philosopher
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- 23 Sep 2015
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Regarding the last WMT train to Northampton being cancelled, if WMT could not have arranged a bus, shouldn’t they have arranged and paid for taxis?
Regarding the last WMT train to Northampton being cancelled, if WMT could not have arranged a bus, shouldn’t they have arranged and paid for taxis?
Well it's still on at present so I'm not sure what you are watching.
Regarding the last WMT train to Northampton being cancelled, if WMT could not have arranged a bus, shouldn’t they have arranged and paid for taxis?
I used to, and still avoid, the documentary shows about the police service as I used to cringe at some of the stuff I saw on TV when I was a serving cop.
I think some fly-on-the-wall programmes are beefed up to make it an attractive show to a target audience but some of what goes on in front of the camera may differ from what actually goes on for real.
For example, staff will go that extra mile to be courteous to the problem passenger in front of the camera because of rail bosses will review the programme for publicity purposes.
Overall I thought the programme came across quite well.
CJ
The whole business about arranging replacement buses was an utter fiasco. Some were parked up in places where they were totally unused for 12 hours and yet none at all were apparently available at New Street - ridiculous. That would appear to be the TOCs responsibility.
Why on earth the passengers thought that a bus company with no connection to trains, or WMT, should suddenly find a bus and driver to take them to Coventry just showed that the travelling public are also utterly ridiculous at times.
This was my view as well. Whichever company was responsible for alternative transport was at fault but equally some of the public were ridiculous.
It's usually the TOC that organises the rail replacement buses and dictates what should be where, and when. The bus/coach operator is just there to comply with the directions from the TOC.
Most if not all TOCs will have a contract with another company that does rail replacement. Northern still use the Arriva Road Transport Services (even though Northern came out of Arriva on the 29 Feb) and they also do the rail replacement for Cross Country, Grand Central & TfW.
I don't know who does the rail replacement for West Midlands Trains. I believe Stagecoach provide RR for one of the TOCs but I don't know which one.
The Rail Replacement company will then recruit coaches from companies they have on their books and keep in regular contact with coach drivers throughout and take overall responsibility for ensuring passengers get from A to B.
Interesting that the episode I have watched of 'Trouble on the Tracks' involved the Customer Service Assistant at New Street dealing with the angry mob outside the station who wanted to get to Cheltenham & Bristol.
Generally speaking this would be the role of a station coordinator who the rail replacement company would try & put in place. I would assume that as this is an emergency & not preplanned they have not been able to get a coordinator in ASAP.
CJ
I don't know who does the rail replacement for West Midlands Trains. I believe Stagecoach provide RR for one of the TOCs but I don't know which one.
I felt bad for the boy showing his favourite photo explaining it was a class 170 but clearly showing a pair of 158's however it's badly edited because when he starts speaking you can just see it is a 170 on the camera but then they continue that audio while showing the zoomed in shot of the 158's making him look a bit clueless.
Do people like Pendolinos? The program suggested they were a trainspotter's dream but not one that's ever appealed to me.
I felt bad for the boy showing his favourite photo explaining it was a class 170 but clearly showing a pair of 158's however it's badly edited because when he starts speaking you can just see it is a 170 on the camera but then they continue that audio while showing the zoomed in shot of the 158's making him look a bit clueless.
Do people like Pendolinos? The program suggested they were a trainspotter's dream but not one that's ever appealed to me.
Funnily enough I wondered why the fellow enthusiast was referring to a class 170, when the TV camera showed the 158 on his camera.
As for Pendolinos, yes they're fast and seem to accelerate reasonably quickly, but the very small windows/number of seats which don't offer a view out of the window/bad smells, I certainly don't rate them.
I much prefer the Super Voyagers. Of course they have their faults, but if they're not particularly busy, at least you can see where you're going from most of the seats on them.
I'm not a fan of pendos as I find them dim and dingy inside and while the toilet issue seems to have been sorted I think. The tilt isn't great either but realise it's a necessary evil for decent journey times on the west coast. Maybe the refurb could be used to brighten things up, though obviously larger windows won't happen, decent power supplies at every seat will help.
The whole business about arranging replacement buses was an utter fiasco. Some were parked up in places where they were totally unused for 12 hours and yet none at all were apparently available at New Street - ridiculous. That would appear to be the TOCs responsibility.
Why on earth the passengers thought that a bus company with no connection to trains, or WMT, should suddenly find a bus and driver to take them to Coventry just showed that the travelling public are also utterly ridiculous at times.
From what I could gather WMT put together a strike timetable and even that seemed to fall apart at the end of the day leaving loads of people stranded. It seems as though the majority of the rail replacement buses that they organised could have been better deployed at Birmingham New St (in the evening in particular) rather than "out in the sticks". I was also a bit surprised to hear that WMT don't have a customer services desk at New St
They did say normal rules don’t apply when it’s been advertised in advance, and in fairness to WMT it was widely publicised there was going to be strike action.
I thought that policeman Pat came across very well and is a credit to the BTP
They did have the book thrown at them I think? Obviously it’ll never be Life imprisonment which is the maximum penalty for endangering safety on the railway though unfortunately.I cannot believe the farmer who drove across the line in front of the Cross Country train, nearly causing a collision. He/she should have had the book thrown at them by the court.
Wasn’t that the part at Southampton Airport?The opening titles always make me smile.
There is a very short clip of less than two seconds from a forward facing camera.
(Immediately after the bit where the bloke at the side of the train days "im trying to meet my future wife ")
It gives the impression that this train in hammering along at about 70mph or so.
It is actually on the UF of Piccadilly Throat having just left Manchester Piccadilly and would still be doing 15mph at this point.
Without stereotyping, the lads out to purchase the bag for Nanna were more than likely involved in drugs - the BTP lads clearly knew this but it's a very fine line treading carefully and ensuring you comply with the correct stop & search procedures and in this case the cops did absolutely everything right (Clearly when it's on camera!!!).
Pat the German born BTP cop was ace - I used to work with a chap just like him. They're the type of cops who make a shift very interesting & like my former colleague, Pat was also a Rottweiler with the 'undesirables'.
Without stereotyping, the lads out to purchase the bag for Nanna were more than likely involved in drugs - the BTP lads clearly knew this but it's a very fine line treading carefully and ensuring you comply with the correct stop & search procedures and in this case the cops did absolutely everything right (Clearly when it's on camera!!!).
I would like to think that the BTP circulated intelligence about these three lads for future reference because their attitudes did suggest they are so two faced they will simply commit fare evasion again and again.
CJ
They quite possibly did. Only a very small percentage of what is filmed, actually makes it to the final edited programme we see. Incidentally, it seems that all other tv programmes fall into the 'media' sub heading. Any reason this one doesn't?For that family with tickets for Marylebone (route High Wycombe) I wonder why they didn't get offered the chance to excess to an any permitted ticket to use West Coast.