Margaret Swift
Exceptional! We are at the start of the winter and look at what we have endured this week! Get real! Michael, I am happy for the sea defences to be strengthened, as I said in an earlier post, but there should always be an alternative so when our line is closed, for whatever reason, passengers can still continue with their journeys. I will fight to keep our line as the main route as, let's face ...
Mrs C, if you were travelling through Frome then you were on the slow train to London, which goes via Bristol and one which I cannot comment on with authority. The times I used the slow train, 08.20 from Dawlish, until about February this this year, there were never any problems with signalling. Like I said earlier, the Plymouth mob, as you like to call them, are happier getting on a coach at ...
Actually Clive, that waiting period at DW pays off sometimes. I frequently travel to London leaving Dawlish on the 07.30 CrossCountry Paignton to Manchester service. However, that particular service is often cancelled. As soon as I get up I check to see if it is running, when I find it has been cancelled I contact the taxi service and have them pick me up 10 minutes earlier so I can get the ...
Let's face it folks, none of us are experts and that includes you Michael. You say the line would be used for a few days a year, it would have been used for two months this year! But actually I am being a bit more imaginative than that. The Exeter to NA avoiding line would, in my mind, be the equivalent of a branch line so not needing the expense of building a high speed line. Sorry Clive! With ...
What I think would be a good solution Michael is to keep our line as the main route into Cornwall but to have an avoiding line between Exeter and Newton Abbot for the occasions the main route is inaccessible.
I can honestly say Michael that before the refurbishment of Reading station started there were very few delays between London and Exeter. Over the last 12 months delays have occurred on occasions between London and Reading due to the on - going work, but once the refurbishment is completed and there is greater capacity through the station then the normal excellent service will resume. In deed, in ...
@Michael Clayson, I would be careful what you wish for re statistics, you may be very surprised at the answers. As someone who regularly travels on the train, London, twice to Bristol, Taunton, Cheltenham Spa and Exeter, all in the last 10 working days, I can say that services beyond Exeter towards Plymouth and Cornwall leave a lot to be desired. We truly are the Cinderella service in the ...
Like Clive, I use the train to travel to London nearly every week and know how we lag behind in terms of investment; he really does make valid points. We need serious investment in SW transport and intelligent solutions. To pretend we can keep things as they are is a nonsense and an insular view. Investment both in strengthening the sea defences and in a viable alternative line for the occasions ...
Absolutely agree Lynne. It gets even sillier though when you realise that Virgin Trains were already running trains down here and then commissioned the Virgin Voyagers for a number of routes including our line but didn't take into consideration the weather element when designing the rolling stock. It then cost them millions of pounds to do the modifications, which now appear to be failing! You ...
When the Voyager trains first started on this line, a few years ago now, it became clear very quickly that there was a problem when hit by waves. Virgin trains, who used the fleet at the time, made alterations and this seemed to resolve the issue as there have been very few incidents in recent years. It sounds like whatever was done to resolve the problem is no longer effective and more work is ...
