Leaves on the Line..

[Gordinho]

I was a bit annoyed yesterday that I spent 20 minutes doing my 7 minute journey home from work (traffic lights out and people suddenly forgot how to use roundabouts).

I know that this will bring about howls of derision but if the railway traffic management was anywhere near as bad as road traffic management then people really would have something to moan about. No intrusive maintenance is planned on the railway during daytime hours, it's all done at night, no intrusive maintenance is planned on the road during the night, it's all done during peak hours.

Every minute of train delay is counted and apportioned with Network Rail having to pay the Train Operating Companies if it's down to NR. On the roads nobody even thinks of calculating how much extra cost in burned petrol and time added on to journeys though poorly planned road maintenance affects road users even though they pay through their road tax, council tax and fuel duty.

 

[DHSF]

I know that this will bring about howls of derision but if the railway traffic management was anywhere near as bad as road traffic management then people really would have something to moan about. No intrusive maintenance is planned on the railway during daytime hours, it's all done at night, no intrusive maintenance is planned on the road during the night, it's all done during peak hours.

Every minute of train delay is counted and apportioned with Network Rail having to pay the Train Operating Companies if it's down to NR. On the roads nobody even thinks of calculating how much extra cost in burned petrol and time added on to journeys though poorly planned road maintenance affects road users even though they pay through their road tax, council tax and fuel duty.

This is why I quit driving - cost far far far too much in comparison to using tubes etc. Luckily the only time I use the train is going to spurs from Liverscum street and they always seem fine so I dont pay the 5-6k that others on here pay.

In terms of delays of tubes I have experienced a fair few but not so much in comparison to being stuck in traffic or diversions on the roads etc.

 

[markysimmo]

Every minute of train delay is counted and apportioned with Network Rail having to pay the Train Operating Companies if it's down to NR. On the roads nobody even thinks of calculating how much extra cost in burned petrol and time added on to journeys though poorly planned road maintenance affects road users even though they pay through their road tax, council tax and fuel duty.

Which of course the tax payer pays a large amount of this..

 

[scaramanga]

I was a bit annoyed yesterday that I spent 20 minutes doing my 7 minute journey home from work (traffic lights out and people suddenly forgot how to use roundabouts).

As much as I love London and miss being close to it, this thread highlights the benefits of not living or working anywhere near London. If its around 4k for a season ticket then i'd have to earn an extra 8k (to account for tax, NI and then season ticket) just to be on the same as now. Plus it seems like most people do almost an hour each way commuting from around the outskirts of london, which to me would feel like working an extra 20% a week. Would have to be over 100k a year for me to consider doing that again.

Same here. London's a great place to visit but I'd never live there again.

 

[Gordinho]

Which of course the tax payer pays a large amount of this..

Ultimately no, Network Rail is profitable and solvent although it's underwritten by the tax payer. There's a confusion too between train delays and punctuality. Train delays are for example the ampount of time a train may be sitting at a red signal due to a track circuit failure waiting for a proceed aspect, the train may however make up time or have enough slack in it's timetable to arrive at it's destination on time. So a train can incur train delay minutes but still be punctual.

I can't remember the exact figure off the top of my head but I think it's 10000 train delay minutes across the entire network is considered acceptable, the figure is rarely broken and bottoms get kicked when it is.

 

[Seedy Ron]

no intrusive maintenance is planned on the road during the night, it's all done during peak hours

They often close roads at night for maintenance and reopen them during the day?

 

[Gordinho]

They often close roads at night for maintenance and reopen them during the day?

Occasionally rather than often and we're talking about major schemes here such as resurfacing. On the other hand how often in a day are motorists inconvenienced by ill planned or abandoned roadworks when everyone's cleared off at four leaving coned off lanes and temporary lights for no reason as there's no workforce in the road to protect?

The best planned and managed road works are usually major schemes, local roadworks are a nightmare. I was using the the old north orbital road I think it was in the early eighties when the M25 was being built, they were incorporating open roads into the M25 as they went along building it and yet I never suffered a single delay, that was a fantastic feat of planning which local councils can't even begin to approach to this day.

 

[jts1882]

I think most people would be upset if the road they live on was closed so road works could be done overnight.

 

[Gordinho]

I think most people would be upset if the road they live on was closed so road works could be done overnight.

I don't think I suggested completely closing roads, I suggested intrusive road maintenance could be carried out at night when roads are less busy leading to less jams and burned fuel in jams. It's a better option than carry out the roads during the day when they're busy and going home at four PM leaving lanes coned off and temporary traffic lights which are still there during the night when people are accessing their property.

I'm not suggesting the railways are perfect but I think they're less imperfect than our road maintenance system.

 

[southstand1882]

I feel sorry for anybody going north on the M40 today

I came south from Brum, and I witnessed one of the largest traffic jams I've ever seen!

 

[Gordinho]

I feel sorry for anybody going north on the M40 today

I came south from Brum, and I witnessed one of the largest traffic jams I've ever seen!

The biggest adding of insult to injury I've ever experienced was coming back from oop north on t'M6 toll and they shut the fudger due to high winds after the toll booths, still taking tolls although the police wree guiding us off the motorway to fend for ourselves on the mean streets of Sutton Coldfield.

 

[thfcsteff]

The biggest adding of insult to injury I've ever experienced was coming back from oop north on t'M6 toll and they shut the fudger due to high winds after the toll booths, still taking tolls although the police wree guiding us off the motorway to fend for ourselves on the mean streets of Sutton Coldfield.

Disgraceful.
That's a fudging shambles!
I would've been fuming.