No Long Term Parking in McDonalds
8 January 2008
The fast paced world in which we live places time constraints on almost everything we do and it seems that McDonalds is no exception to this. In early December, Peter Fernandes parked his car outside a McDonalds’ restaurant in Salford Crescent whilst he went inside for a lunch time business meeting. A week later, he received a £75 fine for doing so. Baffled by the penalty, Mr Fernandes claimed “I thought they must have made a mistake” and contacted the restaurant to explain that he had been inside at the time, but they insisted that no error had been made. It appears that three months earlier, the restaurant had introduced a one-hour rule in order to stop commuters parking at the branch, leaving no room for genuine customers to leave their cars.
Mr Fernandes experience in Salford was by no means an isolated incident as it seems that a number of the fast-food chain’s outlets have implemented a similar policy. Many of the drive-through branches now limit customers to a maximum of 45 minutes to finish their food before issuing them with a £125 fine. If motorists choose to ignore this penalty the fine is likely to escalate, leading to court action and bailiffs being sent out. The forty McDonalds’ car parks which apply such a rule employ private companies, such as Civil Enforcement, to run a system which uses plate recognition cameras to log when people arrive and leave. It seems that a number of other companies are following the example which the fast-food restaurant has set, as an elderly company from Wiltshire found out when they were recently fined by Tesco for taking too long doing their Christmas shopping.
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Chaos to Continue for Rail Users
3 January 2008
Over the last four days severe rail disruption across the United Kingdom has affected more than 250, 000 passengers and reports today suggest that such commotion looks likely to continue until Friday at the earliest. Virgin trains have been informed that they will not have the West coast main line handed back to them until tomorrow, leading to a further 60, 000 people having their journeys disturbed. However, even this assurance should be taken with a pinch of salt due to the string of earlier deadlines which have been missed. Virgin’s own lack of confidence in such promises can be observed by the fact that they are keeping buses on standby to provide alternative transport, should the line not be repaired.
The line has been blocked from London to Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool (amongst others) as a result of the late completion of engineering works at Rugby by Network Rail. This is not the only delay effecting travellers in and out of London, however, as Liverpool Street Station, from which 60,000 commuters a day take trains to East Anglia, Essex and many of the capital’s suburbs, has been closed for much of the day due to Northwest Rail failing to complete the installation of new overhead cables.
Though these disruptions should be resolved in a matter of days, this will not bring an end to the havoc being caused for train passengers, as the Office of Rail Regulation has announced an inquiry into the events of the last few days. Furthermore, recent forecasts have warned those in the south east to expect heavy snow falls which, given previous occurrences of such weather, is most probably set to throw even more train services into disarray.
Train Prices Increase Again!
2 January 2008
Train fares across the country are on the increase, as of the start of the New Year, forcing commuters to pay even more extortionate prices than usual in order to get to work. South west London train prices have risen by an average of 4.8%, with companies such as South West Southern and First Capital Connect putting their prices up by 0.6% more than inflation.
The trend continues across South east London networks, with Southeastern’s average prices on regulated fares, such as season tickets and standard returns, having increased by 6.8%, whilst those on unregulated fares, such as cheap day returns, rise by an average 4.8%. Some fares from Kent have gone up today by a staggering 14.5%, with those travelling from Hayes to London seeing the steepest rise on weekly season tickets.
George Muir, the director of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has defended the move by explaining that fare revenues help to pay for “investment that directly benefits passengers.” However, Muir’s confidence is not shared by the large number of angry commuters who think that prices are already too high. Such a viewpoint is supported by Norman Baker MP, the Liberal Democrat’s transport spokesman, who has condemned the “massive fare hikes and overcrowding” facing British commuters, explaining that “we already have the most expensive rail fares in Europe, with rail travellers facing further inflation-busting price rises.”
Furthermore, Baker has stated that “the cost of motoring has actually fallen” under the Labour government “while the cost of using trains has gone through the roof.” Such assertions further emphasise the benefits of driving into London as opposed to using alternative commuter transport.
MORE STRIKES CAUSE CHAOS FOR COMMUTERS
9 November 2007
Today, train drivers on Silverlink services will partake in the third strike, in as many weeks, following a bitter row over pensions. The continuation of the six planned walkouts has led to turmoil at stations across South West Hertfordshire, forcing thousands of commuters to find alternative ways of getting to work. Whilst services running from Watford Junction, Bushey, Kings Langely and Watford High St stations have been reduced, a number of other trains have, in fact, been cancelled altogether.
ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, have blamed Silverlink for the row, asserting that the company has “failed to react to a clear message from 90 percent of its staff”. Moreover, the firm has refused to refer the matter to an independent arbitrator, further prolonging a resolution to the problem.
Though a Silverlink statement has been issued to apologise to customers for the “obvious inconvenience” which has been caused, this is simply another example in a string of episodes demonstrating the increasing unreliability of commuter transport.
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Tube Strikes Imminent
21 August 2007
It has been reported that Workers at collapsed Tube contractor Metronet have voted to strike. Metronet workers voted overwhelmingly by a total of 1,369 to 70 to strike in the unions votes.
The unions said the failure of the company’s administrators to provide guarantees that there will be no job losses or forced transfers as a result of the company’s financial collapse led to the strike votes.
The Rail, Maritime & Transport (RMT) union, the Transport & Salaried Staff Association (TSSA) and Unite said nearly 3,000 of their members have voted by massive margins for strike action to defend jobs and conditions after the contractor went into administration in July.RMT and TSSA members also voted to strike over the failure to guarantee no cuts in pension entitlements.
Metronet applied for administration after running out of cash to fund its Sub-Surface Lines and Bakerloo, Central & Victoria lines contracts.
The consortium had faced severe criticism for delays in upgrading stations and overrunning engineering work.
This will be seen as another problem to add to a long list for the average London underground commuter, as a strike could leave thousands once again stranded by the unreliability that goes hand in hand with traveling on the tube these days.
For the full story http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2007/08/20/afx4035582.html
