West Midlands Railway

[Tony]

I call the tories scum for many things especially what they do to disabled people but thats not for here. Central trains though? In most areas they werent very good

The only problem I found with Central Trains themselves were they weren't very good at cleaning trains. I always thought their units were riffy. Most of their other 'faults' were caused by Railtrack or the fact they were running trains all the way from the East Coast to the West Coast so hold ups and problems a long way from the West midlands could cause issues around here.

[Bob]

Yea i remember the smell of the seats on the 150s when they had a beige sort of square pattern one

[mikestone]

One other change in May is that the Sunday Walsall stoppers are now combined with the Stour Valley locals.

[Sh4318]

One other change in May is that the Sunday Walsall stoppers are now combined with the Stour Valley locals.

Handy! Presumably these won't be leaving BHM for WSL at xx:17, as currently?

[Kevin]

One other change in May is that the Sunday Walsall stoppers are now combined with the Stour Valley locals.

I'd assume it'd be electrics then? Always thought it was a waste running 170s completely under the wires

[Trident 4194]

Could anyone enlighten me on the positives and negatives of privatisation on the rail network?

[Bob]

Negatives are ridiculous walk on fares! Extortionate. I mean you wouldnt expect to be charged 50 quid for a daysaver that was 4 pound online 3 months ago just cos you didnt buy it then lol

[Bob]

A lot of people say positives are new rolling stock but i reckon that wouldve happened anyway. At time of privatisation BR had retired most 1st gen DMUs already and the sprinters are still running along with some EMUs that are similar age to the trains being withdrawn in the 90s. Maybe we wouldnt have got pendolinos or voyagers but HSTs with mk3 carriages were way more confortable anyway especially so compared with a cramped Voyager with an engine vibrating underneath you

[Tony]

Negatives are ridiculous walk on fares! Extortionate. I mean you wouldnt expect to be charged 50 quid for a daysaver that was 4 pound online 3 months ago just cos you didnt buy it then lol

I can reverse your argument there! Walk on fares are set by the Government, so would be the same without Nationalisation. With privatisation we gained the super cheap advance fares!

[Trident 4194]

I can reverse your argument there! Walk on fares are set by the Government, so would be the same without Nationalisation. With privatisation we gained the super cheap advance fares!

Aren't the fares lower when it was privatised- as you now have rival companies running head to head on some lines such as Birmingham- Euston, but there again lines between say Birmingham and Cornwall- where there is only one operator without changing- so there effectively a monopoly and can charge more?

[Bob]

I can reverse your argument there! Walk on fares are set by the Government, so would be the same without Nationalisation. With privatisation we gained the super cheap advance fares!

Set much higher under govt under privatisatiom than they ever were under BR

[Tony]

Set much higher under govt under privatisatiom than they ever were under BR

Check you history

Tony Blair's government set the rule as inflation +1% which still stands today. Fares regularly went up more than that under BR

[Solo1]

Train problems Brum to b'ham international major incident

[Tony]

This looks a strange working

A DMU just running between Barnt Green and Bromsgrove all day empty stock

http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/advanced/BMV/2018/04/21/0000-2359?stp=S&show=all&order=wtt

[B61 ANDREW]

This looks a strange working

Anything to do with OHL equipment being tested ??  :-\    Possibly the Network Rail Sprinter ??