Bad news for Pensioners, Commuters etc in South Yorkshire

[ModernRailways]

Interesting that Milliband has just announced a proposal which would limit benefit payments to unemployed young people unless they join a training scheme.
Political parties are definitely aware that 'Oldies' vote, they don't seem to too concerned about the 'Youth' vote.

Going a little off-topic but this is really going to bite them! A lot of my friends I would have classed as apathetic, but a lot of them actually seem to be taking a small interest and Farage (I hate the man but whatever :P) has helped that. A large portion of my friends voted in the Euro election but didn't in the local election (apparently it's useless because Labour always gets in anyway which tbh is true)

It may be time for the main parties to realise that once these old people die off they are really going to be stuck! You can't keep supporting the elderly when the world is rapidly changing and new ideals need brought in!

Back on topic, I think if a party was to overhaul the current system, promising that everyone who already has an ENCTS pass keeps their benefits and doesn't have to undergo any new rules then it would go down a treat. However, the overhaul would have to be well done. Central Government funds all bus travel, local councils fund anything else such as Metro/tram etc. I also think abolishing the time restrictions would really help, because right now if I catch the 0923 bus it's pretty much empty, if I catch the 0933 it's absolutely rammed full of pensioners. Why not have everybody more spread out? No pensioner will want to travel on an early peak time bus/Metro/tram unless they need to thus defeating the argument that no time restrictions will mean peak time transport will be busier and unable to cope.

 

[ECML180]

No pensioner will want to travel on an early peak time bus/Metro/tram unless they need to

I disagree! Back in my sixth form days our school(aprrox. 1200 students at that site) finished at 15.05 and although there were 18 buses per hour(across 9 routes) no additional vehicles were used. This meant that every bus until after 15.30 departed full and standing, this was a well known fact and lead to most non-school users avoiding that time...with the exception on pensioners who would instead get on anyway and complain about how busy it was.

BUSES? BUSY? AT SCHOOL TIMES? Shocker

There were regulars who did it a few times most weeks so I'm not convinced that they will choose off-peak to travel given the choice, morning or evening!

 

[ModernRailways]

I disagree! Back in my sixth form days our school(aprrox. 1200 students at that site) finished at 15.05 and although there were 18 buses per hour(across 9 routes) no additional vehicles were used. This meant that every bus until after 15.30 departed full and standing, this was a well known fact and lead to most non-school users avoiding that time...with the exception on pensioners who would instead get on anyway and complain about how busy it was.

BUSES? BUSY? AT SCHOOL TIMES? Shocker

There were regulars who did it a few times most weeks so I'm not convinced that they will choose off-peak to travel given the choice, morning or evening!

But, that is when passes are accepted anyway so it wouldn't make a difference. Of course, they will travel and moan but they would do that anyway.

I know of a few pensioners who frequent the same time services and moan about the rowdy passengers or the fact it's busy. They don't care as long as they have a seat, they will moan but it's only to the person sitting next to them. You will always get them, but it's a lot less likely in the AM. You also have the fact that in the AM peak a lot of things are still closed thus meaning leaving earlier (with the main peak traffic) will be useless.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

The scheme for the National Passes were a great idea, but this was introduced well after Labour ran the country into the ground.

This is my beef with Labour, they have bankrupted the country and sold this nation short and they do not care or have any remorse to the damage caused to this nation, yet people who still vote them must be insane after what has happend over the 13 years they were in.

Pensioners are more likely to vote - so at a guess, a third of South Yorkshire would have voted Labour since most of the, quite frankly deluded Labour voters who still thinks that they are for the working man (and they're offsping are fed the same crap.) Yeah, they might have been 40 years ago but not now.

When the scheme was thought out it was rushed which has lead to the loss of many bus services and in South Yorkshire's case, millitant pensioners demanding free travel because they think the PTE is loaded with cash when in fact they have hardly anything which means certain services have to be scrapped or forced to be ran commercially because of the lack of investment. The less people that are paying for the service used the more likely it is to get scrapped or in the case with the railways the unit being reduced to a class 153 skateboard.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I know of a few pensioners who frequent the same time services and moan about the rowdy passengers or the fact it's busy.

Rowdy passengers on buses when schoolchildren are coming home from school. Surely not. Surely these examples must be a most infrequent occurrence....

 

[Deerfold]

Arthur Scargill was the one who wrecked the coal industry not Margaret Thatcher. Some collieries had to be closed because the amount of money the coal sold for was far less than the cost involved in bringing it to the surface. Imported coal is cheaper. I know it's a bitter pill to swallow. However, when foreign coal has gone we'll still have British coal left to dig out and sell for a fortune! Think what life might be like then.

The government seems to have something against coal mines - looks like the last of those staffed by those who worked through the 80s strike are to be closed despite high productivity levels:

http://www.nottinghampost.com/Thore...-Mineworkers/story-20920379-detail/story.html

There's a cogent argument that we could have produced coal more efficiently if we'd invested in newer technologies instead of closing everything.

 

[ModernRailways]

Rowdy passengers on buses when schoolchildren are coming home from school. Surely not. Surely these examples must be a most infrequent occurrence....

Exactly! The thing is they do the same trip everyday just as the schools are coming out. They could leave 10 minutes earlier and avoid, or 10 minutes later and avoid but no. Obviously the buses must be on time to allow that but they are for the most part, and if they are late they usually run in pairs, with one bus then setting down at the bus station and then running fast so it can get back on schedule.

 

[neilmc]

The government seems to have something against coal mines - looks like the last of those staffed by those who worked through the 80s strike are to be closed despite high productivity levels:

http://www.nottinghampost.com/Thore...-Mineworkers/story-20920379-detail/story.html

There's a cogent argument that we could have produced coal more efficiently if we'd invested in newer technologies instead of closing everything.

Quite possibly but that's the British way, especialy the British Conservative way!

We could have an efficient well-connected railway network too but it seemed a good idea at the time to close as many lines as possible to save money. And now any re-opening scheme costs the earth, many times what it would have cost to keep the lines open.

At some time soaring energy prices might lead us to re-consider all those "uneconomic" coal reserves but when the whole site's been flattened, the shafts filled in and the coal seams full of water the cost will be vast.

 

[34D]

Going a little off-topic but this is really going to bite them! A lot of my friends I would have classed as apathetic, but a lot of them actually seem to be taking a small interest and Farage (I hate the man but whatever :P) has helped that. A large portion of my friends voted in the Euro election but didn't in the local election (apparently it's useless because Labour always gets in anyway which tbh is true)

Interesting

It may be time for the main parties to realise that once these old people die off they are really going to be stuck! You can't keep supporting the elderly when the world is rapidly changing and new ideals need brought in!

But they don't die until their 90s - and this is a major problem.

Back on topic, I think if a party was to overhaul the current system, promising that everyone who already has an ENCTS pass keeps their benefits and doesn't have to undergo any new rules then it would go down a treat. However, the overhaul would have to be well done. Central Government funds all bus travel, local councils fund anything else such as Metro/tram etc.

So you want to look after those (who are presently in their 70s) who have really had it easy, retiring at age 55 on private pensions, but don't look after those of us who are younger and have to work until 67? Bizarre

I also think abolishing the time restrictions would really help, because right now if I catch the 0923 bus it's pretty much empty, if I catch the 0933 it's absolutely rammed full of pensioners. Why not have everybody more spread out? No pensioner will want to travel on an early peak time bus/Metro/tram unless they need to thus defeating the argument that no time restrictions will mean peak time transport will be busier and unable to cope.

Biddies always travel on the first bus they can. On Saturdays they "go in early to get done". Let's keep 09:30 thank you - better yet introduce the restriction on weekends too.

 

[Bill Stanier]

So you want to look after those (who are presently in their 70s) who have really had it easy, retiring at age 55 on private pensions, but don't look after those of us who are younger and have to work until 67? Bizarre

Had it easy? Retired at 55? We didn't all work for the local council, you know.

Some of us carved out real careers in the real world, working all hours, intolerable pressure, often not seeing home or kids for ages, 5am starts for a meeting 200 miles away, not home 'till 11pm if lucky!

And no gold plated index linked pension at 55!

Get real! You don't know you're born!

 

[RogerB]

And you don't have to work until you're 67 - you just have to wait until then for your state pension. You're perfectly at liberty to retire when you like - if you can afford to. Bill's post #340 explains how to do that.

 

[455driver]

Quite possibly but that's the British way, especialy the British Conservative way!

We could have an efficient well-connected railway network too but it seemed a good idea at the time to close as many lines as possible to save money. And now any re-opening scheme costs the earth, many times what it would have cost to keep the lines open.

At some time soaring energy prices might lead us to re-consider all those "uneconomic" coal reserves but when the whole site's been flattened, the shafts filled in and the coal seams full of water the cost will be vast.

Who was it that was actually in power when most of the lines were closed (including some that were not in 'that' report)?

In case you are struggling the party name begins with L and ends in R!

 

[34D]

It looks like Northern Rail have toughened up on the ENCTS protests.

There is a separate thread as this is now definitely a railway dispute.

 

[ModernRailways]

But they don't die until their 90s - and this is a major problem.

Oh definitely, but if the main parties started to appeal to a younger generation and got them voting then a lot more controversial with regards to the elderly would be taken. Too many people are apathetic about voting, either because none of their ideals fit with the parties or they do vote and do a protest vote. IIRC the rank of people who didn't vote was as follows, so 58-65 had the highest percentage turnout:
1) 24-30
2) 30-45
3) 18-23
4) 45-58
5) 66+
6) 58-65

So you want to look after those (who are presently in their 70s) who have really had it easy, retiring at age 55 on private pensions, but don't look after those of us who are younger and have to work until 67? Bizarre

I don't understand your point. You would still be getting the same, you could retire at age 55 on a private pension if you liked.

Biddies always travel on the first bus they can. On Saturdays they "go in early to get done". Let's keep 09:30 thank you - better yet introduce the restriction on weekends too.

Well, I'm not sure where you are but here we have had the past few summers where all restrictions were removed and people could travel at any time and there was only a handful of ENCTS pass users pre-0845. After 0845 until 0930 quite a few buses are running with plenty of space, then 0929 hits and the first bus after that is rammed. Why not spread that load out? Why not bother trialling it to see how it really affects people and transport?

 

[NorthernSpirit]

Who was it that was actually in power when most of the lines were closed (including some that were not in 'that' report)?

In case you are struggling the party name begins with L and ends in R!

The answer is Labour - the party for idiots.

 

[GatwickDepress]

The answer is Labour - the party for idiots.

Aren't they all?

 

[natureboy]

The answer is Labour - the party for idiots.

I couldn't have put it better myself! Labour are about as much use as a naturist camp in Antarctica!

 

[Tetchytyke]

The answer is Labour - the party for idiots.

It doesn't matter who you vote for, the Government gets in.

Labour are still marginally better than the psychopaths and failures that inhabit the Conservative Party though.

 

[Bill Stanier]

Labour are still marginally better than the psychopaths and failures that inhabit the Conservative Party though.

I think the fact that the last two times they have been in power (Jim Callaghan and Blair/Brown) they left the country a smoking financial ruin (especially Brown) disproves that. The Tories always have a massive clear-up and re-build job to do when they succeed a Labour government before they can even think about policies they'd like to introduce!

 

[NorthernSpirit]

It doesn't matter who you vote for, the Government gets in.

Labour are still marginally better than the psychopaths and failures that inhabit the Conservative Party though.

With Labour though they bankrupted the nation and in turn have turned the pensioners of South Yorkshire into millitants who want everything free. I know of a Labour voter who once threatened me and his own autistic daughter (who was my girlfriend at the time) with her getting forced into getting sectioned. If that is the mentality of Labour, which it is, then no wonder this nation is slowly killing itself.

At least I don't believe in fake science and Europe, both of which are lies and failures. Speaking of which we could sell South Yorkshire off to Europe and the rest of England can leave.

 

[Deerfold]

I know of a Labour voter who once threatened me and his own autistic daughter (who was my girlfriend at the time) with her getting forced into getting sectioned. If that is the mentality of Labour, which it is, then no wonder this nation is slowly killing itself.

No, that's the mentality of one person.

At least I don't believe in fake science and Europe, both of which are lies and failures. Speaking of which we could sell South Yorkshire off to Europe and the rest of England can leave.

Not sure what fake science you speak of - do clarify - but Europe definitely exists, even if you don't believe in it.

 

[Jonny]

With Labour though they bankrupted the nation and in turn have turned the pensioners of South Yorkshire into millitants who want everything free. I know of a Labour voter who once threatened me and his own autistic daughter (who was my girlfriend at the time) with her getting forced into getting sectioned. If that is the mentality of Labour, which it is, then no wonder this nation is slowly killing itself.

Which is the root cause of this problem. Labour seems determined to push the pyramid scheme that is the welfare state so that they can win a few more votes. The similar militant attitude from parents with buggies (another Labour 'target demographic') who think that everyone else should get/keep out the way (because in their mind they seriously believe are doing everyone a service by having children) is bred (no pun intended) from similar thinking.

 

[WatcherZero]

Possibly some good news on the other side.

Lancashire County Council were planning to axe all evening and weekend subsidised bus services in West Lancashire (Mainly affecting the regions links to Wigan, Liverpool and Preston). The council protested on the grounds of isolating communities and now the blanket axe has been cancelled and each route will be reviewed on an individual basis as it comes up for renewal.

http://online.westlancs.gov.uk/coins/submissiondocuments.asp?submissionid=15871