“Hundreds of fare dodgers in West Yorkshire costing tens of thousands of pounds”

Posted on January 31, 2014 by admin

And how much revenue are Northern Rail missing out on, where passengers don’t have the opportunity to purchase tickets?

The reluctance or inability of conductors to sell tickets (because their ticket machine isn’t working, or for other unspecified reasons) has been a constant theme for several years. Northern Rail’s senior management are well aware of this problem.

We hope no-one endorses fare dodging, but sometimes it’s not the passenger’s fault. Northern Rail also bear some responsibility for the problem of uncollected fares.

[from the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 31st January 2014]

A total of 54 ticket cheats were caught at Huddersfield last year, and in all some 844 were caught on the Northern Rail network

Rail bosses have declared war – on the region’s fare dodgers.

They have revealed the line running through Huddersfield, from Leeds to Manchester, is one of the hotspots for a crime that is costing tens of thousands of pounds.

A total of 54 ticket cheats were caught at Huddersfield last year, and in all some 844 were caught on the Northern Rail network.

Halifax was also a troublespot with 69 fare-dodgers.

Other stations in the area to be affected were Dewsbury (9) Mirfield (5) Deighton (4) and Slaithwaite (6).

Now Northern Rail has launched a campaign to crack down on fare dodgers across West Yorkshire.

The company has launched two online videos and a series of station and train posters showing two scenarios where someone takes something for free.

Northern has revealed that in West Yorkshire, the most common journey where people are caught travelling without a ticket was from Leeds to Manchester Piccadilly.

Managing director Alex Hynes said:

“We know from talking to our customers they have a real problem when they see others not paying for their journey.

“We don’t want to see passengers get into trouble and want to make sure they understand the implications of taking a free ride.

“The videos show two situations that we know people wouldn’t do, and show that not paying for a train ticket is the same, so why do it?

“We hear all sorts of excuses from passengers as to why they don’t have a ticket – they don’t have any money or a conductor did not come down the train and sell them one.

“It’s the passenger’s responsibility to buy a ticket, so they must seek out the conductor to get one or if that is not possible, then buy a ticket at their destination station.”

New ticket barriers installed at Huddersfield last year will help reduce the problem and Northern Rail also plans to invest in more ticket machines.

Fare evasion continues to be a huge issue for the rail industry, costing £240million per year.

See the videos at northernrail.org/getaticket

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“Huddersfield’s Ale Trail study in ‘De-Marketing’, a book about deliberately LOSING customers”

Posted on December 31, 2013 by admin

[From the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 30th December 2013]

A controversial pub crawl is a case study in a book about why successful businesses deliberately try to lose customers.

The Ale Trail, which brought extra trade – and problems – to Slaithwaite and Marsden, is featured in Demarketing.

The book includes an 8,000-word study of the Ale Trail by former Huddersfield University lecturer Nadio Granata and former Huddersfield town centre manager David Wyles.

The book seeks to explain why and how companies sometimes actively try to reduce their customer base.

Mr Wyles explains:

“There are many good reasons to do so. A firm cannot supply large enough quantities or wants to limit supply to a region of narrow profit margin. Or, crucially, to discourage undesirable customers – those who could be bad for brand reputation or, in the case of the finance sector, high risk.”

In 2004, for example, luxury clothing manufacturer Burberry stopped making its popular checked baseball cap because the hat had become undesirably associated with ‘chavs’ and football hooligans.

Mr Wyles said:

“De-marketing can yield effective solutions to these issues, effectively curtailing demand yet (crucially) not destroying it.

“Nevertheless, the fundamental negativity of de-marketing strategies often causes organisations to hide them from view and, as a result, they are rarely studied.”

The Ale Trail, a train tour of real ale pubs between Manchester, Huddersfield and Leeds, is regarded by some as a victim of its own success.

The trail, originally aimed at law-abiding real ale drinkers, was ‘hijacked’ by lager louts, hen and stag parties and other revellers.

Increasing anti-social behaviour in normally quiet villages like Marsden and Slaithwaite led to a gentlemen’s agreement between some pubs on the trail.

Premises such as The Riverhead, Marsden, have since refused to serve lager or fancy dress parties during peak periods.

Mr Granata said:

“Some marketing tasks are very straight forward but others, such as managing the excessive popularity of the Real Ale Trail, are highly complicated. It requires a good understanding of the root cause of the problem plus a long-term strategic view.

“Many livelihoods are at stake and simply cancelling the Real Ale Trail would not serve the needs of those pubs and other businesses that rely on the income it generates for their survival.”

Demarketing (Routledge) is available from www.routledge.com

 

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Closure of Manchester Victoria station, Friday 27th December to 1st January – alternative arrangements

Posted on December 26, 2013 by admin

There will be no trains into Victoria from Friday 27th to Wednesday 1st. The main work being carried out is the lowering of track underneath Cheetham Hill Road bridge, which is at the eastern end of Victoria station, in preparation for electrification.

The trains will run as far as Ashton only, which was our suggestion. Not sure whether this would have happened anyway, but we might as well claim the credit.

Trans Pennine Express will have additional trains calling at Stalybridge, giving connections to/from Piccadilly. This was another of our suggestions, again not sure if it would have happened anyway. At most times of day the quickest route to central Manchester will be by changing trains at Stalybridge.

There’s a replacement bus running from Stalybridge and Ashton to Victoria. Generally this will be slower than changing trains at Stalybridge, especially if affected by traffic.

A third alternative is to change from train to tram at Ashton (though again the tram is not particularly quick). Tickets valid changing from train to tram at Ashton (this was another of our suggestions), but not sure if this applies for tickets from outside the Greater Manchester travel area.

Extract from an e-mail from Northern Rail, in relation to alternative arrangements whilst Victoria is closed from 27th December to 1st January.
“Just to let you know that to help our customers, we have agreed an arrangement with Metrolink for the period of the Christmas Blockade at Manchester Victoria. It will enable those in possession of a valid rail ticket for the route concerned, to opt to use the Rochdale or Ashton Metrolink services during the time periods a train service/rail replacement bus operation is scheduled to operate.”
“A publicity leaflet is being produced and will be handed out to people buying tickets or presenting themselves for the rail replacement bus services.”
Not 100% sure that this arrangement with Metrolink applies to tickets from outside Greater Manchester.
Timetable at
Well done to Northern Rail, First Trans Pennine, Metrolink and TfGM for working together to minimise disruption to passengers.
With electrification and modernisation due to take place between now and 2018, there’s potential for a lot of disruption, and the railway companies and transport authorities will need to work together to keep disruption to a minimum. The way they have co-operated this time is an encouraging start.
Posted in Christmas Travel, Electrification, Marsden, Northern Rail, Slaithwaite, TfGM, Transpennine Express | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Timetable changes from 8th December

Posted on November 26, 2013 by admin

The new timetable, effective from 8th December, has now been published. At first glance, it appears to be unchanged from the previous timetable, except during the period 24th December to 2nd January.

 

Link to timetable is

http://www.northernrail.org/pdfs/timetables/20131208/25.pdf

During the week between Christmas and New Year Manchester Victoria station will be shut for some major engineering works. Whilst the replacement timetable does not appear to have been published yet, we understand that trains will run as far as Ashton, and passengers for central Manchester have a choice of bus from Ashton to Victoria, or change at Stalybridge for train to Piccadilly.

It’s the next timetable change date, 18th May, when there will be some quite big changes especially for trains towards Manchester.

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