Chester-le-Track to cease trading.

[TBY-Paul]

Announced on Chester-le-track Facebook page.

It is with great sadness that we announce that Chester le Track will cease trading at our Chester le Street and Eaglescliffe stations from close of business on Saturday 31st March. Falling revenue and the increased use of internet sales on portable devices and mobile phones has made the business unprofitable because we only survive from the sale of tickets at the stations and on our phone lines. When we opened in 1999, 90% of customers making journeys originating from Chester le Street bought their tickets at the station. Although passenger numbers have risen greatly, the proportion purchasing at the station has fallen to 20-30%. We regret this will involve the closure of the waiting room and toilets for all passengers as the station will be unstaffed. Trains will continue to call at the stations, but tickets should be purchased from the automatic machines Northern Rail are providing, or on the train. At Eaglescliffe, Grand Central are reviewing how to provide services for the passengers on their London Service. Our team has enjoyed serving you for the last 18 years and we thank you very much for your custom.

Alex Nelson
Stationmaster

 

[AlterEgo]

That’s a shame. They were a nice outfit with good people.

 

[DarloRich]

That’s a shame. They were a nice outfit with good people.

Agreed - such is progress.

 

[a_c_skinner]

Yes, both ticket offices were excellent, helpful and knowledgeable.

 

[harz99]

Real shame, and it will be older people that suffer the most I guess, AFAIK this will leave only Bishop Trains at Bishop Auckland as an independent ticket office in the area.

 

[cuccir]

Sad news; I don't know Alex directly but he helped my wife with a research project several years ago and has kept an interest in her work since - he seems a very decent guy. All the best to him and to all the staff.

 

[Paul Duck]

Talks on going about keeping Eaglescliffe open.

 

[DarloRich]

Talks on going about keeping Eaglescliffe open.

Good news - it is a better station with people there to serve customers!

 

[Bletchleyite]

That’s a shame. They were a nice outfit with good people.

Though they did have a fairly bad habit of domain squatting at one point, which I think more recently they have packed in. I've heard them known as "Chester-le-Squat" for that reason.

It is a shame, though I wonder if a different business model could work, like a reversed version of Merseyrail's M-to-go? The latter is a not-particularly-good convenience store with the till staff trained in ticket sales. You could instead have, as seems to have become the modus operandi for the Post Office, a convenience store (a good one, like one of the chains) licensed to sell railway tickets at the tills (just like they offer Post Office services now; indeed they could do that as well potentially).

Indeed, could Chester-le-Track have expanded to do this or did their leases not permit general retail?

 

[Mojo]

Indeed, could Chester-le-Track have expanded to do this or did their leases not permit general retail?

l met Alex at a rail conference ten years ago and asked Alex that very question. He stated that he didn’t think he could make that format work and also cited VAT rules that would also make that very complicated for him. l should imagine that with the growth of Tesco Express/Sainsburys Local/little Waitrose in the past ten years since l spoke to him that making it a success would be even more unlikely.

 

[Bletchleyite]

l met Alex at a rail conference ten years ago and asked Alex that very question. He stated that he didn’t think he could make that format work and also cited VAT rules that would also make that very complicated for him. l should imagine that with the growth of Tesco Express/Sainsburys Local/little Waitrose in the past ten years since l spoke to him that making it a success would be even more unlikely.

Fair point, though independent and semi-independent (affiliated to the likes of NISA and SPAR) local shops do still seem to do reasonably well if they are any good - my local shop is an independent. If you can make it pay as a local shop alone, a bit of rail ticket commission is a bonus.

Having said that...could a deal with one of the "big boys" form the future of ticket offices at that kind of small to medium sized station?

 

[ainsworth74]

Well that's certainly a massive shame. Eaglescliffe has certainly turned around massively over the last ten years and a large part of that is certainly down to the presence of a manned ticket office for large parts of the day. They also produced some very interesting and useful information about cheap ticket options which were displayed in poster form for all to see and take advantage of which may well be missed by the locals!

 

[FQTV]

Sad news indeed.

I'd hoped that C-L-T was a model that was going to prove a long term success.

Of course, rent reviews also have a habit of changing the underlying economics of many businesses.

 

[TBY-Paul]

Talks on going about keeping Eaglescliffe open.

I hope Eaglescliffe is kept open, especially considering it having the Grand Central service calling there. Is there any news regarding "Northern Connect" services using Stockton Station (and the Stillington line)? All "Northern Connect" Stations are planned to be manned stations with a booking office? Might there be a opportunity to find employment at Stockton?

 

[ainsworth74]

Is there any news regarding "Northern Connect" services using Stockton Station (and the Stillington line)?

Not that I am aware of. There still hasn't (but I'm happy to be corrected) a definitive statement of what route those services are actually going to take.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Not every Northern Connect station is to be manned, just the 36 (?) stipulated in the franchise agreement, of which only MetroCentre and Wakefield Kirkgate are currently without staff (if memory serves). The likes of Kendal for example are due to be served by Connect services yet will preaumably retain its limited facilities.

Back on topic, I am sad to see CLT go. Never used them personally but it is good to see unstaffed stations be given new leases of life by these sort of endeavours. Hopefully such fates do not befall the other stations nationwide with similar arrangements.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not every Northern Connect station is to be manned, just the 36 (?) stipulated in the franchise agreement, of which only MetroCentre and Wakefield Kirkgate are currently without staff (if memory serves). The likes of Kendal for example are due to be served by Connect services yet will preaumably retain its limited facilities.

Aren't they all going to at least get a coffee kiosk? I thought Northern said they were going to fulfil the catering obligation by way of station facilities. Or don't smaller stations count? If not, that's not providing an equivalent to an on board trolley.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Aren't they all going to at least get a coffee kiosk? I thought Northern said they were going to fulfil the catering obligation by way of station facilities. Or don't smaller stations count? If not, that's not providing an equivalent to an on board trolley.

Not in a position to check atm but I believe the WiFi, catering and staff etc provisions only referred to those explicitely stated in the Agreement. Happy to be proven wrong though!

 

[sheff1]

Though they did have a fairly bad habit of domain squatting at one point,

Having suffered that from them far too often I decided they were a outfit I would not give my business to.

 

[Darandio]

Having suffered that from them far too often I decided they were a outfit I would not give my business to.

What does it mean when you suffer from it? Never heard of the term and i'm genuinely curious.

 

[Bletchleyite]

What does it mean when you suffer from it? Never heard of the term and i'm genuinely curious.

Domain squatting is where someone registers a domain name that is either generic (which is arguably fair game if a bit naughty) or contains someone else's trademark (which isn't) with the explicit intention of selling it on at a profit should the organisation want it, or if not using it to make money from advertising.

This: https://www.nationalrail.com is a good example of a domain-squatted site. I think CLT did own it at one point but I don't know if they do now.

It's not unknown for people to hear of a new brand being launched (e.g. a TOC) and go and register the domains for it before it is launched. It's one of the key reasons new branding has to be kept hush until the domains and trademarks are registered. The company can try to take the squatter to court, but often it's easier and cheaper to cough up, hence why it's profitable.

 

[Mojo]

What does it mean when you suffer from it? Never heard of the term and i'm genuinely curious.

Domain squatting is where someone registers a domain name that is either generic (which is arguably fair game if a bit naughty) or contains someone else's trademark (which isn't) with the explicit intention of selling it on at a profit should the organisation want it, or if not using it to make money from advertising.

It's more commonly known as Cybersquatting and you may have heard of it as that. It's basically buying domain names at the normal price that a registrar would charge for them (typically this would be no more than £15 including Vat for 2 years for .co.uk domains for instance) and then keeping hold of them in the hope that someone such as a business would buy them off you at a later date for a higher price. For instance, many of their domains are/were similar to existing or potential Tocs and so on. They are probably more famous for registering Nationalrail.com as Neil says.

 

[MikeWh]

This: https://www.nationalrail.com is a good example of a domain-squatted site. I think CLT did own it at one point but I don't know if they do now.

Just gone on it and it says it is owned and operated by Chester-le-Track.

 

[Darandio]

I understand what you mean now, and I didn't also realise they run an 'internet' business as well. However, they do say here http://www.chester-le-track.co.uk/htm/aboutus.htm

Since we are not "cybersquatters", we do not have a price list, and do not usually sell domains.

As @Mojo speculates, I had heard the term 'Cybersquatting' but i've never actually seen a company defending themselves against it as per the link above. Even more strange considering they do seem to still be doing just that.

 

[Darandio]

Blimey, turns out there was also a BBC article about it, the Midland Mainline part is especially interesting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/02/99/e-cyclopedia/516426.stm

Midland Mainline, the company which runs trains from London to the East Midlands, came to an arrangement with Mr Nelson, and rents the site www.midlandmainline from him. Its previous address had been the not-quite-so-obvious mml.rail.co.uk.

 

[takno]

What I really hated about the domain squatting was that they never had anything useful on the domains once you got there. It was always just the internet equivalent of drawing a giant tag over an information poster, leaving you to go back out google to find the correct variation of the domain you were looking for. Obviously they felt like it worked for them, but overall I'd say it's probably actively stopped me from ever visiting Chester-le-Street let alone using what I assumed was a pretty sketchy operation.

Sorry to hear there was actually a decent business attached

 

[Bletchleyite]

Just gone on it and it says it is owned and operated by Chester-le-Track.

So it does. Given that it gives the appearance of being the official NR site I think it is at the least rather irresponsible.

Mind you, if they give them up (rather than pass to ATOC) they'll end up with a porn/phishing site on them...

 

[Bletchleyite]

From http://www.chester-le-track.co.uk/htm/aboutus.htm:

You can consult the list and if you wish to rent names from us, diversions to your own website can often be arranged within minutes. Some names may only be available to particular businesses to avoid charges of passing off.

Since we are not "cybersquatters", we do not have a price list, and do not usually sell domains. We spent so long in early 1999 trying to get top people to wake up to the huge threat of domain registration by people unconnected with the rail industry and hotel industry that we eventually took action ourselves.

Now those are two rather contradictory paragraphs right next to one another, aren't they? Unless the "rent" is the price of the domain from the registrar directly, which I bet it isn't.

 

[Darandio]

So it does. Given that it gives the appearance of being the official NR site I think it is at the least rather irresponsible.

I completely agree, i've grown quite a large dislike of their operation over the last 30 minutes or so, especially after seeing the first entry in their FAQ..

https://www.nationalrail.com/faq/

What Is National Rail?

National Rail is the umbrella body for all the main line, suburban and local train services in England, Wales and Scotland. There are 23 trains operating companies (TOCs) which run services under a franchise from the Department of Transport, excluding the heritage railway sector, London Underground and Eurostar.

Which is at first glance to me is claiming to be the official National Rail site, very underhand.

 

[Gareth Marston]

It's more commonly known as Cybersquatting and you may have heard of it as that. It's basically buying domain names at the normal price that a registrar would charge for them (typically this would be no more than £15 including Vat for 2 years for .co.uk domains for instance) and then keeping hold of them in the hope that someone such as a business would buy them off you at a later date for a higher price. For instance, many of their domains are/were similar to existing or potential Tocs and so on. They are probably more famous for registering Nationalrail.com as Neil says.

The previous owner of my business seems to have been into this i regularly get "your domain is due to expire" Invoices/ e mails for all sorts of variations. I just ignore them.