End of train franchises

[mjr]

The whole argument for privatisation was that competition is a good thing,

We never had competition. The train company briefly had competing suppliers of trains and so on, but even that was limited by the way trains need to be checked and cleared for each possible route they could be used on. There are some scary videos out there of (I think) Western Region trains taking chunks out of Midland Region platforms on the way through, which simply don't happen any more.

Even most of the routes that did briefly have competition lost it when the lesson of each train company having its own terminals was relearned - a lesson previously learned by Midland Railway in 1862 resulting in the construction of St Pancras so they no longer needed to share King's Cross and the lines into it.

The days of having spare rolling stock located in sidings around the network are long gone.

In other words, the days of resilience are gone. We can't afford Thunderbirds when not only has the family silver been sold off, but the everyday pottery too!

Travel by bike if you can. They're easier to keep on the road.

[landsurfer]

Actually there are hundreds of trains parked up in sidings at Long Marston and in Essex. Good trains, reliable trains but unwanted as they do dot have the sexy new clothes of "Green" ....
The rush to buy ready built new trains from CAF in Spain and Stadler in Switzerland has not only diminished the UK rail industry at all levels but the 10 - 20 year support contracts that are sold with these trains ensure we will be buying spares from Europe for years ahead ...

[peetee]

Actually there are hundreds of trains parked up in sidings at Long Marston and in Essex. Good trains, reliable trains but unwanted as they do dot have the sexy new clothes of "Green" ....
The rush to buy ready built new trains from CAF in Spain and Stadler in Switzerland has not only diminished the UK rail industry at all levels but the 10 - 20 year support contracts that are sold with these trains ensure we will be buying spares from Europe for years ahead ...

I am descended from a family who were coach builders that moved from Northumberland to York when the carriage works opened.
RIP another British industry.
Ironically a shortage of motive power over the past couple of years has seen mothballed UK built locomotives built from the ‘70’s onwards refurbished and put into service. In addition, 1960’s examples are still in use and are surviving being worked very hard.
Long live the 37’s!

[mjr]

The rush to buy ready built new trains from CAF in Spain and Stadler in Switzerland has not only diminished the UK rail industry at all levels but the 10 - 20 year support contracts that are sold with these trains ensure we will be buying spares from Europe for years ahead ...

Same would apply buying from Hitachi or Alstom despite UK assembly. The UK sold its train builders long ago. Not even the oddities of the UK network, such as unusual safety system or being too small for double-deckers, could save it from "free market" politicians who didn't see manufacturing as a national asset.

[Jdsk]

The Williams Rail Review:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-williams-rail-review#announcements

Does anyone understand the current state of this? Is there a final report?

Thanks

Jonathan

[pete75]

Have just been looking at various journeys over Southwestern trains.

For journeys, I stress, during the week, NOT at weekends or sundays, when one might expect SOME engineering works.

Whatever I have tapped in so far returns a caution that part of the journey may be by bus.

Durlng the week!

I consider this a theft of public resources.

Have sent an email.

Will report back if I get any sort of response.,

The very first franchised rail service was actually a replacement bus service. A fitting overture.

[PH]

The whole argument for privatisation was that competition is a good thing,

We never had competition.

I use several routes served by different operators offering different incentives.
Whatever, I didn’t say it was a success, I said it was the basis of the sales pitch when it was privatised.

[mjr]

The whole argument for privatisation was that competition is a good thing,

We never had competition.

I use several routes served by different operators offering different incentives.
Whatever, I didn’t say it was a success, I said it was the basis of the sales pitch when it was privatised.

Competition on a few blessèd routes is not competition in general. You may have had competition. We did not. The sales pitch was not delivered.

[mercalia]

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-end-of-the-line-for-the-rail-franchise-fiasco?

[merseymouth]

morning, I might have to resume production of the large "BritishFail" badges that I used to knock out. They carried the Rails-n-Arrows logo.
All of my rail working friends scrounged them off me to wear at work?
They agree with my current knock on the system - "They Ran a Better Service during the Rainhill Trials"! Never did hear if anyone was aquitted???
IGICB MM

[Jdsk]

"In the face of dramatic falls in passenger numbers Welsh Government has decided to bring the Wales and Borders rail franchise under public control."
https://gov.wales/welsh-government-take-rail-franchise-under-public-control

Jonathan

[mercalia]

"In the face of dramatic falls in passenger numbers Welsh Government has decided to bring the Wales and Borders rail franchise under public control."
https://gov.wales/welsh-government-take-rail-franchise-under-public-control

Jonathan

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54635421

[Jdsk]

Great British Railways: The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... r-rail.pdf

40. Getting to the station on a bike and taking it on a train will be made easier.
The government is investing £2 billion of new money to dramatically improve cycling. A bike can make clean and sustainable transport journeys door-to-door when combined with a train, bus or light rail, matching the convenience of the car. The government will invest substantial sums on safe cycle routes to stations, particularly in commuter towns such as Guildford and Harrogate, and increase cycle storage at stations, including at city-centre termini, where it is currently limited.
Bringing a bike on board makes a train journey even more convenient, yet even as cycling has grown in popularity, the railways have reduced space available for bikes on trains. Great British Railways will reverse that, increasing space on existing trains wherever practically possible, including on popular leisure routes. It will also make it easier to reserve bike spaces online and without reservation on quieter trains. All future train fleets will need to include more bike spaces relevant to the markets served. Operators will continue to restrict bikes on peak-hour commuter trains, where the space is needed for passengers.

Jonathan

[Sweep]

Oo that sounds good if not just boris spin.
Let"s wait and see.

[Psamathe]

One important aspect (re bikes on trains) is also consistency across all routes. Given how many (non-commuting) journeys involve changing trains, having to find out what procedures apply on which lines can be hassle. So e.g. <x>% spaces can be pre-booked on any train, remainder 1st come 1st served or something consistent so you know where you stand without having to sort conflicting information from different sources e.g. Trainline says "no bike space on that train whilst train operator say none of the bike spaces on that train have been booked yet! or one site says that train route does not take bikes yet reality is it's all 1st come 1st served outside rush hour.

Given the current mess of capabilities it might not be possible but successive Governments are the ones that created the mess by not including minimum standards/facilities when they dished out their franchises.

Ian