know that this were possible?

I imagine it's similar to the Central line. London Underground can't claim that all the recent 1992 failures are unexpectedly higher or a surprise. It's clear to anyone who travels on them that LU spent no money on them, inside they're a disgrace. And now the chickens have come home to roost...

Yes, absolutely. Seats, standing, sat on the floor, luggage racks, wherever. Be honest with passengers. Things are rubbish now, but we can’t magic trains out of anywhere soon. Until then, we will do absolutely everything we can to maximise capacity for everyone, so first class is declassified...

First class really needs permanently declassifying, until capacity is properly sorted. Also, there’s posters at Southampton Central this morning saying there’ll be disruption today because of a lack of drivers. If you don’t have enough drivers, then you’ve ultimately failed as a train...

It would be simply lovely if the Trainline app popped-up something along the lines of 'Why not have a day out at Haymarket instead? It'll cost you a lot less!" I think for better or worse, Trainline is the entry point to the railway for most people outside of this website.

If they're making lives difficult for e-ticket users, I'd just use a paper ticket instead.