wrote in message
oups.com...

And before anyone says anything, yes, I know engineering work has to be
done. Yes, I know it's generally done on the weekends because this
will (theoretically) cause disruption to fewer people than if it were
done during the week. Yes, I know there is a maintenance backlog due
to years of underinvestment that's all Mrs Thatcher's fault.

But it just seems to me from casual observation that there is an
incredible amount of weekend engineering work going on, and that as a
weekend passenger you're more than likely to run into it on more than
one leg of your journey. This can't be good for promoting public
transport as an alternative to the car.

Patrick


In very broad terms, as well as a maintenance backlog, for the reasons you
have mentioned, there have been significant changes to working practices
which basically prevent use of lines immediately adjacent to worksites, to
improve workforce safety. This causes much greater impact on services,
especially on two track sections. In some areas of the country, lack of
route knowledge also inhibits services running on obvious diversionary
routes, or lack of electrification prevents diversions.

Paul