It patently is not a breach of franchise. It will have been agreed with Merseytravel.
In any event, it’s not a franchise.
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Merseyrail breach franchise commitments again by shutting stations
- Thread starter nedchester
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It patently is not a breach of franchise. It will have been agreed with Merseytravel.
In any event, it’s not a franchise.
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At least it's not on a working day this time, I appreciate some people work Sunday, but the numbers affected will be much lower than on the Friday of the Giants. But there is a general feeling in the Merseyrail operations room that as long as a train stops, somewhere in Liverpool, Birkenhead Central, Hooton and Chester then all is good. Regardless of where the majority of the passengers wish to board/alight. I think Sunday is only 4tph, so Chester services should all be 6 car, possibly going down to 3tph all 6 car, with longer dwell times, would help, though at the expense of asynchronous arrivals at Chester (20/40 min gaps) and Ellesmere Port being hourly.
The Chester line has had some fairly brutal deforestation carried out over the last few years, presumably to mitigate the leaf fall. But any 3rd rail operation is going to struggle, I hope the new units have some industrial grade sanders for starting out of Green Lane which often feels touch and go.
The Chester line has had some fairly brutal deforestation carried out over the last few years, presumably to mitigate the leaf fall. But any 3rd rail operation is going to struggle, I hope the new units have some industrial grade sanders for starting out of Green Lane which often feels touch and go.
True; it's a concession:
https://www.merseytravel.gov.uk/about-us/guide-to-Merseytravel/Pages/Merseyrail.aspx
If there is evidence that Merseyrail have broken this agreement, it would be interesting to hear it. But without that evidence, it would be reasonable to assume Merseytravel are aware of the plans and have approved them. An FOI request could be sent to Merseytravel if there is any doubt.
The closing of city centre stations seems a new thing, I don't recall it happening in prior years. James Street is perhaps understandable being a lifts-only station, but I don't understand the logic of the other decisions. It seems counter-intuitive when the stations could share the burden.
The only city centre station they are closing is James St (as you said due to access issues).
The decision to make Moorfields the terminus for Northern Line trains and Liverpool Central for Wirral Lines again makes sense because it keeps the lines separate and stops fans overwhelming the stations, as both have platforms that arent that wide.
Lime Street will be overwhelmed by passengers using the main station therefore closing the low level station makes sense. The plan separates passengers into 3 different groups which under the circumstances seems like a good way to manage the crowds. No idea why the OP thinks its a breach, its clearly a plan agreed by the relevant authorities. There is no chance normal dwell times will be kept which means some stations need to be skipped to keep to the timetable.
The stations could share the burden, but the trains can't. E.g., what would happen on the Wirral Line platform at Central, if the train was already full after Lime St?
Yes totally sensible idea unless they had Chester /Ellesmere port going from Lime St and New Brighton/West Kirby going from Central for example. They could then run more trains (subject to stock being available) as both could have simultaneous dwell time before moving on. But I guess stock is the problem and it's better to concentrate resources at one location.
nedchester
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OK it’s a concession not a franchise in the normal sense and I agree closing certain stations in the city centre is a good idea to maintain crowd control. I also suspect Merseytravel will have approved it.
Also, shutting some stations to ensure a robust timetables would be OK IF they offered alternative transport. So shutting stations like Capenhurst is OK because there’s a worry that that the trains won’t manage the 5 min turnarounds at Chester is fine but run Rail replacement buses instead. Instead, Merseyrail are saying to passengers getting to Chester and wishing to travel to Capenhurst..”make your own way at your own expense”. Not acceptable.
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Bletchleyite
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In particular Central can't cope with crowds. Until it gets gutted and a second island built, which I suspect might well happen at some point, they'll have to keep closing it for major events. It's not quite Piccadilly P13/14, primarily because it's served by trains with doors at thirds and with adequate capacity, but it's a problem in a PTI sense because the platforms get so busy.
Agreed. There should at least be a taxi on demand to Hooton from Capenhurst and from Bromborough Rake to Bromborough. Most people wouldn't bother but it would at least be something.
VT 390
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How are you supposed to interchange between the Northern and Wirral lines though if you can't/don't want to walk between stations?
You can change at Moorfields for Wirral Line trains and vice versa via the Loop Line, you just cant get a Northern Line train to Central or get a Wirral Line train to Moorfields - I agree that its not ideal but its the best that Merseyrail can do.
nedchester
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Exactly. There’s an important point of principle here.
Merseyrail get a complaint about a Morrissey Poster and act immediately, folk complain about the service and offer an idea for an alternative and ignore the complaint.
Interesting one is if a PRM turns up at Lime Street on a mainline service and wishes to go to a station on the Wirral and they get no assistance. That could be interesting.
I was uni living at Smithdown Road at that time and went along. My mate who met me couldn't get anywhere near the Lime Street lower level entrance and I honestly thought she was going to get crushed. It was crazy, I'm glad they've thought about it a bit more this time!
Liverpool is going to be a very, very difficult place to be this evening. If a person with a disability arrives at Lime Street needing to reach (e.g.) Hoylake I would suggest the station staff should arrange a taxi (if they can get one) via a tunnel (if accessible).
Not sure - other than putting a notice with a contact number up at Capenhurst - what more could be done in reality.
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