Could a government-led consumer strategy smarten up our essential services?

I totally agree .

Renewable energy is the least of our worries, there are other far more immediate issues to address such as our infrastructure and banking.

John – The domestic energy market is important but should not dominate energy policy. The biggest demand for energy comes from industrial, commercial and public service infrastructure. Whereas households are reducing their energy requirements, demand is growing in the non-domestic sectors where cost is the predominant factor alongside reliability of supply. Electrified railways, air-conditioning, bigger airports, more hospitals, schools and prisons, and electric cars are all pushing up demand. Although modern technology might enable the power to be used more efficiently demand continues to outpace the gains from energy saving measures which are reaching optimum levels.

I agree.

I am afraid the answer you received was convenient [and politically expedient] but entirely incorrect, Kathleen. Most continental railways have much lower platforms than in the UK and it is often necessary to climb up three or four vertical steps to enter the carriage.

The floors of railway carriages in the UK have been standardised for generations and should generally be 760 mm above the rail height. This pre-dated the EU and had absolutely nothing to do with EU requirements, although the UK standard height has subsequently become one of the approved dimensions in the current EU technical standards. Unfortunately, this rarely lines up with the platform surface for a number of reasons: a few rural stations still have their original Victorian platforms that were built to a lower height for the original trains, and at many stations the ballast under the track has been progressively raised in height during maintenance work to a level than is no longer suitable for the platform height. Also there is usually at least one step to tread on before reaching the carriage floor height, and stations built on a curve often have substantial gaps between the platform and the train as well as a large height difference. Every station is equipped with at least one access ramp on each platform that can be deployed to assist disabled passengers and there is also a scheme for disabled people to notify their departure and arrival stations in advance so that appropriate assistance can be available at the right time. Where stations are unstaffed the guard/conductor or the driver should check to see whether there are any people needing assistance, but many station platforms are still inaccessible because they can only be approached via steps [there is a DfT funding scheme trying to eliminate these difficulties but it is a long-term programme].

It is interesting that you mention HS2 because this could cause problems where the high speed trains run onto other ‘classic’ lines in order to complete their journeys. Without wishing to get too technical, the floor heights of the high speed trains will have to be 1200 mm because larger diameter wheels are needed on the trains in order to prevent overheating on account of the very high speeds. The platforms on the new HS2 lines will be built to a height that is as near as possible level with the carriage floor, and stations will be built on straight sections of track to avoid the gap problem, but as soon as these higher-floored trains go onto the existing lines with their lower platforms there will be a large height difference that is, so far as I know, still unresolved. It might be that steps or ramps beneath the carriage doorways will automatically deploy at such places but that is not without practical problems of its own [people or luggage could be in the way].

By 2020 all UK trains will have to have automatic [press-button] sliding entry doors, audible warnings for door closures, at least one wheelchair-accessible toilet, and passenger information displays and announcements. This is an EU requirement and the UK is well ahead in fulfilling these specifications.

I always thought platforms on the continent were LOWER than ours? They always used to be, virtually at ground level! Whose trains are you referring to Kathleen? I find the Desiros used by London Midland difficult in this respect! |(Euston to Birmingham & Crewe & Birmingham to Liverpool trains) have to hoist myself on, so much for outlawing “disability discrimination”!

“Every station is equipped with at least one access ramp” says John. Sorry no! Aylesbury Vale Parkway hasn’t got one, or didn’t back in the summer. I and another passenger helped a wheelchair passenger to get on whilst the driver went to look for one, without success! No guard on their trains either!

I totally agree with Kathleen. HS2 is just an ego trip. We would be far better off with a strategy addressing the whole of our country rather than piece-meal knee jerk actions.

Thanks, David, for your correction. I am disappointed that Aylesbury Vale Parkway station is lacking the necessary facilities for disabled access. I neglected to check every platform on the Chiltern lines in view of the company’s very high passenger satisfaction scores. If the platforms don’t have the necessary ramps they could at least make sure there is one on board each train – but if there is no conductor/guard either that doesn’t help much. I hope you have pointed this deficiency out to Chiltern Railways.

How nice, for some. Now we know that our new carriages for Scotland will , following EU specifications, be incompatible.

The new carriages for Scotland will be to the same specification as the ones they replace in terms of the floor height relative to the platforms.

This is growing into one of those “EU Orders Straight Bananas” myths.

The facilities listed online on National Rail Enquiries website for Aylesbury Vale Parkway :
Staff help available
Yes
Staff help available opening times
Monday – Friday 05:10 – 11:50
Saturday 06:40 – 12:20
Sunday Closed
Ramp for train access
Yes
Step free access coverage
Yes
Step free access note
Wheelchairs available
No

At first glance that all seems quite reasonable provision, Malcolm, if they honour their commitment – but outside the opening times the provision is inadequate. Somebody in a wheelchair going out in the morning could get on the train but if coming back in the afternoon would be unable to get off.

Just for the record, the ORR is the Office for Rail and Road, not the Office for Road and Rail as stated in the Intro.

John, Just passing on information. I was not suggesting it was reasonable (or not). 🙂

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Thanks for looking this up, Malcolm. The ‘opening hours’ of stations are critical to whether or not disabled people can use the railway. It is very unfair for disabled passengers arriving when the station is ‘closed’ – not everyone will be familiar with the restrictions. Having a ramp but no staff to position it seems to be a bit of cynical box-ticking to me.

Following on from this discussion I have discovered that our nearest station is also ‘open’ only up to 13:00 M-F, although anyone can walk through it at any time of the day and night as it is on a footpath route but not use a wheelchair at any time because the only way to cross the line is via the footbridge with about twenty steps on each side. A long detour around the station on the public highway footpaths is the only way for a wheelchair user to get to the Down platform from the ticket office side and it could take about fifteen minutes. There is a ramp from the car park to the Up platform but the gradient is far too steep to be safe even if the wheelchair user has assistance. So we are going to have “accessible” trains in the next two years but still have inaccessible stations because the “access for all” programmes for railway stations is funded centrally by the Department for Transport and not under the direction of the train companies. I wrote to our MP about the poor physical arrangements about four years ago but received an unhelpful reply. Now that I know about the inadequate staffing arrangements I shall write again and ask why there has been no progress. There have been a lot of complaints through the local papers about the last station before Norwich where disabled people can get a train into Norwich fairly easily but when coming back have to stay on the train until the next station, get off and go to the end of the platform next to the level crossing, cross the road at a dangerous place, and then go up a ramp onto the Down platform to wait for the next Norwich-bound stopping train which could be half an hour or more.

[P.S. I thought I had responded to your comment previously but it has not appeared; maybe I did not post it properly.]

Jamis,

In olden days, we have a strangely egalitarian political party, largely funded by our trade unions, whose aims and policies included measures for the creation of a more equal society.

I keep being told the 17 odd million who voted for Brexit did so because of immigration. I did not vote to leave, but was hovering only just in favour. Had I voted to leave it would have been because of EU bureaucracy, wastefulness and self interest, not because of immigration. Perhaps I would have been the only one.

People from overseas contribute greatly to our economy and culture; I wonder how many real Britons are left after centuries of foreign arrivals? What I would like is a selective system that ensures under most circumstances we welcome those who will contribute and can support themselves. What I generally do not like is those who enter only to absorb our benefits without contributing.

Hi Malcolm, may I say that you would not have been the only one who voted to leave due to the EU Bureaucracy, Wastefulness and Self Interest, may I add Corruption whereby the EU Accounts have not been signed off for years. That is why I voted Leave.

Many People from Overseas contribute to our economy, but lets be Honest, If I said to you that I could get you a nice House in Orlando and you would not have to work again but could live off the State, would you go.

But what does brexit actually mean and for the younger generation especially.

You thought wider than yourself by voting to Remain in my view. You thought about the younger generation and the UK National Interest.

Philip, if you choose a fixed price fixed term deal your energy supplier cannot change the price.

Wrong Malcolm r. I signed a 12 month deal with GB Energy in July. Last week I get a letter announcing a 30% rise.
I have asked them for a detailed breakdown of where their costs have increased, to justify such an enormous rise.
9 days now and no reply

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John – This seems to be a serious error that surely should not stand. Just to be clear, is it the unit price or tariff terms that have gone up, or is it a new estimate of your consumption that gives rise to a higher bill?

Philip, I have been with GB Energy. I had a fixed price deal for 12 months. An email informed me their prices were increasing. This did not apply to fixed price contracts.

i agree John and these children they are letting in no way are they children do they think we are stupid keep to your word we voted to come out of the eu please do as we asked you.

John. You voted to leave full stop. There never has been and still hasn’t appeared, any sort of strategy of terms, decent or otherwise.

No one will give the UK “decent” terms to leave. They are all intent on making this a painful example for others to shy away from another exit. This might also be pay-back time for years of UK moaning in EU matters.

You are right, there should be an opt out choice.
Alternatively, I would have ticked all 4. If there had been that choice, as they are all ripping us off.

My choice would have mobile phone coverage, but it was not offered.

I agree with Malcolm on distorted results when not given sufficient choice or the option to give other suggestions.

Interesting that I have been given a thumbs down for mobile coverage.

We recently had a family crisis that required a fair amount of phone time. The landline packed up and we couldn’t get a mobile phone signal in the house. Relatives had to send a text that said phone them and we would have to wander around the garden or the street trying to find a signal.

Now supposing that it had been a real emergency.

I live near the edge of a conurbation with a population of over 50,000 that is definitely not ‘out in the sticks’.

There are folks living in areas with far worse mobile coverage than my area. It is disgraceful in this day and age that mobile coverage is not available to everyone in the UK whenever it is required. With the disappearance of public telephones, a mobile phone signal could mean the difference between life and death.

I agree. And I wonder if they’ll read any of these comments – not sure I like the phrasing they’ve used and I am worried my ‘vote’ for energy looks like I’ve simply agreed with their statement on energy rather than my comment…..