DennisNedry Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23853863 Interesting video on BBC showing footage of a train journey from London to Brighton in 1953, then the exact journey is 1983, and again this year. Quite similar scenery on the journey itself, but the station and passengers couldn't look more different.
Guest MattP Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 The commuters look wonderfully smart on the 1953 one. Bet you had no one jacking up heroin in the bogs back either.
separator Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 I used this service from Victoria last week, only as far as East Croydon though, but there was a crack head drinking a bottle of cough medicine in the carriage. Bet they didn't get that in the 50's
DennisNedry Posted 28 August 2013 Author Posted 28 August 2013 If the trend continues, you'll be lucky to survive the 2043 journey!
separator Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 To be fair the modern trains they use are clean-ish, quiet and comfortable. No buffet car or trolley service though. Everyone looked so much smarter in the old days, every bloke is wearing a suit it looks like.
Rocket-Ron Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Amazingly after 60 years of technology they still all arrive at the same time!!
Smudge Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Amazingly after 60 years of technology they still all arrive at the same time!! Interestingly in 1908 it was also took 60 minutes for 12 shillings for a return ticket, 60p
Guest Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Interestingly in 1908 it was also took 60 minutes for 12 shillings for a return ticket, 60p So to sum up, some trains have not gotten any faster, more punctual or in some cases more reliable but the cost of using them has increased exponentially across the board. What a magnificent country we live in
Parafox Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 To be fair the modern trains they use are clean-ish, quiet and comfortable. No buffet car or trolley service though. Everyone looked so much smarter in the old days, every bloke is wearing a suit it looks like. Pre-Lycra
DANGEROUS TIGER Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Let's get back to using those lovely 5% efficient steam trains. They really were a pleasure to travel on. The sound and the smell of steam and cinders combine!. Paradise on wheels, for me.
Rincewind Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 The carriages were individually named. So you could be in a different one for each journey.
Guest MattP Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 I bet you didn't even have to pay the extra for first class in those days if you wanted some peace and to make sure you weren't sat next to an undesirable.
ADK Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Train travel in this country has suffered from a massive lack of investment so it's little wonder that the system hasn't improved much over the last 60 years.
Lamby Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Train travel in this country has suffered from a massive lack of investment so it's little wonder that the system hasn't improved much over the last 60 years. Lack of investment? Refurbished stations, new trains, more services being put on. What's all that then?
AdamN Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 So to sum up, some trains have not gotten any faster, more punctual or in some cases more reliable but the cost of using them has increased exponentially across the board. What a magnificent country we live in Well not really. Rail magazine's fares and timetable expert Barry Doe says 60 years ago a return ticket cost 15 shillings (75p), about £18.75 today.An "anytime" return ticket now, at £28.80, is around a third more expensive - but based on an average weekly wage of £9.30 in 1953 and £447 today, that's a slightly smaller proportion of earnings. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-1633409/Historic-inflation-calculator-value-money-changed-1900.html 60p/12s in 1908 is the equivalent to £61.15 nowadays.
separator Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Lack of investment? Refurbished stations, new trains, more services being put on. What's all that then? Major investment has only really happened in the last 10 or 15 years or so, and most of that is in the south east. There is decades of under investment to catch up on.
Lamby Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Major investment has only really happened in the last 10 or 15 years or so, and most of that is in the south east. There is decades of under investment to catch up on. Nottingham Station has recently been re-done, and lines up north are being electrified now
separator Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Nottingham Station has recently been re-done, and lines up north are being electrified now Plenty of smaller projects going on like Nottingham as you say. I think all of the big rail projects in the last 15 years have been London / south east based. Jubilee line extension, HS1 from St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel, Tube upgrade & Crossrail currently under construction. These are / were multi-billion projects. The modern trains that run to Brighton (and the south east in general) are restricted in speed and frequency because the 3rd rail power supplies were not upgraded when new trains were introduced. Modern trains = greater power consumption. Also the route in the 3 videos are the same so would assume that speed limits are pretty much the same from 1950 - now, probably why the travel time is about the same from 60 years ago.
purpleronnie Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 But the north will get HS2 Not if the NIMBY's have their way.
Guest MattP Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Nottingham Station has recently been re-done, and lines up north are being electrified now They spent about 6million on ours and it's looks pretty much the same except a small disabled ramp and it's even harder to get a taxi.
Fox92 Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 But the north will get HS2 We should do. To get from uni in Manchester back to Sheffield isn't that bad, I've only got a 50/55 minute ride. But I can't get Sheffield (my local line to London) to London because it's too slow. I'd much rather, and as I do, take the East Coast.
Lamby Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Not if the NIMBY's have their way. They're the most pointless group of people ever, they will never overturn it. They spent about 6million on ours and it's looks pretty much the same except a small disabled ramp and it's even harder to get a taxi. Making a shithole station into slightly less of a shithole station then
Corky Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Nottingham are adding extra platforms to theirs aren't they?
Fox92 Posted 28 August 2013 Posted 28 August 2013 Nottingham are adding extra platforms to theirs aren't they? The whole infrastructure has been improved/rebuilt... Track has been relaid and they've got new signals etc
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