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How would you describe typical day using trains?
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GrimsbyPacer
Established Member
Typically for me it's expensive, unreliable, crowded and extremely slow. But on Saturdays I can travel another route which is on a Pacer.
anti-pacer
Established Member
If it's on Northern Rail...
Dirty, Slow, Uncomfortable.
Dirty, Slow, Uncomfortable.
gordonthemoron
Established Member
Virgin, MK to Euston. either the train is more or less on time or it doesn't show up at all
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
London Midland to Euston: slow, late, overcrowded, "tired" looking trains, extortionate
sprinterguy
Veteran Member
Cheap, easy, reliable.
Except for the Manchester to Birmingham run (which I've had to use a lot recently) for some reason. Where late and overcrowded (though the latter sometimes only as far as Macc) seems to be de rigour in the southbound direction. Seems to be a bit of a misnomer, that one.
Except for the Manchester to Birmingham run (which I've had to use a lot recently) for some reason. Where late and overcrowded (though the latter sometimes only as far as Macc) seems to be de rigour in the southbound direction. Seems to be a bit of a misnomer, that one.
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Today.
Get up at an ungodly hour of the morning. Make coffee. Watch whatever crud is on TV at 0330. Finish coffee. Walk to the station in the cold with company branded beanie hat. Sign on. Pick up equipment. Pleasant banter filled ECS working. Aaaah, its so cold, why am I stopping everywhere, who needs to get on at Somerleyton at 0552. Why is my 170 the wrong way round to deselect? Arrive back at Norwich. Still cold, back to Lowestoft. Why does everyone always get on at the furthest door at the front? Are there invisible table dancers in the front coach? Oh goody, school train *shudder*. Still cold. Stop looking tired and drowsy people, you got up at 7am, I was up at 02:50, lightweights! Welcome to Norwich, again.
And breathe, oooh 47s to work on. They are late, getting later, getting earlier, late but earlier than they were. Still cold but that brings out the clag. Look at me, I'm a paid crank. Ah, the pleasant environment of a Yarmouth outside of holiday season, much quiet, many space. Back to Norwich, 3rd time.
Sausage roll.
47s again. Look at me, I'm from the 1960s! Where did these people come from? Why are you so busy? I didn't plan to do any work on here! Baaargh. Oooh, you can have a first class return to London.
7 1/2 hours later. Go home, vegetate. Try and forget that tomorrows alarm is only marginally better at the time of 03:40.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Get up at an ungodly hour of the morning. Make coffee. Watch whatever crud is on TV at 0330. Finish coffee. Walk to the station in the cold with company branded beanie hat. Sign on. Pick up equipment. Pleasant banter filled ECS working. Aaaah, its so cold, why am I stopping everywhere, who needs to get on at Somerleyton at 0552. Why is my 170 the wrong way round to deselect? Arrive back at Norwich. Still cold, back to Lowestoft. Why does everyone always get on at the furthest door at the front? Are there invisible table dancers in the front coach? Oh goody, school train *shudder*. Still cold. Stop looking tired and drowsy people, you got up at 7am, I was up at 02:50, lightweights! Welcome to Norwich, again.
And breathe, oooh 47s to work on. They are late, getting later, getting earlier, late but earlier than they were. Still cold but that brings out the clag. Look at me, I'm a paid crank. Ah, the pleasant environment of a Yarmouth outside of holiday season, much quiet, many space. Back to Norwich, 3rd time.
Sausage roll.
47s again. Look at me, I'm from the 1960s! Where did these people come from? Why are you so busy? I didn't plan to do any work on here! Baaargh. Oooh, you can have a first class return to London.
7 1/2 hours later. Go home, vegetate. Try and forget that tomorrows alarm is only marginally better at the time of 03:40.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
GrimsbyPacer
Established Member
Yarmouth station is not good enough in my opinion. The bus links aren't good and the station looks like it was moved away from the town centre. It also looks like it's an 80s station.
Searle
Established Member
Sit in the cold at York, grab a seat with good legroom in an Intercity 225, jump across to a 153 at Newark Northgate which is already in the station, get off at a cold Lincoln. Easy :P
I like this description. There is a lot of negativity out there about the railways and the service received, but I agree with this posting, my experience is usually the same.
I travel a short distance from Lenzie to Glasgow, about 8 miles. I nearly always get a seat, the trains are regular, the fare is cheap (compared to driving/parking) and although there are frequent delays, they are usually less than 5 minutes (Occasionally longer, but on a busy commuter line there are quite a lot of trains, so a short delay on one train usually does not significantly impact your arrival time).
PeterY
Established Member
- Joined
- 2 Apr 2013
- Messages
- 1,363
When the trains run well, they run well.
I try to avoid services that are crush loaded but my biggest gripe goes to LM. Lots of lovely 350's stabled in Camden sidings most of the day, while I struggle to get a seat on a 4 car train 321 or 350 from Watford Jct. :cry:
In a few years time I'll be 60. My vision with my new senior citizen rail card is to treat myself to an all line rover. Looks like I'll be standing whilst travelling around the country.:cry:
I try to avoid services that are crush loaded but my biggest gripe goes to LM. Lots of lovely 350's stabled in Camden sidings most of the day, while I struggle to get a seat on a 4 car train 321 or 350 from Watford Jct. :cry:
In a few years time I'll be 60. My vision with my new senior citizen rail card is to treat myself to an all line rover. Looks like I'll be standing whilst travelling around the country.:cry:
sprinterguy
Veteran Member
I don't have the chance to notice if York station is cold or not, I'm always keeping myself busy in the York Tap until the last possible moment.
(And prior to the Tap opening, it was usually the Maltings until the last moment, which meant that after a degree of running I was generally warm irrelevant of the prevailing ambient temperature.
)I sympathise. My alarm seems to be almost as demanding as yours.
Got up. Signed on. Drove a train all stations to Bedford, has some banter with another driver who was on the service (a nice change!). Then drove it to Sevenoaks stopping at nearly all the stations. Was informed by the cleaner at Sevenoaks that someone had pulled the bin bag out of the bin, s**t in it and lobbed it under the seat. Found myself mildly surprised then realised this was because it was a commuter train, the toilets weren't locked and it wasn't there when I left Bedford!
Had some food. All stations back to London. Felt guilty when I closed the doors and started to pull out of a station and saw an old dear with a suitcase who had just missed the train. Felt better when I realised the next one was only 15 minutes behind.
Took the empty train into the depot, brought it back out. Began to feel really tired. Wondered why there were delays in the core again.
Went home!
Bishopstone
Established Member
Relatively good value.
Generally clean and comfortable trains (377 and 442), with on-train staff who do their best.
Station appearance and amenities much improved by Govia.
London Bridge a total shambles, and my regular Down train (18.23 to Eastbourne) competes for the title of most unpunctual on the network, with Delay Repay claims four days out of five, this week.
Generally clean and comfortable trains (377 and 442), with on-train staff who do their best.
Station appearance and amenities much improved by Govia.
London Bridge a total shambles, and my regular Down train (18.23 to Eastbourne) competes for the title of most unpunctual on the network, with Delay Repay claims four days out of five, this week.
GrimsbyPacer
Established Member
Woild you consider the already costliest trains in the EU good value for money after the 2.7% fare hike in January despite the journey being the same as now? Look at the fares on compareable French commuter lines.
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Bishopstone
Established Member
al.currie93
Member
- Joined
- 27 Jun 2013
- Messages
- 381
Hmm, I guess some advance tickets are good (very good in some cases) value for money, and advance tickets everywhere typically aren't too bad. However walk-on tickets where advance fares are also available vary from journey to journey; some aren't too bad but some are ludicrous. Walk-on fares for journeys where advance tickets are not available again vary drastically, but I typically don't find them too bad. Overall from I don't find prices fantastic value for money but not awful either, WHEN NOT COMPARING TO OTHER COUNTRIES... HOWEVER:
- I am 21 and have YP railcard, giving me a third off all fares; without this I probably would find tickets in England overall poor value for money.
- I know that in Italy I can get a walk-on fare for an hour commuter journey on Circumvesuviana followed by an hour and a half intercity journey on Trenitalia (ie. a journey very similar to Dorking to Bath which costs ~£30 walk-on) for a total price of 9 regardless of and age.
When I factor those in I think that, compared to other countries, we do have poor value for money. Obviously government subsidies in Italy may be higher to account for that but that's another argument.
Drsatan
Established Member
Thankfully, I cycle to and from work, so I only need to use trains about once a fortnight at the minute.
If the journey's on ATW, expect it to be a relatively clean 175 or 158, or if you're unlucky, a 150 (the last one I went on looked knackered, although it had recently been refurbished, a 142 or 143). Service frequency on my local line is fairly good.
If my journey takes me along the Wessex Main Line, I don't mind the 158s except that their cleanliness is getting unacceptable (seriously, when did they last go through the trainwash!). Punctuality is better than it used to be, and FGW-priced fares along that line are cheaper than those priced by SWT, by and large.
If fares keep going up, I might discover hiring a car is cheaper.
Yes, once my 16-25 railcard expires the day before my 26th birthday I think I'll be minimising rail travel for leisure purposes, as it will have become too expensive (unless there is, by some miracle, a grand fare restructuring that ACTUALLY simplifies fares and makes leisure travel more affordable)
In fairness, I imagine that Intercity and Interregional trains run less frequently than comparable services in the UK, and Intercity services no doubt charge a supplement.
If the journey's on ATW, expect it to be a relatively clean 175 or 158, or if you're unlucky, a 150 (the last one I went on looked knackered, although it had recently been refurbished, a 142 or 143). Service frequency on my local line is fairly good.
If my journey takes me along the Wessex Main Line, I don't mind the 158s except that their cleanliness is getting unacceptable (seriously, when did they last go through the trainwash!). Punctuality is better than it used to be, and FGW-priced fares along that line are cheaper than those priced by SWT, by and large.
If fares keep going up, I might discover hiring a car is cheaper.
Yes, once my 16-25 railcard expires the day before my 26th birthday I think I'll be minimising rail travel for leisure purposes, as it will have become too expensive (unless there is, by some miracle, a grand fare restructuring that ACTUALLY simplifies fares and makes leisure travel more affordable)
In fairness, I imagine that Intercity and Interregional trains run less frequently than comparable services in the UK, and Intercity services no doubt charge a supplement.
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Well, depends what shows up:
I get on 0746 Durham - Newcastle every day.
If it's a 156, comfortable, get a seat, look out of the window.
If it's a 142, stand, crammed in, enjoy banter with the guard. Seriously, the guards on this route are great, given the awful conditions they have to work with. I mean, a single pacer usually leaves people behind at Chester-le-Street, which means they usually get on the 185 behind it (which is almost as rammed as the pacer).
I get on 0746 Durham - Newcastle every day.
If it's a 156, comfortable, get a seat, look out of the window.
If it's a 142, stand, crammed in, enjoy banter with the guard. Seriously, the guards on this route are great, given the awful conditions they have to work with. I mean, a single pacer usually leaves people behind at Chester-le-Street, which means they usually get on the 185 behind it (which is almost as rammed as the pacer).
Techniquest
Veteran Member
I don't have a typical day on the trains, as I use them for leisure purposes (unless I'm returning to Hereford the morning after a trip, then it's going to work), so almost every trip is different. There is also an amazing lack of requirements for information. Is it the general ambiance that the OP requires genning up on, or is it more the day-to-day routine people have on trains? Or am I just missing everything and is there something else?
I'm going to take my typical commute at the moment, which is by bus but it's the same concept and would be little different if by train. It would be more enjoyable without any doubt, but let's not go there! So then, my typical commute in recent times is:
Tuesday-Friday, 0645 to Hereford and 1815 home
Saturday, 0720 to Hereford, 1815 home
I usually, before leaving the house, set up my memo files for the morning's commute, then normally it's devouring the coffee by the time the bus actually shows up, which is a different time every morning. Get on, get the ticket stamped (occasionally in the wrong place as happened last Saturday) and find my currently preferred seat right at the back. It used to be down by the emergency exit nearer the front, but that was when the commute into work was at 1250 which finished at the end of August 2014. When the commute into work eventually returns to the 0950, it's back to the free-for-all and get whatever I can!
After sitting down, if the coffee's not gone then continue with that and note the amount of delay into the memo file and double-check the memo files are all correct for now. After that, bang in the earphones and get some music going. That changes regularly but I have spent a lot of time this year playing My Chemical Romance's Welcome to the Black Parade album. After that, it's updating my commuting log in my A6 Black 'n' Red book every so often. Every few weeks I sort out the various amounts of stuff in my backpack, every few months I sort out my wallet and banish all the old receipts etc into a carrier bag ready for burning on the fire at some point. Anything recyclable will be sorted separately.
Staring out of the window, people watching and suffering bus rage (seriously, some passengers do get on your wick!) generally takes up the rest of the commute until I'm two-thirds the way to work when I usually have a data signal (indeed, a signal of any sort) again so it's texting and social media for the rest of the way to Hereford while making final preparations for alighting once we get near Whitecross. That might sound like a lot of stuff to do on a commute but it must be noted my commute takes near enough an hour, even at that time of morning.
My evening commute is less interesting to be honest, it's more looking forward to a good meal after a hard's day graft! Otherwise Tuesdays and Wednesdays it's the same as the above at the moment, Thursdays to Saturdays I have someone with me so the above is all out and I spent the journey talking and whatever, with the phone going off when I'm due to out of signal and no social media or music. In all honesty I currently prefer the style of my morning commute!
And so that ends one of the least interesting posts ever to be posted on this forum!
I'm going to take my typical commute at the moment, which is by bus but it's the same concept and would be little different if by train. It would be more enjoyable without any doubt, but let's not go there! So then, my typical commute in recent times is:
Tuesday-Friday, 0645 to Hereford and 1815 home
Saturday, 0720 to Hereford, 1815 home
I usually, before leaving the house, set up my memo files for the morning's commute, then normally it's devouring the coffee by the time the bus actually shows up, which is a different time every morning. Get on, get the ticket stamped (occasionally in the wrong place as happened last Saturday) and find my currently preferred seat right at the back. It used to be down by the emergency exit nearer the front, but that was when the commute into work was at 1250 which finished at the end of August 2014. When the commute into work eventually returns to the 0950, it's back to the free-for-all and get whatever I can!
After sitting down, if the coffee's not gone then continue with that and note the amount of delay into the memo file and double-check the memo files are all correct for now. After that, bang in the earphones and get some music going. That changes regularly but I have spent a lot of time this year playing My Chemical Romance's Welcome to the Black Parade album. After that, it's updating my commuting log in my A6 Black 'n' Red book every so often. Every few weeks I sort out the various amounts of stuff in my backpack, every few months I sort out my wallet and banish all the old receipts etc into a carrier bag ready for burning on the fire at some point. Anything recyclable will be sorted separately.
Staring out of the window, people watching and suffering bus rage (seriously, some passengers do get on your wick!) generally takes up the rest of the commute until I'm two-thirds the way to work when I usually have a data signal (indeed, a signal of any sort) again so it's texting and social media for the rest of the way to Hereford while making final preparations for alighting once we get near Whitecross. That might sound like a lot of stuff to do on a commute but it must be noted my commute takes near enough an hour, even at that time of morning.
My evening commute is less interesting to be honest, it's more looking forward to a good meal after a hard's day graft! Otherwise Tuesdays and Wednesdays it's the same as the above at the moment, Thursdays to Saturdays I have someone with me so the above is all out and I spent the journey talking and whatever, with the phone going off when I'm due to out of signal and no social media or music. In all honesty I currently prefer the style of my morning commute!
And so that ends one of the least interesting posts ever to be posted on this forum!
EssexGonzo
Member
- Joined
- 9 May 2012
- Messages
- 637
Walk to Shenfield station 12mins.
Touch in with Oyster
Go to Plat 1 or 2
Wait about 3 mins for an 8 coach 315 or a 12 coach 321
25 minutes to Liv St
Walk slowly behind someone trying to walk and text at the same time on a narrow platform.
OR......
Get to Shenfield, observe massive crush because AGA or NR have screwed up again. Turn around and go for a coffee until it calms down . As happened yesterday and as is becoming a more frequent occurrence.
Touch in with Oyster
Go to Plat 1 or 2
Wait about 3 mins for an 8 coach 315 or a 12 coach 321
25 minutes to Liv St
Walk slowly behind someone trying to walk and text at the same time on a narrow platform.
OR......
Get to Shenfield, observe massive crush because AGA or NR have screwed up again. Turn around and go for a coffee until it calms down . As happened yesterday and as is becoming a more frequent occurrence.
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