10.57am East Coast Service packed

[hoffers]

My wife, daughter and grandson had booked advance tickets/reservations on the 10.57am service from York to London Kings X today and arriving nearly 20 minutes late the train was packed and it took at least 5 minutes just to get a foot onboard, it was standing throughout and even though reservation tickets were on seats the usual muppets still sit in them.
A Network Rail guy suggested the next train would be a lot quieter and marked their tickets to allow passage on next train.
Train arrives and same again but they got on this time and stood all the way to Peterborough.
It's just so wrong! A busy week like half-term just doesn't creep up, the dates are known months in advance yet these so called respected railway companies get away with running the same service and passengers have to stand for all or part of a long journey.
Turns out the previous train had been cancelled. Priceless!! The first day of half-term.
Moan over . . .

 

[Zoidberg]

I have to keep saying to myself when in those sorts of situations "they are not doing this on purpose, they are not doing this on purpose, they are not doing this on purpose", in the hope that I can convince myself that they are not doing it on purpose.

 

[jopsuk]

If the previous service hadn't been cancelled it is likely it wouldn't have been half as bad

 

[Qwerty133]

My wife, daughter and grandson had booked advance tickets/reservations on the 10.57am service from York to London Kings X today and arriving nearly 20 minutes late the train was packed and it took at least 5 minutes just to get a foot onboard, it was standing throughout and even though reservation tickets were on seats the usual muppets still sit in them.
A Network Rail guy suggested the next train would be a lot quieter and marked their tickets to allow passage on next train.
Train arrives and same again but they got on this time and stood all the way to Peterborough.
It's just so wrong! A busy week like half-term just doesn't creep up, the dates are known months in advance yet these so called respected railway companies get away with running the same service and passengers have to stand for all or part of a long journey.
Turns out the previous train had been cancelled. Priceless!! The first day of half-term.
Moan over . . .

a) how old is the grandson
b) in what age range is your wife
c) they can definitely claim compensation from east coast as they had reserved seats and had to stand (at least 5%)
d)you also knew it was half term so could have planned the trip around times when kids are less likely to travel (early AM, late PM 12-1PM departures ETC)

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Hardly 'muppets' - if a seat is free then people can perfectly well sit in it until asked to move. If all reserved seats were left unused then there would be even more chaos as all the aisles would fill up.

As for half term, not sure what you think firms should do. All the ECML paths are spoken for and a lot of the time with less commuters, half term traffic is lighter.

 

[SPADTrap]

Not sure what you expect to happen, you travel at what you hint to be the busiest time and moan when it is busy...:-?

 

[hoffers]

Hardly 'muppets' - if a seat is free then people can perfectly well sit in it until asked to move. If all reserved seats were left unused then there would be even more chaos as all the aisles would fill up.

As for half term, not sure what you think firms should do. All the ECML paths are spoken for and a lot of the time with less commuters, half term traffic is lighter.

If a seat is pre-booked reserved it is hardly free for anyone to sit in it, is it? I don't sit in a reserved seat that reads York to Kings X because I know I'm gonna have to move. What's the point reserving seats if anybody just plonks their arse in it.

Half-term or anytime, I expect firms to cater for the demand. I supply wedding cars and have a B & B business and we don't hire out the cars unless we can do the job properly and safely or do we sell rooms that we cannot accommodate people in.

 

[Muzer]

Hardly 'muppets' - if a seat is free then people can perfectly well sit in it until asked to move. If all reserved seats were left unused then there would be even more chaos as all the aisles would fill up.

As for half term, not sure what you think firms should do. All the ECML paths are spoken for and a lot of the time with less commuters, half term traffic is lighter.

I would expect in most places the holiday traffic would exceed the loss of student and teacher commuters. Of course there would be exceptions (mainly short journeys I'd expect - I would expect Andover <--> Salisbury is a lot less busy during half term, especially the 0744 from Andover).

However, as has been said, they can't just add more trains, or just lengthen existing trains, unless they're not already running as much as they can - in the case of the ECML I expect they would be. If they could just add more trains, what would they do with these extra trains, and the extra staff, that have to be kept maintained, paid, etc. for the other 90% of the year?

 

[ushawk]

Dont quite know what you expect when a train gets cancelled at short notice because of a fault - it could ALWAYS happen.

 

[SPADTrap]

If a seat is pre-booked reserved it is hardly free for anyone to sit in it, is it? I don't sit in a reserved seat that reads York to Kings X because I know I'm gonna have to move. What's the point reserving seats if anybody just plonks their arse in it.

Half-term or anytime, I expect firms to cater for the demand. I supply wedding cars and have a B & B business and we don't hire out the cars unless we can do the job properly and safely or do we sell rooms that we cannot accommodate people in.

So by that analogy they shouldn't actually run any trains as I guess you'd say they're not doing their job properly?

Yeah didn't think that was a valid comparison!

 

[Greenback]

If a seat is pre-booked reserved it is hardly free for anyone to sit in it, is it? I don't sit in a reserved seat that reads York to Kings X because I know I'm gonna have to move. What's the point reserving seats if anybody just plonks their arse in it.

Because some people do not use their reserved seats, some other people decide to take a chance on the rightful user of that seat not turning up.

Other, perhaps less nice people, hope that sitting in a reserved will put off the rightful occupant from asking them to move.

Finally, the worst type of people simply refuse to move even when they are sitting in a clearly marked reserved seat.

Half-term or anytime, I expect firms to cater for the demand. I supply wedding cars and have a B & B business and we don't hire out the cars unless we can do the job properly and safely or do we sell rooms that we cannot accommodate people in.

Unfortunately, the railway industry does not work in the same way. It remains possible for people to travel at short notice, and this is something that I, for one am very grateful about.

The alternatice would mean that all trains and seats would have to be reserved inain advance. To go along with that, there would have to be control measures in place to stop anyone without a reservation boarding the service.

I prefer things the way they are.

 

[D1009]

If a seat is pre-booked reserved it is hardly free for anyone to sit in it, is it? I don't sit in a reserved seat that reads York to Kings X because I know I'm gonna have to move. What's the point reserving seats if anybody just plonks their arse in it.

Half-term or anytime, I expect firms to cater for the demand. I supply wedding cars and have a B & B business and we don't hire out the cars unless we can do the job properly and safely or do we sell rooms that we cannot accommodate people in.

Taking that argument to its logical conclusion you would rather the railway was like an airline and to simply not accept people who cannot be accommodated in seating accommodation on the trains? If someone is sitting in your reserved seat you simply ask them to move.

 

[SPADTrap]

Very good points, Greenback! Given the time of travel I'd guess this is very common with people needing to travel at short notice for work etc.

 

[hoffers]

Not sure what you expect to happen, you travel at what you hint to be the busiest time and moan when it is busy...:-?

We thought leaving it a little later at around 11am would be better as all the commuters would be on earlier trains. They've only got two days away, so hardly worth going if it gets too late departing. I haven't a problem with busy, I have a problem with trains being cancelled and paying good money for a seat and a relaxed journey and find they had to stand half the way.

Don't get me wrong, I love trains, I'm just miffed about how they're run sometimes.

 

[bluenoxid]

My wife, daughter and grandson had booked advance tickets/reservations on the 10.57am service from York to London Kings X today and arriving nearly 20 minutes late the train was packed and it took at least 5 minutes just to get a foot onboard, it was standing throughout and even though reservation tickets were on seats the usual muppets still sit in them.
A Network Rail guy suggested the next train would be a lot quieter and marked their tickets to allow passage on next train.
Train arrives and same again but they got on this time and stood all the way to Peterborough.
It's just so wrong! A busy week like half-term just doesn't creep up, the dates are known months in advance yet these so called respected railway companies get away with running the same service and passengers have to stand for all or part of a long journey.
Turns out the previous train had been cancelled. Priceless!! The first day of half-term.
Moan over . . .

East Coasts complaints helpline is available on Google.

 

[MCR247]

If a seat is pre-booked reserved it is hardly free for anyone to sit in it, is it? I don't sit in a reserved seat that reads York to Kings X because I know I'm gonna have to move. What's the point reserving seats if anybody just plonks their arse in it.

No, but if you didn't have a reserved seat, and you got on at Newcastle, going to London, and you saw seats reserved from York to London, why are you going to stand all of the way when you can just sit down until York, then IF/when the person gets on and asks you to move, you move.

Half-term or anytime, I expect firms to cater for the demand. I supply wedding cars and have a B & B business and we don't hire out the cars unless we can do the job properly and safely or do we sell rooms that we cannot accommodate people in.

Oh, so the railway should just not run any trains during half term because you couldn't get a seat. Thats not selfish or anything :roll:

Contrary to what you may believe, the world doesn't just revolve around you :roll:

 

[SPADTrap]

We thought leaving it a little later at around 11am would be better as all the commuters would be on earlier trains. They've only got two days away, so hardly worth going if it gets too late departing. I haven't a problem with busy, I have a problem with trains being cancelled and paying good money for a seat and a relaxed journey and find they had to stand half the way.

Don't get me wrong, I love trains, I'm just miffed about how they're run sometimes.

Nothing to do with loving trains, but a last minute failure can't be helped much more than what you experienced.
Sadly you and hundreds of others thought the same, maybe you should complain at them instead.

If you were providing a service in your business and the only vehicle available at the time failed...what would you say/do for your angry customers?

 

[MCR247]

We thought leaving it a little later at around 11am would be better as all the commuters would be on earlier trains. They've only got two days away, so hardly worth going if it gets too late departing. I haven't a problem with busy, I have a problem with trains being cancelled and paying good money for a seat and a relaxed journey and find they had to stand half the way.

Don't get me wrong, I love trains, I'm just miffed about how they're run sometimes.

You don't actually pay for the seat. Just saying.

And if you had reserved seats, why not ask them to move?! You can't just not ask them to move and then complain about them sitting there :roll: Why wouldn't they sit there?! A seat reservation means that you can sit in that seat between the two points specified, not that no-one can sit in that seat at any point in the journey, and anyone that does must be well out of the way before you get on

 

[Qwerty133]

We thought leaving it a little later at around 11am would be better as all the commuters would be on earlier trains. They've only got two days away, so hardly worth going if it gets too late departing. I haven't a problem with busy, I have a problem with trains being cancelled and paying good money for a seat and a relaxed journey and find they had to stand half the way.

Don't get me wrong, I love trains, I'm just miffed about how they're run sometimes.

Best train would proberly have been the 6.00am service as this is to early even for most commuters

 

[SPADTrap]

Best train would proberly have been the 6.00am service as this is to early even for most commuters

And the drivers!

 

[hoffers]

Best train would proberly have been the 6.00am service as this is to early even for most commuters

Yeah, good call.

 

[maniacmartin]

Sometimes some trains get so busy and the aisles full of people standing that reservation holders cannot get to their seats. In those circumstances, I see no problem with sitting in a reserved seat. I would of course give up the seat if the reservation holder managed to battle their way through the carriages to find it. If other passengers don't sit in reserved but unoccupied seats, and stand in the aisle instead, then this removes capacity in the aisle, which could mean reservation holders are unable to board at all.

 

[Greenback]

Sometimes some trains get so busy and the aisles full of people standing that reservation holders cannot get to their seats. In those circumstances, I see no problem with sitting in a reserved seat. I would of course give up the seat if the reservation holder managed to battle their way through the carriages to find it. If other passengers don't sit in reserved but unoccupied seats, and stand in the aisle instead, then this removes capacity in the aisle, which could mean reservation holders are unable to board at all.

Quite right. I have been unable to physically reach my reserved seat on occasion. When a service has been cancelled, or services are generally disrupted, this naturally exacerbates matters as well.

I usually just stand in the vestibule,. or sit on my suitcase if I have one!

 

[Muzer]

Quite right. I have been unable to physically reach my reserved seat on occasion. When a service has been cancelled, or services are generally disrupted, this naturally exacerbates matters as well.

I usually just stand in the vestibule,. or sit on my suitcase if I have one!

Mmm - I find it interesting that people rarely sit in the vestibules even if there are seats there. If it's a mild day and you don't need the air con or heating, and can stand the noise, it's not too unpleasant and certainly preferable to standing.

 

[yorksrob]

Mmm - I find it interesting that people rarely sit in the vestibules even if there are seats there. If it's a mild day and you don't need the air con or heating, and can stand the noise, it's not too unpleasant and certainly preferable to standing.

They probably did when they still had the flip down seats in the Mk 4's. Getting rid of them was a mistake of the Mallard refurbishment IMO.

 

[Greenback]

Mmm - I find it interesting that people rarely sit in the vestibules even if there are seats there. If it's a mild day and you don't need the air con or heating, and can stand the noise, it's not too unpleasant and certainly preferable to standing.

Every time I've been on a Voyager out of Birmingham there have been plenty of people sitting in the vestibules!

 

[DelayRepay]

Might be worth looking at First Class next time. East Coast do some reasonable Advance First Class tickets and as well as a bit more room, you'll get a cuppa and a slice of toast (if you're lucky)

 

[Qwerty133]

Every time I've been on a Voyager out of Birmingham there have been plenty of people sitting in the vestibules!

Do you purposely choose busy trains as not *every* voyager is full and standing leaving Birmingham.

 

[Greenback]

Do you purposely choose busy trains as not *every* voyager is full and standing leaving Birmingham.

No, I'm just unlucky. Though not any more as I now do everything I can to avoid Voyagers altogether!

 

[londonbridge]

If a seat is pre-booked reserved it is hardly free for anyone to sit in it, is it? I don't sit in a reserved seat that reads York to Kings X because I know I'm gonna have to move. What's the point reserving seats if anybody just plonks their arse in it.

Because some people do not use their reserved seats, some other people decide to take a chance on the rightful user of that seat not turning up.

No, but if you didn't have a reserved seat, and you got on at Newcastle, going to London, and you saw seats reserved from York to London, why are you going to stand all of the way when you can just sit down until York, then IF/when the person gets on and asks you to move, you move.

That is exactly what I do. When I get on,if a seat is empty but is showing as reserved for a later leg of the journey,I'm quite happy to use it,and am equally happy to move without argument at the appropriate point if/when the passenger approaches and asks me to do so.