Jacobite 2024

The last thing we need is more regulators!!

 

Agreed. If people cannot stick to the rules, the answer is not even more rules and people to enforce them. No matter how hard regulators try, they will never eliminate the human factor

 

I agree - I would be fully in favour of stricter enforcement of all existing road & traffic regulations. At present most drivers consider themselves ‘unlucky’ if they receive a penalty - symptomatic of an ineffective enforcement regime.

 

Aren't load limits calculated on what load a loco can restart from a stand on the maximum gradient on a route? Again loco crews would be able to advise better, but I can't imagine 5mph would make much of a difference.
A drop of 40mph to 25mph will have a greater influence on journey time and potentially pathing, but that is what negotiations are for.

 

Operated by a railway that fits within the general exemption, and is in a very different mould to that of WCRC.

Personally, I would be concerned that attempts to exploit of that loophole might lead to it's outright closure.

 

On page 45 of today's Times newspaper, in the Law section, is a half page summary of the WCR v ORR judicial review.

 

An update on the WC web site dated today 25th March.

UPDATE - JACOBITE SERVICE

We are sorry that we need to cancel trips on our Jacobite Steam Train service 28th March to 1st April 2024 (dates inclusive).

As we are unable to offer alternative trips on the Jacobite at this time, our reservations team will process full refunds for customers with bookings on those dates in the next 5 working days.

All refunds will be paid via the payment method used to make the booking. Customers who used credit vouchers will be issued with a replacement to the same value to redeem before 30 April 2025.

This suspension of this service is due to a debate with the rail regulator around door locking. We share the regulator’s commitment to safety and our priority now is to work with it to renew permission to enable us to run The Jacobite on the main rail line.

We hope to be able to operate scheduled future trips on the Jacobite, but will contact all customers ahead of their journey date directly, in the event the trip they have booked will not run. In that case, we also will issue a full refund.

PLEASE NOTE - BOOKINGS FOR THE JACOBITE ARE CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

 

If that is the case, clearly the ORR are just dragging their weight with WCRC.

 

Why? The law is clear about the different bases for national network and heritage railways; WCRC's requirement to fit CDL applies to more than just the stock used between Fort William and Mallaig.

 

If they've applied for an exemption at 25mph max top speed, that's no different to the NYMR other than journey length.

 

Two points. One - there's another thread for the wider discussion. Two - the law draws a deliberate distinction about the network, not the specific local speed limit, to differentiate between the national network and heritage railways. Beware the consequences of eroding that difference.

 

Whitby to Grosmont is part of the national network.

 

Actually the Regulations are quite specific. In this case it excludes CDL from "such a system if on no part of it there is a line speed exceeding 25 miles per hour." As on the NYMR, an exemption would be required as the speed limit 'on the system' exceeds 25 mph, no matter what speed the train is operated at.

 

https://thehighlandtimes.com/scotrail-should-take-over-west-highland-line-services/

 

The ORR are doing their job.

Stop trying to blame them for an operators failings.

 

https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/news/important-announcement-the-jacobite

30-15 not sure which side is serving though!

 

Totally ignoring how and why The Jacobite became an attraction in the first place. Typical....

 

Is all this on the West Coast Jacobite announcement page new as of today? (I hadn't noticed it until now if it isn't)
https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/news/important-announcement-the-jacobite

If they haven't submitted a plan to fit CDL as part of the new exemption, god they're digging a very big hole.

 

You couldn't make it up. Well, someone obviously did. Astonishing. [BJ]

 

Their position doesn’t seem to have changed one iota.

They are claiming that they have been victimised by the ORR as other companies are still operating under exemptions, and that WCRC’s solution of door bolts and stewards is safer than CDL.

They neglect to mention that a) the other companies have an agreed schedule in place to fit CDL, and b) WCRC’s solution has been found to have failed in application twice already on the Jacobite in 2023.

What’s that definition of an idiot? Someone who keeps trying the same thing and expecting a different outcome …..


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