|
My local service is currently run by Greater Anglia, who took over from National Express East Anglia earlier this year. Comically, I saw absolutely no signs/advertisements/whatever that this change was happening. In fact, despite NEEA being terribly incompetent, last year they introduced new rolling stock, gave (most of) the existing trains a fresh lick of paint and implemented a new timetable that is more or less not a disaster. Greater Anglia have upheld the fine tradition of NEEA by ensuring that if there are delays/cancellations, it's trains to Stansted or Cambridge that will be the least affected. Literally, they'll cancel a train (my train  ) if it's running late enough that it'll delay a Stansted Express (priority service) or a Cambridge train. My station gets trains every 30 minutes, but God forbid those people get inconvenienced.On top of that, they still have a number of trains that are amongst the oldest in the country; so old that they don't actually have septic tanks on board. As in, every time someone flushes the toilet, the track gets decorated (as do any engineers working trackside - there are often engineers working trackside). Bozza talked about Revenue Protection Officers, but the ones on my line are terrible - they camp at station exits rather than getting onto the train, so in the morning, people just get off at a different station - in the afternoon, they call in the Police to back them up but they can't actually chase anyone who runs for it because that means they can't then stop other people getting through. Talking about weird infrastructure, the line that's run by First Capital Connect that goes from Moorgate to Alexandra Palace (and beyond) is, I'm told, unique in that it uses both overhead power lines and a third rail. The overhead for most of the line, the third rail for the section from Drayton Park to Moorgate, where the line goes underground. If you sit on the train at Drayton Park, you'll notice the train powering down briefly as the overhead connector (thingy) retracts and the third rail connector (thingy) extends. The weirdness is one of the reasons the rolling stock is poo poo, because I guess it'd cost quite a lot to design a train just for one freaky line.
|
#
¿
May 7, 2012 15:56
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 03:05 |
|
|
The time I saw a freight train go through Oxford Circus Underground Station was a bit of a 
|
|
#
¿
May 7, 2012 20:57
|
|
|
Freezer posted:So how come airlines (specially the budget ones) have manage to reduce their costs so much below Rail travel? Or is it just Rail's costs that are bloated? I suspect that a lot of it is that there is competition for airlines that doesn't exist with the rail network. Wikipedia tells me that 5 companies run flights from Edinburgh to a London airport, so they need to fill a niche to get customers and for the 'budget' airlines, that will mean fighting over the lowest fares. This is not the case with trains.
|
|
#
¿
May 8, 2012 06:53
|
|
|
I had to go into university for an exam today. My train was cancelled, then an express train whizzed past, then the next train (4 coaches - half the length of the one that was cancelled) showed up, absolutely rammed full of passengers from the other 4 stations my train stops at. Thankfully, conditions on the train were so unutterably awful that one unfortunate young woman had to push through the peoplejam to get to the open door where she promptly spewed all over the platform, sending every potential passenger except me dashing away (I got splashed by lovely orange/pink spots). She was persuaded to leave the train, leaving just enough space for me to squeeze myself into so small a gap I literally could only move my right hand for the next 10 minutes. Also, despite it being about 30 degrees with everyone crammed in, the heating was still on. Greater Anglia:  That counts as Trainchat, right?
|
|
#
¿
May 8, 2012 15:19
|
|
|
Spotted this on the BBC News website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18644343 Short video piece about 'ghost' or 'parliamentary' trains that run once or maybe twice a week, only because it's cheaper than the whole procedure of shutting a line down. Well worth a watch, if only for "Nobody got on, nobody got off, just me on the train".
|
|
#
¿
Jul 4, 2012 18:49
|
|
|
goddamnedtwisto posted:Actually on that - am I the only one to be really impressed with the Overground? I know in a lot of places it's effectively just a rebrand of a load of existing suburban services and is a bit of a lashup on the technical side, but it's a great example of how a unitary (and public) system can vastly increase the utility of a fragmented and underused system. Absolutely. I remember getting a train from Richmond to South Tottenham over a decade ago. The train itself had clearly seen a great many better days, it was late getting to my stop and progressively later as it crawled along the track, mostly full to capacity on a really warm day. Not pleasant. I don't get the Overground much these days, but to go from that to air-conditioned, walk-through coaches is impressive.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 5, 2012 16:44
|
|
|
Zero Gravitas posted:I cant imagine what it was like for people going all the way but standing for three hours plymouth-birmingham is a memory that will never fade for all the wrong reasons. I got a Virgin train from Birmingham to Durham once. Well, I say to Durham... What happened was there were gale-force winds that started blowing the roof off York station, leaving only two platforms usable, so the trains had to queue up to enter the station, where staff would escort passengers off the train and then on to the train. (Because if a piece of roof is about to land on your head, having a member of staff next to you helps how?) And then, two hours late as we were, the powers that be decided that the train wouldn't carry on it's full journey to Edinburgh and would in fact terminate early, at Darlington. Which meant yet another wait, this time at a freezing cold train station, for the next train to arrive. I think I ended up arriving 3 hours late. The trains were pretty packed that day.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 15, 2012 11:00
|
|
|
Venmoch posted:That said I do wonder quite how a small operation like C2C can afford to keep someone in the ticket office till 20:00 on a weekday and someone like Greater Anglia can't. Because Greater Anglia are stingy as gently caress? Earlier this summer, I was splattered with puke while trying to get on a train in the morning. 3 days later, the remains of the vibrantly-coloured stomach sauce was still clearly visible on the platform.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 7, 2012 00:37
|
|
|
Hezzy posted:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2211647/Moment-dozy-freight-train-driver-took-quick-snooze-wheel-caught-camera.html I'm guessing freight trains have a similar sort of dead-man's switch that passenger trains have, right? I sometimes hear passengers - usually kids - asking about the 'ringing sound' when I'm sat at the front of the first carriage, but I'm too much of a miserable gently caress to bother explaining it.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 2, 2012 21:45
|
|
|
I love the bit about freezing the ground with liquid nitrogen during a heatwave because it was so wet. Also, the narrative is amusingly fruity in places: "Men with muscles and buttocks of cast iron." 
|
|
#
¿
Jan 7, 2013 11:26
|
|
|
A woman from Greater Anglia jumped aboard the train while it was sat at the terminus and asked if I could complete a quick survey. I agreed, since I wasn't going anywhere soon. One of the questions was: "Would you recommend this train company to any of your friends who were thinking about travelling?" Rather than what? Walking?
|
|
#
¿
Jan 23, 2013 18:23
|
|
|
My local bus stop is one stop away from the terminus, so you can imagine how irritating it gets when I watch two or three buses heading towards the terminus without any sign of a bus coming in the opposite direction. It's irritating, but the drivers are entitled to a break between journeys. The solution to this problem is to leave my home a bit earlier.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 17, 2013 02:00
|
|
|
I've noticed a trend with off-peak trains on my local line leaving my station early. We're only talking 2-3 minutes, but given that it's a suburban line and people who use it often might know exactly how long it takes to walk there from their home, it's a bit irritating when I have to sprint to catch a train I should have been a minute or so early for. (Also, there's only one train every 30 minutes, so missing one because it was early makes the wait particularly grating.)
|
|
#
¿
Mar 20, 2013 23:22
|
|
|
Jonnty posted:That's a bit weird - it sounds like a silly question but are you sure your clock's right? Also, some stations have a rule where trains can shut anywhere between 30 seconds - 2 minutes before departure to allow them to close the doors etc. It's a bit silly, but is yours one of these? I tend to set my clock by the time on the station departure board, to try to avoid this sort of situation. I made a point yesterday of looking at the departure board as I got on the train and it was very clearly two and a half minutes before scheduled departure time. The doors closed about 30 seconds later and the train left immediately.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2013 07:27
|
|
|
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad posted:Yes, this is the one joy of Greater Anglia. If you can find a seat that's not falling apart or where the cushion is still attached to the rest of the seat, sure. Also, back on the 'leaving early' front; happened again at the weekend. The train pulled away from the station at least 2 minutes before the Departure Board's listed time. No signs to say it will happen, and it only seems to occur during off-peak times. (The Departure Boards usually look a bit better than this random photo shows. Overwhelming smell of fresh bread also not pictured.) 
|
|
#
¿
Mar 26, 2013 15:15
|
|
|
This morning, in the 8 minutes it took between my checking the Greater Anglia website to see if my train was running on time (it was) and walking to the station, my train was cancelled. 3 stops and 14 minutes up the line. I don't mind trains getting cancelled if there's a genuine reason for it (debris on the line, a broken-down train), but if other trains are happily speeding down the line, there is no problem. I'm convinced it's a financial decision where cancelling a train results in a smaller fine than having subsequent services run late. I dunno, a combination of there only being a train every 30 minutes and the loving Stansted Express being a priority service means my station is pretty low on the priority list. And, having glanced at the Office of Rail Regulation's reports, it looks like the West Anglia route performance statistics are noticeably lower when Stansted Express services aren't counted.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 25, 2013 23:39
|
|
|
All Too Much For Me posted:You might have better luck with http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/. It uses some other data source that apparently the TOCs don't bother displaying. Thanks for this.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 28, 2013 10:22
|
|
|
So it looks like the Crossrail 2 consultation has started. I'll admit, I'm curious. Are there really that many people who travel between South-West and North-East London to make this worthwhile? The Metro plan looks reasonably inoffensive, but I do wonder whether the people of Chelsea are really all that desperate for a rail station. The Regional plan can gently caress right off, though, unless they plan on building new track along the West Anglia route. There's barely time to fart between trains as it is.
|
|
#
¿
May 15, 2013 12:15
|
|
|
Brovine posted:Bozza/others: Any idea what particular work they've been doing on the West Anglia the last few weekends? Cheshunt-Tottenham-Stratford/Liverpool Street seems to be closed most weekends at the moment. Just maintenance, or something else? It looks like 'maintenance' for the weekend coming on West Anglia, with 'track renewal' scheduled for the weekend of the 1st/2nd June, while Overhead Lines are the thing this weekend from Stratford-Liverpool St. http://www.greateranglia.co.uk/travel-information/journey-planning/service-alterations
|
|
#
¿
May 21, 2013 13:17
|
|
|
Brovine posted:I'm curious how the partial handover of local West Anglia services to TFL is going to end up. As I understand it, the current plan is to hand the entire Seven Sisters route plus the Chingford route over to TFL. How's that going to work out for engineering work on the Tottenham Hale route? I'm intrigued by this as well. The Tottenham Hale branch is part of one of the Crossrail 2 options, so there could be major work on that line. And even if that option isn't chosen, Enfield Council have put in a request for the line to be upgraded, which would mean major work on the line.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2013 21:39
|
|
|
Brovine posted:Getting the slower trains out the way of semi-fasts from Stortford and points north sounds like a good idea to me. Given how much stuff is right next to the railway most of the way, the easiest (cheapest?) option would be to expand Brimsdown or Ponders End stations to 4 tracks. Those stations aren't far off halfway between Broxbourne (which already has 4 tracks) and Tottenham Hale, where every train stops anyway. So suburban services could stop and wait there while a fast train goes through.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2013 23:45
|
|
|
Brovine posted:Anyone know the nature of the overhead wire problems between Broxbourne and Cheshunt today? The line was closed for most of nine hours with followon cancellations even this late in the day. Not sure, but National Rail puts the 'start' time at 6:00 and there were a bunch of thunderstorms rolling around then, so maybe a lightning strike? That's what's causing problems in the Bury St Edmonds area this evening.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 2, 2013 20:49
|
|
|
Brovine posted:There's... seven? eight? Something like that, between Stortford and Tottenham Hale which I get the satisfaction from every day. Not counting all the occupation crossings. There are seven between Broxbourne and Tottenham Hale alone, and that stretch gets 9 trains each way per hour off-peak. I think my dad's record is 13 minutes waiting to cross.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 4, 2013 20:29
|
|
|
goddamnedtwisto posted:(Mind you i did wonder how many people on that train, especially those cramming on at Bank, were actually going much further than I was - when I did used to commute by tube the CL trains were normally empty by Holborn, the majority o those people could have had a pleasant 20 minute stroll down to St Pauls rather than death by armpit - I knew it was only a half hour walk to where I was going so that's what i did. Harry Beck's map has seriously skewed a lot of people's perception of London's geography badly, I'm sure most non-natives would be astonished to find out how close together, say, Aldgate, Liverpool Street, Moorgate and Bank stations are. Maybe the solution to London's transport problems is just to return to the old geographic Tube maps...) The issue, I think, is that most people don't want to spend any longer on their commute than they absolutely have to. Walking between stations can be pretty quick, but as long as there aren't any delays, it's still quicker to get the Tube than it is to walk. However, since my train is only once every 30 minutes, if there's no realistic chance of getting it, I'll happily have a walk.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2013 09:23
|
|
|
My train home this evening had, in the first carriage, one set of doors that could only be opened from the outside and another set of doors that couldn't be opened at all. Of course, both sets opened just fine on the (other) side that everyone got on the train at the terminus. Greater Anglia 
|
|
#
¿
Nov 19, 2013 19:28
|
|
|
Three times this week, I've got to Liverpool Street to find my train cancelled. Tonight, they were in "You plebs can wait" mode. So that's waiting an hour. At 10:15pm. On a Friday night. For a commuter service. gently caress you Greater Anglia. gently caress you very much. [fake edit] The reason tonight was 'Train staff unavailable'. So they're doing a poo poo job, basically.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 14, 2013 00:55
|
|
|
Overhead power lines problems on the Liverpool Street - Cambridge line this evening. So, cancellations and delays, which is understandable. Also, lots of effort to make sure pissed-up Hammers fans could get to White Hart Lane; which is again understandable. I'm not entirely sure why, though, when Greater Anglia were cancelling some services to unaffected parts of the network, they still had a couple of 379s sitting at platforms, apparently unassigned. It's not like they'll be going anywhere near Cambridge or Stansted Airport this evening. 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 18, 2013 23:43
|
|
|
I woke up early and checked the trains - none running. Fine, TfL gives me a route to work that takes longer, but Greater Anglia have an update at 7am. Check after 7 and now there are some trains running - some are cancelled but again, I can still get to work. So now I don't need to get the bus, I can browse Bandcamp for a bit. Wrong, they've now re-cancelled the train. Literally, in the last 30 minutes, they've cancelled it for 'Poor Weather Conditions'. It's not even raining. Just tell me one way or the other, you useless loving shits. £5 says they don't have enough staff and they're using the storm as an excuse.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 24, 2013 08:46
|
|
|
I work in a profession that is over 97% female, where most staff are typically 25-45 years old. As a result, there are always people on maternity leave. Here's the thing, though: they try to work space into the budget to account for this so that they can hire temporary staff as cover.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2013 08:05
|
|
|
Lofty132 posted:Do you think ASLEF and RMT will allow temporary cover of their member's jobs? Why wouldn't they? The member's job is kept safe until they return.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 30, 2013 21:01
|
|
|
KennyTheFish posted:As a tourist landing in London in august and heading to Carlisle that day, what would be the best way for me to get a ticket? You can book tickets 13 weeks in advance, either through the train operator's website - Virgin Trains, in this case - or from an intermediary website like The Trainline. Trains go from London Euston station. Nb: Depending on your flight time, it might be quicker to get a connecting flight to Glasgow Airport and take a train from there. Possibly cheaper, too. It's definitely worth being aware that the cheapest train tickets are almost invariably the ones that require you to get a specific train and won't let you board a different service if you miss it. If I was you, I'd probably go for the connecting flight; if your inbound flight is late arriving, the airline will probably try to fit you on the next connecting flight (and it's Glasgow, so I'd imagine there'd be space) and a turn-up-on-the-day off-peak single from Glasgow to Carlisle (£23) is a gently caress-load cheaper than a similar ticket from London to Carlisle (£110).
|
|
#
¿
Mar 25, 2014 08:16
|
|
|
Interestingly, during peak times, AbellioGreaterAnglia have staff at the gates at Liverpool Street Station so people can buy a ticket when they arrive in London. I guess that's a combination of some stations being unmanned and there usually being no space on the train if they wanted to put a guard/RPI person on-board.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 26, 2014 07:52
|
|
|
tentish klown posted:Oh gently caress that. I'm moving to London Bridge in Sept and work in Farringdon, and was going to take the Thameslink to work. Now I'm forced to take my life into my own hands and cycle. You couldn't just walk? It'd take 25 minutes, tops.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2014 22:30
|
|
|
I'm not going to claim that fare evasion is the preserve of those who can afford the penalty fare - just watch the people who quickly jump back on a train when they see Revenue Protection Officers at their station - but it does continue to lend credence to Pratchett's joke about 'the rich being rich because they can afford to not spend any money'.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 21, 2014 12:04
|
|
|
Cerv posted:TfL have used the bizarre phrase "visual pollution" to reject trolley buses because of the overhead wires. Which is odd given that literally no-one else in a position of planning authority in London gives the slightest poo poo about 'visual pollution'.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 3, 2014 17:02
|
|
|
Well, I didn't know train faults could be selective
|
|
#
¿
Oct 13, 2014 07:59
|
|
|
Having spent over 2 years making occasional trips back and forth between London and Aberystwyth, gently caress delay minutes. Euston --> Wolverhampton service is late by a few minutes? Lol, hope you enjoy sprinting between platforms and then waiting 2 hours because you just missed your connection.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 14, 2015 07:39
|
|
|
Enfield Gazette & Advertiser posted:A train boss admitted he "almost missed" his stop on the way to a packed public meeting about rail services because the platform at the Enfield station he was travelling to was so badly lit he could barely make out its signage.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2015 18:53
|
|
|
Ebola Dog posted:Speaking of level crossings they are doing a bunch of work on the rail line near me including improving the level crossings and putting in full barriers. Apart from on the first crossing they were doing they got the wrong sized barriers so a month later they haven't actually managed to put new ones on yet. At my local crossing, they've had a Network Rail van 'observing' a few times in the last couple of years. There have been a couple of fatalities in the last few years that I can remember, but I'm reasonably sure that these are people who've gone into the station to cross the tracks (rather than use the subway). That said, there are delays from vehicles hitting the barriers every so often - and at the next station up the line - so if they do get rid of the crossing, I imagine they'll save some money from that.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 20, 2015 07:37
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 10, 2024 03:05 |
|
|
Does anyone know what it is about the 379s that makes my nose go mental the moment I step onboard one of them? It only seems to happen once my hayfever has kicked in for the year, but goddamn is it annoying (for me, and anyone sitting/standing near me).
|
|
#
¿
Apr 15, 2015 04:14
|
|