didds wrote:stevensfo wrote: Is there any reason why the train company couldn't attach a few more carriages?
So GWR etc clearly don't actually GAF. They've got your money by this stage I guess. No need to think and stick another couple of carriages on. Just leave the passengers to suck it up.
Almost all modern trains aren't dumb "carriages", they are smart, permanently coupled multiple units. But they can be stuck together and operated in tandem by a single driver. So in theory they could add an extra "train" on the back of the existing one. Provided it would fit in all the platforms along the route. Which someone would have to confirm for safety reasons. It can't just be done ad-hoc.
But the biggest problem is reliability. Old trains used to be very unreliable, so they had loads of spares. Modern trains are so reliable they don't need spares. So they don't have any! Even if they had planners for special events (they don't) they wouldn't have spare trains to use anyway. Especially on a Saturday which is peak travel day for most local & suburban routes.
If you want the railcos to hold this "spare" capacity, then someone is going to have to pay for it. And there is far more pressure to put any available surplus capacity onto the regularly overcrowded commuter routes, of which there are plenty.
Gryff