Kent & East Sussex Railway

Only if you're being completely bloody obtuse.

 

Well that is entirely subjective. That £35 bought you a roughly 22 mile round trip on a steam hauled service (for comparison, a railway near me charges £15/adult for a roughly 10 mile round trip with similar traction on a normal operating day, so not far off a similar rate really) plus the chance to enjoy all the other themed entertainment/demonstrations and the general atmosphere. As much as I’m a history buff, I’d rather go on the KESR. Others would disagree and that is their right to do so.

 

Such as?

 

If you had read the statement correctly, you would have realised that no-one suggested you had, and neither was that comment aimed at you, or anything you had said.

 

I'm sorry, but which part of what I said was unreasonable? All attractions have the right to set a price for special events that reflect the cost to them of staging the event. It is the right of the potential customer to not pay that price if they feel it is excessive. Maunsell Man's original point was that this event wouldn't have cost the KESR any extra money to stage. Well, it did, hence the ticket price. My point about turning up at a railway and offering them less than the stated fare applies to all railways, and non railway attractions as well. To use Maunsell Man's own example, try turning up at the Tower of London, telling them that you think that the entrance price is excessive, and it should be £X. I think you'll find that they know their business a lot better than you do, and will know what it costs to keep it open for the likes of us to visit.

Lastly, though I may state facts as obtained from the railway, none of my views are the official view of the railway, any more than Maunsell Man's are for the Tower of London....

 

Pricing will always be subjective; for me, I'd rather spend my £35 on a day of trains, hopping on and off and exploring walks and other things in the local area because I'm well aware that running and maintaining everything here is an expensive task and ever increasingly more so - and if there's an event on then even better as I'll stick around the railway and use the in-house amenities more. I find it a little sad that some of those people attending as part of the event in question here are written of as 'middle aged fat blokes in fake costume' (if someone isn't being paid, can you rightfully expect them to have all bells and whistles to look the part?) but that again I suppose comes down to personal perception - are you seeing something you personally feel is worth the asking price?

I suspect the KESR priced at what they felt they could comfortably earn a worthwhile return on based on expected passenger figures.

Interesting that by comparison, the Bluebell was getting flack for charging £41 for its branch line gala adult rate tickets, where there were seven locomotives in steam (three of which had been hired in) and all burning coal and needing oils at costly rates. I personally still perceived that as good value; I've been to some galas recently that have charged similar for less locomotives and a fairly standard timetable.

 

I have seen more than one person arguing that as the number of locos goes up the fares should come down, on the basis more locos equals more passengers.
Not sure what economic world they inhabit.

 

Your attitude, considering you are believed to be an employee or volunteer of the K&ESR.
You gave the impression of being in the right and Maunsell man being in the wrong although he was a potential paying customer and as such less likely to consider the lines attraction in future. Good relations can cost a lot of money to achieve with your public but from a personal viewpoint will cost you little.
Bad publicity, as we have witnessed here, can do considerable damage . Fortunately, given the good nature of most railway enthusiasts, it is not as damaging as some other businesses have found to their cost.

 

Whoa, hang on. Maunsell Man, rather than contacting the KESR to voice his opinions, decided to air it here instead. If he had contacted the railway, that might have been constructive. Here, it was little more than venting. He is entitled to his opinion, but it is how he presents it that rankles. His attitude put the hackles up, and it got what it deserved, frankly. I am not, nor have I ever been, an employee of the KESR. I am, however, a long-standing volunteer, who takes exception to MM's assertion that the only things to do were ".... travel behind an Austerity in a MK1 coach and look at a load of mouldy green tents!" Had he gone onto the site proper, and travelled to Bodiam, he would have found this out. Instead, he chooses to give his assessment of the event that he didn't even enter. His comment of "Unsurprisingly the trains I saw go past the level crossing didn't appear to be overflowing with punters" is not presented as an opinion, but as fact. Whether the trains were full or not is irrelevant. It is his assertion that this was hardly surprising that is both ill-informed and frankly rude. I have commented that these trains are usually the ones used by passengers who want to go on to Bodiam Castle, and the first two return trips of the day often come back a lot more empty than they left. Likewise I have commented that cheaper tickets were available in advance. It seems that every time I advise him of the actual position, which is against his assessment, he simply moves on to another attack from a different angle. He has also seen fit to comment on a couple of occasions that he did not make comments that I have not ascribed to him in the first place.

You mention good public relations. Well, I am sorry to say that public relations tend to be a two way street. You tend to receive service based on how you approach the organisation in the first place. Had MM contacted the railway, and given his opinions rationally and without reference to mouldy items, I dare say our office team would have done their absolute best to calm his fevered brow. However, launching an attack on here is the equivalent of shouting in the street outside. It does no-one any good, except that you might get a bit of attention from other people who are equally aggrieved about some other, usually unrelated, issue.

There is a right and a wrong way to do anything. Both MM and you are convinced that I have approached this in the wrong way. There are others on this stream who have agreed with my comments, even asking you what is wrong with what I have said. I am equally of the opinion that MM went about this in the wrong way. I doubt we will ever agree, and to be frank, that doesn't bother me. What bothers me is making sure that the passengers and customers who DO pay to attend our events have the best time that they possibly can.

 

Meanwhile, for those taking notes, a video has just appeared of Knowle moving around Rolvenden yard under it's own power.

 

Also see Knowle has joined 25, Swiftsure, Hastings and the U for the 50th Anniversary line up

 

But interestingly no mention of 31065 or 76017 which seems a little strange to me.

Andrew

 

65 is no longer going. Not sure about 76017 though

 

Maybe we should compare and contrast when it comes to how “disappointed” customers are dealt with. On this thread we have Fireline who seems to want to roll up his sleeves and have a fight.
Move up the road a few miles to the Spa Valley and a very different approach. (I am of course referring to posts 1390, 1391 and 1392 on the Spa Valley thread). @Jonnie goes to great lengths to explain the railways position and is almost apologetic for the visitor’s disappointment. No hint of aggression at all. I’m sure that his response will result in the ‘complaint’ visiting the Spa Valley in the future. Certainly not the case with the KESR visitor.
I think that next time I venture eastwards I’ll spend my money at the Spa Valley.

 

Opinions are funny things. I have seen no aggression other than from the original poster that kicked this sub debate off.
Maybe I spent too much of my working life in aggressive negotiations and contract management to be so touchy.

 

Ben, I do hope that 32678 aka Knowle, will be shown on the event timetable as to it's operations. On a short 2 0r 3 car train of SR green coaches chimney first would be wonderful, or even just light engine would do so I can take an ok photo or two of it in steam.

Any consist that I could sit in would also enable me to make up for what I didn't do in September 1962 and that is to time a run behind it!

Bryan B

 

I have not seen anywhere that Fireline speaks on behalf of the KESR*, so knocking the KESR as providing 'hostile' responses is deeply unfair. You cannot judge a railway organisation on the basis of one person's opinion, especially when it is not in any official capacity.

*Whether you agree with Fireline's assertion or not.

 

While you are there, perhaps also contrast the approach of the two OP's. The one on the Spa thread expressed their disappointment at not being allowed to enter an event. They made no disparaging comments about the event, or the organisation.

 

Well the travelling public on heritage lines, in general, rarely make the distinction of staff and volunteers, they know there are volunteers and probably some paid staff, but it rarely concerns them. However a visit to somewhere which does not go well usually leaves a bad feeling and often results in unwelcome publicity. That is evidenced here.