Vent about trains up here.

knightstyle

So the latest news is that the old Pacer trains are to be replaced by Easter. They were originally scheduled for replacement 20 years ago!
What are they going to be replaced with I hear you ask?
35 year old Sprinter class150 thats what, no nice new trains for us!
Why can't we have a fraction of the money spent on HS2 and other vanity projects be spent here in North Lincolnshire?

Pennywise

knightstyle wrote: »

Why can't we have a fraction of the money spent on HS2 and other vanity projects be spent here in North Lincolnshire?

Because the Londoners wouldn't benefit.

daveyjp

knightstyle wrote: »

So the latest news is that the old Pacer trains are to be replaced by Easter. They were originally scheduled for replacement 20 years ago!
What are they going to be replaced with I hear you ask?
35 year old Sprinter class150 thats what, no nice new trains for us!
Why can't we have a fraction of the money spent on HS2 and other vanity projects be spent here in North Lincolnshire?

Don't complain too hard. The brand new 195 trains are terrible.

jimbo6977

Northern in the daftest franchise because it's a hash-up of rural village services, regional intercity services and commuter routes. However it has to exist this way because even in this guise it's the most heavily subsidised franchise, and currently within Northern there is additionally a vast internal subsidy to some routes on top of the "official" subsidy for the whole network. If you split the routes more logically into new franchises (or merged some with eg TPX), the subsidy for at least one of the new franchises would become astronomical (politically unsustainable) per pax mile.

coffeehound

It was looking as though BJ was going to cancel HS2 but apparently not. I had a train journey broken twice last month: first an overhead line came down, and then the alternative route was blocked by a broken rail. Surely the existing tracks, signalling, electrification, stations, rolling stock, etc need to be up to snuff before money is poured into HS2.

DoaM

OP says "up here" then mentions North Lincolnshire :rotfl:

That's "darn sarf" mate

hollie.weimeraner

DoaM wrote: »

OP says "up here" then mentions North Lincolnshire :rotfl:

That's "darn sarf" mate

Definitely.

Anyone that wants decent public transport should move to London but then you'd be stuck with exorbitant property prices or rentals. (My son was paying £2,000 per month for a 2 bed flat rental:eek:).

Seriously though Southerners (below Watford) seem to get a hell of a lot more per head spent on all public services than anyone up North or North of Watford.

coffeehound

jimbo6977 wrote: »

Northern in the daftest franchise because it's a hash-up of rural village services, regional intercity services and commuter routes. However it has to exist this way because even in this guise it's the most heavily subsidised franchise, and currently within Northern there is additionally a vast internal subsidy to some routes on top of the "official" subsidy for the whole network. If you split the routes more logically into new franchises (or merged some with eg TPX), the subsidy for at least one of the new franchises would become astronomical (politically unsustainable) per pax mile.

Grant Shapps must have been reading:

https://news.sky.com/story/northern-to-be-stripped-of-its-rail-franchise-as-fares-across-uk-rise-by-2-7-11899515

hollie.weimeraner

coffeehound wrote: »

Grant Shapps must have been reading:

https://news.sky.com/story/northern-to-be-stripped-of-its-rail-franchise-as-fares-across-uk-rise-by-2-7-11899515

Wow the power of MSE

Pennywise

coffeehound wrote: »

Grant Shapps must have been reading:

https://news.sky.com/story/northern-to-be-stripped-of-its-rail-franchise-as-fares-across-uk-rise-by-2-7-11899515

Nothing will change - same staff, same trains, etc. It'll take many months, if not years, for even the slightest of improvements as major infrastructure improvements are needed, which are nothing to do with Northern, i.e. new lines, longer stations, more platforms, etc - all under the control of the Govt via Network Rail.

Stupid thing is that the worst of Northern's issues are over. The late new trains are finally arriving now from the manufacturers. The late engineering work and electrification has finally happened. If Northern had another couple of years, it would probably be a lot better than it has been in 2018 and 2019.

Hasbeen

knightstyle wrote: »

So the latest news is that the old Pacer trains are to be replaced by Easter. They were originally scheduled for replacement 20 years ago!
What are they going to be replaced with I hear you ask?
35 year old Sprinter class150 thats what, no nice new trains for us!
Why can't we have a fraction of the money spent on HS2 and other vanity projects be spent here in North Lincolnshire?

Sorry looked at thread title and thought Scotrail but reading post it was actually aimed at down there:rotfl: