[uk.transport.london added]

On Sat, 24 Jun 2006 13:30:14 +0100, Matt Wheeler wrote:

There are proposals to cut peak services to Amersham by Chiltern
from the December 2006 timetable.

If anyone is interested, there is a discussion at

http://www.amersham.org.uk/forum/ipb...?showtopic=224

From the discussion on the link above, there is a feeling that
Chiltern are making these proposals as they want to concentrate on
services where they are the only provider, i.e. north of Amersham
and on the Wycombe line.

Maybe so, but having read the discussion myself, it appears to only be
a few peak hour journies affected.

I think it's far more significant than you make out. These are the
most-used trains of the day, and it's scarcely an exaggeration to say
that some people's lives revolve around them (did you read the whole
thread?).

The number of Chiltern trains from Amersham arriving in London between
0800 and 0900 is being reduced from 3 to 1. The number leaving London
between 1700 and 1800 is being reduced from 2 to 1. It's a major cut
in service.

Chiltern have made a big thing of providing more capacity at
Marylebone, but it seems none will be made available to passengers
on the Met section of the line they serve.

How So ? it only appears to be certain peak hour journies affected
(and the short sunday runs between Aylesbury and Amersham), there will
still be the other peak and off-peak services you can use.

I think he meant none of the *additional* capacity...

Does anyone know details of the current arrangements for revenue /
cost sharing on the Aylesbury via Amersham line, or any suggestions
on how to find this out?

If you read the discussion you posted a link for it states that the
arrangement is such that Chiltern get "free" usage of the LU tracks
between Mantles Wood Junction and Harrow on the Hill in return, TfL/LU
keep all the fare revenue.

It also seems from the discussion that the only reason Chiltern stop
these trains at Amersham at all is that LU require them to as part of
the track access agreement.

Considering Chiltern have little other reason to stop these trains
there, and in fact have a large financial reason not to, perhaps all
this campaigning to Chiltern is misguided. Perhaps LU should be
targetted instead, as it seems to be up to them whether Chiltern
reduce their level of service at Amersham or not.

If there is an issue about Chiltern receiving an appropriate share
of the revenue for the service they provide, then this needs to be
resolved in the interests of the passengers. They appear to be the
ones who suffer, cutting these trains at Amersham will cause them
problems.

Indeed. Times have changed and Chiltern are now by far the main
service provider between Amersham and London.[1] Perhaps the agreement
is out-dated if it discourages the main service provider from actually
providing a service.

Amersham must be one of the few stations to receive a
relatively poor peak service compared to off peak.

You're right - the only others I can think of off the top of my head
are Rickmansworth and Cambridge.

Some have suggested that Chiltern should be allowed to charge a
premium to Met passengers. This perhaps could be achieved by the
Oyster system. If they were allowed to do that, perhaps other
national rail companies would be more in favour of Oyster

This would surely be very difficult to achieve, and could only really
successfully be done on met line passengers using Marylebone. At all
other stations there would be no guaranteed way to determine what
train someone used to get there, whereas if you've started at or
arrived at Marylebone you've clearly used Chiltern.

It would also be the end of interavailable ticketing, which wouldn't
be a good thing for the passenger.


[1]
Chiltern's DMUs can travel at line speed whereas the Met stock is
restricted to 50mph in its old age. Chiltern's trains are
air-conditioned while LU's aren't. And there seems to be ever more
disruption on the Met since the advent of PPP. Anyone with an old
timetable able to compare today's journey times with those of, say, 20
years ago?

Perhaps when the new S Stock is introduced, with air-con, faster
acceleration, and higher top speed, the pendulum will swing back the
other way.