From Watford Observer, Friday, December 24, 2004

Petition calls for improved train service

By MATTHEW WOLSTENHOLME

A PETITION calling for an improvement to Silverlink rail services has been
signed by 300 commuters.
Outraged train travellers are hoping to present the petition to rail
executives in protest against the company’s "Third World" service to Central
London.
Jane Gibbons, from Bushey, works for a graphic design company in the capital
and is furious about the situation, because she relies on the train to get to
work.
In an effort to put Silverlink back on track, she started a petition last
month and has since managed to gather 300 signatures supporting her campaign.
She said: "It was bad before, but it’s getting worse. Every day is like a
game of Russian roulette, you never know whether there’ll be a train. In the
past two months there has not been a single week when there’s been a decent
service."
After writing letters of complaint to the firm, but receiving no response, Ms
Gibbons hopes to arrange a meeting between irate commuters and Silverlink
big-wigs.
She said: "I intend to speak to some senior management about this. I’ll
storm the building if I have to. I’ve received huge support from other train
users, so hopefully we’ll be able to do something."
Ross Taylor also uses the service and is equally frustrated at the situation.
He said: "Nobody at Silverlink is prepared to listen to commuters. There seems
to be massive problems with scheduling and timetabling.
"The other day a train turned up late and there wasn’t enough room, so
hundreds of people were left standing on the platform waiting for the next one.
I imagine lots of people had some explaining to do to their bosses when they
arrived at work. "
Silverlink is confident the trains are running predominantly on schedule.
A representative said: "As far as the timetabling is concerned Bushey has a
good service.
"One thing I would say is there have been a number of problems with the
service as a whole, not only Bushey, as a result of problems with
infrastructure, which is out of our control.
"There has been too much of that in recent months. "
Ms Gibbons remains unconvinced, but did praise workers at Bushey station.
She said: "Silverlink is full of excuses, but the station staff deserve a
medal. It’s not their fault, they’ve got all these people ranting at them
and they don’t know whether a train is going to turn up or not. It’s
nothing to do with them.
"They are always friendly, helpful and tolerant and I would like Peter to get
a special mention for calling my boss and saving me from the sack on the
numerous occasions that I couldn’t get into work in the mornings."

……………………………….............. ........................
..........................................
John Burke
WRUG

My tupence:

If you are frequently getting into work late then leave earlier. I am
often delayed (and occasionally severely delayed) by the tube in the
mornings but have only been late once since the summer. Normally get
in early enough to have a nice cup of hot chocolate before starting.
I am fed up of people using transport as an excuse for their laziness

wrote in message
oups.com...
My tupence:

If you are frequently getting into work late then leave earlier. I am
often delayed (and occasionally severely delayed) by the tube in the
mornings but have only been late once since the summer. Normally get
in early enough to have a nice cup of hot chocolate before starting.
I am fed up of people using transport as an excuse for their laziness


I'm fed up paying 40% income tax and getting a sub standard public transport
system which is overpriced.

Nimbo

wrote in message
oups.com...
My tupence:

If you are frequently getting into work late then leave earlier.


How much earlier? I generally allow around 30 mins "recovery time" which I
think should be more than enough but one signal failure/points failure/leaf
on the line can soon use it up, making me late. If we all allowed
sufficient time to cope with absolutely all contingencies, it probably
wouldn't be worth coming home each evening at all and we'd just have a
sleeping bag under our desks!

Please bear in mind, also, that many commuters are also parents of young
children and CANNOT start their journeys until the nursery or school is open
to care for their kids.

HNY

"Nimbo" wrote in message
. uk...

I'm fed up paying 40% income tax and getting a sub standard public
transport
system which is overpriced.

Where, exactly, are you making the connection between income tax and public
transport?

Ian
(genuinely curious)

In article , Ian F.
wrote:
"Nimbo" wrote in message
. uk...

I'm fed up paying 40% income tax and getting a sub standard public
transport system which is overpriced.

Overpriced? I know a lady who travels daily from Stevenage to London, she
pays £ 3000 / year, she thinks it is a lot, but counting the final leg of the
journey within London, it is a 60 miles return journey and for a working year
of 220 days, it works out at 22p/mile, in a train costing £ 8 Million. I
don't think you could get a ride for that without massive subsidy.

Michael Bell

--

Michael Bell wrote:
In article , Ian F.
wrote:

"Nimbo" wrote in message
o.uk...

I'm fed up paying 40% income tax and getting a sub standard public
transport system which is overpriced.


Overpriced? I know a lady who travels daily from Stevenage to London, she
pays £ 3000 / year, she thinks it is a lot, but counting the final leg of the
journey within London, it is a 60 miles return journey and for a working year
of 220 days, it works out at 22p/mile, in a train costing £ 8 Million. I
don't think you could get a ride for that without massive subsidy.

But if you take the cost of her portion of the train, rather than the
whole thing, then that cost reduces significantly. Say the train seats
500; the cost reduces to £16,000 per seated passenger. During the day,
that train carries more than one passenger per seat (i.e. on different
trips) and so the cost reduces further. A bigger issue is the costs of
running the train (track access charges and electricity charges I'd
guess, along with maintenance). But it shows that the price of the train
itself isn't really that significant.

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London

In article , Dave Arquati
wrote:
Michael Bell wrote:
In article , Ian F.
wrote:

"Nimbo" wrote in message
o.uk...

I'm fed up paying 40% income tax and getting a sub standard public
transport system which is overpriced.


Overpriced? I know a lady who travels daily from Stevenage to London, she
pays £ 3000 / year, she thinks it is a lot, but counting the final leg of
the journey within London, it is a 60 miles return journey and for a
working year of 220 days, it works out at 22p/mile, in a train costing £
8 Million. I don't think you could get a ride for that without massive
subsidy.

But if you take the cost of her portion of the train, rather than the
whole thing, then that cost reduces significantly. Say the train seats
500; the cost reduces to £16,000 per seated passenger. During the day,
that train carries more than one passenger per seat (i.e. on different
trips) and so the cost reduces further. A bigger issue is the costs of
running the train (track access charges and electricity charges I'd
guess, along with maintenance). But it shows that the price of the train
itself isn't really that significant.


Point taken. (Though I must say I am staggered at the capital cost of railway
rolling stock, and then there's the cost of the permanent way...and all the
rest. I shouldn't have raised the capital cost side-issue) What seems to me
inescapable is that 22p/mile is far cheaper than you would get in any other
form of transport, and Stevenage - King's Cross is a very comfy ride, though
the onward journey to the South Bank is not. Commuter services into London
ARE heavily subsidised, for the wealthiest city in the country. Nothing is
perfect. I don't know what is the daily journey of the starter of this thread
, but I don't think it is GENERALLY true that services in and around London
are overpriced and substandard quality. For comparison, look at the service
between Newcastle and Middlesbrough. Both major towns. They are only 40 miles
apart, and the journey takes 65 - 85 minutes. Would that be deemed acceptable
in and out London? I don't think so.

Michael Bell

--

In message , Ian F.
writes

I'm fed up paying 40% income tax and getting a sub standard public
transport
system which is overpriced.

Where, exactly, are you making the connection between income tax and
public transport?
If you're on 40% income tax then you're already on a good screw, stop
belly aching and accept it.
--
Clive.

In message , Huge
writes

Ah, so it's OK to get ****ed up the arse by that Scottish thief and his
smarmy boss because "you're already on a good screw"?

I think not.
You are entitled to believe what you like. I personally believe higher
earners should pay more.
--
Clive.