Jacobite 2024

there is of course the theatre and news value of running a train empty as those nasty rule makers say we can't carry on as normal . The cynic expects the press to find a heartbroken four year old to be very upset for the cameras.....

 

I believe that the van is the usual collection of spares for rolling stock and locos.

 

https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/downloads/wcr-mp-letter-26-03-24.pdf

 

I suspect Martin that they don't have your flights of fanciful thinking!

 

I get the fact that MPs in the area of the Jacobite would be concerned about the service but do they have any more leverage than the next person?

Perhaps the first question to ask is why, in the face of a really early warning about the fitting of CDL, everyone decided to leave it to the last minute. Well I think we can answer that one and it must have something to do with cost.

Then we come to the question about the evidence provided by all companies operating Mark 1 coaches that they have started, or intend to start fitting CDL to a given time scale. Presumably the ORR is satisfied about what other operators have said, or in the case of LSL and I believe Belmond, are doing. Only WCRC is digging its heels in, it seems.

Sending a rake of coaches up to the Fort suggests that WCRC anticipates a shift of ORR in their direction. I hope that's the case for their sake otherwise it does rather feel like a red rag to a bull.

 

On the Jacobite with its local and international mix of people of all ages I feel sure that all the ORR wants is something very straightforward. By that I mean doors that cannot be opened until a train is stationary with each door at a platform. Let's not forget that a secondary bolt can be released at any time on a journey for whatever reason. Train stewards do not spend a journey next to every door.

Let's do a reality check. I feel certain that many on here have seen images of trains in the past arriving at termini in the rush hour with many doors being opened as people hurry to exit the train, sometimes whilst it is still moving, in their rush to move on to the next part of the journey. Apply that thought to a charter arriving at say Euston late at night when it is also running late and there are connections across London to make.

Food for thought.

 

A good example of where the TOC's operational procedures now must show what instructions apply generally and then specifically where what you say applies at relevant stations on the Jacobite route where passengers may alight. This should remain the case once CDL is fitted. Selective opening would then not be necessary.