Posts Tagged ‘train’

Aslockton has more passengers, per train, than Bingham

Ah, train station usage figures. Not usually the stuff of wild excitement, but bear with me.

Figures are collated by the Office of Rail Regulation, and are available on their website.

So what for Aslockton?

The total number of entries and exits (ie, the number of people boarding and and alighting) at Aslockton for financial year 2006/07 was 21363. Given that there are (roughly) 6812 trains stopping at Aslockton each year, that would be 3.14 people per train - and there’s consistent year-on-year growth too:

                        ALK      BIN      RDF
        Year 2006/07    21363    25181    9326
        Year 2005/06    18538    26134    10892
        Year 2004/05    16064    28053    9565
        Year 2003/04
        Year 2002/03    15991    41038    13220

(There are no figures for the year 2003/04)

So, headline figures:

  • Consistent year-on-year growth for Aslockton
  • At the current rate of growth (and decline at Bingham), Alsockton would overtake Bingham this year

Average numbers of passengers per service

6812 trains call each year at Aslockton and Radcliffe, and 8112 at Bingham. This means the average passengers-per-service for the three ALK, BIN and RDF would be 3.14, 3.1 and 1.37.

Let’s compare this with East Midlands Trains’ official line:

“At Radcliffe and Aslockton … our data shows the average number of people joining/alighting at Radcliffe (the busier of the two) to be only 1.3 per train compared to 3 at Bingham.”

1.3 people per train at Radcliffe? Yes

3 at Bingham? Yes

Radcliffe busier than Aslockton? NO!

Indeed, if the figures from the Office of Rail Regulation are to be believed (and who wouldn’t?)… then Aslockton is a busier station than Bingham.

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Filed under transport : Comments (0) : Jul 4th, 2008

A reply from East Midlands Trains!

Just 24 hours after accusing East Midlands Trains of not replying to my letters, I received a reply. I feel I should apologise to East Midlands Trains, and Tim Shoveller in particular.

In his reply, Tim (Managing Director of EMT) asserts:

On average, fewer than 1.3 people join or alight each train calling at Aslockton

(I paraphrase slightly)

1.3 people eh? There are 21 trains which call at Aslockton every day, so you reckon that there are no more than 38 journeys in to or out of Aslockton every day? That’s just 19 people making a return trip?

Riiight. We’ll see.

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Filed under transport : Comments (0) : Jun 30th, 2008

East Midlands Trains: proposed timetable changes, December 2008

East Midlands Trains run regular services between Nottingham and Skegness, which stop at many smaller stations en-route. These commuter services to and from small stations are used by many dozens of people every day. EMT propose to make significant changes to these services.

Headline changes:

  • More services to run from Nottingham to Skegness via Grantham
  • Fewer services to stop at small stations
  • 50% cut in weekday services at smaller stations (Netherfield, Radcliffe on Trent, Aslockton, Elton and Orston and Bottesford - to name but five)
  • 75% cut in Sunday services at smaller stations

For me, this would be a disaster, and would leave just two trains out of Nottingham on a weekday evening: the first would leave at 17:34, which is too early for people who finish work at 17:30. The other train leaves at 20:45. (No, that’s not a typo - it would mean a three-hour wait every evening to get the train home).

Commuters in Aslockton, Elton and Orston and Bottesford would be most affected, as the last bus service from Nottingham to Aslockton is at 17:32, and there are no bus services at all to Elton, Orston or Bottesford. Significantly, residents of Bingham would be affected too, as the town is already suffering from an on-going parking problem - which would surely increase if commuters would be forced to catch the train from Bingham instead.

Are you affected?

You’re directly affected if you commute to or from:

You’ll be indirectly affected if:

  • You drive along the A52 (east of Nottingham) at peak time - rail cuts will certainly mean increased road traffic
  • You visit Bingham and need to park in the town centre - commuters from surrounding villages such as Aslockton will have little choice but to park at Bingham and take the train from there
  • You live in Bingham - especially near Bingham station - and would like to be able to park in front of your home!

I’m affected! What now?

If you’re affected by these proposed changes, you need to make your feelings known. The following people may be able to convince EMT to keep services running as-is.

Is this letter-writing making progress?

Firstly, my local MP and County Councillor are both on-side and share our concerns.

Margaret Lanyon from the Department for Transport described the proposed timetable changes as “providing improvements”, and said that they would give “a performance gain which will improve robustness”.

East Midlands Trains hasn’t responded to any letters.

The Nottinghamshire Campaign for Better Transport are supportive, as are the people at Railfuture.

And what next?

I’ve no idea. After handing out leaflets on trains, and putting up notices at stations, I’m starting to feel we’re losing momentum. We must keep petitioning East Midlands Trains and the Department for Transport, but I fear that it’s all falling on deaf (or closed) ears.

The Department for Transport seem to want to wash their hands of the whole situation. Describing the proposals as “providing improvements” is utter bollocks. East Midlands Trains aren’t replying to letters.

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Filed under transport : Comments (8) : Jun 29th, 2008