On Jan 23, 8:36 pm, (Neil Williams)
wrote:
On Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:34:24 +0000, James Farrar

wrote:
Probably the latter, going off past experiences (admittedly a few
years ago now). The train companies in general have always seemed
reluctant to implement any initiative that comes from London.

Because those initiatives benefit London, and not always other
passengers.

As an example, since Oyster PAYG became valid on London Midland
"mainline", the 1824 EUS-Northampton has become decidedly busier than
it was before. Presumably the PAYG users were previously using the
Bakerloo to Harrow and Wealdstone.

I was shocked at how busy the ~19:00 to Bletchley was, hardly anyone
got off at Harrow where I boarded (19:16), but I could barely fit in.
I've never had to stand on a train on that line before