Forum topic: Rail improvements - May or December?

Rail improvements - May or December?

Ian H

06 Feb 2018 08:06 #3598

Hi, thanks very much for the useful info on this thread.

www.pgweb.uk/forum/public-transport/798-2018-timetables-consultation-govia-drop-plan-to-improve-sunday-services

Is anyone aware that the www.transformingrail.com site which published the May 2018 timetable is now down, and the alternative site Railplan2020.com seems to suggest that the major changes to Great Northern (IE. connection to thameslink, increase in service frequency) are pushed back to December?

www.railplan2020.com/operators/great-northern-railplan2020

Can anyone shed any light? Very little info on the internet. Seems to have happend with little notification?

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Rail improvements - May or December?

Basil Clarke

06 Feb 2018 22:37 #3601

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Thanks for pointing that out, Ian. Strange that the new website should have such sparse information about the timetable improvements.

Dave Cockle is briefing the Enfield Transport Users Group (ETUG) on Great Northern developments (he's part of the ETUG, not a Great Northern employee). I asked him about the situation and this was his reply:

Basil, as far as I’m aware the Hertford Loop timetable stays the same until December.

The planned truncation of the Stevenage/Letchworth service to Hertford North has been deferred until December.

The report about reduction of the "Off Peak” services in the middle of the day, as an aid to service recovery, applied to Southern Railway not Great Northern.

There has been a visual improvement to Palmers Green station by removing the metal grills over the waiting room windows.

The new Class 717 trains are on target to be introduced in December.

The only change to future timetables is that the planned four trains an hour on Sundays has been dropped. The Saturday service will be four trains an hour but two an hour (as present) will be the order of the day on Sundays.

The ETUG meeting is on 12th February: www.pgweb.uk/event?meeting-of-enfield-transport-user-group-etug&event_id=5315

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Rail improvements - May or December?

N Morris

07 Feb 2018 09:53 #3604

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I don't know about anyone else but I'm sick to the back teeth of the poor train service to PG. Even holding out for changes in May seemed too far away, never mind December. The twice hourly Sunday service is a joke considering we are in zone 4 of London. I picked up somewhere it was the lack of drivers that was an issue.

Surely it's time to pick up the banner again for TfL to take over this route? We seem to be the lowest priority for Govia that has been dealing with the well publicised issues on Southern and focusing on its Thameslink development. I think it's definitely an issue we should petition our Councillors, MP and Mayor about. See the attached article in the Enfield Independent where this issue was highlighted by Joanne McCartney, Labour London Assembly Member for Enfield and Haringey.

Download PDF attachment.

Attachments:

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Rail improvements - May or December?

Ian H

09 Feb 2018 07:52 #3610

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Thanks Basil! Annoying we are waiting to December.

Also - I don't suppose you know where a copy of the proposed timetable is published? A friend asked so I gave them the link to the transformingrail site but obviously that's down.

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Rail improvements - May or December?

Ian H

09 Feb 2018 08:02 #3611

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Agree on this front. It shouldn't be a party political or ideological thing. TfL has got huge scale and vast experience, and that allows them to be more efficient in every regard - hiring, maintenance, improvements etc. Raising capital is not an issue as TfL has a vast subscriber base (ie. Commuters) it draws upon.

Govia simply can't offer as good a service for the same money. It's daft to pretend the route can remain privately operated in the long term.

Private enterprise is great in most regards, but it's not appropriate for running rail franchises in my opinion due to the huge cost of infrastructure, long term investment requirements, and it's inherently uncompetitive nature.

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Rail improvements - May or December?

Basil Clarke

09 Feb 2018 18:39 #3613

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Ian H wrote:

I don't suppose you know where a copy of the proposed timetable is published? A friend asked so I gave them the link to the transformingrail site but obviously that's down.

I didn't download the timetable when it was available (and it might not have been in downloadable format anyway) and, as you say, the website has disappeared. But I did copy this from the document:

Saturdays
GN4.1 Stevenage to Moorgate via Hertford North

Stevenage, Watton-at-Stone, Hertford North, Cuffley, Gordon Hill, Enfield Chase, Winchmore Hill, Palmers Green, Alexandra Palace, Finsbury Park, Drayton Park, Highbury & Islington, Essex Road, Old Street and Moorgate.
Proposed frequency: 2 trains per hour (every 30 minutes)

GN4.2 Hertford North to Moorgate

Hertford North, Bayford*, Cuffley, Crews Hill*, Gordon Hill, Enfield Chase, Grange Park, Winchmore Hill, Palmers Green, Bowes Park, Alexandra Palace, Hornsey, Harringay, Finsbury Park, Drayton Park, Highbury & Islington, Essex Road, Old Street and Moorgate.
Proposed frequency: 4 trains an hour, every 12-18 minutes (but only 2 trains an hour would serve Bayford and Crews Hill)

Sundays

GN4.1 Stevenage to Moorgate via Hertford North

Stevenage, Watton-at-Stone, Hertford North, Bayford, Cuffley, Crews Hill, Gordon Hill, Enfield Chase, Grange Park, Winchmore Hill, Palmers Green, Bowes Park, Alexandra Palace, Hornsey, Harringay, Finsbury Park, Drayton Park, Highbury & Islington, Essex Road, Old Street and Moorgate.
Proposed frequency: 2 trains per hour (every 30 minutes)

I did download the document used in the first phase of the consultation and you can read it at www.pgweb.uk/images/2016/documents/2018_timetable_consultation.pdf

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Rail improvements - May or December?

Basil Clarke

09 Feb 2018 18:51 #3614

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The Wayback Machine can show you what transformingrail.com looked like in 2017, but unfortunately only the pages are archived, not the pdf timetable documents and the database that you could use to see the proposed times between individual stations. It seems that the website only disappeared in January this year. Very frustrating!

See web.archive.org/web/20170722001235/https://www.transformingrail.com

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Rail improvements - May or December?

Basil Clarke

09 Feb 2018 19:03 #3615

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It turns out that I did download some of the timetable consultation documents and they're still on my computer - see the screenshot below and the links to downloaded pdf files: