Thursday, January 29, 2009

London Midland - A joy?

Upon learning London Midland had a new timetable, the secpnd in a month, I asked about ommissions that meant I couldn't tell which was the most direct into Euston. In response I was told by London Midland staff.

If its here and its moving I would just advise you get on it. You can never be too sure if the next one will turn up these days
Not bad I thought given the season ticket price went up by £400 this year to just £4200, and for that I get to sit on the floor (carpeted natch). I think the word 'bastards' springs to mind.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I sympathise greatly, Dizzy, as a fellow train commuter suffering from similar price increases coupled with unreliability and massive overcrowding. Out of their many many mistakes, rail privatisation was the Tories' worst, as I'm sure you'll agree.

dizzy said...

I agree that the manner in which it was privatised was a mistake. I do not agree that privatisation would have always been a mistake. The mistake came in the separation of ownership between rail and the trains that ran on top of it which leads to disconnects with engineering work etc.

If the train operators also owned the rail that they ran on it would be a different matter as the Dockland Light Railway proves beyond doubt.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you. Although I'm instinctively uneasy about privatising national infrastructure, what has really screwed the train system is the separation between track and trains, as you say.

I would add that although it would have been difficult and expensive, this is something Prescott should have sorted out in Labour's first term. By the way, astonishingly for someone so unlikeable and inarticulate, he's actually quite a decent blogger. Or perhaps those are the traits required for top blogging...

dizzy said...

Yes he is quite good, his written word is better than his spoken. Not unsual. You'd probably find GW Bush can write quite well too compared to his speaking cock-ups.