Goodbye East Midlands Trains. Hello Emr

[RollingJ 2,042]

4 minutes ago, Annie Bynnol said:

There are line closures right up 'til Christmas for electrification work south of Loughborough.

Mainly late/early/weekends

Through trains will take a lot longer and sometimes buses replace the trains.

The 'booking engine' tries to book you the fastest routes.

 

I'm well aware of that @Annie Bynnol, but as you say, these engineering works are usually 'overnight', so unless you try travelling either very late, or very early, you would still expect to go via the Derby/Leicester route.

 

blackydog didn't specify a departure time.

[Annie Bynnol 612]

24 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

I'm well aware of that @Annie Bynnol, but as you say, these engineering works are usually 'overnight', so unless you try travelling either very late, or very early, you would still expect to go via the Derby/Leicester route.

 

blackydog didn't specify a departure time.

All day line closures on Saturdays and Sundays on dates in October, November and December for electrification, junction, bridge, station work.

Diversions fewer trains via Corby so less capacity so fewer Advance tickets and significantly faster journeys via Doncaster 

Saturday 31st August - Sunday 1st September

Sunday 8th September

Sunday 29th September

Sunday 6th October

Sunday 13th October

Sunday 10th November

Saturday 2nd November - Sunday 3rd November

Saturday 16th November - Sunday 17th November

Sunday 1st December

Saturday 21st December - Saturday 28th December

 

No assumptions-facts.

Edited August 17, 2019 by Annie Bynnol

[blackydog 40]

21 minutes ago, RollingJ said:

I'm well aware of that @Annie Bynnol, but as you say, these engineering works are usually 'overnight', so unless you try travelling either very late, or very early, you would still expect to go via the Derby/Leicester route.

 

blackydog didn't specify a departure time.

Both changes are at Donny

OUT

Thu 12 Sep 2019

Sheffield to London Kings Cross

 

10:11 12:30

2h 19m, 

1 change

Price£27.00

Only 2 left

Price£182.50

 

IN

Fri 13 Sep 2019

London Kings Cross to Sheffield

 

14:03 16:21

2h 18m, 

1 change

Price£48.05

Price£148.00

Only 2 left

 

[RollingJ 2,042]

1 minute ago, Annie Bynnol said:

All day line closures on Saturdays and Sundays on dates in October, November and December for electrification, junction, bridge, station work.

Diversions fewer trains via Corby so less capacity so fewer Advance tickets and significantly faster journeys via Doncaster 

Again - I know, but as said above, blackydog has not specified a day/time of travel, so we are both making assumptions.

[RollingJ 2,042]

19 minutes ago, blackydog said:

Both changes are at Donny

OUT

Thu 12 Sep 2019

Sheffield to London Kings Cross

 

10:11 12:30

2h 19m, 

1 change

 

Price£27.00

Only 2 left

 

Price£182.50

 

IN

Fri 13 Sep 2019

London Kings Cross to Sheffield

 

14:03 16:21

2h 18m, 

1 change

Price£48.05

Price£148.00

Only 2 left

 

Try specifying Sheffield to London St Pancras  International - direct trains from Sheffield are available.

Which site did you use to obtain these times/prices??

Edited August 17, 2019 by RollingJ

[blackydog 40]

Trainline. Changing to St Pancras route shows no changes. The options for Kings Cross or St Pancras are very similar.

[Eddie_shef 10]

On 16/08/2019 at 21:27, bluecanary said:

Thanks for this info.

I have to admit,  am rather mystified by the whole rail franchise system. If a company loses a franchise and does not have significant non rail-related operations (e.g. Stagecoach) does the company simply go out of business? Does the whole of East Midlands Trains (aside from the staff magically transferred to EMR) go out of operation overnight?

 

Seems like a very odd way to run a key national transport infrastructure, but maybe that's just me.

 

On 16/08/2019 at 22:49, Andy C said:

East Midlands Trains as a company will cease to exist after the franchise changes as it was purely set up to bid for and operate the franchise, however the parent company Stagecoach Group will still be around. In Sheffield Stagecoach will still operate buses (registered as The Yorkshire Traction Co Ltd) and trams (registered as South Yorkshire Supertram Ltd).

 

The East Midlands Trains staff transfer to the new Abellio owned company under TUPE arrangements.

 

The actual national rail infrastructure (track and signals) is operated by Network Rail which is publicly owned and the rolling stock is leased. The passenger trains are run as franchises under contract to the Department for Transport.

Thank you Andy C for this. I'm also still a bit confused by why having a franchise system in this case would yield any benefits.

It will be the same staff on the same trains, running on the same infrastructure. Price and service can change with a different company, but it seems a bit less likely given the specific restrictions of a national rail system.

 

I don't know much about the pension details, but it seems removing a supplier/vendor due to pensions is quite an ethical move - fantastic, but this seems to be there to protect employees instead of customers. I'm not against that at all, just wondering.

 

I guess the franchise model is there to prevent an incumbent from resting on their laurels, which should be applauded. Although presumably this could be done with having a set of national standards and a service contract that maintains prices/salaries etc.  I guess both exist, although I really don't know much about the current rail system in the UK.

[iansheff 88]

Marvellous how a state owned Dutch company can see the money to be made from taking on EMT yet our Government can't and continue to let foreign companies have a big say in this country's infrastructure.

Edited August 18, 2019 by iansheff

[Blue Day 10]

29 minutes ago, iansheff said:

Marvellous how a state owned Dutch company can see the money to be made from taking on EMT yet our Government can't and continue to let foreign companies have a big say in this country's infrastructure.

I saw a graphic last week (can’t remember where). It showed that the majority of our rail franchises are government owned, just not our government. 

[BigAl1 143]

I am hoping for a step change in customer service the last time I used the first class it was far far below the expected standard (seats were the same true) with no service at all because it was a weekend service

 

lets hope the new guys deliver on their promises and that any new trains have the interior designed around the customer with comfortable seats and window alligned

 

Ownership is irrelevant what matters is the management and the actions/inactions of the department for transport but the MD has long experience of working on the railway in the UK

 

[Saben 10]

Foreign owned rail companies give the UK the most expensive rail fares in Europe. Do our fares subsidize continental fares !

[RollingJ 2,042]

4 hours ago, blackydog said:

Trainline. Changing to St Pancras route shows no changes. The options for Kings Cross or St Pancras are very similar.

OK - that explains a lot. Speaking as someone who uses the rail network frequently, I would never use Trainline to book - there is a booking fee added to the ticket cost, for one negative. They are OK to find prices, but personally that is ALL I would use them for.

 

For actual booking, I would always go direct to the operator (if I knew who it was), or to the official National Rail site if I didn't - they automatically redirect you when you have decided on your route/ticket option, and no operator charges a booking fee.

5 minutes ago, Saben said:

Foreign owned rail companies give the UK the most expensive rail fares in Europe. Do our fares subsidize continental fares !

Proof?