Late trains

[#1]

From allowing 5 or 10 minutes lateness at the terminus trains are to be late,if delayed by a minute. ( Buses are allowed 5 by the way). Are trains now going to only slow down to let passengers on and off, and what about granny with her rollator?

Seems overkill to me. And no operator will be able to succeed, unless Ms Solini is put in charge. Her distant near ancestor is supposed to have made the trains run on time.

Madness!

[#2]

I'm not a rail commuter, but I do use the rail network - a lot - for my travels, and although I applaud any attempts to get people where they are going on time, I also know, just as with road transport, it only takes a seemingly minor disruption to cause major chaos.It seems to me that some people expect everything to run for their convenience, although I also understand that if your transport is consistently late, it is extrermely infuriating.

One problem, common to rail and road transport alike, is that the infrastructure was designed and built when the population was much smaller, and when people (usually) lived and worked in a relatively small area. Now the population is much larger and people live further away from work, that infrastructure is not suitable, but without razing everything to the ground and starting again, there is only a limited range of options.

My personal experience of rail travel, over the last 10-12 years, has been good, but then I usually travel outside peak hours and a friend of mine (an ex-BR manager), can usually give me alternative travel options which even the staff may be unaware of, although some of those options are not always totally 'legit' if you follow the rules.

[#3]

Yes, generally travel is good by both train and bus. The trouble is, as you hint @jab1 people want perfection ( especially for selves and ...... any one else), lacking any idea of the complexity of operations. 

I did in the last year suffer a 40 minute delay, when journeying from Salisbury to Bristol TM, but that was a train breakdown on a single track section  lying between S'oton and Salisbury. Getting it recovered and resuming service would have been a nightmare.

[#4]

I can beat your 40 minute delay @Luzern - near 2 hours on a Sheffield-Carlisle trip, again caused by a train breakdown.

[#5]

Sorry @Luzern  but have you got that right?

The report I read earlier was the trains were "going to be recorded to the minute" which is a lot different than just being allowed one minute before closing those doors and leaving the station with granny stranded. 

As for that old Mussolini story.... 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47664969

[#6]

Over 20 years of commuting to London, delays of an hour, or more, were not uncommon but the worst was over 4 hours, full train standing room only, incident on the line ahead. Finally got to work and there was a bomb scare in the building, standing outside for 3 hours. Gave up and went home, train was empty....

In those days there was no compensation for delayed or cancelled trains paid to season ticket holders.

[#7]

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@Minivanman wrote:

Sorry @Luzern  but have you got that right?

The report I read earlier was the trains were "going to be recorded to the minute" which is a lot different than just being allowed one minute before closing those doors and leaving the station with granny stranded. 

As for that old Mussolini story.... 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47664969

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I was being tongue in cheek (a bit) and the articles I read admittedly did say 'more than a minute', but I still reckon there will be pressure on station staff to get trains away to the detriment of the less able. @Minivanman There is a difference living in the provinces to London and South East. Lines are under pressure. Already a delay can result in stops being skipped. I think it will get worse.

Would it have made it better to  have Ms S O'Lini, the Italian gentleman's  Irish great granddaughter?

[#8]

Some delays can be quite amusing, and as a once long time London commuter one has to be amused. 

The South Eastern lines to Kent are even now complex, though in the past it was said, there were 200+ ways from Dover to London without reversing.

As a result there are still ways to get round a blockage. Instead of the direct route from Tonbridge to London we travelled in reverse, see blue XXXs.

In the office, to a colleague, who came by another route, I remarked problems on his line were the reason for my diversion. He replied, he'd been told his delay was a problem on my line.