Transport Central

The Times has run a particularly interesting story regarding the new apparently preferred method of the government to close railway lines down without compensation. A ghost bus has been set up without telling anyone and with the apparent desire to conceal this fact from the public, even the existence of the service.

This absurd situation came about when the DfT withdraw carriages from the route from Birmingham to Brighton via Kensington (Olympia) for use elsewhere to relieve overcrowding, despite the fact that eighty people used each train daily. Therefore stretches of track in West London are now no longer used and would have to go through a closure process if it were not for this unpublicised bus service running.

It all started on Sunday evening. The wires came down onto the track at Watford Junction causing all kinds of issues – every single train in and out of London Euston was cancelled. As I personally travelled on Sunday evening, I was witness to a complete lack of information and problems all over the railway network. Passengers were being diverted to London Marylebone to catch the train to Birmingham Moor Street and change there.

The Chiltern service connects reasonably well at both Banbury and Leamington Spa to CrossCountry’s Birmingham New Street and Manchester Picadilly service thus preventing the need for the walk from Birmingham Moor Street and New Street in sub-zero temperatures. This, was not mentioned however. There were delays en-route due to a trespasser on the line on the Chiltern route and big delays on the route via Coventry due to a cracked rail. 

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