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27976
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Journey by Journey / London to Kennet Valley / Re: East Wiltshire stations as railheads - a comparison
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on: April 19, 2013, 12:42:56
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Pewsey has a reasonably good service to and from Reading and London in the peaks (probably better than ever), however the service is very sparse off peak. I wonder if there is scope to extend some of those off peak Bedwyn turbo trains to and from Pewsey, and develop the latter as a sort of Mid Wilts parkway? Perhaps the potential demand is insufficient to justify the extra train mileage. Operationally I'm not sure where the trains could cross over to turn back.
At the 2006 franchise, the original service level commitment for bidders to answer to was for a service every 2 hours (rather than every hour) to Bedwyn, but extended for the most part, as I recall, to Westbury. This raised strong objections and our MP▸ at the time (Melksham and Bedwyn both represented by Michael Ancram) took up the case for Bedwyn (hourly) and Pewsey (keeping HST▸ expresses) with vigour. |
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27977
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Journey by Journey / London to Kennet Valley / Re: East Wiltshire stations as railheads - a comparison
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on: April 19, 2013, 12:38:42
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Not current, I don't think - "Prices shown below are valid from 2 January 2011" it says and I'm sure they've been amended since then. But, yes, that was my source. And Bedwyn is not in the list, so I didn't know if there's a charge or not. The National Rail Websites says that parking for disabled users is free of charge; the 2.50 quoted above is the first statement I've seen about the price. To fill in on some of the abbreviations I used, as I think they may have caused confusion: BDW: Bedwyn PEW: Pewsey SWI» : Swindon AA: Automobile Association PAD» : Paddington TVM▸ : Ticket Vending Machine At privatisation, different fares regulation arrangements were put in place for ex-NSE▸ routes and ex InterCity routes. In particular, the Anytime Returns remain regulated (currently at RPI▸ +1%) between Bedwyn/Hungerford and London, whereas Anytime Returns between Pewsey/Swindon and London are unregulated and have risen well above inflation over the years. As a result, we have ended up with this massive distortion ... If the higher per-mile Swindon and Pewsey fares are purely a result of the different regulation regimes post-privatisation, that would be a pretty mind-blowing illustration of what "going commercial" has done. However, it was my understanding that the figures were distorted much earlier in time, with higher fares on HST▸ routes when the HSTs were first introduced. Can anyone confirm one way or the other? |
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27978
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Journey by Journey / London to Kennet Valley / Re: East Wiltshire stations as railheads - a comparison
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on: April 19, 2013, 07:09:02
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That's fair comment, Chris. My question was intended to ask about a completely above-board solution to an imbalance of supply and demand that is reported by the local press to exist at Bedwyn. So - yes - planning permission required, and that process would look at wider issues too so that there shouldn't be the resolution of one issue for the creation of another.
Personally, I've always avoided Bedwyn based on reputation for parking problems, and I parked at Hungerford on the one occasion where it worked out well for me on the timetable and my plans; a day trip, as I don't feel comfortable leaving a car anywhere for an extended period. The use of Hungerford was a disaster - TVM▸ out of order, train manager's ticket machine out of order, and a wait of 30 minutes in a queue at the excess fares ("sin bin") counter at PAD» which left me late for an important appointment.
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27979
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Journey by Journey / London to Kennet Valley / East Wiltshire stations as railheads - a comparison
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on: April 18, 2013, 21:19:22
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There are a number of stations in the east of Wiltshire which provide railheads for commuters into London for people who cannot get the train direct from their own home town such as Marlborough, Calne and Devizes, and from many, many smaller communities. It's interesting to compare some of these railheads - Pewsey, Bedwyn and Swindon.
Firstly, prices (standard class peak day return or seasons)
1 day - BDW 55; PEW 103; SWI» 117
1 week - BDW 116; PEW 160; SWI 220
1 month - BDW 435; PEW 544; SWI 745
1 year- BDW 4532; PEW 5668 SWI 7760
Second - frequency of service
BDW - hourly; better in peaks
PEW - good in peaks; sporadic at other times
SWI - frequent
Third - chance of getting a good seat
Fourth - cost of parking (ticket machine)
BDW 11 spaces. I'm unsure of charge, if any
PEW 6.10
SWI 8.20 or 8.40
Fifth - ease of driving to the station. Examples (AA figures)- Devizes to ..
BDW 22 miles, 50 minutes
PEW 15 miles, 30 minutes
SWI 21 miles, 43 minutes
And I can certainly understand why Bedwyn, of these, is a very popular choice. I should also commend readers who may be considering driving there to drive on to Hungerford.
Does any enterprising farmer own a field close to Bedwyn station where he could charge a fiver a day for parking? It strikes me that with a few official words along the lines of "travellers from Bedwyn station can park in Farmer Giles' field" on official websites, etc, and with polite requests from the residents and the parish council, Farmer Giles might be very busy; provide an alternative and many (though not all) would use it. But such a solution might bring more cars into the village (not sure if it's able to cope) and might abstract traffic from the other stations I have mentioned, to the detriment of income to the rail industry. I'm mindful that a weekly season from Bedwyn to Paddington (typically 5 round trips) costs less than a standard anytime return from Swindon to Paddington (one round trip)
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27984
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Cambrian Coaster Ranger
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on: April 17, 2013, 14:06:53
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That quote is actually about the fact that children under five who travel for free are not entitled to a seat reservation, however if a ticket it purchased for them (adult or child) they will be able to have a seat reservation  Yes, I know that's how you would think it should read - but look at what it actually says: "for a child under 5 years of age a seat may be reserved only if an appropriate child rail ticket is held" - it's very specific, and that's a "child ticket" and not "a ticket that a child may use". |
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27985
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Cambrian Coaster Ranger
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on: April 17, 2013, 13:07:23
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But be careful - with seat reservations at least, an infant cannot get a seat reservation on an adult ticket - it's very specific that a child ticket is needed: http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/eNRT/Dec12/Commercial_Information.pdfChildren
Seats may be reserved for children, however, for a child under 5 years of age a seat may be reserved only if an appropriate child rail ticket is held. So two adults and an infant may NOT use a "Groupsave 3" if they want to reserve a seat for the infant - they would be required to but two adult tickets and a child ticket. Once the infant is over the age of 5, a groupsave 3 is valid for the groups of three at the price of two adult tickets, and seats can be reserved for all three ... Have I really read that right??? |
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27986
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Journey by Journey / London to Kennet Valley / Re: MOVED: Great Bedwyn Parish Council calls woman's parking campaign "vexatious"
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on: April 16, 2013, 12:51:33
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This "Moved" thread is a bit different from most: a) it is not locked, and so it's open for any member to post a follow up subject to the current user agreement. And that includes anyone who wishes to sign up for the specific purpose of adding comment. b) I elected to move the thread as an act of pragmatism. The thread contains excellent posts, highlighting a local newspaper article that described the tensions between commuters and residents in Bedwyn over parking - there is nothing wrong with it. However, I had also become aware of the hurt caused, and the amount of time taken up, by the original newspaper article and its follow on. I decided that I didn't want this forum to cause that hurt, nor to get embroiled in a long and time-consuming discussion of the matter, about which neither I nor the moderator team knows more than we have read. Edit note: Typos corrected, purely in the interests of clarity. CfN.  |
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27990
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: How to cut the cost of your rail tickets: Guardian video article
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on: April 14, 2013, 21:45:59
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Fine in theory, but policing such a system would be impossible, which would mean that in practice you could turn up and claim the bus that was taking you to the station was late, so you're entitled to travel on a later train. Who could possibly check, so the whole concept of "booked train only" would completely fall apart. a) I love it ... another case of penalising the honest because of the scope potentially offered to the dishonest. How depressing b) Many (most ?) buses are operated by the same companies that run the trains, and many (most ?) have trackers on board. It's not beyond bounds to provide live tracking ... or a history trail for the last couple of hours. I would agree, though, if you suggested that it might be hard to get this implemented in the current seller's market. But that's a story for another thread ... I tend to subscribe to the view that people have a choice. They can buy a flexible ticket, or, they can buy a cheaper ticket that has restrictions attached to it. If they choose the latter than they should understand the consequences if they don't fulfil their side of the contract. After all, (and bearing in mind the comparison earlier in the thread) if you miss your Easyjet flight, you won't (as far as I know) be put on the next flight without some additional payment being required, even assuming there is another flight the same day. Totally agree ... but where it's another arm of the same company that's prevented them fulfilling their side of the contract ... |
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