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Pages: 1 ... 165 166 [167]
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2492
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All across the Great Western territory / Introductions and chat / Re: Introduction from Timmer
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on: August 28, 2007, 22:01:51
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Ah yes - the days of Brighton - Milford Haven, Portsmouth - Pembroke Dock just to name 2. Still remember the Portsmouth - Barry Island as well
Penzance - Portsmouth, Penzance - Manchester Piccadilly/Milford haven, Pontypridd - Gunnislake, Swindon - Penzance, Penzance - Carmarthen.................... they were the days............... |
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2493
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: FGW have got a couple of things right! (not many though)
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on: August 27, 2007, 20:40:50
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I'm aware that you are quoting terminus stations for branch lines, and not traffic on the whole line - but in the case of Looe and Newquay, aren't they the only substantive stations on the lines, with limited traffic only to / from intermediate stations? I'm not sure about Gunnislake - how many people use stations such as Calston and Bere Alston, and on the Falmouth line, how busy are Falmouth Docks and Penryn? What I'm getting at is ... what can we conclude about the total number of journeys? On the Gunnislake line the number of people using Calstock/Bere Alston if combined would at least equal the Gunnislake figure. On the Falmouth the number of people using Penryn/Penmere would exceed that of Falmouth Town. from my experience Penmere is probably the busiest station for people to travel from, Falmouth Town second, however, Penmere is usually local travel (not beyond Truro) and Falmouth town is mostly long distance travellers. |
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2494
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: FGW have got a couple of things right! (not many though)
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on: August 26, 2007, 11:54:22
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Interesting station passenger figures comparison :
Barnstaple
2004 / 2005 - 194474
2005 / 2006 - 210846
Falmouth Town
2004 / 2005 - 85859
2005 / 2006 - 83899
Gunnislake
2004 / 2005 - 37190
2005 / 2006 - 43885
Looe
2004 / 2005 - 75510
2005 / 2006 - 70880
Newquay
2004 / 2005 - 83712
2005 / 2006 - 71301
St Ives
2004 / 2005 - 220300
2005 / 2006 - 171281
A slight decrease in some, but since 2000 and until 2005 the St Ives branch is up 24.7%, Falmouth branch up 20.5%, Newquay up 40% and Looe valley line up 15.5% (source- Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership) which does justify the extra units, also bear in mind that lines like the Falmouth branch are bursting with commuters in the morning and then bursting with holidaymakers in the daytime and the St Ives is just rammed from 1000 in the morning until 2200 at night! A lot of people (including DaFT» ) seem to think that the Cornish branch lines just cart fresh air around the countryside and that we should use these units for Bristol commuters instead, try travelling on the StIves branch in August at any time and you will see why they are needed down here! |
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2495
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All across the Great Western territory / Introductions and chat / Hello There - Vacman
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on: August 26, 2007, 11:00:39
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Hello,
I am an employee of FGW▸ and like 'Whistleblower' I have to remain anonymous, I have worked on the railway for a few years now and have seen it go from bad to worse. I am forever the optimist and will usually ses the good side of anything so no doubt there will be some heated discussions ahead!
all the best, Vacman
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2497
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All across the Great Western territory / Introductions and chat / Re: High Speed V Local
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on: August 24, 2007, 22:07:24
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Am I the only person that feels that High Speed is getting more investment than Local?
Am I the only person that feels they are running a minimun of local, just doing what the DfT» tells them to do, not more?
Am I the only person who thinks that Local is just something they dragged along to keep High Speed?
Am I the only person who noticed High Speed staff got new ticket machines before Local?
Am I the only person that has run out of positives about FGW▸ !
As an employee please allow me to answer some of the above but please note this is not me defending FGW but me just trying to address a couple of the above which simply not 100% correct. There is considerable amount of investment going into the 'local' fleet. ie engine and gearbox refurbishment, rewiring and complete re-newal of the interiors to undertaken shortly. The new on-train ticket machines were in fact given to Westy conductors whilst they were still a part of the National Express group while the Train Managers on FGW used the old SPORTIS machines uo to about Seotember/October last year The newer update bluetooth version of the modern ticket machines were issued to FGW Train Managers before being rolled out to the West conductors although the only difference with these being the long wire between the credit card terminal and the machine itself. Hope this helps Please keep positive and lets all hope that the good times are just around the corner. The Credit Card machines with Bluetooth were what I was actually getting at. Keeping positive, I see where you are coming from, but even my paitence is running out now Not totally true, at Penzance, Exeter and Bristol Avantix▸ Mk 2 (the bluetooth machines) were introduced to West and HSS▸ crews at the same time. |
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2498
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Ticket Machines - machines missing or broken, and penalty fare implications (merged topics)
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on: August 24, 2007, 21:53:14
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Bodmin Parkway in Cornwalls TVM▸ suffered damage by people trying to break in. They failed just leaving scars to the base of the machine. But fear not, they returned and instead of damaging it, they took the whole bloody thing! They may survive around Bristol, but Bodmins has been stolen!!
The machine was badly damaged by vandals (who didn't get into it!) but wasn't stolen! it was taken away by engineers as it was quite badly damaged, the theives went to great lengths to rob it but to no avail! they do seem quite vandal proof, so far! |
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2500
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / FGW have got a couple of things right! (not many though)
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on: August 24, 2007, 20:53:14
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Despite all of the negative things that FGW▸ have done, there are one or two positive things, back in the days of Wessex Trains, the Falmouth branch was reduced to a single 153 every summer in order to strengthen the StIves branch to four cars, which caused chaos as the "locals" on tha Falmouth were demoted so that the "bucket and spade brigade" at St Ives could travel in comfort, well this year the Cornish branches have been treated! all summer they've provided four cars on the St Ives branch, two cars on the Falmouth branch, two cars on local services on the Newquay branch and two cars on the Looe branch (previously unheard of for the M-F services), Gunnislake has been reduced to a single 153 OFF PEAK but retains a two car 150 for the morning/evening peak. Also lets not forget the cheap day returns that they reduced by up to 40% last year, then there's the rather sensitive subject of the Cornish Railcard, which I belive FGW did the right thing by withdrawing it in favour of cheaper season tickets.Yes they've had their moments but credit where credit's due.
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2501
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: More Pacers for FGW 'West'
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on: August 24, 2007, 20:40:44
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143/142's are actually banned from going any further west than Newton Abbot, however, Wessex managed to get a 143 to Penzance on 3 seperate occasions, Network Rail had kittens over it! Look on the bright side though, at least they're 2 car sets! slightly better than a single 153 on the Falmouth branch in the morning peak!
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2502
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Frome Student Told To Get Off Train Despite Having Valid Ticket
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on: August 24, 2007, 20:24:34
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As a member of rail staff for a TOC▸ , I have had many similar experiences, as pointed out by someone else, the ticket was NOT valid. What happens quite often is that students buy a ticket on the internet and realise that you can buy a railcard ticket without having to show your railcard at the time of purchase, and unfortunately a lot of ticket inspectors when checking tickets dont check supporting railcards (which they are supposed to!). Anyone who does this however, faces prosecution for fare evasion under the regulation of railways act 1889 because they have fraudulently obtained a discount on their ticket, the maximum penalty for fare evasion is ^1000 fine and/or 3 months imprisonment. We don't know the in's and out's of the incident in question, but I have regularly been in the same situation and when you ask for the passengers name and address they tell you to F*** off or refuse, in such cases I would ask the individual to leave the train.
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