Inbox

WCML franchise decision

07.09.12: What concerns me is that nothing First have done on the Thameslink Line has improved the lot of the travelling public – prices continue to rise , the trains are still ridiculously crowded – despite promises of more coaches you still...

West Coast Main Line franchise

31.08.12: What is the point of having a structured bidding process if when the results aren’t what you want you change it? If you want to drive competition away from the industry just let the politicians carry on interfering. Perhaps we should objec...

FirstGroup winning WCML

24.08.12: What an absolute shambles.  How can FirstGroup be awarded this franchise, when they have shown that they cannot deliver on existing franchises? First Great Western is an absolute disgrace – very poor customer service, ever increa...

East Coast customer service

14.08.12: Your article, ‘East Coast complaints rise by 80%’, comes as no surprise. I have had a personal experience of the ticketing problem and have seen the transition from what was an excellent customer service operation to an extremel...

HS2

10.08.12: I get a horrible sneaking feeling that vested interests are winning the day here. The Government was swayed by the lobby in favour of the most expensive route using the most expensive consultancies. Alternative routes using the former GW an...

EMT pension attack

03.08.12: The alleged surplus that EMT is using to reduce its payments into the fund was not built up by EMT but by hundreds of rail workers over many years.  EMT has no right to attempt to benefit from the healthy state of the fund. What they s...

Cornwallrail services

27.07.12: I share the concern expressed in your article (17/07/2012, www.railtechnologymagazine.com) over the proposed cuts in main line services in the new franchise. It is not unusual to have the station staff at my local station Liskeard walking up and...

Telford Steam Railway accident and ORR fine

20.07.12: Re: £5000 fine for heritage railway health and safety breach Just like the fines doled out to Network Rail: what is the actual function of those fines? What are they for, what are they going to be used for? In the case of th...

‘HS2 have not learnt from HS1 mistakes, say MPs’

13.07.12: There are various reasons why I don’t think this adds up to what is claimed. The CTRL is underused for a variety of reasons. Firstly, Eurostar has a monopoly of rail journeys betweenEnglandand France/Belgium. Secondly, the Channe...

Open letter to Theresa Villiers – Great Western Franchise Specification

06.07.12: I have read with some dismay the letter sent from Cornwall Council to MPs about the proposed reduction in specification for passenger train services in this franchise to and fromCornwall(below). As a resident of Cornwall and frequent travel...

South Eastern franchise consultation

29.06.12: Regarding the article South Eastern franchise consultation launched, I would like to see Southeastern’s offering extended slightly. If they are feeling ambitious, maybe they could offer journeys via HS1 and the West Coast Main Line to Birm...

Beechinged Railways

22.06.12: I remember Barbara Castle was once asked what was her greatest disappointment when a minister. I think people were expecting her to say the failure of trade union reform. What she actually said was that when she was minister of transport sh...

RE: Tram-Train pilot for South Yorkshire

15.06.12: I think Arthur has hit the nail on the head (Tram-Train pilot for South Yorkshire) Many opportunities for future transport links on disused old branch lines have been lost to house buildings rather than mothballed for future transit op...

RMT criticism of DfT over Thameslink contract delays

08.06.12: I have to say that Bob Crow is such an awful hypocrite. He and his union members who want to enjoy a gravy train of buy-British-irrespective-of-how-low-the-quality-is have been obstructing the process for months on end because the deal wasn't aw...

Tram-Train pilot for South Yorkshire

25.05.12: Being from South Yorkshire, I am pleased to see investment in the area. I will be even more pleased when it reachesBarnsley. I guess this will not be the most popular comment in a rail mag. But what about the possibility of creati...