tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post7316415580071190538..comments2024-03-25T19:07:29.729+00:00Comments on Steve's Bus & Train Page: Weekend Round UpSteve Whttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06852377706742868978noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-61852649442125166002016-09-07T15:33:37.641+01:002016-09-07T15:33:37.641+01:00Eh?Eh?Andrew Kleissnernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-27005310721587209592016-09-07T12:30:15.322+01:002016-09-07T12:30:15.322+01:00It appears that National Express are axing their s...It appears that National Express are axing their service 787. Camberidge, Luton Airport, Heathrow Airport<br /><br />I have nevso train can run direct to Heathrow. THe line actually exists although it may not be electrified and it was single track. THe linnk is near Willesdon Junction and it connect to the GWR line near Old Oak conmmon it is about 0.5Km of trrackAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-31439464750245198552016-09-06T10:27:08.999+01:002016-09-06T10:27:08.999+01:00The new bus is fleet number 357The new bus is fleet number 357David green teahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04585115991760104648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-54532706480191278882016-09-06T10:26:13.285+01:002016-09-06T10:26:13.285+01:00Hi Steve Galloway update another Stevensons bus is...Hi Steve Galloway update another Stevensons bus is here volvo b10m Alexander bus 60 seater m233tbv to be used as school bus and double decker replacement when off road David green teahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04585115991760104648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-66187639233277443102016-09-05T13:30:19.050+01:002016-09-05T13:30:19.050+01:00Re. the sad incident of the gentleman killed when ...Re. the sad incident of the gentleman killed when sticking his head out of the window: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fatal-accident-balhamAndrew Kleissnernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-72939697197759089722016-09-04T13:54:27.654+01:002016-09-04T13:54:27.654+01:00Calm down Smurf it's only a blog! Be as critic...Calm down Smurf it's only a blog! Be as critical as you like as you don't use profane language.<br /><br />As for stand up if it's too much to expect equipment pronounced as progress and advancement to be better and more reliable than the equipment (and men) it replaces then sign me up for Live at the Apollo. As for telecommunications the basics still work. People complain because of mobile signals, lack of wifi for gadgets, poor video and gaming quality etc, but I can still pick up my basic landline phone and call my old mum in the same way I could 40 years ago from a phonebox. Signals are a basic aspect (pun intended) of operating a railway and SHOULD be as reliable as they were 40 years ago when they were operated from signal boxes by men pulling lovingly cared for levers. Would love to know how many signallers the fines paid for signal related delays would cover. <br /><br />The Beccles Town Service is a unique situation derived from unique circumstances, with a local firm compromising with local people and residents groups. I very much doubt it is a blueprint for the future, pleasing as it is. I have been advocating an annual charge for bus passes for years now, and as ticket machine technology advances there will be easier and painless ways to achieve that with minimal admin and sudden cost to the pass holder. An Oyster Card type pass that is prepaid and takes £1 for every journey made until the requisite amount (I have said £25-30 a year) is reached. Thereafter travel is free. give it a few years and it will happen.<br /><br />In the meantime fare payers are literally paying the price for councils not reimbursing free passes adequately enough. This won't encourage them to use the buses more regularly so could end up being a false economy. No good having 9 people paying an extra 50p on a £5 fare if the 10th person gives up getting the bus. <br /><br />Thank you - you've been a lovely audience!Steve Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06852377706742868978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-29935747450844683922016-09-04T12:21:43.611+01:002016-09-04T12:21:43.611+01:00Not sure if it's across all their routes, but ...Not sure if it's across all their routes, but Galloway have withdrawn the 10 trip ticket here on the 118/9 along with raising fares. That was purely down to the declining reimbursement for free passes. I do not see how passes can remain free with operators carrying the cost. Unless there is either a flat yearly fee or a nominal fee per journey, operators will continue to cut costs/routes or just not bother bidding for tenders. Then everyone loses...Trevor Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11580679352006526817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-29243175311716669542016-09-04T09:35:35.782+01:002016-09-04T09:35:35.782+01:00I strongley suspect that the unexceptably high fai...I strongley suspect that the unexceptably high failure rate of signals is down to poor and unsuitable equipment. The fact that we are geeting very high failure rates in the hot weather tends to confirm it. The issue is almost certainly down to the lineside equipment. YOu have an uncontrolled environement which is subject to extreams of temperture and electronic equipment does not like that particular big swings in temperature. THe equipment should be designed with components intended to work at extended temperature ranges it should also be ruggedized and proteted aginst rain and dirt etc and it also needs ventalation including forced air which means fans. THese themselves should be alarmned as unfortunatly fans are not the most reliable things so need to be monitored for failureAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-26341295142364235402016-09-04T09:24:13.319+01:002016-09-04T09:24:13.319+01:00Bus services have to be paid for and the bulk of t...Bus services have to be paid for and the bulk of the users are pensionersd. The reimbursment for the passes does not cover the costs<br /><br />A sensible system in my view would be to bring back an annual charge for the passes. I would link it to the tax band the pensioner is in. So lets say the notional value of the pass is £250 a year the typical 20% tax band pensioner would pay £50 a year for the pass thats less than £1 a week for unlimited travel. If though sauy a pensioner pays no tax they would still get the pass free<br /><br />The alternative optio is to keep the paasses free but you may not have many bus services to use it onAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-13564902539425452852016-09-04T09:19:07.320+01:002016-09-04T09:19:07.320+01:00The dreadful failure rate of modern electronic sig...The dreadful failure rate of modern electronic signsallinmg system can only be down to in muy view poor design. THey should be far more reliable than the old mechanical signalling systems but are not<br /><br />I suspect a lot of it is down to the equipment not being designed for the environment it is usings in. In signal cabin you have a ground benign controlled environment but for line side equipment you do not. It is a harsh envirionment subject to shock and vibration and extremes of temperature as well as dirt and water , oil etc<br /><br />THe next generation of signalling larfely moves away from fixed signals and instead keeps the trains a safe distance apart depending on the speed they are doing this also means that in many cases the tracks can be better utilizedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-32190111534246311122016-09-04T08:36:47.496+01:002016-09-04T08:36:47.496+01:00This comment has been removed by the author.smurfukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04812247601237248526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-86124581214545108282016-09-03T19:12:58.324+01:002016-09-03T19:12:58.324+01:00Bet Network Rail would love you as their Press Off...Bet Network Rail would love you as their Press Officer! We all know about the decades of under investment but is it too much to expect that when something is fixed or installed it doesn't break down the next day. Progress is meant to be better I thought. <br /><br />As I type train services are being heavily affected by signal probs at Needham Market - the third time this week. If money is tight, as it is for everyone then surely it's better to get it right first time than buy cheap and spend the next God knows how long fixing it and paying delay fines. <br /><br />No one has yet suggested how many delays due to signal failures there were in the 1960's. Perhaps the silence says it all. Perhaps the same number of times the person on the other end of the phone couldn't help because "the computers have gone down"Steve Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06852377706742868978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-16930351384074686052016-09-03T19:04:12.594+01:002016-09-03T19:04:12.594+01:00OK you can print money Mugabe-like (though it beco...OK you can print money Mugabe-like (though it becomes worthless the more you print without the economic activity to support it), but you can't get more than 24 hours in a day (apart from a few seconds every several decades as nature doesn't run to the atomic clock).<br /><br />In National Rail's case it's something like 50 or less hours in a week when they can have the lines free of trains, except over Christmas and New Year when they work anyway. (How many of the rest of us do that, by the way?) And they seem to use up pretty much all of it, and have done for years. How do we actually expect them to renew everything yesterday, even if the money grew on trees?smurfukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04812247601237248526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-35340304824919067322016-09-03T18:51:46.466+01:002016-09-03T18:51:46.466+01:00Exactly. Maybe some people got a bit carried away ...Exactly. Maybe some people got a bit carried away with the spin and sound bytes coming from Abellio,the Government and local MPs. Once it sunk in,questions were being asked with no real answers forth coming. Ask the 5 day a week commuters what they want and to a man,it will be a train that turns up on time, gets to my destination on time,is clean and to a slighty lesser extent,free WiFi and plug sockets/USB. Probly too late to scrap HS2 and redistribute the funds. Just a thought.....Trevor Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11580679352006526817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-72844560286436088332016-09-03T18:35:46.883+01:002016-09-03T18:35:46.883+01:00I confess, Trevor, that if I was going for the fra...I confess, Trevor, that if I was going for the franchise I would want to be in control of the infrastructure too, with decent financial incentives to get it right.<br /><br />I totally agree about the new rolling stock. I said initially that a 30 min delay on a new train is the same as a 30 min delay on an old one. Pretty sure passengers want punctuality before anything else.Steve Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06852377706742868978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-27509132821395681122016-09-03T18:30:55.587+01:002016-09-03T18:30:55.587+01:00To failing signals, you can also add "speed r...To failing signals, you can also add "speed restrictions due to hot weather". Maybe i've missed something but it wasn't that hot this week! Today has been a wretched day for Abellio. Track closures,signal problems and a fatality at Romford,yet in the eyes of the weary traveller,it will all be Abellios fault. Wouldn't matter if Abellio,First,Nat Ex or even the cast from Bread had won the franchise;years of serious under investment in the infrastructure has left the operators at the mercy of Network Rail. Shiny new trains? Yes,fantastic but they will still get held up by signal faults,late running freight trains, overhead wire issues,people walking on the track and so on. Lack of running stock or train crew? Now that's another matter? Who would run a train service.....Trevor Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11580679352006526817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-4034204097396826622016-09-03T18:01:38.345+01:002016-09-03T18:01:38.345+01:00So when a signal fails it's not to blame. Ok t...So when a signal fails it's not to blame. Ok that's an interesting concept. Steve Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06852377706742868978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-69368860191586832932016-09-03T17:59:30.225+01:002016-09-03T17:59:30.225+01:00See you can do it when you try! And when you are i...See you can do it when you try! And when you are in a Mk II coach with no aircon on a blazing hot day anything obstructing the windows at the ends of coaches is going to affect what little ventilation there is and heads and bodies at every window certainly will. You'll tell me next a closed window doesn't affect it either. Steve Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06852377706742868978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-1569962321958641042016-09-03T16:51:38.850+01:002016-09-03T16:51:38.850+01:00Sticking your head out of a window does not stop t...Sticking your head out of a window does not stop the ventilation.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-28945202211035666512016-09-03T15:33:25.313+01:002016-09-03T15:33:25.313+01:00I have no experience in running railways (or buses...I have no experience in running railways (or buses for that matter. Thank God). But I doubt the signalling system or the staff are to "blame". Two things do concern me, though: as with everything else we have no patience and the pressure to do everything quickly, may be something has to give; and how "hot" we run our services so that anything unexpected causes chaos, which takes time to unravel. I've commented before that many of us seem to have such difficulty in managing ourselves.<br /><br />Same true of the over-enthusiasts. I seem to remember that sticking yer head out of train windows has always been up there as one of the top ten "accidents", with a few others I could mention involving vehicles (of all types). Stupidity isn't something we grow out of. Rather we seem to proceed on the basis that we're immortal and takin' a chance is always worth it, after all "nuffin' can happen to me". Most gamblers miscalculate the odds; it can, and does. But, in the heat of the moment (literally), we don't think like that.smurfukhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04812247601237248526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2425346921966365551.post-24829148991182560182016-09-03T14:39:56.640+01:002016-09-03T14:39:56.640+01:00Mr anon I will stop deleting your comments when yo...Mr anon I will stop deleting your comments when you stop using inappropriate language. If you want your views to remain that is all you have to do.Steve Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06852377706742868978noreply@blogger.com