New member

[Grumpy Git]

Hello, new member here (I have been lurking for a few months).

Generally interested in railways from an engineering point of view, (I like locomotives I guess)?

I have a couple of questions:

1. I use the 03.37 Lime St to Manchester Airport service occasionally. Why is this always a DMU (Cl 156?) on a fully electrified route (Chat Moss)?

2. I go to the odd football match and always use the train, (cheaper to get to London now via LNW than to Derby from Liverpool). Why is it always impossible to use rail for a midweek game as the last train is usually 9 p.m.? Even "local" towns like Blackburn are no-go due to the last train being at just after 9 p.m. London is no better with the last Virgin service at 9 p.m. Are the train companies in bed with hoteliers?

Oh, and one other thing. On a recent LNW Liverpool to Euston direct service, the guard repeatedly announced on the PA that Virgin tickets were not valid and anyone who had these must get off the train at Runcorn (or Crewe, or Stafford)................. then never came round to check them. 3h 45m on the same train without having a ticket check! I often wonder if any Swiss rail employees are over in the UK and are on the train? I wonder what they make of it?

Thanks in advance for any enlightenment.

 

[Bertie the bus]

The answer to the first question seems to be because it then forms the 05:51 - Liverpool via Warrington which is not electrified.

The answer to the second question is because railway timetables aren't based on occasional use by football supporters. Very few people would want to travel back to the North West from London at 22:00 or 23:00 midweek.

 

[island]

As to the third, guards do not always check tickets in every coach of the train owing to numerous factors, which may include having other duties to complete, concerns around aggressive or non-compliant passengers, being a bit tired, ticket machine running out of batteries, and whatever else.

I am sure CFF employees turn up on British trains from time to time.

 

[Grumpy Git]

As to the third, guards do not always check tickets in every coach of the train owing to numerous factors, which may include having other duties to complete, concerns around aggressive or non-compliant passengers, being a bit tired, ticket machine running out of batteries, and whatever else.

I am sure CFF employees turn up on British trains from time to time.

I often wonder how much cheaper tickets would be if the railway industry employed enough staff to always check tickets?

 

[2L70]

2. I go to the odd football match and always use the train, (cheaper to get to London now via LNW than to Derby from Liverpool). Why is it always impossible to use rail for a midweek game as the last train is usually 9 p.m.? Even "local" towns like Blackburn are no-go due to the last train being at just after 9 p.m. London is no better with the last Virgin service at 9 p.m. Are the train companies in bed with hoteliers?.

Without knowing who you support, are coaches an option? Northern’s late services in part of Yorkshire are pretty decent now, although as a Rugby League Fan I feel the pain - spend a fortune on hotels in Manchester/Merseyside!

 

[Scotrail84]

I often wonder how much cheaper tickets would be if the railway industry employed enough staff to always check tickets?

They'd be no cheaper, perhaps even dearer with more wages to cover.

 

[sheff1]

Very few people would want to travel back to the North West from London at 22:00 or 23:00 midweek.

And yet there is a 2300 Kings Cross to York and a 2333 to Leeds.

I din't realise people in the North West liked to get to bed so much earlier.

 

[Bovverboy]

Hello, new member here (I have been lurking for a few months).

Generally interested in railways from an engineering point of view, (I like locomotives I guess)?

I have a couple of questions:

1. I use the 03.37 Lime St to Manchester Airport service occasionally. Why is this always a DMU (Cl 156?) on a fully electrified route (Chat Moss)?

From 6/7/19 (probably) on Saturdays, and from 12/8/19 on Mondays to Fridays, the 0337 has been diagrammed for a Class 195. Since those dates, it has very rarely been formed of anything else.

The answer to the first question seems to be because it then forms the 05:51 - Liverpool via Warrington which is not electrified.

In the days before the 0337 was booked to come back as the 0551 it was instead scheduled to depart Manchester Airport not long after it arrived (before 0500, I think) and routed Chat Moss both ways, but it was still a DMU - yes, invariably a 156 in those days. The reason for it being a diesel was, I was given to understand, the likelihood of it being diverted over the CLC route due to engineering work, which, at that hour, is much more likely than in the middle of the day.

 

[bb21]

Welcome to the forum, but please ask your questions in relevant parts of the forum in separate threads. Thank you.