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31
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Call for rail fare simplification
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on: December 30, 2023, 13:43:35
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Why should a period or day return offer a saving. What if (in a revenue neutral way) the cake was cut a different way so that the single was a less and those who had the benefit all these years for no apparent reason pay a bit more (though not twice as much).
1. The cost of any purchase comprises a transaction and packaging cost and the cost of the goods. Two singles is two transactions each for a smaller amount of goods. I think I read that 90% of journeys are returns - though the ticketing via advance fares may have muddied that, so "singles only" in the days of paper tickets and ticket offices was a much more expensive thing for the railways to provide. And with ticket machines only offering (may be changing) tickets from the station at which the machine is located, singles-only would have meant queuing at a TVM▸ before your return journey too. They should offer a saving because they are cheaper for the railway to provide.2. In places where revenue protection has been an issue, having a singe ticket priced quite high compared to the return means that the revenue loss is reduced. Taking one of our local "classics", Dilton Marsh to Warminster - return fare £4.60 or £4.00 off peak, single £3.30. No TVM and Dilton Marsh and insufficient time to collect all the fares before arrival in Warminster - at least the railway gets £3.30 if it manages to collect a fare in one direction! 3. Marketing and what people will pay before they decide not to make the trip. Single journeys tend to be necessities and people will pay rather more ... they will pay less (per leg) for a return and even less per leg for a day return. To some extent I am quoting industry [excuses/explanations] there. But they need to be considered and I would tend to suggest period returns at 160% of a single and day returns at 130%. That's a starting point for negotiation. I do not buy these arguments, especially as in my (admittedly limited) recent experience no-one ever tried to check my ticket so they clearly don't care about revenue collection. However, if they are true why are day returns not offered everywhere at that sort of discount? That drives the rank unfairness in the Oxford/Swindon comparisons quoted above. |
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32
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Call for rail fare simplification
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on: December 30, 2023, 12:34:25
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3) So as not to penalise round trips, returns should be twice the single fare.
However, day and period returns in the same "peakiness" offer a saving and it would be a shame for them to rise to twice the single. Why should a period or day return offer a saving. What if (in a revenue neutral way) the cake was cut a different way so that the single was a less and those who had the benefit all these years for no apparent reason pay a bit more (though not twice as much). |
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33
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Call for rail fare simplification
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on: December 29, 2023, 11:17:18
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Perhaps one of the knowledgeable people on this forum could describe what that would look like? (Sincere question, not sarcastic!)
Perhaps it would be easier to explain what it should do: 1) It should render split ticketing unnecessary 2) It should avoid the case where similar journeys on the substantially the same route are differently priced (e.g. Swindon to Paddington £160 (anytime return (day return not available)), Same from Oxford £77.30 (anytime day return) mostly using same tracks and trains and similar speeds) 3) So as not to penalise round trips, returns should be twice the single fare. 4) Route and time restrictions should be transparent and easy to explain (e.g. explain to me why Swindon to Birmingham not valid via Bristol Parkway when if you continue to Derby it is!) 5) Route and time restrictions should be recognisable by automatic gates so you don't have to negotiate with a ticket inspector. |
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36
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All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: England's Trains today
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on: December 27, 2023, 15:11:55
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There is obviously "some" demand to travel by rail every day. I suspect the demand on Christmas day is limited, but given the number of events that traditionally take place on Boxing Day, then demand on that day is likely to be high.
One of the arguments against providing a service on those days is that it allows the rail industry to use that time to do essential maintenance works. Railways are obviously in a unique position in that achieving ongoing maintenance is often going to mean a reduction or temporary closure of available lines. But what i have never heard asked, or stated, is just how much maintenance actually does take place over those two days, and whether any of it could realistically take place at another time. I would be interested in hearing whether anyone knows.
There may be a demand in some places but I went out yesterday and was struck by how few cars were on the road. That does not suggest to me that there would be a high demand for rail services. |
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37
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All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: England's Trains today
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on: December 26, 2023, 21:54:23
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As I said, there's a balance to be struck, but if people are serious about the railway making a difference in the environmental sense as well as ensuring its long term future with all the other options which are available, measures need to be taken to give the public an alternative to the motorways on days like today, encouraging them to use the service, not pricing them off or prioritising staff holidays.
The first people that need to be serious about that are those in government. Nothing much is likely to happen without that. And at the moment we certainly are very much without that. If we really do need a 24/7 365 day railway then we have to undo many of the cuts to routes from the Beeching era so that trains can divert round maintenance works. Beeching cut duplicate routes. The result was there was no possibility of diversion to accommodate engineering works. The availability of diversionary routes on the continent is why they can contemplate night services returning. If we really need this sort of availability then we need more routes! |
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38
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Aberthaw Power Station and Decarbonisation
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on: December 24, 2023, 21:05:21
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I still see a need for more new large pumped storage schemes, modern society needs power 24/7 and how to supply this without pumped storage is a challenge.
A lot can be done by shifting industrial loads and battery charging to times of plentiful supply, but there will still be a substantial demand for power on demand when there is very little wind. Pumped storage is very useful for this.
There is a limit to what pumped storage can do. Batteries may be more useful in the longer term. However the best option is diversity. - Diversity in terms of different power sources - wind, solar tidal... - Diversity geographically a large grid can balance generation geographically. Wind may be in the north of the GB▸ on a particular day but not in the south. Solar may be good in one part of Europe but not in another on a particular day. Even tidal has peaks and troughs in production, but a quick look at a set of tide tables will tell you that the troughs and peaks will be at different times around the GB. A grid can balance this out, the bigger the better. There are plans for an interconnector from N Africa to the UK▸ to take advantage of solar power in the Sahara. |
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41
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: Aberthaw Power Station and Decarbonisation
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on: December 20, 2023, 10:40:38
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Proponents of a hydrogen economy point to the amount of renewable generation capacity that is not used at peak supply, but the biggest cause of this is the capacity of the grid to transmit it. At times of high winds, much of our wind generator capacity has to be turned off and replaced with gas generation simply because the grid elements connecting the wind power do not have the capacity!
Burning hydrogen to heat houses is not new - coal gas was IIRC▸ around 50% hydrogen.
As has been pointed out the process of converting electricity to hydrogen is very inefficient. Anyone selling surplus electricity will almost certainly get a better price selling it to someone with batteries or pumped storage facilities!
Hydrogen as a fuel will IMO▸ therefore have a very niche role as it will be expensive and requires a lot of storage space compared to methane.
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43
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Plans for centralised online ticket sales abandoned
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on: December 18, 2023, 17:04:14
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Shows that the current brood in power don't like the GBR▸ concept
Mark Harper has as good as said that. He sees GBR as incompatible with private sector involvement, according to Christian Wolmar (Rail 998) reporting on Mark Harper's appearance before the Transport Select Committee. Harper repeated the old trope that only the private sector will respond to financial incentives that are designed to increase passenger numbers. The current structure, with all the financial risk being taken by the government, will (according to Harper and those around him) mean there is no mechanism to stimulate growth. |
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45
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Re: Odd one out - AQ 16th December
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on: December 18, 2023, 10:07:05
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I did think of Blackpool Central, but it wasn't the only one closed and the railway removed. 54 trains per day to zero overnight. Blackpool Central must count as the most precipitous railway station decline and closure.
Did Blackpool North initially take all those 54 trains a day or was there some rationalisation? |
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