Heart of England Rover Day 6

Notes:
As before my thanks to Real Time Trains for the material in the links.

Operations on the Day

All went well to Nottingham, it is actually faster via Birmingham than by using the connecting cross country services.  I soon realised that I had not allowed anywhere near enough time to cover the entire tram network and if I travel back any later than planned I end up with a poor connection at Reading.  The problem as ever is the paucity of GWR services to Sandhurst where if I come back much later than planned then I get stuck in Reading for about 30 minutes (depending on actual times) at a time of year when it is not very warm and which I have sought to avoid throughout the week.

So on the NET (Nottingham Express Transit) I travelled from the main station where there is access from the footbridge to the high level tram platforms at right angles to the national rail tracks below, although I fail to note the exact access point.  The two southern routes separate immediately south of the station, one to Toton Lane and the other to Clifton South (which actually goes westwards).

I take a tram service to Toton Lane which is the furthest extremity in that direction.   I take the tram back through the City Centre as far as David Lane where the two branches divert on the northern side of the City.  However my time is limited if I am going to get home at a decent time and I therefore returned to Nottingham station from David Lane.  That leaves me to do both sections from David Lane to Phoenix Park and Hucknall and also the line to Clifton South.  Hucknall is on the Robin Hood line which I need to cover at some time in the future so perhaps it can all be worked in as part of that outing.

Nottingham Trams recently (at the time of writing) reported losses of £57m on turnover of £63.3m in the year ended 31 March 2023.  Apparently this includes an impairment review, burdensome loans since renegotiated and energy costs rising from £3.5m to £6m pa.  Loadings appeared good on the services on which I travelled and there was certainly indications of unticketed travel but it would take a lot of effort to close a gap of £57m on turnover of £63m as that would imply a 70% fare increase.  At some point it will need to restructure financially.

The fare for all zones for concessions is £4 off peak and is therefore great value for my journey if covering the entire network.  We get a ticket check – four inspectors board,  one at each of the doors,  and check tickets in each section which they manage to do before the next stop.  I note that one gentleman is escorted off for a further discussion.  They try to scan my bus card – but it does not work – I am only showing it to prove that I am entitled to the concession and I soon point this out and direct them to the paper ticket dispensed by the machine at the boarding stop.

Back at Nottingham station I get confused as I think I go back in the entrance I had used as exit – on the way out I simply came out of the overbridge onto the tram station but following the signs means that I rightly have to go through the ticket barriers, obviously I did not pay enough attention to go back the same way – even if it is possible.

As the service approaches Birmingham New Street (it is crawling along) a little late I realise that for a large station the connection is not as long as I might like, added to which we are running a few minutes late.  However we arrive and I am near the Western over bridge which is not gate restricted and I can go up the steps quickly (but am easily overtaken) and then find that platform 1 is up even more steps before descending.  I head up these steps and then down and I can see that the departure signal is red and I head towards the unit at the far end of the platform and dive into coach B and drop into a seat.  And we still have a couple of minutes prior to departure actually happening.  Tight connections can be made but knowledge of the layout is important – avoid the gates at Birmingham New Street – at least one guard advised using this particular overbridge over the public address on one journey to avoid the gates.

Talking of gates a few months ago my All Line Railrover gave up on gates after a day or so and I blamed myself for having it close to my phone at one point.  This rover ticket has experienced the same failure as well – except that later in the week I tried it again and it worked, although I have tried to scrupulously keep it away from my phone.  With the All Line Rover it simply would not work – but this partial working is hard to explain.

We are now heading back towards Reading and running well laden, although loading steadily thins out as the train makes progress.  Over the week I think I had one ticket check on Cross Country but we have been fairly consistently head counted.  I assume the vast majority of Cross Country stations are gated.  It is all well and good knowing how many are on board (especially on some of the over-crowded services – but are they travelling within ticket validity?).  The other problem with Cross Country are the seat reservations.  A couple of times I occupy reserved seats which are empty at arrival and on a couple of times I am asked to move because it has been reserved since I sat down.  All poor, I have not attempted a reservation myself and will probably try the unreserved coach on each train tomorrow.

Leaving Oxford we are much slower and if this does not improve I will miss my final connection but after Didcot we are back up to line speed and the connection is a rapid trot along platform 7 to the connection in the east bay.

Costs / Ticket Checks

Pretty comprehensive on NET – but evidence it is needed.

Rolling Stock

The Cross Country units between Birmingham and Nottingham are class 170 on which the operator has made the crazy decision to withdraw first class.  As the units are refurbished the space will be converted to standard but at the moment the former first class seats are still there (but worn).  So my trips made use of the former first class with table and lights.  But why deprive yourself of the first class revenue?  Why not refit it and make it a selling point?  Both these Cross Country services also had catering trolleys – if they can manage it on relatively short distance journeys why cannot operators south of the Thames provide creature comforts?

Summary

Mainly a pity that I did not adjust the time in Nottingham and complete the tram network – in retrospect I should probably have just gone for a late finish – but the poor service to Sandhurst tends to colour my thinking knowing that it is possible to become stuck in Reading for far too long!