Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,933
trevor
nice guy that you are
nigel did his bit
so did as others have said, prosser and watkins
and a number of other other people
the combination of a lot of people all pulling in the same direction, got the results
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
It just shows what can be achieved when our elected representatives abandon the usual yah-boo politics and pull together. Now, about that hospital......
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,933
peter your right(yes i did say that lol )
but we need to avoid comments like that in number 19
sorry trev your a great guy
but it wasn't one person it was the combination of many people achieved it
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
what we could all do now is discuss the various merits of different sites for the hospitals, just to guarantee that we don't get one.
#22 and #24, indeed.
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
Nigel Collor was very much the face of the campaign to bring the high speed train to dover, with able contributions behind the scenes by Gwyn, Paul W, etc. In the end, the tracks in each of the narrow Shakespeare Cliff tunnels were moved slightly to one side to satisfy the requirement for passenger egress in the event of an accident.
It took a very long time before this solution was eventually deemed to satisfy safety requirements. This may have had more to do with the fact that extending the service to Dover meant coughing up for an additional trainset to add to the twentyeight already on order.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,933
Whilst I applaud any thing that any person did throughout this campaign, I would say there were many front line faces pushing the campaign along
sorry ED can't agree with some of your comments
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Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,883
Does it really matter who did what, a lot of very good and bad
people pulled together and got the train to stop at Deal and Sandwich.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
This nonsense with the high speed train passing through Deal and Sandwich without stopping highlights the mess that privatisation has made of the railways. The trains were empty and returning to, or starting from, the depot in Ramsgate. Any manager involved in any remotely rational system of operating a railway would not think twice about actually getting them to stop and pick up passengers, which is what trains are supposed to do.
The heavily subsidised Southeastern franchise is minutely supervised by the DfT which sets out in the franchise precisely what services it is required to run. Any entrepreneurial activity such as making these two additional stops is stymied because Southeastern has to pay for the small modifications and minor extra running costs entailed but has its subsidy reduced in view of the extra revenue it thereby receives and winds up losing money. That is why they would not do it until somebody else finally coughed up an extra subsidy, in this case KCC (meaning us).
http://www.trains4deal.com/Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
Agreed, Ed. And what's your analysis of the reasons the ferry companies are going all-out to discontinue foot passenger services, which years ago were the lifeblood of Dover's retail businesses?
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
Basically because foot passengers have dried up, Peter, and what few are left have become an expensive luxury for the ferry companies to have to cater for.
Up until sixty years ago there was nothing but foot passengers, getting off the trains at the Marine Station and boarding the ferries at the Admiralty Pier. Then came the RORO ferry revolution and universal car ownership. Nowadays almost all passengers are in cars or coaches. Nevertheless the ferry companies have day trip offers for a car+9 for £20-25 so anybody with a few mates can still do a day trip cheaply.
The cessation of Duty Free eliminated all the footies going across for cheap fags and booze. Nowadays the ferries flog Duty Paid and the price of fags is not greatly less than in the UK. This also saw the demise of all the fast craft plying to Ostend, Calais and Boulogne as the locals and bootleggers going across were their mainstay. Hoverspeed packed up, SpeedFerries went broke, and the brief dalliance of LD with the Norman Arrow to Boulogne was an economic disaster. Fuel costs for fast craft are their nemesis.
The market for footies actually wanting to get from A to B also evaporated with the advent of the low cost airlines and Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel. All that is really left is people with a fear of flying, people with a fear of tunnels under the sea, adventurous backpackers and the remnant coterie of people who want a little sea trip and a glimpse of the White Cliffs of Dover. The small amount they are likely to spend onboard is greatly outweighed by the port charges for each footie and the costs of the footie buses and personnel at either end.
The Port of Dover closed its now nearly empty foot passenger departure floor above the booking hall and the footie coaches depart from outside the doors. Provision of these buses costs money and SeaFrance decided it was not worth the candle, leaving P&O to carry those who are left. DFDS (ex Norfolkline) have never catered for footies as they run to Dunkerque West which is out in the sticks and purely for freight and tourist car traffic hitting the open road. Foot passenger fares have risen to reflect the true cost of carrying them. I see from Dover Ferry Photos that two Belgian lads paid 56 Euros between them to do a daytrip on P&O last week.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
interesting to read about foot passenger charges, if one tries to book on the p & o website the price comes up at 38 euros each way.
keep plugging away and eventually it comes up at £.1. 50 each way, which is what i pay.
just a matter of keeping on until the right price comes up.
you get the same price via stagecoach buses and kent regional newspapers.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
Been nice knowing you :)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
no paul neither did, the stagecoach buses one doesn't work either.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
They will work now
Been nice knowing you :)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
working now, only problem is that the website is inundated, not surprised at that a quid a time during august will go down well.
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
It would be a great pity if foot passengers were abolished altogether, after all not everyone has a car and a lot of people just fancy leaving the stress of driving behind and go for a jolly day out in Calais. Perhaps have some lunch and lie on the fabulous sandy beach. My daughters Uni friends came down to visit them for a long weekend. They had a day in Dover and Canterbury and a day out in Calais for the cheap fare. When my family and friends visit we always have a day over in Calais and of course not too long ago Boulogne so it would be a great shame not to be able to pop on the ferry.
Daughter Briony is on P&O's mailing list. She has just received one about the £2 return fare, has tried to book it but none of the email is live
I will let her know about the above links and ways, thanks guys.
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
I'm sure I heard mention of a plan for a new foot passenger only service from Folkestone, but don't know where that was from....
Been nice knowing you :)
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
ll this talk of the demise of the foot passenger service is rather confusing.
why do p & o offer such cheap prices or footies even during peak season?
i suspect that they do o.k. out of it, a few weeks back i went on the 10.25 ferry on a monday and they needed two buses to take the footies to the ship, this was not the "spirit of britain" either.
most of them went straight into the restaurant and spent money and the shop was doing great business despite the prices being not much better than on land.
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,883
I used to love my day trips as a passenger, sadly my passport is out of date and it's not worth renewing it for the very few times I would use it.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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