Public Transport in your particular part of the region

[Alexia]

Surely before all these strikes a work schedule will have been drawn up well in advance, why is it supposedly so hard to revert back to it, with delays for days afterwards? Are they really that inflexible and dogmatic?

In terms of timing / stock allocation and crew allocation, sure the Short Term Plan would have been cancelled and in most cases reverted to the Long Term Plan. That happened on the night 'er Maj carked it and the RMT pulled their strikes scheduled for the week of mourning.

However actual individual humans have to be rostered a minimum of 4-5 days in advance (bearing in mind that in some circumstances it can be up to 2 hours before/after their original book on time) which is then pretty much set in stone, mostly so that rosters/resources can then move on to sorting out the next tranche of work but also so that traincrew can plan their lives. If things change in a shorter period of time than that then there is no obligation on traincrew to change their plans unless they are agreeable to doing so; or if they are "spare", there is no obligation for them to come in earlier or later than rostered. Most folk will gladly change their plans if it benefits them and/or an incentive is provided.

[Martin Phillp]

I do support the right to strikes but the RMT are guilty of strike first, talk later and I think Londoners in particular don't hold them in particularly high regard whereas other unions like ASLEF tend to be a bit more diplomatic but also their messaging is more apologetic to the public.

I don't think that's a fair characterisation at all.

There have been negotiations with the TOCs, quite regularly in fact. The TOCs have literally nothing they can offer because pay increases are determined by the DfT.

The DfT have refused to improve the pay offer they have instructed their contractors to maintain, and have completely refused all attempts to negotiate directly with unions.

There is essentially no possibility of meaningful negotiation.

While that's true on National Rail TOCs and that's more justified. It doesn't explain other disputes with the likes of TfL which isn't covered by the DfT as it's devolved.

As part of their settlement with the DfT, TfL are obliged to make more cost cutting, especially to their pension bill in addition to raising fares to enable TfL to be self-sufficient again. TfL were achieving this until 2020 and then Covid took away their revenue stream and is still recovering as travel isn't back to pre-Covid levels.

[all new Phil]

Thoughts on the new boards at Euston?

Some of the replies complain that it isn’t ordered by departure time but I prefer this way of doing it. Suppose the only issue is if you have an advance ticket for a specific train and there’s another slightly before to the same place.

[iSon]

I think any problem is Euston itself as any changes made at the station just don’t seem to help due to its dreadful layout.

These screens at other Network Rail managed stations such as Victoria or Waterloo seem to have been better received.

I personally like the new style, although they can feel a bit like information overload until you get used to the layout. Plus, with it being a single screen means they can make changes easily and I’m sure there will be tweaks.

The placement of the screens at Euston is designed to try and reduce the crowding in the centre of the concourse and it has had the desired effect when I’ve been there recently. It does help that there’s now a full screen outside which is lovely. I much prefer to wait outside, but then I’ve often found out the platform ahead of it being announced so am not transfixed to the screens anyway.

[all new Phil]

I will add - it does annoy me we don’t have a standard style. Bradford recently had digital screens installed which are different to any others I’ve seen elsewhere. TSK.

[Steve]

That’s the spot on point - I think there are merits to both styles of screens and how the information is presented, but for heaven’s sake pick one style and stick to it. It’s confusing because you have to spend two minutes deciding what the screen is telling you and what you need to look for, which is undoubtedly different to the last station you were at.

[Charlie Wells]

I think any problem is Euston itself as any changes made at the station just don’t seem to help due to its dreadful layout.

These screens at other Network Rail managed stations such as Victoria or Waterloo seem to have been better received.

I personally like the new style, although they can feel a bit like information overload until you get used to the layout. Plus, with it being a single screen means they can make changes easily and I’m sure there will be tweaks.

The placement of the screens at Euston is designed to try and reduce the crowding in the centre of the concourse and it has had the desired effect when I’ve been there recently. It does help that there’s now a full screen outside which is lovely. I much prefer to wait outside, but then I’ve often found out the platform ahead of it being announced so am not transfixed to the screens anyway.

Apparently these new screens are being trialled, according a quote on https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/eu ... rds-58759/ from Network Rail. I imagine all the construction work in and around Euston probably complicates things further.

EDIT: Apparently the other side of those screens shows the more traditional departures layout.

[Blewatter]

The closure of ticket offices is causing a furore near me at the moment. Where I live, all ticket offices on my local trainline, with the exception of Liverpool Lime Street, and St Helens Central, are going to be closed, and stations are going to be staffed 2 hours a day, except on Sundays. While the rise of apps like Trainline have made it easy for people to buy digital tickets, its another case of 'Thinking about the future, without being forward thinking'.

What really gets me about it is that stations like Huyton and Earlestown, which are rail to rail interchanges, are losing their ticket offices. My local station always has a queue at the ticket office, so it does seem like it is a poor plan to me.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... n-27271248

[Alexia]

One more Tory scorched earth policy before they're booted. It's only being done so that Liebour then have to spend money reinstating them.

[gottago]

The closure of ticket offices is causing a furore near me at the moment. Where I live, all ticket offices on my local trainline, with the exception of Liverpool Lime Street, and St Helens Central, are going to be closed, and stations are going to be staffed 2 hours a day, except on Sundays. While the rise of apps like Trainline have made it easy for people to buy digital tickets, its another case of 'Thinking about the future, without being forward thinking'.

What really gets me about it is that stations like Huyton and Earlestown, which are rail to rail interchanges, are losing their ticket offices. My local station always has a queue at the ticket office, so it does seem like it is a poor plan to me.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/li ... n-27271248

One ray of light from this is it will finally force Merseyrail to install a ticket machine (hopefully more than one) at Birkenhead Central where, for a network that requires you to buy a ticket before travel and doesn't offer QR tickets, they've persisted with a single ticket window that always manages to have a very slow queue when a train's about to show up.

[all new Phil]

I fully support the removal of ticket offices. If there’s a ticket office there, people will queue for it. If there isn’t, they’re forced to find the alternative. We can’t allow people, who make not liking self service their personality, to continuously hold us back from moving forward.

That said - the infrastructure needs to improve. Stations need plenty of self service terminals. The problem with moves like this, and I have plenty of experience of it from another industry, is that changes in practices are made to fit into existing fixtures and fittings. What we need is essentially a ticketing system that runs like The Trainline, that’s consistent everywhere.

Look at McDonalds - they’ve reworked their entire setup to make self service work. The idea of going to a counter to order now seems bizarre. The model is copied by other chains now.

I get the elderly / disabled argument but 2 points on that - the first is this also needs the software to be simple and able to allow wheelchair booking etc, the second is again from my experience in that a well designed seamless system that meets specific needs is much preferred by those with disabilities than having no choice but to queue up or call an “accessibility helpline”. The vast majority don’t want to have to do these things, they want to be able to book in the same way everyone else does.