tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post5123214302797066347..comments2024-03-25T19:07:29.729+00:00Comments on Steve's Bus & Train Page: Has Railway Reporting Hit The Buffers?Steve Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06852377706742868978noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-64836499985451601542017-08-30T10:12:52.754+01:002017-08-30T10:12:52.754+01:00Very good read Steve and certainly true!Very good read Steve and certainly true!Transit UK980https://www.blogger.com/profile/10938486799939148068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-38622390264847628492017-08-30T09:08:40.120+01:002017-08-30T09:08:40.120+01:00Actually bus companies do, and are, regularly blam...Actually bus companies do, and are, regularly blamed for delays caused by roadworks by customers, the press & even the Traffic Commissioners. It is not unknown for customers to blame the operator for not knowing about roadworks that no one has told them are about to take place. There is something about public transport that attracts the hyperbole, regardless of whether it is privately or publicly owned, that cars don't attract - probably it is that these affect many peoples day to day lives and unlike cars where it is an individual person in each vehicle the responsibility is with a faceless organisation who can be vilified more easily. Rail will get it worse because journalists & politicians actually use trains so these disruptions may actually, shock horror, have affected their journeys personally so they make a fuss.<br /><br />I would say that the railways as an industry actually have complete control over their right of way that the bus industry doesn't have on the roads. No one is legally allowed on the tracks without permission and due to our tighter safety regs almost all the tracks away from stations are fenced off controlling access. The train operators don't have control (& do receive a lot of the flak when things go wrong) but access to the tracks is much more tightly controlled by Network Rail (who is their supplier & has to pay the operators compensation when they cause issues - not something bus operators can claim under any circumstances) so they should have more influence over what happens.<br /><br />That said your point is still valid, media coverage about rail in particular (& public transport in general) is over the top & often inaccurate. In fact it was the reporting over the delivery of the South West Trains Desiros that destroyed my trust in the accuracy of newspapers when it was reported that Siemens had spent millions of pounds on plastic leaves & a man with a hammer smashing their test track so they could reflect UK track conditions when in reality the cost was in fitting 3rd rail powers supplies & British spec signalling to try (Fairly successfully it seems) to avoid the pitfalls of the previous train deliveries in getting approval over electrical interference with signalling systems (the plastic leaves was true but was because the trains were planned to be used on a line with a very steep gradient which ran through the South Downs National Park so they couldn't clear the trees so leaf fall was always an issue).dwarfer1979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-16008582623936768742017-08-29T22:50:32.129+01:002017-08-29T22:50:32.129+01:00We all mutter about the disparity in media coverag...We all mutter about the disparity in media coverage between rail and road but you make a very valid point re. the rarity of rail fatalities compared to road.<br />I would like to add my congratulations to the "Orange Army" on all their work. Well done one and all. Also a special mention to Network Rail PR for their excellent videos of the Waterloo work.Stephen Whitenoreply@blogger.com