Travel back to 1967

I've been loaned a copy of the ABC Rail Guide dated June 1967.  Probably not everyone's idea of a good read, but interesting nonetheless.

Before we get into the train services of the time, let's 'set the scene'...  In 1967 Britain had a Labour Government with Harold Wilson as Prime Minister.  The average salary that year was around £1,380 and inflation was 2.5%.  The average UK house price was £4,000 and a basic Auston Mini (the Mk2 version was launched in 1967) cost £509.

On 1 June the Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and that month the no.1 slot in the charts alternated between Aretha Franklin's Respect and Groovin' by the Young Rascals.

The New Town designation order that resulted in the purchase of 22,000 acres of farmland for what was to become Milton Keynes was passed in January 1967, but that name was then still only associated with a village to the north of Bletchley.  

In June 1967 Bletchley railway station offered passenger services to Cambridge and Oxford as well as London and the north.  The 0714 from Bletchley would get a traveller to Cambridge for 0841. 

The station had been rebuilt in by 1964 with the steam shed that stood on what is now the site of the car park closing the following year, 1965.

So what was the service like to and from Euston in June 1967?   In some respects, not much different to today.   Looking at southbound trains for a fairly typical (now) 0700-0730 and 1740-1810 commute:

Northampton	-	-	0701
Wolverton	-	-	0715
Bletchley arr	-	-	0723
Bletchley dep	0704	0715	0724
Leighton Buzzard	0712	0723	0732
Cheddington	0717	-	-
Tring	0723	0733	-
Berkhamsted	0728	0738	-
Hemel Hempstead	0733	-	0749
Apsley	0736	0745
King's Langley	0740	0749	-
Watford Junction arr	0745	-	-
Watford Junction dep	0746	-	0758
Harrow & Wealdstone	0753	-	0805
Euston	0808	0815	0822
Euston	1742	1755	1805
Harrow & Wealdstone	-	1809	-
Watford Junction arr	1805	-	1825
Watford Junction dep	1806	-	1826
King's Langley	-	1820	-
Apsley	1813	-	-
Henel Hempstead	1816	1825	1834
Berkhamsted	1822	1830	-
Tring	1827	1836	-
Cheddington	-	1841	-
Leighton Buzzard	1838	-	1852
Bletchley arr	1846	1854	1900
Bletchley dep	1847	-	1901
Wolverton	1854	-	1908
Northampton	1908	-	1922

The services are slower (each journey looks to be around ten minutes longer than the equivalent today), but every train calls at Bletchley so there was far more choice than there is today (there are seven trains each way between Bletchley and Euston 0700-0800 and 1700-1800).

In addition to the local services, Bletchley was also a stopping point for express trains coming down from and going up to the north.  There were no such southbound calls during the morning 'rush hour' but someone able to travel during the day could enjoy:

• From Blackpool - Bletchley 1119 Euston 1200
• From Barrow - Bletchley 1304 Euston 1343
• From Carlisle - Bletchley 1319 Euston 1400
• From Blackpool - Bletchley 1519 Euston 1600

There were similar trains southbound in the evening and the equivalent services northbound throughout the day.

The standard one-way fares for the journey were First Class 19/3 (£0.97) or Second Class 12/9 (£0.64).   The return fare would have been double the single.  

The biggest surprise of all in the timetable is the listing of an overnight sleeper services calling at Bletchley:

• From Euston (2125) and Bletchley (2215) to Larbert (0540), Stirling (0550), Gleneagles (0622) and Perth (0640)
• From Stranaer Harbour (2210) and Dumfries (0110) to Bletchley (0649) and Euston (0742)
• From Liverpool Lime Street (0030) to Bletchley (0400) and Euston (0457)

For these services the supplement (on top of the normal fare) was First Class with single berth 45/- (£2.25) or Second Class with double berth 30/- (£1.50).

Finally, the ABC Rail Guide rather quaintly lists the following information for Bletchley:

- 46 3/4 miles from London
- Population 22,110
- Early closing Wednesdays
- Refreshment Room

(The refreshment room stood on what is now platforms 2-3 and was still in operation, serving alcoholic drinks as well as tea, sandwiches and cakes in the late 1980s).

For anyone like me who is interested in the local history of this area and/or the railway I can recommend one website and one book:

• Where the lines meet (the Railway History of Bletchley)
• Bletchley to Rugby: including Newport Pagnell & Northampton by Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith (available from Amazon)

The shop returns?

Is it about to reopen?
The shop at Bletchley
railway station

Is Bletchley about to get its station shop back?  Pucciono's closed the shutters for the last time over the Whitsun bank holiday weekend (see Bletchley Station Shop), so passengers have had to go elsewhere for their newspaper and early morning refreshments... 

BUT

...passing through the station on my way home this evening there was a wonderful sight:

• The shutters were partially open
• There were lights on in the shop behind
• Voices could clearly be heard, and
• By the looks of the furniture and the equipment that was in view, refurbishment is well underway (and dare I say it, maybe even complete?)

People like me who get an early train have had to wait until they reach their destination before they can get a paper (few local shops being open before 7am).  It will be a great day when I can return to reading the sport and news (in that order!) on the 07:00 to London.

  

VDUs: 8/10 for effort

Main displays on platforms 4-5

First off, the new train information VDU screens which have arrived at Bletchley over the last week or two are a huge improvement on the old versions so "well done and thank you to London Midland".   The only place it was previously possible to get visual information for all platforms and following trains was in the station building.  Now we can get that on the platforms themselves.

Platform 1 with VDU.  The
fencing on the left is for the now
unused bay platforms

Another point worth a mention is that we now have station information board coverage for platforms 1 and 2.  These may not be used frequently, but there are occasions when our trains to/from arrive on the fast line so these are a bonus.  

So why did I title this only 8/10 for effort and result?  It's a personal opinion, but I think they could have done even better.

The overbridge

The Bletchley station overbridge

In bad weather or when there is uncertainty about which train is coming onto which platform, people often wait on the overbridge.  So why didn't London Midland put a VDU up there?  Cabling problems can't have been an issue because the new trunking for these displays has been routed over the bridge and down each stairway.


Visibility

Displays looking south along
platforms 4-5 with the shelter
in the background

On the platforms the displays have been placed within 10-20 metres of the overbridge.  On platforms 2-3 this isn't so bad as they are still in line of site wherever you are standing (though you would need very good eyesight to read them).  On platforms 4-5 though, the waiting room/shelter get in the way so the displays are only visible in the middle section of the platform.  This also happens to be the only part of the platform where tannoy announcements can be clearly heard, so if you wait to board a train there then you are pretty well off :-)

The VDUs looking north on
platforms4-5 with the waiting
room in the background

Like a lot of people, I board the train to London from the north end of platform 4.  The nearest VDU has to be 50 metres plus away and is obscured by the waiting room.   The location chosen for these displays was presumably chosen because of the convenience for cabling, but surely it would have been possible to get them closer to the ends of the platform? 

Station building VDU

...and last but by no means least - the VDU in the station building

Didn't someone realise that if they stuck a larger screen up than the one that was there before then it would be lower?  The post-fitting hazard warning sticky tape stuck across the lower edge looks really classy!

Take that as a no then?

Have you ever wondered what happens to the newspapers that are left on the train?  I have, so I figured I'd ask.

Step 1 was to email London Midland to ask the question.  The answer I got referred me to a news article on the LM website from September of last year about the provision of a recycling bin at Birmingham station for passengers to put their papers into (Recycling is on the increase at London Midland).

I emailed London Midland again, this time being a bit more direct.  I asked if the newspapers and plastic bottles collected when trains are cleaned at Euston is recycled or goes to landfill.  The answer I got was that litter and waste is collected in clean sacks at London Euston, and the process is managed by Network Rail.

So the next step was to contact Network Rail to ask them what they do with the newspapers and other recyclable materials that are collected from the London Midland trains at Euston. 

Email sent two weeks ago (31-July).  No response received so far, but given that their Managing waste website page has a link to a station by station graph which quotes a figure of just 4.6% for recycling station waste at Euston in 2009/10, we can probably assume that if they do reply then the answer is going to be along the lines of "we are currently unable to recycle the waste which is collected from London Midland trains". 

What's the betting that Network Rail invite me, and other passengers to take our newspapers off the train to put in a recycling bin elsewhere?   I walk from Euston to my workplace and the first one I pass is more than 15 minutes away...


We should have waste and recycling bins on the platforms at London Euston and other stations.   Bins are back on the streets, so why can't we have them now at our stations too?

Summer sale

"Yay! I have booked my train tickets for London this weekend"

"Excellent! Will cost me just £2.95 return to Redditch on Sat with the @LondonMidland online rail sale!"

"My London Midland 1/2 price sale tckts have arrived £10.80 for the lad and I London returns with Family Railcard. Brilliant"

These are just some of the 'Tweets' that LondonMidland have been forwarding on in their recent postings on Twitter that promote their current half-price off-peak ticket offer (see London Midland - Summer Rail Sale).

So what do we commuters think?  Personally, I'm not sure how I view this. 

I do think it's great that people can travel for less and if they are on off-peak weekend or midweek morning and afternoon/evening trains then it doesn't impact on me.  London Midland get to earn some extra income from people who wouldn't otherwise travel, money which maybe will keep an extra member of staff on their books or fund some service improvements.

I have to admit that another part of me is a bit annoyed that London Midland are prepared to see people travel from Bletchley to Euston and back for £7 while they charge us a year in advance the equivalent of £14+ to do same journey just at a different time.  I guess this is just envy, one of the seven deadly sins...

What do you think?