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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Dec 8, 2013 11:19:58 GMT 1
Accessible means a journey time of 2 hours or under!!
Yeah I know its easier to get the train to Scarborough and then the X93 onto Whitby. A day return from Huddersfield to Scarborough is over 30 quid!!
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Dec 7, 2013 23:41:13 GMT 1
From West Yorkshire we have the Coastliner bus service from Leeds that takes 3 hours each way, so that's a return journey of 6 hours, are you for real about Whitby being accessible?
As for the reinstatment of the line to Whitby it would probably be easier to build a new line round Pickering and have a Pickering Parkway station outside the town and rejoin the line further up, you could even build a parkway type station for Flamingo Land too.
As for running rights why couldn't Network Rail and NYMR enter into a mutually benefit partnership, 'you scratch our backs we'll scratch yours' kind of arrangement. Beside not everyone is interested in steam trains, it wouldn't affect NYMR business imo because if you want to catch a steam train over a DMU you will, simple as that!! The DMU service would be for the tourists who want to access Whitby and not want to jump on a steam train, I'm sure the natives of Whitby would be pleased with a service Yorkshire's heartland rather than Middlesbrough, must say who wants to go to Middlesbrough? What a god awful place!!!
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Dec 7, 2013 10:17:54 GMT 1
It really hacks me off that Whitby is inaccessible from the Yorkshire heartlands by rail. I'm sure the council put up with the lost revenue through tourism or potential revenue from the reopening of line from Malton through to Whitby.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Dec 7, 2013 10:14:32 GMT 1
It all comes down to cash. The franchise was let with no agreement for new/extra rolling stock, the additional 158's received a few years back funded by Yorkshire Forward, and as for refurbishments, there is no incentive for the franchisee to spend money doing a complete refresh if they are gonna lose the franchise soon after (and the Northern franchise was supposed to end in 2014), so new seat covers and floor coverings is about as good as it will get before the new franchise begins. That was Whitehall's fault though, they mess up and we all suffer!! If the 158's had a total refurb it would be like having new trains anyway,like I said the 158's on the Liverpool/Norwich route run by EMT are a cracking standard after their refurb. Hopefully with the new partnership between Rail North and the DfT we might see some progress on all aspects of rail travel in our area.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Dec 7, 2013 10:10:38 GMT 1
I haven't been to Kirkgate since the summer and there seemed to be very little going on with the main building. I get the horrible feeling that the end product will be 'dumbed down' on what we all expect and in a few years it'll be back to its state prior to refurb. Just not sure its gonna be as great as everyone thinks, hope I'm wrong but get this horrible feeling it'll be nowt to write home about. Can someone take some snaps next time they're next there and post em on here?
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Dec 2, 2013 20:00:50 GMT 1
Alcohol is prohibited from all coaches carrying supporters to football games, you also have to register the journey and any meal stops with the police liaison for the club before hand - operators who fail to enforce this will come to the attention of the TC and fall under all the standard remedies & punishments. Whether the police have the same rules for those rail journeys assessed as likely to carry the majority of football fans I don't know. Its not the 80's anymore, most police forces treat football fans like animals, even after the Hillsborough revelations the police aren't interested and are over zealous. Fans going to games are just normal passengers who happen to be attending a football game. Football fans from other clubs can mingle without knocking lumps out of each. Manchester Piccadilly is a good example of this most Saturdays, with either City or United at home most weekends and plethora of other clubs in the area there is always likely to be large amounts of fans milling around and I've never ever seen one bit of trouble at Piccadilly before or after games.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Dec 1, 2013 10:52:28 GMT 1
I have to ask myself why has it taken so long? All we've ever had is the cascading of the 158's, ok we've had a few new electrics but they are exclusive the the Airedale Line and can't be widely used across the network.
We've had 'well past their sell by date' Pacers and Sprinters for yonks on what are extremely busy services. The current stock is totally unsuitable and the customer just does not get value for money for their fare.
Another question, I notice when I've been out and about in other parts of the country the 158's that belong to other TOC's have been refitted to high standards (EMT's and South West) whilst Northern's remain practically in the same state that they were delivered in, aside form recovering of the seats?
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Nov 30, 2013 22:32:25 GMT 1
Got to agree hardly new ground being trod hear with this doc, once you've seen one you seen em all. As a football fan also and one how travels away regular with his team by train we seem to get a bad press. Dry trains, how come they suddenly appear when there is a large amount of fans travelling, dry trains never crop up at other times? The police officer said it wasn't a because 'football fans were travelling' but I've never been on a dry service other than when football fans are travelling. "Once you've one, you've seen them all"....doesn't that also apply to football too?I have been on trains when football fans have joined us, some a little enebriated beforehand, with others becoming so during the journey and changing the whole atmosphere to the detriment of other travellers. The most recent journey with such 'fans' was returning from holiday in early July, when at Doncaster (or it may have been Rotherham) after a so called friendly. There can't have been more than a dozen, but it became most uncomfortable with them. They weren't that young either. If you don't like football that's fine, but not all football fans are like that when travelling to games. Whether groups of males are going to football or not if booze is involved its likely to be messy. Its not an exclusive problem to football fans, getting drunk and lairy on public transport, you see it every weekend, football season or not. The 'ale trail' train springs to mind. Sorry for my slow response anyway, I've been out today watching my team, getting aled up and terrorizing Xmas shoppers on trains!!!
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Nov 29, 2013 22:28:07 GMT 1
Got to agree hardly new ground being trod hear with this doc, once you've seen one you seen em all. As a football fan also and one how travels away regular with his team by train we seem to get a bad press. Dry trains, how come they suddenly appear when there is a large amount of fans travelling, dry trains never crop up at other times? The police officer said it wasn't a because 'football fans were travelling' but I've never been on a dry service other than when football fans are travelling.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Nov 25, 2013 20:21:47 GMT 1
The repaints seems to be a slow process and as stated there seems to be a lot coming out in just plain orange with no 'tiger' markings. Wouldn't it make sense just to get it done all at once instead of having the bus travel back for the markings put on. It does look good though I must say, very striking.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Nov 24, 2013 0:10:01 GMT 1
Apologies glenn, I seem to be doing a lot of apologising on this thread, I assumed it was HADRAG who had made the suggestions.
What is the latest with Elland station?
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Nov 19, 2013 19:27:54 GMT 1
Yeah sorry, the line never officially closed, the curve into the Huddersfield line did but the track was never lifted. It was just used for freight and diversions, what I should have said is that when the line re-opened to passenger services a station at Elland should have been opened!! From memory it did take quite a bit of freight.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Nov 18, 2013 21:01:22 GMT 1
They got some ambition,I'll give em that have old HADRAG, but obviously no sense of where all the money would be coming from.Having said that if they suggested these fro London, City Hall wouldn't hesitate in writing the cheques!!
Joking aside they do have some reasonably good ideas, later services and a higher frequency on Sunday isn't too ambitious or too much to ask is it? A new station at Elland, been banging on about this one for ages, its a no brainer if you ask me, it should have been opened 15 year ago when the line was re-opened. Calderdale Council are desperate for a station at Elland but Metro just seem indifferent to the idea. It could be a real winner in fact I'm sure it would be.
Not sure of the benefit of the Preston to Huddersfield service or the East Lancs to Sheffield but what maybe a better and prove more value for money would be a Victoria to Wakefield service via Brighouse.
The Bradford cross city link is a good idea but its would be so costly and prove to so disruptive to the city it wouldn't just get off the ground.
Other ideas, although not in the Calder Valley would be to re-open the Spen Valley line, stations at Cleckheaton,Heckmondwike and Liversedge, its mainly intact with one or two incursions onto the track bed. The Horbury curve to be re-opened giving Bardford a link into South Yorkshire and the East Midlands, blue sky I know, but worth consideration and further study into.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Nov 12, 2013 20:23:16 GMT 1
What with the rash of rail docs on lately, lets hope its decent quality, like the Channel 5 offering about The Great Western, that was quite enjoyable and well made.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Oct 29, 2013 19:58:03 GMT 1
So where would you spend the money (in a way that Metro are legally allowed to) - and do you think they'd have got funding from Central Government for it? Its a bit of a poor doo if we have to come up with trolley buses to get some funding from central government just to get some funding for transport in West Yorkshire, 'let waste some milllions of pounds on something that isn't really good value for money, just cos we can, its ok we've had the green light from Westminster' jesus. As I said just actually improving the current services would be better value for money, it wouldn't have cost as much either. What have trolley buses got over normal buses that makes em so desirable?
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Oct 28, 2013 20:54:34 GMT 1
Hardly well done Metro. The Leeds Supertram was cancelled by central government. Trolley buses is the next best thing, 'improving current bus services' is too wishy washy to be awarded funding. But better value for money......Metro pursued the trolley bus project, why? Like I said every else gets trams and we get trolley buses. Just think the money could be spent better, people said QC's were a vanity project but this one is the vainest of all vanity projects.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Oct 28, 2013 20:33:31 GMT 1
Really don't see the point in these trolley things, they might as well spend the money on improving current bus services than spending loads of brass on these white elephants. Everyone else gets trams and we get trolley buses, well done Metro, you couldn't make it up. I'd rather the money be spent on other more worthwhile transport projects.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Oct 28, 2013 20:27:45 GMT 1
Why do First use ALX 400's? They are dire. Although I agree, why not? Even the new resprayed vehicles are left be bashed to bits by the trees. They use them on the 342 Almondbury Circular route a lot, which has a fair amount of tree action up Fenay Lane.
The Gemini's are far better and probably more expensive than the ALX 400's anyway, so why ruin em? They are a bit low rent lets be honest, the old ALX's. All the Huddersfield ones were cascaded down from Leeds when they got shed load of new buses, I assume so anyway, all of a sudden we had loads of em.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Oct 22, 2013 23:19:19 GMT 1
I don't understand why they've started doing it all of a sudden. I've been a season ticket holder at Town for nigh on 25 years and even lived down Leeds Road and they've never ever have done this in the past. I find the whole decision bizarre. Willow Lane, ok is the closest the bus is going to get to the ground, but it still a fair walk from there, 15 minutes at least. Hardly encouraging people to use public transport is it?
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Oct 22, 2013 23:14:41 GMT 1
Seems perfectly sensible to me. The HBC/Centrebus name has little value due to the short time it was used, so a change (certainly for the Centrebus bits) aint a bad idea. As for K-Line, it's a long established brand and will be well known to some.My mum, for example, still refers to Keighley & District as 'the red bus' and First as 'the green bus', so brand identity cannot be underestimated. Although not really respected.....the image of K-Line is pretty tatty and unprofessional, get em re-sprayed!! I did get a the K-Line service 366 today upto work and there was a revenue protection inspection going on, the bloke had a Yorkshire Tiger high viz jacket on.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Oct 21, 2013 19:33:38 GMT 1
The new livery looks great and is a welcome addition to the streets of West Yorkshire. Its a shame that the K-Line scruffy rag bags are going to remain, not sure why everyone is so keen for it to remain, the buses look a bit tatty, the drivers look like they've been dragged through a hedge and dragged back again and operate to their own timetable, stop where they want and generally do what they want when they want!! Besides its not uncommon for, the now defunct, Centrebus buses to tip up on K-Line services, is this kind of thing to end now? Only the other day I saw a old 'Centrebus' on the 317 service.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Oct 21, 2013 19:24:43 GMT 1
An hourly service cannot run between Knottingley and Goole due to the single track sections and the line used quite heavily by freight. Simply not the capacity. Initially the Leeds to Goole service was withdrawn to a shortage of DMU's, they've said at intervals since the withdrawal that they would reconsider reinstating some kind of regular service if rolling stock became available, but I just think that's lip service. It would be nice to have the service back and another route into Hull, but its probably way down the list at the minute.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Oct 8, 2013 10:29:52 GMT 1
Terrier is a fine name.....
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Sept 28, 2013 18:26:32 GMT 1
Typical First in all honesty. They seem to be promoting as a ticket to get 'out and about' with, but as I said its restricting. Think it will appeal to people who travel to work on the bus, who live in the core area and maybe not use the bus extensively on a weekend.
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Post by Kenton Schweppes on Sept 27, 2013 17:03:48 GMT 1
Hardly flexible is it? Suppose its ok for commuting to work but if you wanted to get out and about its pretty restricting.
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