London Banter - View Single Post

Colin Rosenstiel · December 30th 05, 12:54 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article , (Roland Perry) wrote:

In message ,
at 10:42:00 on Fri, 30 Dec 2005, Colin Rosenstiel
remarked:

The railway doesn't have a problem. Road users who find the
crossings almost always closed have a problem.

Sometimes open is better than closed entirely. If this is the
only issue, I do wonder why some people (yourself included) are
advocating closure.

Because money is being leeched away from the railway in the road
interest.

I wouldn't describe "keeping level crossings open" as leeching
money away from the railway. In any event, there is no longer any
pretence that the railway is a public service. It is a set of private
companies operating for profit. No-one forced any of the ToCs to
bid. They understand the nature of the business, and must take the
rough with the smooth.

Er, level crossings is infrastructure, responsibility of Network
Rail. That's a not for profit company that struggles to avoid being
defined as the public sector, using increasingly implausible smoke
and mirrors. You wait till they can't pay back their debts.

And where do they get their income? The ToCs.

A somewhat inexact statement, if I may say so.

Anyway the problem isn't keeping level crossings open. It's keeping
them closed long enough to allow modern traffic levels to pass
without long delays. That's a highway problem.

I think you have confused "open" as in "still operational" with
"open" as in "gates across the railway line" and "open" as in "gates
cross the road".

And my wording wasn't deliberate, do you imagine? :-)

Even to the extent that railway problems cannot be resolved, like
restoring the full footbridge at North Sheen.

What's happening at North Sheen?

They only have half a footbridge. It's an island platform with a
level crossing adjacent but passengers from one side have to cross
the line by the level crossing to reach the footbridge to access the
platforms. The MP has been complaining there is no money to restore
the other half of the footbridge.

And that's a *highways* problem??

Only because so much money is being spent on highways and not the railway.

How much does it cost Network Rail and the TOCs involved every time yet another lorry hits the underbridge at Ely? It's the third most struck bridge in the country. Many of the lorries are local and in too much of a hurry to wait to use the adjacent level crossing (apart from the one that smashed through the gates instead - that was Turners' too).

Then there is the chaos to One's services after yet another illegal vehicle on a level crossing was hit by one of their precious DMUs one Sunday. A whole diagram had to be cancelled on Monday, with delights such as a four hour gap in the East Suffolk service

--
Colin Rosenstiel