BIRMINGHAM-MARCH-STANSTED
AIRPORT
Hourly
trains link Birmingham with Stansted Airport through Leicester, Peterborough,
March and Cambridge. Trains have become more reliable in recent years with
far fewer cancellations than in the past. Air-conditioning and public address
systems are effective.
Toilets
in particular seem more reliable than in the past but clearly need constant
attention.
There has
been significant investment in the lowest quality units. New electrical systems
have improved availability. Selective door opening allows long trains to serve
short platforms. Conductors can now open doors without having to walk to their
cab from where they are working in the train. But they still have less leg room
than most other vehicles used on longer-distance services.
The
trains are mostly clean and attempts have been made to tackle the ceilings. Catering
trolleys are advertised on several journeys. To be viable, catering needs to be
dependable.
The
biggest issue facing passengers along this route is capacity. Growth has
returned to the route after recession, increasing the need for more seats. We
believe that no passenger should normally have to stand for more than 20
minutes. Staff regularly count passengers and some resources have been
re-allocated as a result.
But the
route does now require more vehicles, either to run longer trains where they
are over-crowded or to run more trains, increasing service frequency and
attractiveness. So we enthusiastically welcomed the provision of 80 more seats
on the 0519 and 1522 trains from Birmingham from December 2016, helping
passengers going to work in Cambridge and home from working in Leicester or
Peterborough. There are aspirations for earlier trains to Stansted Airport, for
later trains from the Airport and Cambridge at stations west of Ely and for
increased frequency between Leicester, Melton Mowbray, Oakham, Stamford and
Peterborough.
We see a
clear need for a “whole route” approach to engineering access with trains running
on Sundays in university terms a priority. Diversions are available for most
sections of the route but add significantly to journey times.
We also
need a relentless focus on minimising cancellations and on delivering high
standards of passenger information and customer service.
A range
of Advance fares, even for some quite short journeys, is offered. Many of the “tickets”
can be printed at home or sent to your mobile device. If it works to their
benefit, we see no logical reason why “walk on” passengers should be prevented
from “splitting” their “ticket” when making lengthy journeys which begin in the
business peak and continue through the off-peak period. Advance Purchase On The Day fares have proved more controversial and we
welcome the idea of quota-controlled APOD fares without seat reservations.
Our
vision is of welcoming stations, where facilities meet or exceed all government
targets for their size. The performance of station facility operators in
providing toilets, waiting rooms and retail advice at the specified times needs
to be robustly monitored and challenged.
October 2018