Disruptive passengers - Colne/Blackpool South

[Chrism20]

Don't think there is much chance of redoubling now. Didn't they sell a chunk of platform two at St Anne's last year as well?

A loop is definitely needed though as a half hourly service would definitely benefit Lytham, St Anne's, Ansdell etc as well as Blackpool itself.

 

[crispy1978]

@northernrailorg: AMENDED: Due to a train fault 15:23 #Colne to #BlackpoolSouth due 17:19 will be started from Burnley Central.

Different reason but 4th issue on the line this week!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
@northernrailorg: AMENDED: Due to a passenger being taken ill 16:23 #Colne to #BlackpoolSouth due 18:17 will no longer call at Colne, Nelson and Brierfield

Just to point out, 5 days out of 6! Been a bad week for Colne to Burnley Central at times this week!

 

[PacerTrain142]

Thanks for this thread guys. Sorry for posting on an old thread but I thought I'd just have to chime in here..

As it is a nice sunny day today I was all set to go to St Annes but after reading this thread I changed my mind...

I remember once a few years ago I was coming back on the train from B'Pool S and while waiting at the platform there was a rowdy bunch of about four men swearing.

On the train some people asked them to stop especially as they had kids but they didn't, they complained to the guard and he told them to stop or they'd be removed from the train.

Guess what, they didn't so at the next station, he bunked them off. Then, as the guard is stood on the platform, one of them opens a can of beer and chucks it at him, soaking him in the stuff!

As you can imagine, he could not continue doing his job like that, so the train was terminated at Blackburn, and the driver warned us that they could be on the next train.... Thankfully they weren't but I would rather not do that journey again...

Think I might wait until early September or perhaps later in the Autumn when I travel there. You can get some good weather even as late as early November as I remember last year.

The reason that line attracts more of the un-desirable types is probably because it calls at the wacky end of Blackpool and picks up all lunatics at B'Pool Pleasure Beach and calls at all the little less-than-affluent places in East Lancs. And it uses a lower class of train, too

 

[DarloRich]

I've done York-Blackpool North many times and never encountered a problem.

Why does it seem to always be a problem involving Blackpool South I wonder? Is it because it's the more commercialised side of Blackpool, or is there a very close pub or something?

have you never been to Blackpool? I would fight to get out!

 

[bramling]

have you never been to Blackpool? I would fight to get out!

I've been (out of season, thankfully!) and as a place it's ok - I liked the trams and the tower. As usual, spoiled by the people.

My impression is the South Shore end is worse, which may explain why the Blackpool South line is more likely to attract issues -- combined with the fact that there's less to stop problem people reaching the train compared to Blackpool North.

 

[PacerTrain142]

I did it. Yesterday I took the plunge and rode on the train to St Annes and back. Here's how it went...

I got the mid morning train. It was a 2 car class 150. In fact, all the trains on the line were this type yesterday. I only saw one Pacer today at that was on the return journey at Preston parked up on Platform 2 with "Preston" written on the front.

Anyway, the train wasn't too busy, until we arrived at Preston.. Tons of students scrambling onto the train to go to, guess where... Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

Normally that only happens at weekends and we get 4 units instead of 2 to deal with the crowds but of course as it's the holidays it was just like a weekend. Perhaps that's why it was all 150's on the line today as they have slightly larger capacity than Pacers.

The train was held at Kirkham for about 5 minutes to wait for the train coming in the other direction to pass so we could move onto the single track to Blackpool.

Had a nice time in St Annes. Decent weather. The sea was really far out though and it literally took me no less than an hour - no joke to get to the sea!

I planned to get the 5:30 service back from St Annes. When I got there the train arrived.. But it was going the other way! It was running quite late, so I had to wait for it to go to B'pool S and make it's way back again. There was an announcement over the tannoy "We are sorry to announce that the next train to Colne is 6 minutes late". Great..
When it arrived it was absolutely jam packed. People were struggling to get on, and it was only delaying the train further. I didn't fancy getting on that, so I spent a little more time in the town and caught the next train.

Waiting on the Platform "We are sorry to announce... (Please don't say it's cancelled!) the next train is 7 minutes late". When the 150 arrived it was a little quieter but still very busy and only a few seats left.

As we were coming into Kirkham I saw the Transpennine Express from B'pool N joining the line (nooooooooo!), it was moving faster than us and steamed ahead. Coming into Preston was slow-going after being met with a procession of red and amber signals.

No problems with disruptive passengers, just very busy.


I think some improvements need to be made to this service.

Firstly, extend the double track! The long section of single track from Kirkham - B'pool S means that if a train is late returning from B'pool S it often also delays the next train as it has to wait until the line is clear. This has a knock on effect making the next service late and the next.

Also, I really think that the service should be split IMO. There is far more usage of the line between Preston and B'Pool PB than Preston to Colne, leading to difficult decisions regarding rolling stock. Put on two carriages, and face overcrowding between Preston and B'pool S, or put on 4 cars but have to take 2 out of service between Preston and Colne, like they do at weekends, wasting rolling stock. Perhaps they could do Colne - Preston and then B'pool S - somewhere else.

Also, the conductor was no where to be seen on the outbound journey, and on the return journey only came to check tickets after most people got off! Could have got away without paying had I boarded at an unstaffed station. I have noticed this before sometimes on this line. No idea why..

 

[keppoch69]

I travelled on this line about 5 weeks ago. Travelling to Rishton from Preston on my third train of the day on a Saturday was not a problem. I lost my Pacer "virginity" & found it comfortable. I do love the colour of moquet to be honest. It did feel more "council housing estate" than main line but that surely is the actuality of the line perhaps?
Travelling back from Rishton to Preston just after 0700 was a pleasure to be honest. My father's home town where I reside at present, would be delighted to have been left a service with a Pacer, rather than losing our service in the 1960s and I now have a 45 minute walk to our nearest railway station.

 

[PacerTrain142]

I travelled on this line about 5 weeks ago. Travelling to Rishton from Preston on my third train of the day on a Saturday was not a problem. I lost my Pacer "virginity" & found it comfortable. I do love the colour of moquet to be honest. It did feel more "council housing estate" than main line but that surely is the actuality of the line perhaps?
Travelling back from Rishton to Preston just after 0700 was a pleasure to be honest. My father's home town where I reside at present, would be delighted to have been left a service with a Pacer, rather than losing our service in the 1960s and I now have a 45 minute walk to our nearest railway station.

Yeah, glad you had a nice time out. I don't think Pacers are too bad either, though many units could do with a little TLC. The Pacer actually saved many branch lines from closing into the 80's due to it's low running cost. If they had thought of something similar 20-30 years before then perhaps Beeching would not have closed so many lines.

They are the unsung heroes and I think most of the hatred of Pacers comes from the fact that they are overused on urban and inter-city commuter services which is not what they were originally intended for. Get longer faster trains on those services and put all the Pacers on the branch lines.

If they had built more Pacers (they could use bodies from other buses like Dennis Darts for example), then we wouldn't have the rolling stock crises and overcrowding problems that we see today.

I actually dream of there being railways to every witch way, every little village in the country that is not too hilly to build a railway through, with little bus-style Pacer trains connecting these otherwise isolated places to the bigger towns. Especially at a time when rural bus services are being slashed as yet more subsidy cuts take hold.

It's a nice thought but it will probably never happen.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

It did feel more "council housing estate" than main line but that surely is the actuality of the line perhaps?

Because the line runs through Burnley

 

[johntea]

I travelled on this line a week or so ago for a job interview, although nearly had a heart attack when I checked the service status on my phone while travelling to Preston to find the word 'Cancelled' from Colne to Preston luckily it was in service starting at Preston

Quite amazing how I've never been to St Annes On Sea until then despite it only being the 10 minute ride from Blackpool! Quite odd in fact to go all that way and bypass Blackpool altogether (I'm based just outside Leeds so typically would travel on the York - Blackpool North service)

Quite nice in how you can stop on it returning to get to Blackburn or Accrington too to connect with the York service, which I ended up doing as I knew from previous travels how close the Blackburn Wetherspoons is to the railway station so I managed to neck a couple in there before heading home to drown my sorrows (I didn't get the job but it was a fun day out )

 

[roversfan2001]

Because the line runs through Burnley

There needs to be a like button, solely for this comment.

 

[PacerTrain142]

I live right next to this line and can tell just be hearing the train whether it's a Pacer or a Sprinter (usually a 150). The Sprinters usually have a loud howl whereas the Pacers have a deeper grunt.

I've noticed that when we get a spell of fine weather there are more Sprinters running - especially during the holidays.. Last Tuesday was all 150's.
My reasoning - more people will be travelling on dry days, especially as the line passes through seaside towns such as St Annes and of course Blackpool Pleasure Beach - and 150's and 156's have higher capacity than 142's..


Today is a washout and it's all been 4 car Pacers so far...

 

[Ianno87]

Also, I really think that the service should be split IMO. There is far more usage of the line between Preston and B'Pool PB than Preston to Colne, leading to difficult decisions regarding rolling stock. Put on two carriages, and face overcrowding between Preston and B'pool S, or put on 4 cars but have to take 2 out of service between Preston and Colne, like they do at weekends, wasting rolling stock. Perhaps they could do Colne - Preston and then B'pool S - somewhere else.

Problem is, a Colne-Preston service is quite an inefficient use of units - the single line to Colne means that the train would have to sit at Preston for about 40 minutes every hour. Colne-Blackpool S is quite neat in being about 1hr 50mins each way, so 4 circuits to have an hourly service, with about 5-10 minutes turneound at each end, also accounting for the single lines.

Only possibility might be to have an hourly Colne-Preston interwork with an improved hourly Preston-Ormskirk service, making best use of the long turnround time (so an arrival at Preston from Colne works back to Preston 1hr 40 mins later, having been to Ormskirk and back in the meantime, instead of BPS). This solves the problem with the Ormskirk service, where an hourly train cannot be provided by a single unit due to the round trip time.

Preston-Blackpool South could then have the option of becoming self-contained, with about 15-20 mins at Preston to turnround (may need to shunt onto the Ribble bridge and back to clear a platform)

 

[Cliveblackpool]

I am 5 minutes walk from South station.
An hourly service to Colne is good.
An extra service to Manchester (which used to run up to the 80's when the line was then reduced to single track) needs reinstating. A passing loop between St Annes and Lytham is needed. Not only good for Pleasure Beach & the Tourist industry, but open up many job opportunities for those living in the depressed Central, South Shore, and the Lytham St Annes corridor.

 

[randyrippley]

I actually dream of there being railways to every witch way(

Converting the Witch Way in Lancashire to rail could be a problem.......don't think you'd get track through Bowland very easily