Forums Forums Enthusiast Forums A - Z Autowirral Car sharing: Join forces with other commuters

You may want to visit wirralcarshare.co.uk

or visit the forum in the Free Forum Section.

If you think you can help, or need to fill a seat
then that forum may help.

The only problem with car sharing is if you are going somewhere, and you need to get back at a different time to the person you go with.

But I think its ideal for going on longer set journeys and also going shopping and things.

Yeah, that does pose a problem Matty.

I know Stuy does it now and again with his colleges which is a long commute for him.

If all else fails - you could use the trusty (pfft) public transport system. Saying that, since being vehicle-less, I've discovered that the trains and the services are a lot better than what they used to be

9am to 5pm ring any bells like 80% of the planet

If i still worked in central Liverpool,
I'm sure there would be someone doing similar hours to me.

Even 1 way is better than no way?
Getting to work on time is the main priority,
getting home and be a when ever

I would feel cheeky asking someone for money for taking them
the shops as it would only be once aweek, and you normally
fine its you one week with your car and then them the next week.

This forum is more for sharing commuting to and from work.

I'm in the odd 20% then I start and 8:30am and finish at 5pm lol

Yeah,the trains arnt too bad at all to be honest. And they are the most eco-friendly means of transport as well.

pmsl you are having a laugh arnt you ?

There are disruptions for the next 6 weeks.

Ive already heard of major problems with the bus replacements
not enough of them and not often enough.

People are getting to work late !!

I used to get a lift one way to work when i was younger
and it saved me a bomb, as the bus was 40mins before i
had to leave in the mornings, but was only 10 mins
agter work so it worked out sweet

True, true.

But at least you know about them and can prepare for them surely?

Yes, bus replacement services are quite often hopeless (but also free most of the time - and they have to pay tunnel fares which I found unusual)

I have to travel all the past Aintree on a monday morning, switching to the Northern line at Moorfields.

What a pain this will be! I s'pose even though I know about it in advance, theres still not much I can do other than suffer the rail replacement buses!

Bummer

Joe why not make a post with your destination as the
subject and see what happens you never know.

I know i would prefer a lift to work, and make my own way back?

Everytime I haved used the trains in the last 8 months they are fine. You are getting at the engineering that is nessescary for the continued SAFETY of passengers using the service, that has to be carried out every few years. If it didnt, you would then be slating Serco and Railtrack for not maintaining and replacing tracks when there is an accident (remember the crash in Cumbria - that was caused by lack of maintenance).

The only time they have scheduled bus replacement services, its on a Sunday, which doesnt affect 90% of these "9 - 5 workers" as you mentioned.

I think you need to have used to trains reguarly before you can slate their service Mark. Me and Joe have both done this due to lack of cars at some time, and nether of us have had problems.

Im not saying there is never problems with the service, there is going to be, they are serving approx 100,000 customers every single day over 75 miles of track.

And there are plenty of problems on the roads as well, what with traffic conjestion, a terrible amount of roadworks lately, rising fuel costs, tunnel tolls,and you were having a pop at the amount of traffic lights on our local roads not too long ago.

Would 3 years be long enough ?

I speak from Experience Matty i'm not making this up.

Well I used to commute to Liverpool (Bootle to be precise - so I used both the Wirral and Northern Lines) and I think in around a year, I had about 2 maybe 3 problems. Which isnt bad considering (the worst time of year imho was always coming home on a Thursdays when its Xmas shopping time, it was hurrendous the amount of people using the trains).

I just think, that whilst car sharing is a great idea, and I think people should make use of it where they can, the trains are also an option for people to consider. Especially in situations where they can be taken to a place as part of a car share idea, but not get back and therfore have to rely on public transport.

Theres no doubting that trains (and public transport in general) is far more eco-friendly then using a car, its worth including it as an option for people looking to help the enviroment and save money (the train to Liverpool is well cheaper then the car when you conside tunnel fee's).

In the past 4 months I've been using trains, they have been very reliable, running often and on time (spot on if not earlier than the boards say).

Only twice have I experienced any problems - The first being in rush hour when a train couldn't go on due to a fault on the train, so everyone had to disembark at Birkenhead North station, but the next available train came along in less than 2 minutes. Wasn't much of a problem other than there were a lot of people on the platform.

The other time was when there was a fire on the loop line and everyone had to disembark at james street and make their own way to moorfields (a 2 min walk around the corner)

The only other expereinces are maintenance delays at weekends where the trains have had to end at Birkenhead North and Bus replacements to Liverpool were put on.

But maintenance is expected, and I'd prefer it to be at weekends.

3 Years ago, the trains on Merseyside were next to useless. Major delays, crap trains (scruffy, vandalised, borken doors e.t.c), "maintenance" every other day and fewer stations (I remember the times when Conway park was just a massive car park and Brunswick station didn't exist). So a lot has improved.

Some days, I'd prefer to get the train instead of using the car as it's less hassle with conjestion, cheaper and sometimes easier.

You've made some excellent points there Joe mate. Sometimes it just nicer and more relaxing to get the train then battle the rush hour traffic.

Id rather they spend 6 weeks sorting out safety concerns by replacing tracks and signalling, especially with the Cumbria crash still in our recent memories, then them to leave it and there be a derailment resulting in injries or even worse, fatalities.