| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
Life expectancy of a train - 149/355 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Saturday, 11th February 2006 As a child I commuted to school on some ancient but reliable and quite satisfactory trains, and I know there are some lines (such as the Island line) where the stock is 40 years old. Re: Life expectancy of a train - 149/356 Written by sbl on Saturday, 11th February 2006 [quote author=Graham Ellis link=topic=149.msg355#msg355 date=1139652452]I read this as saying that the remaining service(s) will be run with the same trains, overhauled but not replaced, for the next period of 7 to 10 years. [/quote] Which makes a lot of sense, these trains will be good for another 15 years at least. Re: Life expectancy of a train - 149/357 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Sunday, 12th February 2006 [quote author=SBL Forever link=topic=149.msg356#msg356 date=1139682217] Which makes a lot of sense, these trains will be good for another 15 years at least. [/quote] Indeed - if that is the case, it's a sensible plan. There's a lot of things that are very sensible and positive in First's / DfT's plans for the area - just a few "oddball" decisions that seem to be letting the whole show down at least as far as certain customer (journey) groups is concerned. Re: Life expectancy of a train - 149/359 Written by sbl on Sunday, 12th February 2006 [quote author=Graham Ellis link=topic=149.msg357#msg357 date=1139724938]Anyway - summarising. Re: Life expectancy of a train - 149/360 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Sunday, 12th February 2006 Well - we already have a 153 marked "Central Trains" provining part of the service ... Central Trains, like Wessex, being a part of National Express. I expect that has to go back on 1st April. I look forward to seeing what comes out of the melting pot as units cascade - and there may be other options that come up too. The London to Bedwyn service is extending to Westbury - perhaps there will be a chance of those outer London units running some of the Westbury based services in the future now that they'll be (a) run by the same company and (b) on routes that meet up. Yes - I had a glance ay your site (and I have actually travelled by train from Marks Tey to Sudbury in the past). Great site ... and an hourly service even on a Sunday that we would kill for. But then, Sudbury had 10 times the ticket sales of Melksham in the 2002/03 stats which are the latest I have country-wide. That's rather like comparing apples with oranges, mind you ... I'm quoting an intermediate station in our case where only about a quarter of the passengers leave or join the train, versus a terminus. .... I'm in danger of making the accountants mistake of getting lost into state here ... Re: Life expectancy of a train - 149/361 Written by sbl on Sunday, 12th February 2006 Good point re. the ticket sales, Sudbury Line usage is mostly Commuter Traffic to London where the AM Peak Trains can leave Sudbury with a 156 near full capacity, so its best not to compare. The thing is though, that massive growth is down to service improvements. For many years a very poor service with 1 train every 2 hours was provided, which was then taken upto hourly with modern units, thats when the passenger levels increased. They took a dive in 1998 when the 153s were replaced with 40 year old Class 121 Bubble Cars which couldn't manage more than a few hours before breaking down. Eventually we got the 153s back which were used before, the passengers came back and in 2001 backup buses were needed in the peaks to take the overflow! Then in 2002 First Great Eastern found a spare 150 from Arriva to use, since then we've increased usage a lot and now the 156 is getting a little cramped at times! I think our line makes that important point, that its increased service levels, investment and regular/relilable trains which make the difference between empty and full trains. Re: Life expectancy of a train - 149/362 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Sunday, 12th February 2006 [quote author=SBL Forever link=topic=149.msg361#msg361 date=1139748760] I think our line makes that important point, that its increased service levels, investment and regular/relilable trains which make the difference between empty and full trains. [/quote] Exactly. In all the differences between each line, that's a common thread. link to index of articles |
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Save the Train was the campaign to bring an approriate train service back to and through Melksham. Most big contributors are still around writing at the Coffee shop forum where new members are very welcome. The train has been saved - sort of - we have stepped back up from an unusable service to a poorish one but it's doing very well. We did that through setting up the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. That fulfilled its early objectives; it has been taken over by local and regional government types who are now doing medium and long term work. The team from this forun can also be found at the Melksham Rail User Group (which was the Melksham Rail Development Group at the time these articles were written and we had no users. We mustn't loose sight, though, that the train service remains poor and needs our community support in marketing and campaigning to keep it going in a positive direction ... and all the more so when we're expecting to find a different normallity once we get out of the Coronavirus Pandemic and head for zero carbon via the climate crisis. Yes, it's saved ... it's now a key community facility ... the need for enhancement and the strong and near-universal local support remain, and the rail industry and goverment remain slow to move and provide the enhancements even to level us up with other towns. Please support the Melksham Rail User Group - now very much in partnership rather than protest with the rail industry and local government, including GWR, TransWilts and unitary and town councils. And please use the trains and buses, and cycle and walk when you can. -- Graham Ellis, (webmaster), February 2021 | |||
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