Albert Tatlock Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Someone jumping on the bandwagon. Has he referenced the existing petition? If not, won't this just dilute the main petition? Could anyone a member of Facebook have a look? - I'm not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ean Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Yeah he's referenced the current petition. Strangely enough i think the facebook group was set up before Ama's petition, He has a post on their wall from the 18th of October which means he started the group the minute they produced their new timetable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uni Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Thank you Amadeus : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/isle_of_man/7094640.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Thank you Amadeus : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/isle_of_man/7094640.stm Bravo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mission Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Well done Amadeus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moghrey Mie Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 I thought we'd been over this before.The football supporters/day trippers are the ones most directly effected by the timetable but this is just a symptom of the bigger issue i.e. A monoply that isn't serving the Island the way it should. Just look at TT this year. The Centenary, massive advertising for two years before hand. Lots and lots of advance bookings - yet somehow it still took the IOMSP by surprize. Re-jigged booking, cancellations, changes of port etc; you know the story. Why? - because this essential service is being run on a shoestring (to maximise profit), with no spare capacity or contingency Why ? - because they can. With no competition the IOMSP can do what they like, its "take it or leave it", you want to travel by sea then its on our terms and our prices - hardly the stuff of "Freedom to Flourish"! MacQuarie Group are an aggressive world-wide outfit. Now why would they want a ferry that has no competitor????? To make money.That's why. They also like toll roads. www.macquarie.com.au Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 I think some of the comments on the latest iomtoday article sum it up quite ok: http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/Steam-Packe...9day.3484556.jp Too little, too late. Pressure was mounting and a response had to be formed - the new "day trip" being that. Not gonna knock it completely - at least it's a reduction in price, which is better than nothing - but it's also still the same time table with a bit of spin attached - not ideal or good in terms of service and no real change. As mentioned before - can't blame the steamy and the aussies for trying to make money - they're a commercial enterprise. Can and should blame the government for letting it come to this and not being assertive enough when it comes to ensuring that adequate service levels are maintained. The nature of this operation means that inevitably some sailings will not be profitable but simply have to be maintained to justify the so proudly used "Lifeline" tag. Comments such as ‘use it or lose it’ are an understandable commercial response, but inadequate and misplaced given the unique setting the company operates in, the responsibilities it carries, and the trust placed in it by everyone on the island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ans Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Thank you Amadeus : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/isle_of_man/7094640.stm Bravo! Reading the article again, after the comments above, it seems I didn't realise that Liverpool Pier Head was still Birkenhead. I assumed it was the normal Liverpool dock. So yeah, no changes. Bravo withdrawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Yeah he's referenced the current petition. Strangely enough i think the facebook group was set up before Ama's petition, He has a post on their wall from the 18th of October which means he started the group the minute they produced their new timetable. Fair enough then. I think some of the comments on the latest iomtoday article sum it up quite ok: http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/Steam-Packe...9day.3484556.jp Too little, too late. Pressure was mounting and a response had to be formed - the new "day trip" being that. Not gonna knock it completely - at least it's a reduction in price, which is better than nothing - but it's also still the same time table with a bit of spin attached - not ideal or good in terms of service and no real change. As mentioned before - can't blame the steamy and the aussies for trying to make money - they're a commercial enterprise. Can and should blame the government for letting it come to this and not being assertive enough when it comes to ensuring that adequate service levels are maintained. The nature of this operation means that inevitably some sailings will not be profitable but simply have to be maintained to justify the so proudly used "Lifeline" tag. Comments such as ‘use it or lose it’ are an understandable commercial response, but inadequate and misplaced given the unique setting the company operates in, the responsibilities it carries, and the trust placed in it by everyone on the island. Well, the reality is that the only thing that has happended so far is that the SR have responded and put on some additional trips around the xmas/winter period (which I for one am grateful for and will be booking two of in order to watch a couple of football matches around xmas) and others for work reasons. The petition (and comments) have yet to go to the government/OFT - whom the petition is aimed at anyway. Despite what the media have selected to prioritise, the petition is not just about revised ferry timetables, it is also about the level and quality of service and prices (VFM) etc. and calls on the government/OFT to act. It is what the government/OFT do after receipt of the petition that really matters, and to be fair, no formal response should be expected until after they have actually formally received it. That is when the really interesting debate should start to happen, and when they should be expected to take the petition seriously. IMO, we have to be careful here who is being allowed to set the agenda around this petition i.e. the SR/Media suggesting that the petition has already been addressed by new ferry times (conveniently forgetting about three quarters of the issues in the petition - and thus effectively letting the government/OFT off the hook), or the petitioners who have signed/commented on a range of issues (specified in the petition) and expect the government of the island to address all of those issues. I think the real work behind this petition will only begin once it has been submitted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallybug Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Well, the reality is that the only thing that has happended so far is that the SR have responded and put on some additional trips around the xmas/winter period (which I for one am grateful for and will be booking two of in order to watch a couple of football matches around xmas) and others for work reasons. Maybe I've misread it, but there's no new trips - you could always get the 02:15 Ben My Chree back from Heysham on a weekend - they just dropped the afternoon sailing in favour of the return trip to Birkenhead. What they have done is said that the 02:15 sailing from Heysham now counts as part of a day trip, and are offering a free bus from Liverpool to Heysham to get the foot passengers to the ferry, along with a reduced fare. The courtesy bus(es?) and reduced fare are to be welcomed as a step in the right direction, although you'll still be left with a train, bus, taxi or mersey ferry journey to get to the city centre Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Well, the reality is that the only thing that has happended so far is that the SR have responded and put on some additional trips around the xmas/winter period (which I for one am grateful for and will be booking two of in order to watch a couple of football matches around xmas) and others for work reasons. Maybe I've misread it, but there's no new trips - you could always get the 02:15 Ben My Chree back from Heysham on a weekend - they just dropped the afternoon sailing in favour of the return trip to Birkenhead. What they have done is said that the 02:15 sailing from Heysham now counts as part of a day trip, and are offering a free bus from Liverpool to Heysham to get the foot passengers to the ferry, along with a reduced fare. The courtesy bus(es?) and reduced fare are to be welcomed as a step in the right direction, although you'll still be left with a train, bus, taxi or mersey ferry journey to get to the city centre True, but by calling it a day trip there is a saving to be had. They're doing an offer of 4 people and a car for £99, ideally suited to a small group of football supporters or a family/group of xmas shoppers. By the time you take into account: train fares, bus fares/taxis, car hire (plus any associated foot passenger fares), having to eat meals at Heysham or on the boat to suit their times, and the general cocking about involved travelling on their bus from Liverpool to Heysham etc. - it works out far more economic and convenient to take the car, or team up with someone who is doing so. Arriving back on the island around 6:30am also usually requires people to add the expense of a taxi too. I can envisage threads in various footie etc. forums offering car shares over the coming months. Arriving after 12:00pm (plus the time it take to unboard) in Liverpool without a car doesn't give much of an option to get to many matches on time around even the North West, plus is likely to leave you hanging around on foot for around 6 hours after the match, either in a Lancaster or Liverpool pub - as there are suprisingly few trains leaving for Liverpool or Lancaster after 9pm or 10pm, and with the record of various train operators in my experience it is always a dodgy decision to go for the last train. At least with a driver, you will have more choice of places to go (and far more choice of pubs/time if you have a designated driver). E.g. Saturday train from Liverpool to Blackburn 12:55 - gets in at 14:55 (miss it and it's 4pm) Saturday train from Liverpool to Preston 12:57 - gets in 14:00 (miss it and it's 3pm) Saturday train from Liverpool to Bolton 13:00 - gets in at 14:30 (miss it and miss the 13:22 and its 3.05pm) That's just station to station, not including time station from to football ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenDeeWire Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I wonder why Isle of Man Newspapers did not mention the link between Barony and the Steam Packet? Barony Trust were previoulsy a large private shareholder in the Steam Packet Company. Some hitherto unpublished news appeared in the News Bulletin dated November 04 on the Irish Sea Shipping web site. http://www.merseyshipping.co.uk/news/2007/11_2007/112007.htm It appears that a company known as Seaside Shipping has lodged a Petition of Doleance against the Department of Transport, effectively challenging the Steam Packet User Agreement in the Manx Courts. This seems to be a very important step forward, which we should welcome and support, since if successful it takes control away from the Manx Government. Furthermore it introduces competition in the form of a new shipping company and breaks the Steam Packet monopoly. This is confirmed in the CHANCERY PETITIONS 2007 list. The only references to Seaside Shipping that seem to come up are for a dutch registered company of the same name. However, that could be meaningless, because you could pick any name for a company over here not necessarily reflecting the true owners, and getting people digging in all the wrong places. It will be interesting to see how this one pans out. If the petition were to be successful, then possibly other interested party's might start appearing. I see the petition has now hit 1731 signatures. Well now we know who is behind Seaside Shipping Ltd! God luck to him. http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/Steam-Packe...aces.3479287.jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I wonder why Isle of Man Newspapers did not mention the link between Barony and the Steam Packet? Barony Trust were previoulsy a large private shareholder in the Steam Packet Company. I believe this falls under the heading "Manx investigative reporting" - presumeably someone forgot to put in the press release Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybs Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I would like to know what "sand" Transport Minister Anderson has his head buried in with the statement made about the Steam Packet, does the strength of feeling being expressed by so many not mean anything to him? - are are we supposed to just now go away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fartypants Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Maybe if a letter very carefully worded was published on this site that people could download, print off, sign and send to their MHK something more might get done. I'm afraid I'm not the one to word it well, but I know from reading some of your comments on here over the past few weeks, a couple of you would be very good at it. I for one would gladly sign it and send it off. I find pityful fare reductions to drop you off in the middle of knowhere after a 4 hour trip disgusting treatment of a public that has kept this company going for so long. As a couple of you have stated, Mr Anderson seams to live on another planet. "This will be very good for the airlines then won't it?" he was heard to say, OK Mr Anderson, come down to ronaldsway on friday and give me a hand getting my peugeot on the Dash 8, moron. I have traveled away an awful lot over the past three years with motorsport and steadily witnessed the standards drop lower and lower and the prices get higher and ever higher to a point now where we cannot justify travel. What did your MHK say to you when he was looking for your vote last year?, mine and I bet many other said it was going to be a priority of theirs to get the SP standards up as so many had complained. WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Sorry to go on but it's damm anoying when something so important to the Island get the brush off from the government. Just to give you a heads up, wanted to take a car plus my partner and son to the classic car show last weekend. Away friday night back sunday whenever. £275 before fuel rip off was added. Couldn't justify it so didn't go. To be honest £175 would have been too much but £275 takes the p***. Again, sorry to go on, but I'm very upset. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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