On 1 Dec 2009 at 12:09am brixtonbelle wrote:
What is the benefit to customers with private companies running the railways ? Standing at Haywards heath after the train to Lewes/Eastbourne was unexpectedly cancelled (no driver due to nutter trespassing on line) tonight, the general consensus amongst the disgruntled passengers was the trains are less reliable, more expensive and have fewer staff than pre pivatisation. Train and station staff agreed that the cuts to services mean they are runnng on a shoe string and service is poor. They don't like it, the customers don't like it ...seems like the only people who benefit are the fat cats ...AGAIN ! Isn't it time the railways were run as a service for the people who use them ? Profits don't make for better or more efficient service, they just make someone rich even richer. Can't be right.
On 1 Dec 2009 at 11:04am Bunter wrote:
I'd be surprised if anyone who has to use the railways regularly will disagree with this.
On 1 Dec 2009 at 1:27pm Burt n Ernie wrote:
The train was halted last night because a dog ran on the line and the owner threatened to stab anyone who let a train advance further down the line. Privatised/Nationalised - wouldn't have made any difference last night.
On 1 Dec 2009 at 2:16pm retired archbishop wrote:
What was required was a sensitive,thoughtful approach - throw the owner onto the electric rail and run the dog over!
On 1 Dec 2009 at 4:12pm Bunter wrote:
Reading BrixtonBell's post again I don't think she was saying the problem had anything to do with the ownership of the railways. I thought the nationalisation/privatisation question was something people talked about while they were waiting.
On 1 Dec 2009 at 7:27pm Brixtonbelle wrote:
Yes I know why the train was halted, but wanted to know what people thought of how the railways are run by private companies - the consensus amongst the passsengers I sooke to was that the private companies are not concerned with providing a good service to passengers, but more concerned with maximising their profits - thus there was no driver on call at the station who would have been able to take our train forward and the driver that should have been there was stranded becasue of the nutter on the line delayed all the trains.
On 1 Dec 2009 at 9:51pm Doctor Beeching wrote:
I think its time for me to close lewes station to many complaints.
On 2 Dec 2009 at 8:33am Burt n Ernie wrote:
We're not old enough to remember the railways as was.
But to repeat- the stoppage Monday had nothing to do with ownership.
On 2 Dec 2009 at 9:28am Down and Out wrote:
Meh.
Another rant at the fat cats doesn't really cut it as an argument. I'm old enough to remember BR well and I'm pretty sure it was worse then. Didn't you ever watch 'Reggie Perrin'? I have the wonderful good fortune to work regularly with state-owned railway organisations: Network Rail and Crossrail for example. They are massively disorganised, over-populated, wasteful and under-achieving. I think we should start by making season-tickets tax-free. More income to the TOCs means more investment and a better service.
On 2 Dec 2009 at 12:00pm brixtonbelle wrote:
hello Burt n Ernie - are you a muppet ? You certainly don't seem to understand that the original question was prompted by the incident and I am not saying the stoppage had anything to do with the ownership of the railways, it obviously didn't.
On 2 Dec 2009 at 4:05pm Brixton Bloke wrote:
You are the Muppet Brixtonbelle. Why jump in so quick when someone gets it wrong, go rant some place else your not from lewes then ?
On 2 Dec 2009 at 9:43pm Railwayman (and proud) wrote:
it is a fiasco - it costs the tax payer a fortune to run now (never did when nationalised) the money spent on privatisation will NEVER be recouped - train journeys between Eastbourne and London are now slower now than 10 years ago - the off-peak service is more frequent than the rush-hour - trains are more uncomfortable and more unreliable, badly fitted out and a maintenance liability - weekend bustitution is at an all time high and set to increase due to lack of forethought.
There is no structure, no co-ordination and no ownership - just FAT CATS - it is going the way of the banks through greed and apathy alike by managers and government - a tragic loss of a great institution.
Bring back buffet cars, cold reasonably priced beer and hot reasonably priced bacon butties.
In years gone by every station had trained RSPCA sharpshooters with tranquiliser darts for this very purpose, the dog would've been knocked-out and safely recovered by Virgil and his team with no disruption to service.
Stop the world I want to get off!!
On 2 Dec 2009 at 10:28pm brixtonbelle wrote:
One of the station staff told me that pre privatisation emergency drivers would have been on call at all the main stations (like Haywards Heath) in case of this type of eventuality. But it all went with the cutbacks and 'efficiency savings' of privatisation. So I think B and E, it would have been different outcome under differnet ownership - oh and I apologise for calling you a muppet - it was prompted by your moniker.
On 2 Dec 2009 at 11:19pm Burt n Ernie wrote:
Well, your original post did seem to be prompted by the problems on Monday... however, I am definitely no apologist for the current owners of the railways/trains. Do you really think though that extra drivers on Monday would have helped in that situation (random member of public threatening to stab staff)?
Interestingly, tonight was vaguely similar, I believe a wheelchair-bound person decided to end it all on the tracks. Again, the situation would have been no different whether the we had a privatised or nationalised rail industry....
On 4 Dec 2009 at 11:03pm Andrew Richardson wrote:
So who will be paying for these armies of drivers waiting at (presumably all interchange?) stations for a train to be cancelled for some reason outside of the TOC's control?
On 4 Dec 2009 at 11:55pm Brixtonbelle wrote:
The profits which currently go to shareholders maybe ? So-called 'efficiencies' don't necessarily equal good service, just stressed, over-worked staff and pissed-off train users.