Congestion charging hits the rails
 

Bob Wood wrote:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...662717,00.html

PREMIUM ROUTES

Likely candidates for peak pricing:

Liverpool Street to Chelmsford
St Albans to King's Cross
Elephant and Castle to Blackfriars
East Croydon and Tulse Hill to Blackfriars/London Bridge
Twyford and Maidenhead to Paddington
Sevenoaks to Charing Cross/Cannon Street

That's a very interesting list. Are they really the busiest routes in
the country? (As a daily customer of Thameslink between Tulse Hill and
Blackfriars I can well believe it, but Maidenhead to Paddington?)

x-post to u.t.l for interest.

Congestion charging hits the rails
 

When 95% of journeys are made by car how do they ever expect public
transport and the train in particular to cope.

Kevin

Congestion charging hits the rails
 

Rupert Candy wrote:
Bob Wood wrote:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...662717,00.html

PREMIUM ROUTES

Likely candidates for peak pricing:

Liverpool Street to Chelmsford
St Albans to King's Cross
Elephant and Castle to Blackfriars
East Croydon and Tulse Hill to Blackfriars/London Bridge
Twyford and Maidenhead to Paddington
Sevenoaks to Charing Cross/Cannon Street

That's a very interesting list. Are they really the busiest routes in
the country? (As a daily customer of Thameslink between Tulse Hill and
Blackfriars I can well believe it, but Maidenhead to Paddington?)


I thought that as well. I would have thought there were some obvious
pinches, like Lewisham to Charing Cross (which has a reduced service in
the peaks compared with off-peak and is generally packed solid).

At least SET has finally made some suburban trains as long as they were
when they were slam-door. The peak trains to London Bridge via East
Croydon and Tulse Hill tend to be six coaches I think, and certainly
never more than eight, yet they are not more crowded then the ten-coach
SET services they are in parallel with on the approach to London
Bridge.

Where there is overcrowding on Southern, it is due to short trains,
like a four-coach evening peak train I caught to Brockley a while back.

Congestion charging hits the rails
 

wrote in message
oups.com...
When 95% of journeys are made by car how do they ever expect public
transport and the train in particular to cope.

But on radial routes into London this is not the case. Car has about 10% of
that market.

tim

Congestion charging hits the rails
 

MIG wrote:

At least SET has finally made some suburban trains as long as they were
when they were slam-door. The peak trains to London Bridge via East
Croydon and Tulse Hill tend to be six coaches I think, and certainly
never more than eight, yet they are not more crowded then the ten-coach
SET services they are in parallel with on the approach to London
Bridge.

The peak Thameslinks through Tulse Hill are almost always 8 coaches
(except on Monday, when everything was in the wrong place because of
the problems near Bedford, which meant overcrowding that was dangerous
rather than just uncomfortable!) The SET peak trains to Blackfriars via
Herne Hill are generally 6 and busy but not overcrowded.

Where there is overcrowding on Southern, it is due to short trains,
like a four-coach evening peak train I caught to Brockley a while back.

There used to be a London Bridge - Beckenham train at about 6.30 that
was booked for a 2-coach 456, and every day the driver made an
announcement that the train was *not* short formed. That was not a
pleasant ride.

Congestion charging hits the rails
 

I don't understand your reply. It is reported that 95% of all journeys
are by car therefore how will those journeys be accomodated on public
transport. If I want to go from Watford to Heathrow or Gatwick (for
example) you are quite correct that I don't drive through London but
how will I do that journey once congestion charging on the road and
trains is introduced.

Kevin

Congestion charging hits the rails
 

There used to be a London Bridge - Beckenham train at about 6.30 that
was booked for a 2-coach 456, and every day the driver made an
announcement that the train was *not* short formed. That was not a
pleasant ride.

So I'm thinking, where trains are overcrowded due to being too short,
they'll use the congestion charge to pay for more vehicles, so the
trains won't be crowded any more and the congestion charge will be
withdrawn?

I wonder.

Congestion charging hits the rails
 

In message . com, at
03:07:19 on Tue, 21 Jun 2005, Rupert Candy
remarked:
PREMIUM ROUTES

Likely candidates for peak pricing:

Liverpool Street to Chelmsford
St Albans to King's Cross

KX Thameslink, perhaps

Elephant and Castle to Blackfriars
East Croydon and Tulse Hill to Blackfriars/London Bridge
Twyford and Maidenhead to Paddington
Sevenoaks to Charing Cross/Cannon Street

That's a very interesting list. Are they really the busiest routes in
the country? (As a daily customer of Thameslink between Tulse Hill and
Blackfriars I can well believe it, but Maidenhead to Paddington?)

I think you'll find they are a combination of "most overcrowded" (given
the number of trains, which may not be very great) and "with commuters
who can afford to pay more".
--
Roland Perry

Congestion charging hits the rails
 

ATOC shoots itself in the foot again...

I'm not sure what to think about this news item. On the one hand,
overcrowding is going to get worse (pending a recession or a disaster)
and has to be dealt with, but ATOC seems to be oblivious to the
hostility that the media has towards the rail industry; did they really
expect this information to be received well?

ATOC members have effectively removed the Network Card discount for
short journeys; cheaper fares are offered after 9.30/1000am time; so
this "peak" charging is really just another round of season ticket
increases.

I am trying to be objective here, but I can't grasp how they can
justify charging a premium on certain services, when those services are
already more expensive than off peak trains. Is there going to be an
extra layer of fares? Or are season ticket discounts going to be
reduced?

B.