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Post by burkey on Jun 6, 2014 21:26:50 GMT
Calls to improve the ‘Cinderella service’ Abbey Flyer www.watfordobserver.co.uk/news/11251409.Calls_to_improve_the____Cinderella_service____Abbey_Flyer/Campaigners are calling for the Watford to St Albans Abbey Line to be upgraded to London Overground style of service. The Abbey Flyer Users’ Group hope the branch line can be improved from a current ‘Cinderella service’ to "a fundamentally better service to meet passenger demand, the growing population and to relieve road congestion". David Horton, of Abbey Flyer Users’ Group, who have been campaigning since 1995 said: "The government must grasp the opportunity of the new franchise to bring essential investment into the line. "Passengers now look enviously at the London Overground network and see bright new, air-conditioned trains, well-maintained stations that feel welcoming and secure, friendly motivated staff, blanket Oyster card coverage and a much higher frequency timetable than it used to be. "Because of this, passenger numbers on London Overground have quadrupled - in just five years and passenger satisfaction has also soared and punctuality is at an all-time high. London Overground have triumphed in attracting new business, getting people to give up their cars, simply by delivering a high quality service. "At this time of record investment in the rail industry, why should the Abbey Flyer continue to be such a poor relation? The Abbey Line currently operates a single train at 45 minute intervals, serving five intermediate stations between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey. End-to-end journey times are 16minutes. However the group say the 45 minute service leaves passengers with an unmemorable timetable and limits the number of good bus and train connections. The group say they are concerned the last trains from Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey depart too early to be of practical use for the evening leisure market. To answer the ‘45 minute problem’ the group say a ‘clock-face’ 20 or 30minute frequency service should be provided, along with two trains on a ‘passing loop’ track to allow two trains to pass.?London Midland, existing operator, are due to hand back the keys to their franchise in June 2017, having been in control since taking over from Silverlink Trains in 2007. The Users’ Group believe this may be the only chance in the next 15 years to achieve real improvements to this ‘Cinderella’ service. Mr Horton added: "We will be campaigning hard in the next few years to get this on the government’s agenda. We are pleased to say that several local politicians are already backing us, including Watford MP Richard Harrington, St Albans MP Anne Main and Watford Mayor Dorothy Thornhill. And we know that London Mayor Boris Johnson is keen to take over more services in the Greater London area, so we should be pushing at an open door." "We would encourage anyone that shares our view to express this in writing to their local MP or the Department for Transport." To support the group visit www.abfly.org.uk. ……………………………………………. Burkey
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Post by marri260 on Jun 7, 2014 20:29:36 GMT
As a fairly regular user of the Abbey Flyer, I find he current service levels annoying and pretty incovnvinient. Although having said that, I can't ever see the service improving beyond the current levels, and I regularly find myself wondering how the branch ever survived the Beeching era.
As has been previously said, reinstatement of a passing loop at Bricket Wood would allow a two-train service which would obviously be a huge improvement, but I can't see the costs that would come with this ever being justified. The same issue arises at Watford Junction, as building a fly under/over to link to the Overground network would not only be difficult, but also hugely costly. I feel sorry for the staff who are tasked with dealing with the punters on board the flyer, especially at off peak times when a fair few people who board the service have absolutely no intention of paying for their journey.
It'd be great if the service could be improved, but I'll be very very surprised if it ever is.
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Post by geoffc on Jun 9, 2014 19:12:44 GMT
Some time back the restoration of the passing loop plus signalling was costed at £15M . Even at say £20M now this doesn't seem beyond the bounds of Herts CC to fund . However this would only produce a half hourly service . The key improvement would be the old link to St Albans City (MML) but as this cuts a slice from an expensive golf course you can file this under "It won't happen".
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Post by nidave on Jun 15, 2014 12:56:44 GMT
As a fairly regular user of the Abbey Flyer, I find he current service levels annoying and pretty incovnvinient. Although having said that, I can't ever see the service improving beyond the current levels, and I regularly find myself wondering how the branch ever survived the Beeching era. As has been previously said, reinstatement of a passing loop at Bricket Wood would allow a two-train service which would obviously be a huge improvement, but I can't see the costs that would come with this ever being justified. The same issue arises at Watford Junction, as building a fly under/over to link to the Overground network would not only be difficult, but also hugely costly. I feel sorry for the staff who are tasked with dealing with the punters on board the flyer, especially at off peak times when a fair few people who board the service have absolutely no intention of paying for their journey. It'd be great if the service could be improved, but I'll be very very surprised if it ever is. Do people do this in protest at the service or for another reason? if people don't pay would it not look like its under used from a revenue / ticket perspective. (I am not 100% clear on how passenger numbers are worked out anyway)
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Post by marri260 on Jun 16, 2014 9:10:22 GMT
Don't think it's in protest at the service, I just think it's down to the people themselves, who can be pretty nasty individuals at times. Seen many excuses, the most common one being 'I haven't got any money on me', which leads to an awkward situation for the guard when they then try to get them off the train. No idea how the passenger numbers are calculated either, no!
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Post by sawb on Jun 16, 2014 17:20:33 GMT
There are a number of lines that I can think of where the users would like an improved service, but where it would be either impractical (from a physical point of view) or uneconomical to improve, and the St Albans Abbey line is one such example. Romford to Upminster is another, where it used to have a peak service but this was withdrawn in 2011, and services now run half hourly all day Monday-Saturday. Wickford to Southminster is another example I can think of. There have been calls recently for reinstatement of both passing loops at South Woodham Ferrers and Burnham, but given the non-peak branch trains arrive at and depart from Wickford with maximum of 9 people on them in most cases I've witnessed (including 2 conductors and a driver!) this is highly unlikely to happen! Amazed the branch justifies a 40 minute service off peak, 6 days a week frankly. Used to be very few people who seemed to use it when it was hourly seven days a week, so how it has justified a 40 minute service Monday-Saturday, and hourly on Sunday, I've no idea!
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roythebus
Pleased to say the restoration of BEA coach MLL738 is as complete as it can be, now restoring MLL721
Posts: 1,254
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Post by roythebus on Jun 21, 2014 8:16:41 GMT
The same was said about the Wimbledon-West Croydon with an irregular service pattern. a train usually around every 45 minutes with about 10 passengers a train. Now it's a tram there's one every 7 minutes in each direction always packed solid. Investment and improvement means people WILL use the service!
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Post by suncloud on Jun 24, 2014 7:25:20 GMT
my experience of the abbey flyer was that guards (or other staff) collecting fares was sporadic and with none of the intermediate stations offering any way of buying tickets my journey was often not paid for. The early finish was one of my biggest issues, with work normally finishing after last train, and sometimes after last bus I often had to cycle along the a405 in the dark... so nothing came of that light rail/tram conversion then?
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Post by marri260 on Jun 24, 2014 15:48:23 GMT
The early finish is highly incovnvinient yes, but I'm sure there is a reason for it one way or another. Gaurds are rather sporadic, although they tend to be available on the majority of trips that I take on the Flyer. AFAIK none of the intermediate stations have methods of purchasing tickets, although St Albans Abbey does now have a machine that accepts card. The introduction of a raised section of platform at St Albans Abbey has also been a useful improvement, helping to reduce the huge step between the train and the platform. One of the class 321's that was operating the branch a few weeks ago still had an old Silverlink map on the wall!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2014 16:52:31 GMT
The early finish is highly incovnvinient yes, but I'm sure there is a reason for it one way or another. Late trains were withdrawn quite a long time ago due to drunken passengers causing problems.
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