Glenn1969
Established Member
I think Judith Blake is a Leeds City Region voice which also covers Craven, Harrogate and York
The experience of TfW suggests it will be a long time before there are noticable improvements. Without control of the infrastructure and the long lead times for new rolling stock there are very few quick fixes. Cleaning is one of them, the fare structure is another. Cutting fares, as TfW has done in north Wales and on some of the valley services, is something people, particularly from deprived post-industrial areas, notice and appreciate.
Train operating companies (TOCs) lease stock from rolling stock companies (ROSCOs) and the agreements simply transfer across.What about the trains? Did Northern buy all the recent new trains or are they on hire?
I've noticed today that Northern haven't erased all 'Arriva' signage. Staff are still wearing 'by Arriva' uniform and a couple of the units I've seen today are still displaying Arriva. Back in December, Avanti were eager to get any reference to Virgin removed by the time they took the whelm of the WCML.
CJ
I've noticed today that Northern haven't erased all 'Arriva' signage. Staff are still wearing 'by Arriva' uniform and a couple of the units I've seen today are still displaying Arriva. Back in December, Avanti were eager to get any reference to Virgin removed by the time they took the whelm of the WCML.
CJ
The Dept of Transport site also reaffirmsHas any announcement been made about a new Senior Management Team for Northern Trains ?
If the first task of the board is to produce a turnround plan in 100 days, rather than direct the business on a day-to-day basis, it is difficult to see why anything should change in that time. (Other than all the things which would have changed anyway such as introduction of 769s and the remaining 195s/331s, withdrawal of remaining pacers, completing outstanding training, etc.)
Transport for the North will continue to co-manage the franchise and monitor performance alongside the Department for Transport through the Rail North Partnership
Northern bye Arriva!Now it will say Northern by Gov
I've noticed today that Northern haven't erased all 'Arriva' signage. Staff are still wearing 'by Arriva' uniform and a couple of the units I've seen today are still displaying Arriva. Back in December, Avanti were eager to get any reference to Virgin removed by the time they took the whelm of the WCML.
CJ
Much of that is outside their hands of course.
It’s good to hear a deep clean will be taking place.
Northern un-refurbished Class 158s are in a right state and reminds me of Regional Railways in terms of interior looks.
I actually prefer the seats on the un-refurbished 158s to the new ones, way less uncomfortable.
It’ll probably be done mainly on nights although perhaps also on days to units held on depot anyway for other maintenance reasonsNorthern has a chronic shortage of diesel stock, I don’t see how deep cleaning can be done on these units without (more) service disruption.
My impression is that train crew duties are too tight (i.e. insufficient time allowed between trains) so that delays just snowball; also that drivers and guards don't stay together for a shift. Changing that implies hiring and training more staff.Short term:
1 - start the deep cleaning process (although this is already starting to sound like a government buzz phrase akin to get Brexit done and may not actually be a proper deep clean as that would take a fair amount of time)
2 - put a proper end of day cleaning regime in place, otherwise the trains will soon need another deep clean
3 - a quick mod to the 195/331s to give them more, bigger, and more obvious bins
4 - reintroduce infra-shift cleaning at major terminals
5 - decide whether social media is a useful tool for keeping customers informed or something reserved for inane quizzes
6 - if the answer to 5 is the former, give the social media team better guidance on what’s expected and hold them to account if they don’t do as expected
7 - be honest about shortforming. Changing the expected train length from 3 to 2 so the train stops technically being shortformed isn’t good enough
That was my first thought too. However, in all fairness, I’d say that East Yorkshire has done very well in terms of rolling stock changes and service increases from Arriva. The bigger issue around here is TPE.No voice I can see for South Yorkshire or East Riding either. Why is Sheffield Metro Mayor Dan Jarvis not on there I wonder
I'm not sure cutting fares is - or even ought to be - on the cards. The franchise is enough of a financial black hole already, and fares like £111 a month for unlimited rail travel anywhere in Greater Manchester, or £114 on Merseyside, are staggeringly good value for money already, in my view. I'm not saying there's not other journeys where value for money isn't as good, just that fare cuts might not necessarily need to be top of the list.The experience of TfW suggests it will be a long time before there are noticable improvements. Without control of the infrastructure and the long lead times for new rolling stock there are very few quick fixes. Cleaning is one of them, the fare structure is another. Cutting fares, as TfW has done in north Wales and on some of the valley services, is something people, particularly from deprived post-industrial areas, notice and appreciate.
Does anyone else find it odd that the Director of a supposedly independent passenger watchdog will now simultaneously be on the board of one of the biggest and ‘poorest’ train operating units?
Extremely disappointing there’s no representation for anyone north of Darlington where for many of us Northern are the only TOC in town (Tyne Valley). It’s quite shocking that over 163 miles of the network have zero representation.
Instead we’ve ended up with a board of those who shout loudest. Rent a quote Houchen who has no discernible qualifications dictating direction for a TOC. Lord help us.
Or any voice for Cumbria, Lancashire or North Yorkshire for that matter.
Being charitable, perhaps Louise Gittins, Vice chair of TFN, and Jools Townsend, CEO of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships, are supposed to represent the interests of all the non-metropolitan areas as well as South Yorkshire and Tyneside ?
The london equivalent is £253 / month.I'm not sure cutting fares is - or even ought to be - on the cards. The franchise is enough of a financial black hole already, and fares like £111 a month for unlimited rail travel anywhere in Greater Manchester, or £114 on Merseyside, are staggeringly good value for money already, in my view. I'm not saying there's not other journeys where value for money isn't as good, just that fare cuts might not necessarily need to be top of the list.
Why should Merseyside, where more than half the local routes are run by Merseyrail and not Northern, be more expensive than Manchester where virtually all of them are Northern?The london equivalent is £253 / month.
Northern may have been many things but can't say they were expensive, or at least nothing that a split ticket couldn't fix. The Arriva franchise actually introduced advance fares on routes which didn't have them.I'm not sure cutting fares is - or even ought to be - on the cards. The franchise is enough of a financial black hole already, and fares like £111 a month for unlimited rail travel anywhere in Greater Manchester, or £114 on Merseyside, are staggeringly good value for money already, in my view. I'm not saying there's not other journeys where value for money isn't as good, just that fare cuts might not necessarily need to be top of the list.