(16/06/2020 13:29)508134 Wrote: [ -> ]Is there a delivery tomorrow for another 777?
There is the usual path booked on RTT arriving at Kirkdale depot but any confirmation this is happening and what unit(s) this may be?
The Generic path is not activated and the light loco path from Tonbridge is cancelled so unlikely this will run.
(16/06/2020 13:29)508134 Wrote: [ -> ]Is there a delivery tomorrow for another 777?
There is the usual path booked on RTT arriving at Kirkdale depot but any confirmation this is happening and what unit(s) this may be?
Next delivery isn’t due till the second or third Wednesday in July
Has there been any improvements in passenger numbers so far this week, since reopening of non-essential shops and more people going back to work?
I would be surprised if there is any improvement in numbers travelling due to this distance nonsense.
What gets me with this is that there are restrictions on who can travel and how many. Also if distancing is required on trains, then each unit is only going to carry 50% of their capacity.
The companies ( I don't just mean merseyrail here ) all say they want passengers to travel on their services then restrict the numbers due to this distance nonsense, its a double edged sword, they can't have it both ways because sooner or later passengers would desert public transport in favour of cars.
My apologies for the digression but that is what I see happening.
All Merseyrail (and other TOCs) have been promoting though for the past few months is how they don't want passengers to travel on their trains-only key workers and for essential journeys only.
While I understand this completely, I really worry by them highlighting this constantly via their social media channels, this will ultimately cause the public to lose trust in public transport and the return to public transport will be much longer and lead to a permanent loss of passengers.
The TOCs have to be seen to be following government advice but they also need to be thinking as a business and as I am sure they are, worried that some passengers may never return to using their trains-especially for leisure activities which Merseyrail used to promote extensively via social media.
The government do not help matters here, with their bike scheme and being illogical that suddenly everyone will now think about cycling to work. Autumn/Winter will soon be around the corner and many of those recently turned cyclists will have second thoughts when they see the cold, frost and ice and head for their cars. Depending on the pandemic situation and if they haven’t lost trust in public transport may decide to head back to using trains-maybe.
For Merseyrail, they have the new fleet still to be introduced. They need to ensure the new trains are ready to go – as a kind of incentive to try and entice passengers back to the network once the pandemic has passed. New trains will spark interest and they should hope to hold onto those passengers who return to the network due to the new trains.
(18/06/2020 00:00)313201 Wrote: [ -> ]I would be surprised if there is any improvement in numbers travelling due to this distance nonsense.
What gets me with this is that there are restrictions on who can travel and how many. Also if distancing is required on trains, then each unit is only going to carry 50% of their capacity.
The companies ( I don't just mean merseyrail here ) all say they want passengers to travel on their services then restrict the numbers due to this distance nonsense, its a double edged sword, they can't have it both ways because sooner or later passengers would desert public transport in favour of cars.
My apologies for the digression but that is what I see happening.
To be fair, I don't think any company wants the limited capacity in place. It is a necessary evil imposed by Coronavirus and the government.
I think a good chunk of people have already been lost to cars and it will take a long time to win back those passengers and with any luck, guidance will change but I think it has been so drilled into people now to avoid public transport, even those with no choice are simply finding alternative ways of doing things (IE shopping online and working from home to avoid using PT).
(18/06/2020 01:51)508134 Wrote: [ -> ]All Merseyrail (and other TOCs) have been promoting though for the past few months is how they don't want passengers to travel on their trains-only key workers and for essential journeys only.
While I understand this completely, I really worry by them highlighting this constantly via their social media channels, this will ultimately cause the public to lose trust in public transport and the return to public transport will be much longer and lead to a permanent loss of passengers.
The TOCs have to be seen to be following government advice but they also need to be thinking as a business and as I am sure they are, worried that some passengers may never return to using their trains-especially for leisure activities which Merseyrail used to promote extensively via social media.
The government do not help matters here, with their bike scheme and being illogical that suddenly everyone will now think about cycling to work. Autumn/Winter will soon be around the corner and many of those recently turned cyclists will have second thoughts when they see the cold, frost and ice and head for their cars. Depending on the pandemic situation and if they haven’t lost trust in public transport may decide to head back to using trains-maybe.
For Merseyrail, they have the new fleet still to be introduced. They need to ensure the new trains are ready to go – as a kind of incentive to try and entice passengers back to the network once the pandemic has passed. New trains will spark interest and they should hope to hold onto those passengers who return to the network due to the new trains.
I think the lower passenger numbers might be helpful for the new fleet. Most new trains have teething troubles and at least if there are less passengers, it should disrupt less people and depending on how quickly the new fleet is put out and how quickly teething troubles are sorted, passengers could see one or two in reliable service at Christmas when usage will be higher.
This is an ideal time for Boris and his cronies to relaunch public transport of all modes in the UK.
Hopefully the promise of £5bn for buses in February's budget still stands and they invest more in the industry as a whole.
The coach holiday sector especially needs a massive kickstart after the loss of major companies such as Shearings and David Urquart (even though it didn't directly own coaches).
Tourism and travel as whole on all networks bus, coach and rail need to affordable and efficient for eveyone to access and this is the perfect oppurtunity to invest and glean the rewards creating prosperity for the country whilst it recovers short term and overseas travel is limited.
Merseyrail have the ideal advantage of being able to aggressively promote their new fleet plus go hellbent into expansion of the network with the proposed Skelmersdale extension, Maybe the Border line to Wrexham, extension from Ormskirk to Burscough and Preston and maybe the reinstatement of the Burscough curves creating new links from Southport too.
ADMIN. Sorry if this is off topic a touch.
(20/06/2020 12:47)B10B6514 Wrote: [ -> ]This is an ideal time for Boris and his cronies to relaunch public transport of all modes in the UK.
Hopefully the promise of £5bn for buses in February's budget still stands and they invest more in the industry as a whole.
The coach holiday sector especially needs a massive kickstart after the loss of major companies such as Shearings and David Urquart (even though it didn't directly own coaches).
Tourism and travel as whole on all networks bus, coach and rail need to affordable and efficient for eveyone to access and this is the perfect oppurtunity to invest and glean the rewards creating prosperity for the country whilst it recovers short term and overseas travel is limited.
Merseyrail have the ideal advantage of being able to aggressively promote their new fleet plus go hellbent into expansion of the network with the proposed Skelmersdale extension, Maybe the Border line to Wrexham, extension from Ormskirk to Burscough and Preston and maybe the reinstatement of the Burscough curves creating new links from Southport too.
ADMIN. Sorry if this is off topic a touch.
To expand the network they will need more trains , with 52 units anything more than what they operate now will be a struggle .
This will also include 8 coach formations on some workings especially on the Ormskirk line. Southport services will be dependent on platform work at Southport , which is going to need some of the platforms requiring to be extended at the street end of the station due to pointwork not being able to be removed at the country end of the station.
That’s why Merseytravel have got the option to buy more 777s at a future date.
At the moment Merseytravel’s finances are far from rosy and any network expansion and more trains will be several years away from even being started I would’ve thought