成人论坛

East Midlands Trains has replaced Midland Mainline (and part of Central Trains) to provide a significant proportion of our services, including services to and from London.

Secondly, Eurostar passenger services have started from St Pancras on a new high speed line to mainland Europe. For the first time you are able to buy a ticket from Derby to Paris and be in the French capital within a few hours.

These changes will make an impact, but will it change your attitude to rail travel? We are all being encouraged to use public transport but are train services fit for purpose?听

What do you think of fares, the quality and range of trains on offer? Also how easy is it to get to and from the station and what changes would you like to see in the future?

"It's quite tiring when you have to stand up for the whole journey and you can often end up getting squished!"

成人论坛 Radio Derby's Aleena Naylor has been exploring the state of our railways and witnessed the first Eurostar train to leave from its new home at St Pancras.

She wants your views in 'The Big Picture' debate.听 Do you travel by rail, if so what's the service like? If you don't, why not?

YOUR COMMENTS SO FAR

First can I say how delighted I am that the citizens of paris now have a direct rail link to our Westfield centre! I hope Derby will be able to cope with the influx.

Since Derbyshire and its' Peak district attractions are always being promoted,it is sad that for some time the rail link to Matlock has been so infrequent.

Hopefully the recent changes will rectify this situation. As for St Pancras- gorgeous station,and makes arriving at London a real event. Love it.

Mister Viv, Derby

I'm absolutely astonished at the prices that the trains charge for journeys, for what I see no change in standards or service. They all have monopolys, especially Midland Mainline with the service from Derby to London. No one else does this route, so they can charge anything they want.

I thought privatisation would put a halt to such things. I also resent their adverts every where saying 拢7.00 to London, yeah, if you book thirty years in advance.

Alex, Derby

The new train livery is gaudy and inappropriate, the old Midland Main Line livery at least reflected an aspect of the region.

The withdrawal of the free tea and coffee and the proposed removal of the buffet car do not bode well - all we are seeing is deteriorating service conditions.

E M T must realize they are not dealing with the 'cattle class commuters' of the south and we have higher expectations.

John Harpur, Derby

I used to use the local service to Derby run by Central Trains but this must be one of the most disruptive services in the country.听

You turn up at the station to only to be told that the service is running late or that they are working on the track etc and so a bus service will be ran instead.听

One day to my surprise I turned up to the station to be informed: "Sorry but we are not running any services on this line today as we do not have enough staff to make it possible", Well charming!

I am looking forward to seeing ho this new company treats its passengers and I am already looking forward to the new hourley timetable which they have promised to bring in on the route and also the extention to Nottingham.

Alex Bromley, Matlock

Train services compared with Europe are inefficient, slow, and very expensive. Coupled with very poor customer service it goes without saying the governments goal to get more people to use public transport is a joke. Confusing and Dirty stations are still very much the norm in the UK.

Martin, Derby

This refurb was always going to be a very long job but no thought was ever given to passenger comfort. The station has very few seats and no waiting areas other than on the main concourse.

This has proved to be a wind tunnel. It was too cold to wait upstairs or down a lot of the time, not just in winter. McDonalds and Starbucks must have made a fortune as there was nowhere else to sit in the warm.

Also the long walk to King's Cross underground was not covered over so it was not pleasant in the rain. The toilets, until recently were tucked away down a long, winding, dark tunnel. All we got was a poster apologising for the inconvenience!!

Now they want our custom and want us to shop there. Its a shame their priorities were not different whilst we, the paying public were trying to use the trains during this massive disruption.

Sonia Boultby, Derby

If you book at the right time you can get tickets at a good price but I agree with some of the other comments posted:-

• Station Needs to be brought up to date - it should be as stylish as the new shopping centre
• Return train times back from London to Derby are useless, if you are visiting for a music gig or late show
• Almost all gigs start at 9pm and finish at 11pm ish so you have to decide either miss the end and catch your train or pay to stay in London for the night which makes the whole trip hugely expensive
• To have such poor rail links out of the Capital City even at weekends (when most people visit) is not good enough!

Mat Mckenzie, Derby

As a pensioner the prices are far to high, even with a senior rail card, having just recently visited Italy where there is one price based on a pricing zone regardless of which station you use.
In this country you have听 too many different fares, and unless you start your journey from a mainline station special fares are not available.
If the government had invested half the money in British Rail, as they have in the private companies, we would not have the all the fat cats creaming off the profits.

Bert, Derby

The cost of parking at Derby is extortionate. Derby station car park is 拢9 per day now, (still "only" 拢6 at Nottingham?). This is a 225% increase in four years. It also takes longer to purchase the car parking ticket before you travel (before you could pay on return).
It seems that the train operators are really milking the customer for any supplementary charges that aren't regulated, what with free tea and coffee being stopped too. I have sometimes managed to take advantage of the cheap singles, but find it virtually impossible to secure the cheapest advertised tickets. You have to book between 2 and 3 months in advance to get these. Wouldn't it be better to have fair pricing as standard?
I recently considered taking a job where I could have used a train from Derby as my daily commute, but the season ticket cost just for the car park alone made it prohibitive, and the lack of fair pricing for travel prevents me from being anything other than an occasional rail user.

Richard, Ripley

I recently went to London on Saturday morning and back on Sunday afternoon. Less than 拢30, resevered seats both ways and it was First Class on the way back. Trains were clean. Free coffee. No traffic issues, loads of room, even some nice conversation. St Pancras looks fabulous(even if Derby Station doesn't). RECOMMENDED

Tony Gascoigne, Derby

The last time I used the train was for a Lake District walking holiday with two friends.听 We were assured the trains were on time when we checked by phone.听 Arriving at Derby station there was no reference to our Stoke bound train on the departures board.听 On checking with the Information Desk we were told the train had been cancelled due to over-running engineering work. No apology of course!听 He could not explain why we had been told that our trains were on time.听 His response to asking what this meant to us was simply astounding.听 He told us "your not going to Stoke".听 There was no offer of an alternative route or any helpful assistance.听 Clearly, this man had been a special kind of 'No-Information' training.听
The ticket office did help and eventually we were on our way (by an alternative route), no thanks to the Service Desk!听 The journey time was extended, we missed our connecting bus at Windermere and had to pay for a taxi as we were so late.
The return journey was not much better.听 Problems somewhere along the line and part of the journey was by bus.听 A further long wait at Warrington for another train.
Previous train travel experience had not been good so we now use the car.听 No problems, much cheaper, time to spare, and we not exposed to unhelpful service desks.
PS: Derby train station really must be the most depressing station in the country.听 It has the appearance of being prepared for a really big makeover, but nothing ever happens. How many years has it been like this ?

J Swift, Derby

Midland Mainline was one of the better Rail companies,their half hourly services to London, 90% on time & new Meridian trains were excellent. Their 3Ms buffet bar service and the introduction of free tea & coffee for all passengers was an excellent PR touch that was appreciated by all.I understand that these services will end with this new company, so I am very concerned about the future on this line with this new company in charge.

Rex, Derby

I do think that making St Pancras the new London eurostar terminus was perhaps the most important and best rail decision made in recent years. I,m sorry that Midland Mainline will not be our train operator, but who ever.听 I will be taking an early visit to St Pancras Perhaps we may now see the completion of the work on the Derby station.

Allan, Belper

Yes train travel to London is great but the cost of it is not effective and it is still more cost effective to drive to north London and catch the tube in and save substantial amounts of money. While this continues, more traffic will not be taken off roads. Buses are just as bad with a greater cost at commuter times, discouraging travel to work by bus -听 when will this change -听 Most folks cannot dictate when they start work!

Alan Squires, Belper

You need to sort out the train station first. We had such a beautiful train station 20 odd years ago and then they knock it down for this eyesore.

Sort out the present train station and do it up as it really needs modernizing now as it is so run down and puts people off.

Sean, Derby

I went to London a couple of weekends ago. I asked about trains times and prices. The prices were ridiculous. Open ended ticket over 拢45. I was going to a gig and was not sure what time it would finish, as sometimes I get to hang out with bands afterwards. Either way the last train back that night was about 10.30pm and the first train back the next day would have been about 9.30am.

听Luckily a friend offered me their sofa for the night. Travel wise I got National Express which was 拢30 open ended, but smelled of vomit. Next time i'll drive. Its cheaper and less hassle. Public transport is a joke, and an expensive one for those of us who are only just managing on what we earn.

Kiri, Derby

I use the train whenever possibly but due to the silly, vast amount of different prices between Derby and London I occasionally travel half way by car, it is cheaper.

Local trains between Derby and Nottingham when working correctly are fast, however because they get overfull and/or cancelled they cannot be relied on.

Di Hall, Derby

That's all good but there are no trains on boxing day to St Pancras as i found out this year! Shame really.

Caroline Hadfield, Allestree

I would use trains more but I don`t know how they justify their prices. Turn up on the day and ask for Derby to London return and it can be as much as 拢130, and that doesn`t even guarantee you a seat!

Rob, Derby

The Rail Fares are still too high and there are too many 'combinations' of tickets.

Also - its often cheaper to get 'two singles' instead of a return (some of the websites do mention this too).听 I thought the idea of a return ticket was it because it was cheaper than the singles....

Although a coach journey is longer (and there is less space) its much easier to book, they don't have masses of different fares - and its usually cheaper.

Alan Wright, Derby