Greater Anglia Good and Bad Discussion

[EssexCommuter]

No complaints for me today either. 379 out of Liverpool Street was clean, but the poor cleaner didn't finish in time and got caught on the train, cursed, and had to stay on until Tottenham Hale. As he got off, another guy got on to clean and when he realised it had been done was a bit disappointed as he now had nothing to do until Cheshunt, whereby he got off to empty the bins on the platform instead!

Has AGA hired about 50,000 cleaners or something? Soon the trains will be crush loaded with them!

They must have finally hired the additional cleaners they promised last July!
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Caught a trio of Greater Anglia services this afternoon. Firstly, 321326 on the 15:00 Braintree-Witham. Very clean inside and out, and ran on time. I then caught 360119 on the 1523 Witham-Colchester. Again, pretty clean. The seat covers are a tad faded but are still perfectly acceptable, or at least they were in the carriage that I was sitting. Finally, my luck was in as the Pretendolino set formed the 15:47 Colchester-Ipswich. I do hope the forthcoming refurbishment of the native MK3 carriages is to the standards of this set.

All in all, a very good afternoon indeed. All my trains ran on time, and were presented well.

Was the whole train the pretendolino? I boarded it this evening, but they had split the train and it was a mix of Virgin and AGA.

 

[dk1]

Staff at Ipswich seemed certain, maybe they got wrong end of stick.

They must have had a bump to the head Just checked & there are no plans to cover this or any of the London starters.

 

[387star]

No complaints for me today either. 379 out of Liverpool Street was clean, but the poor cleaner didn't finish in time and got caught on the train, cursed, and had to stay on until Tottenham Hale. As he got off, another guy got on to clean and when he realised it had been done was a bit disappointed as he now had nothing to do until Cheshunt, whereby he got off to empty the bins on the platform instead!

Has AGA hired about 50,000 cleaners or something? Soon the trains will be crush loaded with them!

 

[306024]

They must have had a bump to the head Just checked & there are no plans to cover this or any of the London starters.

They will get a bump to the head when I'm next there :roll: Thanks for the correction.

1Y18 1302 London Liverpool Street to Ipswich due 1425: RT from LST but 2L when I left at Stratford. Got caught up in the Chelmsford fatality, where it was terminated 104L at 1547 after leaving Shenfield 5L and passing Ingatestone 53L http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/Y11494/2015/02/23/advanced

Just to give a bit of insight, regardless of the fatality, the 2L at Stratford on 1Y18 was due to .....(deep breath).....

11.00 Norwich to Liverpool St passing Witham 2L, which delayed the 12.00 Braintree to Liverpool St, which delayed the Felixstowe to Hams Hall freightliner (which loops at Witham) which delayed the 12.55 Liverpool St to Southend at Stratford as the freight crossed to the North London Line, which delayed the 13.00 Liverpool St to Norwich, which delayed your 1Y18.

Unfortunately it is not unusual for the xx.00 Liverpool St to Norwich train to be checked approaching Stratford.

 

[TheEdge]

Just to give a bit of insight, regardless of the fatality, the 2L at Stratford on 1Y18 was due to .....(deep breath).....

11.00 Norwich to Liverpool St passing Witham 2L, which delayed the 12.00 Braintree to Liverpool St, which delayed the Felixstowe to Hams Hall freightliner (which loops at Witham) which delayed the 12.55 Liverpool St to Southend at Stratford as the freight crossed to the North London Line, which delayed the 13.00 Liverpool St to Norwich, which delayed your 1Y18.

Unfortunately it is not unusual for the xx.00 Liverpool St to Norwich train to be checked approaching Stratford.

Thats the sort of detail we need to get over why we can't just reopen the doors when "comeon I'm right here d*ck". 2 minutes on one train, 5 others delayed...

 

[MP33]

This weeks travel report.

10 journeys

8 on time
1 five minutes late
1 one minute late

 

[dk1]

This weeks travel report.

10 journeys

8 on time
1 five minutes late
1 one minute late

Sounds very accurate to me. I drive the darn things & am rarely delayed. Best are the tweets stating 'unacceptable' (love that word) delays only for the reply to be "you arrived 2min late" :roll: Some folk will drip whatever & repeatedly remind us how much money they have to part with too.

 

[samuelmorris]

Mine is somewhat less rosy but still not exactly diabolical. Handful of c. 10 minute delays but nothing beyond.

 

[jon0844]

Sounds very accurate to me. I drive the darn things & am rarely delayed. Best are the tweets stating 'unacceptable' (love that word) delays only for the reply to be "you arrived 2min late" :roll: Some folk will drip whatever & repeatedly remind us how much money they have to part with too.

I've often felt like asking 'as a concerned citizen' on Twitter what train they were on, to look it up and see how much they exaggerated. And the ones that claim to be delayed EVERY SINGLE DAY are almost certainly embellishing their stories somewhat.

 

[dk1]

I've often felt like asking 'as a concerned citizen' on Twitter what train they were on, to look it up and see how much they exaggerated. And the ones that claim to be delayed EVERY SINGLE DAY are almost certainly embellishing their stories somewhat.

I doubt you'd get a civilised let alone honest answer from most matey.

 

[badassunicorn]

my favourite phrase is "not fit for purpose" always makes me roll my eyes

 

[jon0844]

I doubt you'd get a civilised let alone honest answer from most matey.

Yeah, and I don't fancy the abuse I'd get as an 'apologist'.

 

[EssexCommuter]

Yeah, and I don't fancy the abuse I'd get as an 'apologist'.

A few mins late isn't necessarily an issue. However, the timetables haven't been massively padded since I first commuted 14 years ago. When you have a timetable that exaggerates journey times and delays on top, isn't that taking the mick?

A few mins late every now and then in understandable, but every single day? Do you follow C2C who declare their stats? They often get near 100%.

What I still fail to understand is why people on this forum are against improvement. There is a timetable, AGA should meet it more often that not. How many of you have a start time at work, e.g. 9am? you're either on time, or late. Stop making excuses for a railway that is underfunded.

 

[Saint66]

A few mins late isn't necessarily an issue. However, the timetables haven't been massively padded since I first commuted 14 years ago. When you have a timetable that exaggerates journey times and delays on top, isn't that taking the mick?

A few mins late every now and then in understandable, but every single day? Do you follow C2C who declare their stats? They often get near 100%.

What I still fail to understand is why people on this forum are against improvement. There is a timetable, AGA should meet it more often that not. How many of you have a start time at work, e.g. 9am? you're either on time, or late. Stop making excuses for a railway that is underfunded.

Are people making excuses? From what I've seen, most of this thread has been posters helping the cause of commuters by telling them how to be taken more seriously by the rail industry (Considering that probably the majority of members actually work in the industry, so understand what those who have grievances should do)

Again, I don't see anyone making excuses, in fact they're just pointing out the truths.

Believe it or not, the majority of people who post on this thread want the railway to be successful and work for commuters. Just because you don't agree with maybe something they post, doesn't instantly mean they're anti passenger and anti-commuter.

This coming from someone who has no association within the industry, and mainly just commutes up and down Thameslink and East Coast.

 

[badassunicorn]

The comparison of GA and c2c is not appropriate, they are entirely different in lots of ways. They may share Southend but that aside they are wholly different entities.

 

[Dave1987]

A few mins late isn't necessarily an issue. However, the timetables haven't been massively padded since I first commuted 14 years ago. When you have a timetable that exaggerates journey times and delays on top, isn't that taking the mick?

A few mins late every now and then in understandable, but every single day? Do you follow C2C who declare their stats? They often get near 100%.

What I still fail to understand is why people on this forum are against improvement. There is a timetable, AGA should meet it more often that not. How many of you have a start time at work, e.g. 9am? you're either on time, or late. Stop making excuses for a railway that is underfunded.

Yes AGA has a timetable, in an ideal world every single day every train would depart exactly on time and all the various services from Southend, Clacton, Norwich, Colchester etc etc would slot in just as they are supposed to in the timetable. But in the real world you have people who deliberately hold the doors open because their mate is late or think it's funny to shove a pen in the runners to stop the driver getting interlock. Or there are late running freight trains etc etc etc. C2C's operation is tiny compared to AGA. Fenchurch is 4 platforms, Liverpool St is 18!! There is just no comparing them. I would love to see you in the AGA control room making all the services run exactly to time even with the brand new fleet of trains. For most people in this world being delayed by 3-4 mins is no big deal. You could be held up by that amount of time in the queue at Tesco's. The national system as I'm sure you are well aware is that a non intercity train is classed as on time if it is within 5 mins of its booked arrival time. And that is a perfectly sensible system. If you commute large distances to work you run the risk of being delayed. And that goes for all people who commute whether it be by train, car, bus, plane.... The big difference is that you don't get delay repay if you travel by bus or car!

 

[87015]

I've often felt like asking 'as a concerned citizen' on Twitter what train they were on, to look it up and see how much they exaggerated. And the ones that claim to be delayed EVERY SINGLE DAY are almost certainly embellishing their stories somewhat.

http://www.recenttraintimes.co.uk/H...MetSpr=RT&MxScDu=&MxSvAg=10&MnScCt=2&MxArCl=5

Plenty of trains there with 0% RT records between Colchester and Stratford, not everyone goes to Live St so gets to use the extra minutes that on time allows there.

 

[TheEdge]

Firstly, C2C and AGA are not the same. The both service Southend, Essex and London. That is where the similarities stop. It really isn't a useful comparison.

And secondly let me pose a little thought. If you are on a train due to arrive at 08:30 and you get there at 08:34 you are angry. What if you were in a car? If you expected to get there at 08:30 but got there at 08:34 would you be kicking yourself for being so unbelievably late? How about a bus?

 

[306024]

At the risk of being seen to make excuses...........

The timetable planning rules come from an era when very little used to stop at Stratford on the main line. Now that virtually everything stops at Stratford there is a case for moving the recovery time to be approaching Forest Gate Jn or Stratford in the up direction, and / or spreading it out more evenly over the route. Trouble is that is a major piece of work, but something that should be tackled.

Analyse the tempory speed restrictions that are currently in force on the route, (and have been for a while) and there is little hope of hitting Stratford right time in the height of the peak, and that is before the infrastructure / unit failures that tend to afflict this part of the world.

 

[SPADTrap]

A comparison of AGA and C2C goes nowhere but to demonste a fundamental lack of understanding.

It is just an easy argument which from what I can see is to be expected sadly

 

[VauxhallandI]

Firstly, C2C and AGA are not the same. The both service Southend, Essex and London. That is where the similarities stop. It really isn't a useful comparison.

And secondly let me pose a little thought. If you are on a train due to arrive at 08:30 and you get there at 08:34 you are angry. What if you were in a car? If you expected to get there at 08:30 but got there at 08:34 would you be kicking yourself for being so unbelievably late? How about a bus?

Driving by car isn't timetabled though is it? By your measure you could easily arrive early something you can't on the train.

Being classified as on time if five minutes late - I think people are not overly upset just feel a little insulted by the terminology and the boastfulness of TOC when they parade the numbers around like they are doing a perfect job.

We also all know there is padding in their which results in trains being far later for part journeys.

Being treated like chumps is what annoys people

 

[jon0844]

The padding has perhaps increased too much, but it's better to have this than not. As said above, in the peaks on busy trains the biggest cause of delays is nearly always passenger action (holding doors open being commonplace).

As such, it's inevitable that you take into account passenger action when coming up with a timetable, or else ALL your trains in the peaks will be late.

I can honestly say that when I'm going to King's Cross, a number of trains end up arriving early because of the padding (assuming a platform is ready). Do people complain about that?

Well, invariably the answer is yes because upon arrival, the train that's 3-4 minutes early may have to wait for a platform simply because it is early. And once a train waits for 30 seconds or more, people start to sign and tut. They make calls to say they're running late and make sarcastic comments about the train operator.

Then we get moving, get into the platform and we're 30-60 seconds early!!

Running less trains would of course work wonders to keeping to time. Anyone want to suggest that? Anyone want to look at how packed timetables were 15-20 years ago, or indeed 50 years ago when people sometimes like to point out that trains were faster then. Clue; when you have fewer trains, fewer stops and less passengers trying to squeeze on, you can run trains faster and get them to arrive earlier.

 

[Dave1987]

Driving by car isn't timetabled though is it? By your measure you could easily arrive early something you can't on the train.

Being classified as on time if five minutes late - I think people are not overly upset just feel a little insulted by the terminology and the boastfulness of TOC when they parade the numbers around like they are doing a perfect job.

We also all know there is padding in their which results in trains being far later for part journeys.

Being treated like chumps is what annoys people

Some of the timetable padding is a bit much I will give you that. Most of the time when a train is delayed it is out of the control of the TOC. What do you mean by you get treated like chumps?

 

[dk1]

A comparison of AGA and C2C goes nowhere but to demonste a fundamental lack of understanding.

It is just an easy argument which from what I can see is to be expected sadly

Like the pathetic media comments a few years back as to why other TOCs cannot learn from Island Line & their excellent performance figures. Dear oh dear!!

 

[VauxhallandI]

Some of the timetable padding is a bit much I will give you that. Most of the time when a train is delayed it is out of the control of the TOC. What do you mean by you get treated like chumps?

All the pretence that everything is great and the farcical performance statistics and awards handed out.

I'd just rather everybody put their cards on the table.

The PR claptrap. If it is not the Toc fault then don't apologise, people need to be educated on how it all works.

 

[Hadders]

One thing that amazes me is the complexity of the timetable and what we manage to squeeze out of infrastructure that wasn't rally designed to handle the intensity of service it does these days.

Just look at the number of trains arriving into the London Terminals in the peak. In the 1980's Network Southeast ran a TV advert saying that in the morning peak a train arrived at a London Terminal every 11 seconds, in a daily operation larger than the D-day landings. That was 30 years ago so it's probably more like a train every 7 or 8 seconds now.

It's inevitable that there will be some delays with the number of trains operating and the sheer number of people being moved.

 

[Dave1987]

All the pretence that everything is great and the farcical performance statistics and awards handed out.

I'd just rather everybody put their cards on the table.

The PR claptrap. If it is not the Toc fault then don't apologise, people need to be educated on how it all works.

I'm not sure what you are referring when you say farcical performance stats.

Some people believe even the disruption caused by fatalities are the TOCs fault. If people try to explain the reasons why things are as they are, they are labelled as an "apologist".

 

[dk1]

Some people believe even the disruption caused by fatalities are the TOCs fault. If people try to explain the reasons why things are as they are, they are labelled as an "apologist".

I am more than happy being labelled as such. Their opinion is irrelevant.

 

[scott118]

Like the pathetic media comments a few years back as to why other TOCs cannot learn from Island Line & their excellent performance figures. Dear oh dear!!

otherwise known, as a long shunt.

 

[dk1]

otherwise known, as a long shunt.