Some things have improved over the years..

[pnepaul]

Tonight, I was booked on the 20.41 from Preston to Carlisle ( 18.30 ex London Euston). In light of last-minute cancellations on Avanti services lately, I kept an eye on Euston departures on RTT. Sure enough at about 5pm it showed up as cancelled, followed about 15 mins later with an alert from The trainline website. I was able to catch an earlier train instead.

20--25 years I guess I would just have turned up at Preston station to find my train canceled and all that might have followed from that.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

I remember Preston 20-25 years ago, being from Fleetwood I had to travel via the station all the time, went in Summer, it looks the same but the service ain't bad, cheaper trains compared to Lincolnshire too.

 

[Western 52]

I think information systems are one of the main areas of improvement since the 1970s. When they work of course!

Another major improvement has been accessibility for those with mobility issues. This is designed into new trains these days, but in the 1970s wheelchair access was usually only to the brake van with the mail and parcels.

 

[The exile]

I think information systems are one of the main areas of improvement since the 1970s. When they work of course!

Another major improvement has been accessibility for those with mobility issues. This is designed into new trains these days, but in the 1970s wheelchair access was usually only to the brake van with the mail and parcels.

Although there still needs to be thoughts made about the precision and accuracy of that information. Do we really need announcements every time the lateness changes (alternating between 6 and 7 minutes late as it passes each timing point)? And inaccurate information (particularly if it can be seen to be inaccurate - auto announcement heralding the train at platform one as it rolls into platform 2) is worse than no information at all!

 

[Ken H]

Clenliness of trains, especially the toilets. Some BR train bogs were dire.
And catering is far better now. The use of trolleys changed it for me. And the joke curly BR cheese sarnie has gone. Hooray!

 

[Western 52]

Lighting on trains and stations is much better now, although those dimmer switches in Mk1 compartments were nice when you wanted to sleep at night!

External cleanliness of trains is also much better. I remember some filthy trains in the 1970s with windows too dirty to see through.

 

[Moonshot]

Manchester to London in just a tad over 2 hours with a much improved frequency is one of the biggest improvements

 

[Goldfish62]

Passenger information, including real-time.
Train cleanliness and general upkeep.
Condition and upkeep of stations.
More helpful staff.
Focus on punctuality.
More trains (although that may be about to change..).

 

[Western 52]

Vegetation management is an area which is much worse these days. The line behind my house has plenty of greenery, including knotweed.

 

[muddythefish]

Tonight, I was booked on the 20.41 from Preston to Carlisle ( 18.30 ex London Euston). In light of last-minute cancellations on Avanti services lately, I kept an eye on Euston departures on RTT. Sure enough at about 5pm it showed up as cancelled, followed about 15 mins later with an alert from The trainline website. I was able to catch an earlier train instead.

20--25 years I guess I would just have turned up at Preston station to find my train canceled and all that might have followed from that.

Fine for the tech-savvy younger generations and knowledgeable rail industry employees but what about older people who don't have mobile phones and have never used the internet, nor do they wish to?

They would have turned up at Preston expecting to travel only to be let down again.

 

[The Planner]

Vegetation management is an area which is much worse these days. The line behind my house has plenty of greenery, including knotweed.

Only 9 posts in to get the opposite of what the thread was celebrating!

 

[Mat17]

Although there has been much complaint of the flat cloth used by some operators of late (and for good reason), I think the trains are generally much cleaner than in days of old.

Memories of faded Bournemouth blue moquette, peppered with chewing gum, the grime, the dirt, the old disused ashtrays full of yet more chewing gum and sweet wrappers. Windows that were well placed but so scruffy you couldn't see through them and of course let's not forget the toilets.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I think information systems are one of the main areas of improvement since the 1970s. When they work of course!

Yeah, I vaguely recall when the live departure boards website first appeared and at the time seemed like an amazing innovation (Anyone recall when that was? My memory says, maybe sometime around 2007 or 2008 but I could be mistaken). Hard to imagine now that before then, you just turned up at the station on the assumption that your train was on time - with no way of knowing until you actually got to the station.

Safety is another area that has massively improved.

And - I'm not sure where the baseline for comparison is, but I'm guessing if we're comparing with any time between 1970 and 1995-ish, then almost everywhere now (or at least, just before Covid hit) has much more frequent services, running later in the evening (and earlier in the morning on Sundays). And lots of places that didn't have a station at all 25 years ago now have frequent services.

 

[Gloster]

And - I'm not sure where the baseline for comparison is, but I'm guessing if we're comparing with any time between 1970 and 1995-ish, then almost everywhere now (or at least, just before Covid hit) has much more frequent services, running later in the evening (and earlier in the morning on Sundays). And lots of places that didn't have a station at all 25 years ago now have frequent services.

Whitby, eight trains a day not so many years ago, and possibly Newquay, are possibly worse. And what about Berney Arms?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Tonight, I was booked on the 20.41 from Preston to Carlisle ( 18.30 ex London Euston). In light of last-minute cancellations on Avanti services lately, I kept an eye on Euston departures on RTT. Sure enough at about 5pm it showed up as cancelled, followed about 15 mins later with an alert from The trainline website. I was able to catch an earlier train instead.
20--25 years I guess I would just have turned up at Preston station to find my train canceled and all that might have followed from that.

A modern problem is that trains might be "cancelled" from London, but run normally from, say, Preston.
Or the reverse.
The information systems are not very good at saying partially cancelled between X and Y, and to use an earlier train to make the connection.
Preston being a major base for Avanti traincrew is another factor in the equation - if you are heading to Glasgow you better hope you have a Glasgow crew.

Another factor is that TOCs only make announcements for their trains, and not for the railway as a whole.
XC in particular will say no trains over some legs of their network, panicking passengers, when unstated alternatives exist on other TOCs.
It's the same with services during engineering works.
Hopefully GBR will speak for the whole railway.

 

[edwin_m]

Fine for the tech-savvy younger generations and knowledgeable rail industry employees but what about older people who don't have mobile phones and have never used the internet, nor do they wish to?

They would have turned up at Preston expecting to travel only to be let down again.

They're no worse off than everyone would have been 20-30 years ago - there are information systems that will tell them that at the station, albeit in the form of LEDs or flatscreens rather than flappy Solaris. I agree the ability to find out how the train is running before going to the station is a big benefit for those that have the technology and the inclination to use it. The other one that springs to mind, which many will disagree with, is reasonably accurate forecasting of severe weather a few days ahead, which gives the opportunity for the TOCs to put out warnings and passengers the time and reason to cancel their arrangements if they aren't essential.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The absence of smoking carriages is an improvement, IMHO, although some may disagree with this. Was never that good when they were the only train carriages with still available seats on a busy inter city service.

 

[Merseysider]

what about older people who don't have mobile phones and have never used the internet, nor do they wish to?

What about them?

80% of over 55s own a smartphone, 90%-97% of retired households own a landline phone and almost 100% of all households have a mobile phone of some sort.

Anyone choosing to remain in the 20th century obviously cannot avail of the benefits of the 21st century.

And anyone in a position where they’re unable to operate a tablet etc would likely have help in the house I’d have thought, in the form of a carer / nursing home / familial visits & would probably be unlikely to travel independently anyway.

 

[NoMorePacers]

Biggest one for me is Realtime Trains - I honestly do not remember what rail travel was like and probably don't know what I'd do without it.

 

[Route115?]

Frequencies generally, but particularly at intermediate stations. But there are exceptions - like where I live.

Also safety, with the removal of slam door stock, more crashworthy trains, TPWS, etc.

 

[AlbertBeale]

What about them?

80% of over 55s own a smartphone, 90%-97% of retired households own a landline phone and almost 100% of all households have a mobile phone of some sort.

Anyone choosing to remain in the 20th century obviously cannot avail of the benefits of the 21st century.

And anyone in a position where they’re unable to operate a tablet etc would likely have help in the house I’d have thought, in the form of a carer / nursing home / familial visits & would probably be unlikely to travel independently anyway.

There are plenty of people unable to use a mobile or tablet who are perfectly able to travel around. Disabilities can be subtle and complex.

Re "Anyone choosing to remain in the 20th century obviously cannot avail of the benefits of the 21st century." I don't understand the "obviously" - that's a non sequitur.

Anyway, if carrying around a device which tracks your movements and passes the information to a malign overseas corporation is the essence of the 21st century, then the 20th century has a lot going for it.

 

[muddythefish]

What about them?

80% of over 55s own a smartphone, 90%-97% of retired households own a landline phone and almost 100% of all households have a mobile phone of some sort.

Anyone choosing to remain in the 20th century obviously cannot avail of the benefits of the 21st century.

And anyone in a position where they’re unable to operate a tablet etc would likely have help in the house I’d have thought, in the form of a carer / nursing home / familial visits & would probably be unlikely to travel independently anyway.

Terribly insensitive comment in my humble opinion and I'm not sure how having a landline phone helps people unable to use the internet, who do not wish to have a mobile phone and could not work it anyway even if they had one, and would not have a clue what RTT means.

For those people, who quite reasonably expect an advertised train not to be cancelled, we're no better off than in the 1960s (when cancelled trains were a rarity)

 

[Llandudno]

The on train toilets are a vast improvement, remember the sanizal toilet paper and the green Palmolive soap bars!

Mind you I did like the smell of the Palmolive soap!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Fine for the tech-savvy younger generations and knowledgeable rail industry employees but what about older people who don't have mobile phones and have never used the internet, nor do they wish to?

They would have turned up at Preston expecting to travel only to be let down again.

Their choice, their loss. Though they could phone to check.

 

[birchesgreen]

Fine for the tech-savvy younger generations and knowledgeable rail industry employees but what about older people who don't have mobile phones and have never used the internet, nor do they wish to?

They would have turned up at Preston expecting to travel only to be let down again.

I'm not sure what your point is? They shouldn't have that info available for anyone because there are some who can't access it?

 

[Carlisle]

External cleanliness of trains is also much better. I remember some filthy trains in the 1970s with windows too dirty to see through.

That’s largely due to the absence of brake dust stains from the traditional cast iorn blocks that predated disk pads.

 

[muddythefish]

I'm not sure what your point is? They shouldn't have that info available for anyone because there are some who can't access it?

To go back to the title of the thread, things can't have "improved over the years" when not all have access to the so-called improvements.

Some long for the days when you could turn up at a station on the day of travel (not have to book in advance), pay a reasonable, simply-understood fare (not be confused by a plethora of "deals"), know that the train is almost certainly never going to be cancelled (because there was always spare stock and staff), and be assured that there will be a comfortable seat in a warm compartment (not Chinese-style "hard" class in a cramped coach) , and with a pleasant view out of a window (not stuck behind a side pillar)

If we could bring back those days, then compared to the past 20 years or so, I'd agree that some things would have improved.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

To go back to the title of the thread, things can't have "improved over the years" when not all have access to the so-called improvements.

Some long for the days when you could turn up at a station on the day of travel (not have to book in advance), pay a reasonable, simply-understood fare (not be confused by a plethora of "deals"), know that the train is almost certainly never going to be cancelled (because there was always spare stock and staff), and be assured that there will be a comfortable seat in a warm compartment (not Chinese-style "hard" class in a cramped coach) , and with a pleasant view out of a window (not stuck behind a side pillar)

If we could bring back those days, then compared to the past 20 years or so, I'd agree that some things would have improved.

This thread isn't claiming that everything has improved - it's inviting us to talk about those things that have improved.

Is your standard for an improvement really that something only counts as an improvement if everyone can have access to it? That's basically an impossible bar - there will always be people who, by virtue of disability/learning difficulties/whatever are unable to use public transport (probably far fewer now than 30 years ago thanks to efforts to make the railways more accessible). I think most of us would consider that if things have got better for 95% of people while not getting any worse for the other 5%, that easily counts as an improvement.

And talking of accessibility, the fact that so many more stations are now step-free from street-to-platform, and station lifts are now much more common must surely count as one of the ways things have improved.

 

[Envy123]

Expansion of Thameslink to the ECML is definitely an improvement, when it works, that is. Gives more stations direct access to the core stations, plus Gatwick.

 

[Bletchleyite]

To go back to the title of the thread, things can't have "improved over the years" when not all have access to the so-called improvements.

Most non smartphone users avoid them by choice. If one chooses not to use one, one has chosen not to have the benefits.