London Banter - Rail network in London to adopt zonal fares

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Rail network in London to adopt zonal fares

On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 20:40:20 +0100, Dave Arquati
wrote:

Mizter T wrote:

I guess TfL might well want to get their feet under the table and take
control of the North London Railway before they start pestering central
government (i.e. the DfT) for more money for extra trains/ extra
carriages. My impression is that TfL/ the Mayor is fairly astute in
knowing how to get the best deal out of the government by pressing the
right buttons at the right times, and perhaps it's not quite the right
time to deal with this one yet.

I think we can take it as read that the Mayor is acutely aware of his
value to the Labour Party in electoral terms. I'm sure the Labour Party
is equally aware of his "value" to them too - in both negative and
positive senses.

I'd agree with you on TfL wanting to get their foot in the door first on
the NLR. I think politically, the NLR is much more important than some
people realise - a *lot* of work is being done to ensure that there will
be a noticeable difference from the first day TfL take over - even
extending *outside* the stations to TfL-funded improvements to local
streets. A positive reaction from the public and the media on TfL's
takeover will strengthen the Mayor's position on direction of other
suburban rail services, and the Mayor would certainly use this reaction
to pressure the government for more money.

Colour me not surprised to hear any of the above. I have to say I am
very interested to know what is really going on in terms of preparing
for the takeover. It's a huge job with a massive profile / potential
downside for failure so I imagine people are very, very busy indeed. I
suppose I'm mildly disappointed not be involved [1] but then I missed
the job opportunities so I can't complain.

TfL is trying to cement the notion that it is able to deliver (by such
things as getting a good credit rating, making robust budgets,
delivering congestion charging and showing good value-for-money on for
bus improvements) which it is adding to the Mayor-led argument for
stronger investment in London. The essence of it is "London will
generate £X return if you give us £x - and we are able to deliver that
return."

I think one very important link here is that delivery by TfL to time and
budget is absolutely key to the success of prudential borrowing, the
credit rating and any future financing costs. There is an enormous
amount of prestige / credibility for TfL as an organisation as well as
around the concept of such additional borrowing that TfL cannot fail to
deliver. The risks are too high - and that's before we get to the
political risks for the Mayor and the Government.

[1] I'd love to be getting my head round some of the ticketing type
issues.
--
Paul C

Admits to working for London Underground!

Rail network in London to adopt zonal fares

On 24 Oct 2006 16:41:57 -0700, Mizter T wrote:

What talk has there been regarding the lengthening of NLL trains? The
NLL can be pretty crammed at peak times, which will only be alleviated
somewhat by the new trains offer better utilisation of carriage space.
If the NLL is going to become a more and more important orbital route
then more capacity in the form of longer trains will be needed sooner
or later.

It was hoped that train lengths (as well as frequency) would be
doubled in time for the Olympics, but that's not now going to happen.
I suppose it's reasonable for them to only invest in a doubling of
capacity for now, rather than a quadrupling. Having said that, TfL
believe the level of suppressed demand on the NLL to be
"considerable", due to one or more of low frequency, run-down stations
and train interiors, unstaffed stations, and poor information and
publicity. UIVMM TfL plan to deal with all of these, and I bet the new
capacity will be gobbled up fast.

I was particularly struck by the following contrast the other week I
used the NLL and the Tube on the same day. While waiting at one
(outdoor) Tube station, there was a team of cleaners cleaning the
roundels, the glass on the Tube map posters, etc - which already
looked clean before they even got to them. However, the NLL station I
used looked like it hadn't been cleaned for a fair while. In a few
places there were what appeared to be bloodstains on the platforms.

That said from memory many of the NLL stations aren't going to handle
much longer trains without platform extensions - perhaps they'll manage
to accommodate a four-car train in now, but anything longer and
platforms could need to be lengthened at many stations.

IIRC Willesden Junction is only long enough for 3 cars, and would need
substantial reconstruction to take more.

Rail network in London to adopt zonal fares

I know the Standard is not the most reliable organ out there, but
surely no one can be this wilfully stupid and the Standard just made
her up because they themselves were too lazy to think of a proper
example? Or are people really this thick? And, in any case, surely
they sell Oyster cards at the DLR ticket windows at Lewisham?

I remember a few months ago, a Standard reporter wrote something like :
"do you know anybody who actually uses these Oyster cards?" - it made
me laugh but in a very resigned way...

Rail network in London to adopt zonal fares

In message , David
Cantrell writes

I've tried to get Oyster cards three times from three different
newsagents, all recommended by TFL's web****e. None of them could do
it.

Assuming they were "Oyster Ticket Stops" rather than merely "Ticket
Stops", did any of them give a reason?
--
Paul Terry

Rail network in London to adopt zonal fares

On Thu, Nov 02, 2006 at 07:40:24AM +0000, Paul Terry wrote:
In message , David
Cantrell writes
I've tried to get Oyster cards three times from three different
newsagents, all recommended by TFL's web****e. None of them could do
it.
Assuming they were "Oyster Ticket Stops" rather than merely "Ticket
Stops", did any of them give a reason?

One of them told me there was no such thing as an anonymous pre-pay
card, the others had run out of tickets and had no idea when they would
get any more.

--
David Cantrell | Official London Perl Mongers Bad Influence

Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity
-- Hanlon's Razor

Stupidity maintained long enough is a form of malice
-- Richard Bos's corollary