"The Worst Train Journey Ever "

[RoundNewcastle]

Hi everybody Ive had my fair share of bad quality, Very Late , Disgusting smells, Seats falling off, and other stuff in my train journeys and I'm interested to hear about yours.
Weve all had sh*t service and I'm expecting a couple of Newton Heath units to come up
Whoever's journey I think is " The Worst Journey Ever " will have there journey and unit crowned the "Worst journey Ever" and " Worst unit of the year "

If you can remember please include Headcode/Service, What operator, what unit etc but its fine if you cant remember.

Happy Travelling

 

[EssexGonzo]

Well I remember one particularly sweaty journey in the Virgin XC days on the Plymouth to Edinburgh "express" on a Friday afternoon. I got on at Bristol and off at Bolton. A 4 hour stretch. About 2001?

Loco hauled (don't know what, a big diesel jobby) and Mk 3 (?) carriages, supposedly with aircon? The single 1st class carriage at the end of the train and the 2 standards next to it had no aircon. And it was July.

The cooler carriages were rammed so I stayed where I was and toughed it out in 1st.

What's more, the Cabernet Sauvignon was warm. But freely given by some harassed but cheerful crew.

 

[Requeststop]

Mid 1980's. Edinburgh to St Erth changing at Bristol. Early morning start from Waverley, got to just south of Lancaster, the service stopped. Overhead Wires down - never mind, reverse the train to Carnforth, Wennington, Giggleswick, Hellifield and then down to Clitheroe, Blackburn and into Preston, some 4 hours late. Reverse once again to head down to Birmingham where the service was terminated. Harried and hustled over platforms to get a service to Bristol TM. No idea of what was to happen at Bristol, maybe a six to eight hour wait for a service to Plymouth, we don't know! Arrived at Bristol Temple Meads to hear an announcement for the two passengers to St. Erth to identify themselves. I identified myself and was again dragged with baggage underground to another platform and put on a train Paddington bound and told to get off at Reading! Tired and really weary and now no longer aware of how late I was and thirsty and hungry, I and an elderly lady where once again hustled underground to get onto a train which turned out to be the sleeper to Penzance which had been held up for us. Well it was a first class berth, and I did get a double cognac to help me forget the travails of the day. and get to sleep. Woken up at Truro with a coffee and a bacon roll. I often wonder if the sleeper was diverted for some perverse reason as it could have happened in those days via Oxford, Worcester, Hereford, Severn Tunnel to Bristol as well. Remember that this was in the days without mobile phones, computers etc, not refunds for late arrivals, but again, the organisation to taking the trouble to get passengers home, somehow, whatever the diversion, and including a sleeper would just not happen these days. BEAT THAT SOMEONE.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Funny how some people's "worst journeys ever" still manage to include some freebies, as well as some unusual and interesting diversions!

My worst would be about 12 years ago, a Saturday morning trip from Ormskirk to Aberystwyth (the things we do for love!). Merseyrail were on strike so took a 142 to Preston (a Merseyrail unit) only to find that due to WCRM it was buses to Crewe. That took over 2 hours and I'd just missed a Cardiff service so had a fair wait for the Shrewsbury stopper which was a 153. The 153 was leaking and seemed to not be firing on all cylinders, guard announced that there was a fault with it and we had to crawl from Wem to Shrewsbury at 20mph max. Just missed the Aber service so had 2 hours to wait there, arrived into Aberystwyth at 2100 and had to walk up the hill to my girlfriend's halls in the pouring rain. No free wine, no bacon roll, not even a Metro to pass the time!

 

[Minilad]

Any journey. No matter how short. On a Pendolino

 

[backontrack]

Hardly as severe as any of the others on here, but Canterbury East to Cannon Street. Some teenage girls got on and sat immediately behind us, started singing noisily and wouldn't stop.

Also, travelled by Grand Central from York to London - this was irrelevant to me at the time, as I wasn't really as much of an 'enthusiast' as I am now - I just loved trains. Train terminated at Doncaster due to driver having kidney problems. Obviously not something that can really be treated as a problem with service, but had a long wait at Doncaster before boarding an EC service. Arrived back home really late - we were stuck for quite a long time outside Ashford International too, on the same journey!
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Any journey. No matter how short. On a Pendolino

Agreed.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Well, apart from that, Mrs Huskisson, how did you enjoy the day?

 

[dave87016]

Full trip on 142013 from Carlisle to Lancaster via round the world I am surprised I didn't need to wear a corset the next day haha I am a massive fan of 142's but I would concede that trip was a bit to much

 

[fowler9]

My worst train journey ever was either 99 or 2000 (Pretty sure it was the latter). It was certainly after one of those two Reading Festivals. I got to Reading Station on the August Bank Holiday Monday for my train back to Liverpool on which I had a reserved seat. It was heading up North to Liverpool from the south coast, Reading station was absolutely heaving. A 2 car 158 rocked up (And I like 158's as units go) for a long distance cross country service. Absolutely unbelievable. I would love to know which fool thought that one up. Never found my seat, would have been impossible to do. When that train rolled in I would rather have known nothing about trains because the second I saw it approach I knew it would be carnage, ignorance may have been better.

 

[PaulJ]

Well, apart from that, Mrs Huskisson, how did you enjoy the day?

Hahahaha!

 

[fowler9]

Well, apart from that, Mrs Huskisson, how did you enjoy the day?

Only just got on to that, ha ha.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Well, apart from that, Mrs Huskisson, how did you enjoy the day?

Post of the year contender here! Well done, sir!

 

[Kristofferson]

I set foot on an XC Voyager the other day.

 

[backontrack]

Post of the year contender here! Well done, sir!

Yes, I think that could win it.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Funny thing is, for myself, and I'm sure many others on this forum, what most people would consider a 'terrible' journey, we would rather enjoy.

Hiting OLE between Leeds and Shipley on a 23xx service in a 142, leading to emergency stop and running the rest of the way on massive wheel flats.

A lengthy diversion via Bescot on a Glasgow to Euston service in the early 2000s due to a blockage at Nuneaton.

Having to rescue a failed local train on the Machu Picchu to Cusco line, leading to a two hour delay, but a double-length consist hauled by a double lash-up including a fire belching tunnel motor.

Waiting hours for a late running SouthWest Chief at Flagstaff, staring at distant headlights to see if they were our train, only to be passed by enormous mile long freight trains.

----

But ones I didn't enjoy: A late running Texas Eagle between Dallas and Springfield, Il which meant missing out all of the smoking stops where I was hoping to get some nice shots of the train and losing two thirds of a day for looking around Springfield.

Over night diversion of the Thello Venice to Paris sleeper which meant it was billed as running to Modane rather than Paris online and at the station, leading to several hours of worrying about whether we were going to get turfed off in southern France and miss Eurostar and EC connections home later in the day.

 

[Tracked]

The Northern Spirit days of working in Rotherham, either:

Friday night's 17:35 service from Sheffield, early 1999 & around the time the University's in Sheffield were going on a break. Just the time then to put a single 153 on. Bit crowded, I got to stand near the toilets for the journey back to Doncaster so got no views, no seat, and the toilet smell.

Late Spring/Early Summer 1999. Rotherham to Doncaster again. Northern Spirit Again. 17:35 train again. A 142 and a 3-Car 144 turn up, but the guard wants people to only get on the 142 so doesn't open the 144 doors. The 142 is crowded already, and as I'm making my way to the centre of the carriage some youths argue with the guard. They end up on the 144, I can't get out to join them because the people who got in behind me don't/can't move. It's a nice warm day, we get held up near the steelworks for several minutes ...

Bentley - Leeds on a 322 this March. Had a Freedom of the North West ticket bought with the delay repay from the 91 that lost its pantograph near Alnwick in January. Got to Sandall & Agbrigg, train seems to stop for a while. Electrical fault. They get it working again but it terminates at Wakefield and I have to wait for the next train, missing my connection to Manchester Picadilly. Eventually reach there with about 2 minutes to get from platform 7 to platform 14 for the Windermere train. Just made it.

 

[DarloRich]

Any journey. No matter how short. On a Pendolino

or a voyager Try Edinburgh - Eexter ( or, god forbid, further)

 

[PHILIPE]

Travelling from Newport to Swindon in the peak one morning, perhaps 1996, on an HST to Paddington a "bump" was reported inside the Severn Tunnel requiring the line to be examined so we were diverted via Gloucester. However, when we reached Standish Jcn we were brought to a stand due to congestion on the Golden Valley Line due to diversions in the opposite direction and light years ahead of re-doubling between Swindon and Kemble. So, we eventually carried straight on via Westerleigh Jn and made our scheduled call at Bristol Parkway on the opposite platform. There was no Platform 4 there in those days in which we could have reversed to go via Hullavington on our normal route, so the only option was to continue down Filton Bank, round the Rhubarb Curve and thence via Bath and Chippenham. Although it was not an awful or uncomfortable journey it put the train approx hour and three quarters late, but to take the biscuit, the Tunnel had re-opened and the next 4 trains from South Wales to London had reached Swindon before us !!!

 

[Minilad]

or a voyager Try Edinburgh - Eexter ( or, god forbid, further)

My seat on a Voyager is always perfectly comfortable thank you

 

[DarloRich]

I cant think i have had a really bad journey. Long, delayed, boring yes but not bad.

My seat on a Voyager is always perfectly comfortable thank you

insert swear word of choice here

 

[Kite159]

Not as bad as some trips mentioned but a couple spring to mind

Last February coming back from doing my first Devon day ranger, it was the same night Dawlish happened, we were stopped between Gillingham & Tisbury for around 45 minutes, no mobile signal in that part of the county to check what was happening, the bad weather was causing chaos for the line ahead, eventually we got moving only to be caught in Tisbury loop for another 30 minutes, eventually arriving back around 85 minutes late due to speed restrictions.

The other trip was coming out of Hull on a plan to do the east yorkshire round robin, nice little Pacer in June when it was quite warm, delayed 15 minutes at the start coming out of God's own city due to points failure, before carrying on, after Selby over the ECML and we were stopped for around an hour, another points failure with the junction with the Dearne Valley line, eventually reaching York an hour and a half late. In a warm 142. I just gave up and stayed on the same unit back towards Selby (although on the bright side did get me the junction from the ECML to the Selby line as it came back direct rather than via Church Fenton).

 

[jamesr]

Two consecutive Penzance - Paddington journeys with standing room only from Camborne / Redruth onwards, one of which was 90 minutes late, the other 60. Uncomfortable, squashed journeys, both of them. Probably 2008 or so. Unless I can get a solo cabin on the sleeper, I take the car these days to West Cornwall.