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Will they ever restore the Oxenholme - Windermere service ?


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So this morning my stopping service from Warrington to Oxford Red despite being on time got stuck outside Deansgate for half an hour waiting for a path through and the reversal of the preceding service

 

Better an on time bus than a train that can’t go anywhere

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So this morning my stopping service from Warrington to Oxford Red despite being on time got stuck outside Deansgate for half an hour waiting for a path through and the reversal of the preceding service

 

Better an on time bus than a train that can’t go anywhere

Buses can get stuck in traffic as well.

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Buses can get stuck in traffic as well.

 

Don't get me started on the quality of Bus services, trains get a bad press but buses are so much worse and seem to escape the level of critical analysis applied to the railways, it is a total lottery if our local bus turns up at all, never mind turning up on time.

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Seems I unfairly maligned it as a political stunt. So I retract that.

 

Actually...…… I think there has been a degree of posturing on the political side.

 

And I'll leave it there.

 

Cheers,

Mick

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They could always lease a class 230 and become a community rail partnership, that seems to be a good route for the desperate. Sorry, little bit of cynicism there. Won't happen again :drag:  :nono:

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further to my earlier post

 

The red tape for (and cost of)  getting permission to run trains is vast.

This seems to set all sorts of presidents(?spelling)

 

It seems that basically people have turned up and run trains.

 

I'm sure the drivers etc have the appropriate route knowledge etc

but the idea that this might happen all over the network is mind blowing.

 

Just an example

Arriva wales frequently cancel trains on the Conwy valley line

if they are short of sets. (like northern they have bus replacement plans)

Could west coast railways just step in and run trains?

 

While we might cheer that trains are running

the knock on consequences of this seem to be vast

 

mike j

 

 

 

 

 

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further to my earlier post

 

The red tape for (and cost of)  getting permission to run trains is vast.

This seems to set all sorts of presidents(?spelling)

 

It seems that basically people have turned up and run trains.

 

I'm sure the drivers etc have the appropriate route knowledge etc

but the idea that this might happen all over the network is mind blowing.

 

Just an example

Arriva wales frequently cancel trains on the Conwy valley line

if they are short of sets. (like northern they have bus replacement plans)

Could west coast railways just step in and run trains?

 

While we might cheer that trains are running

the knock on consequences of this seem to be vast

 

mike j

Why not? If they get that paths. What you are describing sounds like the privatised railway at its best, with competition. I fully understand where you are coming from, but why not? Obviously NR will only give paths such that the franchise holder isn’t disturbed.

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I'd imagine the biggest challenge with a micro-franchise is rolling stock availability, given that they'd have a tiny fleet so a failure would cause mayhem. 

 

Look at what happens to Hull Trains when one of their units isn't available when it should be.

 

Would it be any worse than Northern , that can’t seem to run the service for weeks anyway

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They could always lease a class 230 and become a community rail partnership, that seems to be a good route for the desperate. Sorry, little bit of cynicism there. Won't happen again :drag:  :nono:

The Norfolk and Suffolk CRPs have done remarkable things in turning round the ridership on the Wherry and Bittern Lines. CRPs when properly resourced by the partner authorities and with effective CRP officers who have some sort of railway background and local knowledge can achieve great things, with limited resources, helping generate all year round traffic on what would be otherwise highly seasonal and expensive to run lines. It also means the costs are shared by more than one organisation. It's the polar opposite of desperation, it's a tried and tested way of making limited resources go further by sharing the burden, whether it be publicity or station improvements. CRPs generally do not get into buying or leasing stock, that is not what they are about.

 

We need more CRPs and a better understanding of what a CRP is rather than making judgements about "desperation".

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Surely Pat Marshall deserves to be made a DBE at the very least for enabling WCRC to reintroduce the Windermere service with classic traction? Why not make this a permanent feature with a heritage DMU?

 

Dava

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