Transport -
Trains 4
Railtrack,
who are responsible for the tracks, stations and
platforms, said leaves have been "bigger and
juicier" this autumn, which has led to
longer delays to services. The company said the
problem had been particularly bad in the Midlands
and they issued a joint apology with Central
Trains. A Railtrack spokeswoman said: "There
were 30% to 40% more leaves on trees this season
and they were 20% bigger and juicier, which
caused delays on tracks." The company is
also trialling a new anti-leaf train and has
promised to buy 25 of the vehicles if the tests
are successful.
Some
of the excuses that have been used include:
* Leaves on the line.
* The wrong type of snow.
* It rained hard for
three months.
* There were lots of
burst water pipes.
* An increase in
suicides.
* An increase in
vandalism.
* An increase in track
and station repairs, mostly for safety
reasons.
* There are too many
people on trains.
A
new excuse for the non-arrival of trains has been
born - the wrong kind of atmospheric pressure! A
steep rise in atmospheric pressure caused havoc
with the workings of Electrostar 357 trains used
on the Essex Coast to London services. Eight of
the trains lost power, causing severe delays.
In
order to attract more people to use public
transport, Central Trains increased the fares on
some of their services by as much as 22%. The
reasons given were the increases of rising costs
and the need to reduce overcrowding at peak
times. Some mainline commuter fares will rise
above inflation in the New Year - simply because
companies improved on the poor service offered
last year following the Hatfield crash.
Passengers with seven of the 10 London commuter
companies will see fares increase by 2.5%. This
is 1% above the benchmark July 2002 inflation
figure of 1.5%, said the Strategic Rail
Authority. Regulated fares on long-distance and
regional rail services will be held to 1% below
inflation during 2003, which means they will go
up by only 0.5%. About 40% of rail fares are
regulated but the SRA will soon announce changes
to the system.
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