LORD ADONIS'S RAIL TRIP BLOG

April 13 As A train user for much of my travel out of Central London, I know the main intercity routes and southeast commuter services, pretty well and my plan this week is to get to some of the lines and services I have rarely or never used. including provincial services and east-west lines. which are increasingly important to the national transport system for both passengers and freight. Along the way I will be joined by local rail staff, MPs, journalists and members of rail user groups. who will not be slow to tell me. what’s good and bad about their services. I’ll also doubtless hear what fellow passengers have to say. In all, that’s about 2,000 miles on some 40 trains spread over 70 hours. Or so much for the plans. What happens in practice will be the stuff of the column over the next few days.

As for cost, I am expecting to do the wholetrip, standard class, for £375 — plus a sleeper supplement for the first night — using a seven-day All Line Rail Rover. This is a ticket no one seems to have heard of. perhaps because it is so poorly advertised. It prompts the thought that Perhaps we should be marketing these tickets more widely, not least to Young people (who can buy the seven-day ticket for just £245) so that they can get to know their own country in the same way that they and their predecessors (me included) got to know Europe by inter-railing for a summer holiday. But perhaps after five days on the road – sorry, rail – that won’t seem such a good idea.

Comments

When Lord Adonis has finished his week long tour of the railways he should send an aide on exactly the same trip, but without telling any of the rail companies in advance what the aide is up to. Then Lord Adonis and the aide can compare notes and find out what our rail service is really like. Arthur Adams, Warrington, England

If I publicise my next trip, will my train be from a freshly painted station, on time, clean and with a working loo? Perhaps the Government will also arrange to collect me by car from the last station so that I don’t have to walk home. Bruce, Cambridge, UK

I hope the minister will take a trip to see the Japanese rail system. This is the benchmark of civilised travel. Philip Bradshaw, Hong Kong,

How refreshing to have a Minister who actually cares about his portfolio. So many would make the occasional journey under obligation in lavish style. By contrast this is factfinding on the (fairly) cheap. Good for him! Chris, London,

April 14 The line to Newquay is not quite the classic case of the branch line fallen on hard times but it is reviving. It kept its holiday express trains to post-Beeching and also a good deal of china clay freight traffic. Now it has seven weekday local trains winding slowly a long the 21-mile local line as well as the Saturday long-distance trains. The local trains are mostly single-carriage, and trains like the one I take is pretty full. there and back. including a party of young surfers out for a day from Saltash who quickly take up all the luggage racks with their surfboards. Apparently on Good Friday the train was so full with surfers that a local coach had to be found to take half of them. So far, every train is on time. The InterCity 125 I’m on has every seat taken as we reach by Totnes.– no sign of the Totnes Castle – and a few people standing in the vestibule, so when it leaves Exeter it will doubtless be busy.

April 15 Britain’s preserved steam railways are a remarkable part of the railway system and the national tourist industry. As a proponent of new high-speed rail lines, I am keen to build a new technological future for the railways, breaking with our baleful historic tradition of patch-and-mend. The challenge is to celebrate the best of the past – as do our preserved railways – while boldly seizing the latest technology to create anew for the future Less positive was my experience of Southampton station yesterday evening. By 8pm there was nowhere at on the Southampton station selling refreshments, — not even a cup of tea was to be had for good money –and but for the forethought of Jocelyn Pearson, the loca Passenger Focus director who had come to brief me on her work, and who had brought a bottle of orange juice, I would have got on to the two-hour train to Brighton without anything to eat or drink. This was in marked contrast to Brighton, where the station’s M&S was still open at 11.30pm. so I could buy dinner on arrival. Surely the major stations should be selling food and drink until late evening in the same way that motorway service stations are required to do? Another point for action on my return – starting by finding out who is responsible for commissioning catering at major stations, Network Rail or the train operating companies. If I don’t know, the travelling public doubtless don’t know who to take this up with either.

Comments

Ashford to Hastings (now Eastbourne) may be a “success” in passenger and revenue terms, but at what cost? Stations at Winchelsea, Doleham and Three Oaks have been “closed” in all but name by Southern, with services calling only in the early hours or late at night. These areas need a service! Derek Hayward, Kent

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