Take note British train users

[Drago]

An interesting snippet from Japan, where rail services are so well managed it is not unusual for them to arrive and depart to the second...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42009839

 

[classic33]

There was the driver who killed himself, because of the shame of being 90 seconds late, on a 300+ mile trip.

 

[Drago]

There was the driver who killed himself, because of the shame of being 90 seconds late, on a 300+ mile trip.

While one must applaud the chap for his conscientious attitude to his work, topping oneself over 90 seconds is a teensy bit excessive. If your trains were never more than 90 seconds late in the UK you'd be pretty chuffed.

 

[ColinJ]

I was thinking of the Amagasaki rail crash caused by a young Japanese train driver trying to make up for lost time. 107 deaths and 562 injuries ... I'd rather accept a few delays here and there!

 

[Drago]

Problem is, in the UK we get both the lateness and the crashes, so we get the lose-lose scenario.

 

[Rooster1]

Problem is, in the UK we get both the lateness and the crashes, so we get the lose-lose scenario.

Unreliability yes, Signals / points failure most commonly.

 

[User10119]

Do we though? When was there last a train crash, as in train hitting another train or derailing with significant loss of life?

August apparently - although nobody was hurt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rail_accidents_in_the_United_Kingdom

Although with a slightly different parsing of the question (OR/AND/NOR/NAND would be so much more helpful than commas and conjuntions sometimes) would mean going back a while - most of the accidents in recent years seem to be in stations/on crossings and not that many fatalities, although even the incidents with a single death are pretty singnificant to that person, I reckon. It looks like you have to go back to Potters Bar in 2002 to find a crash that caused multiple fatalities AND specifically involved (multiple trains OR derailment).

When the ECML service was briefly re-nationalised (because it was a bit of a wreck) rather than run for profit their performance measures (trains on time etc) improved dramatically. Staff at the station, as well as being more bike-friendly that before and since, seemed a lot more cheerful too - and I think I read that it even turned a profit for us all. Shame it got handed over to the beardy one once it was back to functioning properly really.

 

[mjr]

The list on Wikipedia, which may or may not be correct shows 39 train crashes since privatisation in 1995. The single greatest cause is road vehicles on crossings or otherwise ending up on the track.

Motorists don't only fark up roads.

 

[Cycleops]

In my experience the Deutche Bundesbahn ie pretty good too.

 

[NorthernDave]

In my experience the Deutsche Bundesbahn ie pretty good too.

Ah, you mean the operators of: Chiltern, Cross Country, Grand Central, London Overground, Northern, Tyne & Wear Metro and Welsh & Borders? Funnily enough, they don't seem to be held in such high esteem over here.

 

[MontyVeda]

I reckon trains should run on an approximate timetable... no more 'departs at 4:57pm' ...just 'departs at five o'clockish'

 

[classic33]

I reckon trains should run on an approximate timetable... no more 'departs at 4:57pm' ...just 'departs at five o'clockish'

Would that be AM or PM though?

 

[MontyVeda]

Would that be AM or PM though?

Such specifics won't be necessary with my approximate timetable.

 

[k_green]

I reckon trains should run on an approximate timetable... no more 'departs at 4:57pm' ...just 'departs at five o'clockish'

Yeah, I was thinking 15 minute estimates, that's all my trains ever manage. This is the 1815-1830 train to.. why do we bother with 1807 etc?!

 

[summerdays]

I guess we are used to delays, it must be hard if you were used to the Japanese system and then moved here...