Northern Rail strikes

[dutch 68]

Just had another visit to our eastern neighbours who call a train old fashioned and finishes that we would call new and modern here. Where you get a full refund on train ticket only if the train is delayed due to company negligence. (there is an easy procedure for this refund and there are no sneaky ways for the train company to lie like we would have here because many delays are due to natural storm or jumpers).

Don't see the excuse how these tickets are twice as expensive here on old fashioned trains. 

Thing is people here don't understand this because they live on an isolated island watching old steam trains on BBC on how great things were. No BBC program on how far behind it is now.

These strikes are just another clear display on how crystallised things have become here.

[alchresearch 214]

On Merseyrail you get a full refund if you're delayed by 30 minutes.  I don't think this is bad. And its dead easy to claim.

[Annie Bynnol 612]

7 hours ago, dutch said:

Just had another visit to our eastern neighbours who call a train old fashioned and finishes that we would call new and modern here. Where you get a full refund on train ticket only if the train is delayed due to company negligence. (there is an easy procedure for this refund and there are no sneaky ways for the train company to lie like we would have here because many delays are due to natural storm or jumpers).

Don't see the excuse how these tickets are twice as expensive here on old fashioned trains. 

Thing is people here don't understand this because they live on an isolated island watching old steam trains on BBC on how great things were. No BBC program on how far behind it is now.

These strikes are just another clear display on how crystallised things have become here.

Continuing to feed your eastern neighbours with information that is wrong could cost people money.

All the railway companies offer full or partial refund on all their tickets types and for missed connections with other train companies. When "... delays are due to natural storm or jumpers..." you will get a refund and expenses incurred if taxi or overnight accommodation is required in order to complete your journey. 

 

Perpetuating the myth of the greatness of the Dutch railway system may help us in pressurizing the Government to meet their targets, but the reality is that NS is facing a crisis because of the restrictions imposed by its antiquated power system (abandoned in the UK in the 1970s) which means that without extensive rebuilding of infrastructure and a brand new fleet of trains there can be no increase in capacity, frequency or speed. The rebuilding  project has all but stopped due to cost with the consequences being a rapidly ageing and failing system.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Annie Bynnol

[dutch 68]

Say what you want. Im back on our old out of date boomers. NS is not having crisis they get all electrical power from environmental friendly sources. When I was there all trains to the airport were replaced by comfortable coaches for upgrading and maintenance of the tracks.

English travelers don't know what crisis is cause it's stuck in the eighties.

[Annie Bynnol 612]

1 hour ago, dutch said:

Say what you want. Im back on our old out of date boomers. NS is not having crisis they get all electrical power from environmental friendly sources. When I was there all trains to the airport were replaced by comfortable coaches for upgrading and maintenance of the tracks.

English travelers don't know what crisis is cause it's stuck in the eighties.

The environmentally unfriendly nature of Dutch railways is due to the inefficiency of their 1500V DC system compared to our and Western Europe's mainly 25kV AC standard for inter-city routes.

The NS 1500V DC system also fails on its ability to power its trains sufficiently. So capacity/frequency/length is severely limited.

It is also far mor expensive to maintain and run.

Travel to other counties is also made difficult. The Dutch have had to buy new railway infrastructure and trains to go anywhere except Belgium.

The decision to change over and convert to European standard was passed and then effectively cancelled because of the cost, technical problems and poor outcomes. All existing 1500V DC units would need to be scrapped or re-built.

The result of this impasse is an ageing fleet and with far more death and injury to train passengers.

 

 

We know how bad our system is but holding up NS as example of a better railway is very poor choice and plain wrong. There are far better examples in Europe. 

 

 

 

 

[dutch 68]

There are places on this world where trains are smooth silent and comfortable. But England has not caught up yet. These strikes keep on going and it doesn't seem to make any difference. It's about who closes the doors of trains that are years out of date like some third world country. You put old diesel trains like that in other developed western countries and people refuse to ride them out of respect for the environment and demand better value for their money.  I know one such little line in EU where they use diesels and have used newer better trains every five years, each time showing surprising improvement in quality and comfort with cleaner engines. Most people here are not aware how bad their trains are stuck in the past.

[tinfoilhat 11]

Where is this little railway utopia where they change rolling stock every 5 years so I can visit it and marvel at its modernity.

[dutch 68]

10 hours ago, tinfoilhat said:

Where is this little railway utopia where they change rolling stock every 5 years so I can visit it and marvel at its modernity.

Do a little exercise.

 

Go to google and search for spain trains and open and look at the images section 

Do the same for French trains, then German trains, Italian trains, look at the images section

 

Then do a search for british trains and look at the images section, or go to Sheffield station in person. 

If you haven't woken up by then its not my problem.

 

That line I mentioned earlier was Apeldoorn/zutphen but in all fairness it had three owners last 20 years what made the changes of rollingstock. The current owner (ariva) is very good at buying brand new better rolling stock.

Edited January 27, 2019 by dutch

[Annie Bynnol 612]

On ‎26‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 22:35, dutch said:

There are places on this world where trains are smooth silent and comfortable. But England has not caught up yet. These strikes keep on going and it doesn't seem to make any difference. It's about who closes the doors of trains that are years out of date like some third world country. You put old diesel trains like that in other developed western countries and people refuse to ride them out of respect for the environment and demand better value for their money.  I know one such little line in EU where they use diesels and have used newer better trains every five years, each time showing surprising improvement in quality and comfort with cleaner engines. Most people here are not aware how bad their trains are stuck in the past.

What a  cracking example Zutphen to Apeldoorn is :

Hourly train averages 33 mph and stops at 3 stations over 20 miles of singled track sections- flat, straight and no junctions to cross.

No trains at all on Mondays.

 

Sheffield to Silkstone Common.

Hourly train averages 33 mph and stops at 6 stations over 20 miles of single track sections- two hills, twisty and two junctions to cross.

Trains everyday.

 

So some of our oldest trains perform better on one of the oldest, slowest, hilliest railway lines in the UK  than trains on your finest Dutch example.

As I said before Dutch railways are not a good example to bash UK railways with.

 

 

Edited January 28, 2019 by Annie Bynnol

[dutch 68]

Speed of that little line doesn't matter it goes a lot faster than you say. They got brand new trains several times recently while we stay in history. 

Personally I see some charming aspects in it and appreciate the historic old fashioned trains we use in Yorkshire. Every time I get on one of these poorly refurbished trains with old fashioned seats it is a reminder of how important it is to appreciate the beauty of life.  This refusal to move on and buy new trains also leaves us with some special unique identity, visiters love it, it feels like they traveled back in time.

Edited January 28, 2019 by dutch

[Hook 10]

8 hours ago, dutch said:

Speed of that little line doesn't matter it goes a lot faster than you say. They got brand new trains several times recently while we stay in history. 

Personally I see some charming aspects in it and appreciate the historic old fashioned trains we use in Yorkshire. Every time I get on one of these poorly refurbished trains with old fashioned seats it is a reminder of how important it is to appreciate the beauty of life.  This refusal to move on and buy new trains also leaves us with some special unique identity, visiters love it, it feels like they traveled back in time.

Funny that - no refusal. Brand new fleet of trains under testing and on its way to Northern. 98 trains. £580m investment. 

 

Hey let’s  not worry about facts though eh?

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Hook said:

Hey let’s  not worry about facts though eh?

Don't be silly, we'd have to have sensible discussions then