Catalyst for Conversation

So often travelling on London's Underground network is described as 'emotionless'. Today, people have so much to say (and social media such as this help make this possible) yet when you're in a packed train, deep beneath the streets of one of the world's largest cities, it is very rare for spontaneous acts of conversation. Perhaps people would simply rather not be travelling or with such a multi-cultural society using the Tube, the language barrier is sometimes an issue.

We both enjoy light-hearted ways in which situations like this can be overcome and one such 'solution' has been designed by Chloe Lee Carson. Based on a free badge that was designer by Transport for London for pregnant women to wear (scroll to bottom of link page), a number of spoof designs have been produced. None, in our consideration, are offensive to other travellers; moreover they might just be the catalyst for conversation.

Reasonably priced at £1.50, they are what Duncan Bannatyne would describe as 'a punt'.

Anagram of the Week

"National Rail Timetables" = "All trains aim to be late in"

With a bowler tip to 'Broomster-boyo'.

Pay-to-Park-and-Ride

There are two types of Park-and-Ride (P&R) scheme here in the UK. The first sees free parking, while a per-person fare is charged for travel on the bus, tram or train to the town or city centre. Often, discounts for groups are available. The second sees a charge for parking and free travel on the bus into town. Usually, the latter is the cheapest option for users of the service.

Sadly, though, most schemes offered see free parking and a per-person payment on the mode of transport. The schemes still offer good value for money, often with patrolled and semi-secure parking and a swift and efficient journey to and from the centre of town.


A third option is likely to exist in Oxford, as both Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council have admitted with it is 'inevitable' they will have to charge motorists to park at three of their P&R sites, in addition to the bus fare.

Budget shortfalls are being blamed and the reason for planned parking charges at the Redbridge, Pear Tree and Seacourt sites. Hitherto, the sites were operated by the County Council, but their operation has since passed to the City Council. The annual cost of operating the sites is £700,000 and has recently been hit by a £250,000 deficit in this year's budget.


Two of the city's P&R sites are used additionally by many hundreds of commuters bound for London, who park at the Thornhill and Water Eaton sites and make journeys to London by the frequent coach services offered by Stagecoach and Oxford Bus Company. Plans are being considered to charge these London commuters to park here and leave the area, while maintaining free parking for those heading into Oxford city centre. How this would work has not yet been revealed.


One of the problems charging commuters to leave their cars at P&R sites is the knock-on effect this would have on bus revenues. Oxford is the only place in the UK, we understand, whose P&R network is operated on a fully commercial basis. The imposition of an additional charge could see revenues fall and have a similar effect on operators' profit. Could the bus companies consider asking for financial subsidy to run journeys outside the traditional operating hours if the effect is so detrimental?

It could be argued that applying the financial savings to the P&R sites is better than doing so to local bus services. The effect of having £250,000 slashed from the money used to provide much-needed rural services would be devastating. Better, then, to try and find the savings from a more manageable area.


A city council review is expected, which will reveal the likely cost to park at the three affected sites and what, if anything, is likely to be done to charge London commuters parking at Thornhill & Water Eaton.

Oxford P&R info

EXCLUSIVE: Delaine's New Gemini

Taken at the Wrighbus factory in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, is the latest addition to the Delaine Buses fleet. The company has walked away from coachbuilder Optare and has made its first purchase of a Wrightbus-bodied double decker. The vehicle has a Volvo B9TL chassis on the standard wheelbase option. Allocated fleet number 150 and registered AD61 DBL, it is hoped the vehicle will enter service on Thursday 1 September, working the following diagram:

0730 Service 101 Morton-Peterborough
0900 Service 101 Peterborough-Morton
0950 Service 101 Morton-Peterborough
1100 Service 101 Peterborough-Morton
1150 Service 101 Morton-Bourne
------
1300 Service 101 Bourne-Peterborough
1400 Service 101 Peterborough-Morton
1450 Service 101 Morton-Peterborough
1600 Service 101 Peterborough-Morton
1650 Service 101 Morton-Peterborough
1800 Service 101 Peterborough-Morton

The vehicle is the first outside London to be fitted to the new EU specifications, mandatory from next year. Additional features include a suspension driver's seat, wider door and seat squabs, marker lights and two reverse lights, amongst others.

Fair warning?

With news today on all media that rail fares will increase by 8% in January, the masses were not told why the current formula exists. One of the main reasons behind the 'July RPI figure + an agreed percentage point figure' was adopted is to redress the balance of who pays what for our national rail network. July's RPI figure was released today, 5%.

Agreed a number of years ago by the former Labour government, the traditional 50/50 split between fare payer and tax payer over who pays for the railway is being phased out and replaced by a 25/75 split in favour of the tax payer. The initial formula was RPI+1; it was altered by the Coalition to RPI+3. To pay for High Speed 1, Southeastern is able to increase its regulated fares by RPI+5. The Scotland Parliament has announced it will retain the original RPI+1 formula for regulated fares north of the border.

The broad thinking is that those who use the railway should pay for it, while the many million tax payers who seldom use the rails, should not. The down side is that those who do use (and rely heavily on) the railway will have to pay significantly more for the cost of their tickets.

While bringing the news of the increase to regulated fares to the fore many months ahead can help people plan for the rise, it does bring two bouts of very negative press for the railways each year, as a re-run will ensue from the start of 2012.

A further increase of up to 5% can be made by operators to non-regulated fares, but they have to demonstrate that others have reduced by the same amount. Fares for many unpopular journeys will go down, but at the expense of those which are frequently used. The lower, unregulated fares can be a boon to many people who do not use the railway for commuting, benefiting by the offset reductions, though very much at the expense of those who do.

Commuters are seen as an easy target as their season tickets represent excellent value for money. The cost of a weekly season ticket is generally calculated as the total cost of two full price return fares between the commuter's two nominated points. Each season ticket holder receives a week's worth of travel for the price of 2 returns. It is when you multiply this by 48 (weeks) that the annual cost becomes less palatable. £2,000 is seen as the average cost of an annual season ticket.

But what to do? Transport is, sadly, not at the top of the government's priorities. In the Coalition's eyes, the tax payer is getting a better deal with the planned 8% rise in rail fares from January as those who use the rails are paying for it, rather than everyone. As we mentioned last week, the industry is a victim of its own success, with 6% year-on-year growth. While people keep on coming, it will be a very long time before we hear the end of large fare increases.

Commute by Jag is Cheaper

The Campaign for Better Transport has contacted us to say that Mrs LEYTR isn't always right - words I only utter at my peril. Converting cars to operate on a pay-as-you-go basis, with users not paying for fuel when they fill them up but in cash every time they use the vehicle to cover the cost of travel, can be cheaper than public transport. Well, trains, anyway.

Buried in their online archive, the CBT calculated that Transport Secretary Philip Hammond would be financially better off continuing to commute to Westminster from his home in Woking every day than travelling by train. The cost of an annual season ticket between Woking and Central London is £3,268, while annual fuel costs for a Jaguar would amount to £2,277. That's an annual saving of almost a grand.

In the train's favour is that it produces up to four times fewer carbon emissions and that travelling time can be both faster and more productive. Even if typing fiercely into a laptop isn't your cup of tea, having a little snooze is always an option, provided you find a seat.

The CBT has produced an online petition to force pressure on the government not to increase many regulated fares by 28% over the next four years. By 2015, for example, the cost of an annual season ticket between Ashford and Central London will be 28.6% of the forecast average salary for that year.

Sadly, Lord Adonis' comments to RAIL Editor Nigel Harris in the latest edition illustrates why rail fares are to rise to much in the coming years. The industry is seeing 6% year-on-year growth, despite the national economy being in the doldrums. For the first time in generations, tangible modal shift is being seen. For no matter how high rail fares are pumped each year, many save considerable sums by using the train.

Higher fares doesn't seem to be dampening demand, moreover they seem to be having little effect at all. While this is the case, we cannot see (sadly) how the government will be persuaded to change tack at all.

The PAYG Car

Sharing a bottle of white over Sunday Lunch with Mrs LEYTR as I was today, she suddenly came forward with what could be done to make car drivers view the usage of their private motor vehicle as more costly than their local bus. I was staggered - she's never come forward with anything like this before - and it made sense!

"Drivers shouldn't have to pay to fill up their cars. Instead, they should owe the cost of the tank of fuel, which should be charged to them on a journey-by-journey basis and they're not allowed to leave the car until they've paid by coins in their dashboard".

Oh for such a world. Well, probably not as I use my car occasionally when a bus is not available and wouldn't want to have to be sure I had sufficient coinage to ensure I'd not be held prisoner in it when I arrived at my destination.

But her outburst shone a light (for me, at least) as to why some people begrudge travelling on buses: cost. They consider a £3.50 day ticket as 'extortionate', when they'd commute to work and pay double that in petrol. Charge them on a journey-by-journey basis and soon they'd realise that £3.50 on the bus is actually 'quite reasonable' or at least 'comparable'.

Not that this will ever happen. Woe betide any government that tries to inconvenience our use of the private motor car.

But it would be good to see dashboard computers display how much the journey undertaken had cost the driver, in pounds and pence. They technology is there, though the driver would need to state how much the fuel cost, then the car computer would do the rest.

Not to everyone's liking

Last month, Passenger Focus gave the coach industry a clean bill of health after it looked in-depth at the services operated by four operators, National Express, Megabus, Oxford Tube & Oxford Espress. The coach industry was also described as the UK's best-kept secret, the implication being that the untapped potential for the uninitiated is significant.

At the same time, Britain's leading rail fares and service expert, Barry Doe, gave the impression that he does not concur with the findings of PF. In the latest RAIL he opines: "...but I have never travelled on a coach in my life and hope I never shall."

This from the man who maintains the very informative Doe's Directory of Bus Timetables (DDBT). Clearly, the word 'coach' is noticeable by its absence! This really has thrown me.

Barry is no stranger to controversy. One of my favourite quotes of his is when he referred to Arriva's CrossCountry company as a 'dog of an operator' - something anyone who's unwittingly tried to return at 1630 using an Off-Peak Return will agree with. His succinct criticism is especially effective when bringing to bare the errors contained in the National Rail Timetable or shining a light on the complexities of the ticketing system and associated restrictions.

But for the author of the online DDBT to hope he never has to travel by coach is very disappointing indeed.

In bed with Brian

Would Sir Moir have ever posed like this? Or Giles Fearnley, David Martin, Keith Ludeman and Dean Finch?

Judging by the splattering of comments on newsgroups and other transport blogs, awarding Brian Souter a knighthood was considerably more controversial than when his counterpart at First was awarded one. No one can accuse Sir Brian of not leading by example and when he innovates others can take years to catch up.

We alluded to some coach-related gossip last week, that Stagecoach's Megabus.com subsidiary would soon be introducing overnight sleeper coach services between London and Glasgow and two days ago this was confirmed when the company issued a press release.

Each of the articulated coaches, specially converted, will house 24 sleeper berths that appear to be three stories high. They will be located in the front portion of the coach, with a selection of standard coach seats towards the rear of the vehicle, after the bendy bit. As with the established London-Glasgow rail sleeper service, a number of complimentary items will be provided: toothbrush, toothpaste, bottle of water, eye mask and a luggage label. Complimentary refreshments will also be available, though details of what this will include wasn't made known.

Having recently returned from travelling the length and breadth of the country by train - two overnight sleeper services included - we've accidentally stumbled across a subject we are reasonably equipped to compare and contrast.

The Megabus sleeper coaches will not come with a host but a second driver. The coaches, by design, are considerably more cramped than the trains, sharing with potentially 23 other people in what are effectively bunks. They are, however, considerably cheaper, with fares from the headline-grabbing £1 through to a maximum £40 being offered. We're pretty sure that a loss will almost certainly be made even at £40 a head. Free Wi-Fi is offered, which is not the case with the trains.

Will the sleeper coaches be operating in addition to the existing coach service? There are considerably fewer seats on board and Stagecoach cites the overnight London-Glasgow coach as one of their most popular. Stagecoach makes a point of stating that the coaches are VOSA-certified. While we had problems with the air-con on our first overnight sleeper recently, our second encounter had very nice chilled air which was most welcome during the summer evening. No mention of air-conditioning is made with the new sleeper coach.

I'm not someone who is able to sleep anywhere very easily. ScotRail's Caledonian Express isn't the most comfortable place to nod off, so, for me, I know a 13-year old Volvo B10MA will be less so.

But for £40 maximum, can you complain?

There are some who will not consider the coach to be safe enough, despite its legal certification. Others will welcome this as an addition to the Megabus brand. It's certainly something I'd consider to say I've done it, but I don't feel I could count on feeling as refreshed upon reaching Scotland as I could by train. But I suppose the train always wins on the comfort scale when compared to the coach. Where it loses is on value for money - something the new sleeper coach could excel.

Pictorial: Railrover Day 7

Our final day did not start well. I was awoken by my complimentary breakfast being delivered and after opening the adjoining door to m'colleague's birth, was informed of our location. It was 0730 and we'd just departed Newtonmore, where we should have left at 0712. Our connection in Inverness was the tightest of the entire jaunt - just 14 minutes. Things were not looking good, although the scenery was sufficiently dramatic to take my mind off the problem that may lie ahead.

We then came to a standstill at around 0815. We were clearly being held in a loop for a southbound service from the single track that lay ahead to Inverness. I suspected this was East Coast's daily service to London, named the Highland Chieftain. Checking the time this service departed Inverness against the time it took to pass us, meant that we shouldn't arrive 18 minutes late, but a 'mere' 7 minutes behind schedule.



Following the HST's passage, the driver gave it the beans our final sleeper journey soon came to an end (I plan on ensuring it's not another 6 years before I travel on another!) and we were heading down towards Inverness at a shade over 80mph according to our GPS device. DB Schenker's 67030 was once again hauling us north of Edinburgh (it had been our motive traction on Tuesday morning).

I love this shot. To me it says: no matter what colours you adorn the exterior with and no matter which multi-national bus operator operates applies its franchise name to the side, some things were built to last and endure.

Our driver should be congratulated as we arrived in Inverness at 0839, just 8 minutes late. While Scotrail will legitimately class this journey as having arrived on time, it was the difference between a trip on the West Highland Line or heading back to Edinburgh with our tails between our legs for us. At a not inconsiderable pace, we made our way to the bus station where we saw our Service 919 Scottish Citylink coach awaiting its 0845 departure. As ever, Stagecoach was using one of its own liveried coaches on the service Volvo B7R/Plaxton Profile, 53209 (SV54 EKP). Our friendly English driver said we weren't leaving until his wingmirror was fixed and so feeling a little silly at the sight that must have greeted him as two unfit 30-something year old men came sweating to his vehicle, we took our seats inside and awaited a chap in overalls. The wingmirror was fixed by 0915 and we left with the same vigour displayed by our Class 67 driver.

I feel a little guilty about criticising the driver too much as he did completely ignore the overheating alarm for the last hour of the trip, despite visiting a petrol station at Invergarry to add cool water to the system. Other drivers would have pulled over to seek advice which, knowing our luck, would have been to stay where they were and send another bus out. This would have been worse than missing the connection in the first place as the frequency of trains from Loch Ness is nil. Once at Fort William, we headed to the local supermarket to purchase drinks and then to the station to take some photos. This is one of West Coast Railways' 37676 Loch Rannoch.

I'd planned on us catching the Fort William service from London last night, but two months before our jaunt commenced, ScotRail said the service was fully booked. This is the portion of last night's train that was hived off at Edinburgh, and hauled here using another of DB Schenker's Class 67s. I'm not too sure of when it is cleaned and prepared for its return journey to London as it appeared to be sitting idle.

We would now head back to the Lowlands aboard a ScotRail Class 156. Two of them, in fact. 156465 lead 156485 in from Mallaig, where upon the driver changed ends (actually, he probably handed over to another) and 156485 lead for the remainder of the journey. The number of reservations aboard this journey was very high indeed and a load boarded. Initially I didn't think we'd be able to sit together, though we did manage to find some seats together. It was a wonderful journey to Glasgow - some very impressive scenery and while not as dramatic as that to Mallaig, is certainly some of the best in the country. We waited at Tulloch for a northbound service and again at Ardlui, where a trio of two-car Class 156s were heading north. One would be hived off at Crianlarich for the Oban branch.

Our next train was 170428, working the 1545 ScotRail service to Edinburgh via Falkirk. It was a three-car unit that became very well loaded indeed. I think most of our train in from the Highlands occupied it. We, however, took solace in First Class, where we sat alone save a guard and his family. The '156' was very nice, but the air conditioning and complimentary refreshments with a much firmer suspension were a welcome addition. Sadly the scenery didn't live up to that which we'd experienced.

From Glasgow Queen Street to Doncaster sidings. We managed to board East Coast's 1700 departure from Edinburgh Waverley to London King's Cross, though it wasn't announced until 6 minutes to go before departure so there was a scrum to board and I didn't fancy missing it for the sake of a photo. We were served a very nice meal and with a crew change at Newcastle had the option for second helpings, too. As we departed Doncaster, I spotted Deltic - Royal Scots Grey stabled in some sidings, attached to a rake of heritage coaches that would presumably work a rail tour tomorrow. Initially numbered D9000 and then 55022 when British Rail introduced TOPS, this was quite a welcome addition to my photos during the jaunt. I took a video of Royal Scots Grey plying its trade along its old stomping ground and it can be seen by clicking here.

91102 propelled us from Edinburgh to London, driven from 82230 at the front.

The 2200 East Coast departure from London King's Cross to Newcastle was to be my last of the jaunt, with 43313 at the rear (above) and 43257 leading (below).

Hell, I could have had third helpings of the evening meal offering aboard the East Coast trains today. I turned it down though had some more gin and tonic. A very civilised finale to the 2011 LEYTR Railrover. As I needed to photograph the front HST I made my way through the train after Holme (one of the lowest points on the national rail network) and jumped out of the front carriage at Peterborough. Here the train sat for over 5 minutes as British Transport Police had been called to remove a trouble-maker. Listening to an officer allay the fears of a bystander, it appears the miscreant is known to them. The policeman showed his disdain for 'the system' as the guy who was arrested commits an offence in London and is issued a rail warrant to take him home to Peterborough where he then kicks off and has been banned from using the train. A vicious circle and what annoys me most is that he is given free travel on a service where a turn-up-and-go ticket costs almost £30.

Pictorial: Railrover Day 6

We had a lie-in (of sorts) today. It was rather fortunate, following last night's delay. Our first train of the day didn't depart Glasgow Central until 1000. Before that, however, we thought we'd bag a circuit on the Glasgow Subway. I've travelled on this once before and very much enjoyed the experience. For the uninitiated, the Subway forms a loop around central Glasgow, with trains operating both anti- and clockwise circuits, though these are referred to as inner and outer circuits.

The Subway (known locally as the Clockwork Orange, owing to its colour scheme) offers a single fare of £1.20 and a return of double the single. Savings can be made with multi-journey tickets. The network is very involved in Twitter, having a very infectious feed.

We did an outer loop (I did an inner loop last time). Actually, we did a loop plus 1 stop, alighting at St. Enoch and walking to Central Station.

It was quite a tight connection in the end, though we made our Virgin Trains Super Voyager service, formed of 221104 Sir John Franklin. We left on time and were served complimentary breakfast. I opted for the bacon baguette, while m'colleague went for the 'airline-style English breakfast'. Actually, it looked a little more substantial than what is served in the skies.

We alighted at Carlisle and the weather started to take a turn for the worst. Very gloomy with rain in the air.

Typical. We were headed along the famous Settle-Carlisle line, once mothballed for closure. Here, the scenic line rises to one of the highest altitudes in England with some stunning scenery and iconic structures. Sod's Law, then, that it would be overcast throughout, with heavy mist in places, reducing visibility considerably. We had planned on getting out at Ribblehead to view to Ribblehead Viaduct and then head back to Carlisle before down to London with Virgin, but there was complete, utter and absolute cloud burst when we called here, so Plan B was put in action: we would stay on to Leeds. Our train was the 1155, operated by Northern and was formed of 153359+158855. We both opted to travel in the '158' as it was considerably quieter than the leading 'dogbox'.

At Leeds, we caught a Northern service to Bradford Interchange at 1453. 158757 was our train, working a York-Blackpool service. It was fairly busy but we managed to find two seats together for the short journey.

Bradford Interchange is tiny! I was staggered. Having never been here before, I will admit to having visions of some shiny mass of platforms covered in a huge canopy. There is a canopy, well two actually, but not a lot else. Adjacent to the station is what appears to be the coach layover area, with a number of National Express vehicles there. We were to catch Grand Central's new Bradford-London service and hoped it would be a Class 180 Adelante as we'd already bagged one of their HSTs.

We were in luck as 180114 was to be our chariot to London. We left on time at 1537 and in what was seemingly an empty train. Where were all the passengers? A few boarded en route for the very slow drag to the ECML at Pontefract. Dear me, as with our Sunderland Experience on Day 1, the going was mind-numbingly slow. The powers that be certainly put open access operators at the end of the queue for paths. This is something prospective operators do not make clear in their press releases when they detail aspirations to link new settlements with London and other major UK cities. How they can claim the headline journey times that they do is very misleading. Services like this must surely benefit on the 'direct' credentials of the journeys.

If more than 20 travelled on our five-car Adelante I will be staggered. Quite a difference from our HST being so full that First Class was declassified. The guard got so bored that he came round and served us all tea. The air conditioning also failed in our coach, south of Retford, but we were now travelling at 125mph along the East Coast Main Line, being slowed on occasions by an East Coast train in front. The First Class interior on the '180s' is very nice indeed.

We walked to Euston now and boarded our second and final sleeper service of the jaunt. It was hauled once again by DB Schenker's 90036. This time we were situated towards the rear of the train, being bound for Inverness.

We didn't receive the same level of attention as on Monday night. Also, none of the hosts this evening had a Scottish accent. We later learned that First Scotrail employs London-based crews. I don't want to give the impression we weren't well catered for, as this wouldn't be true, but it wasn't as good as Monday's northbound service.

We depart London Euston, punctually.

Overtaken by Overground.

Empty sleeper stock heading to Euston to work the later service to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

We headed to the Lounge Car for a bottle of white and some nibbles while we headed along the ECML and after arriving in Crewe at 2352, we headed to our cabins for our final sleep of the jaunt as tomorrow would be the last day.