Advice for today please

[yorkie]

I reckon the system is down as almost everything is simply showing as "delayed", including the sleeper.

I reckon he will make it if he goes for it, as I bet the sleeper is more than 10 late into Preston and the 0016 from MAN may then make it. That said, if the 0016 itself is delayed, he may not.
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If he did get the 2054 DON - LDS then he got to LDS at 2131.

It is unclear what is happening with the 2140 to MAN though. If he makes that, he should be ok...

 

[142094]

Have to say one thing - I certainly would not have liked to plan an ALR before the internet came about.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

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If he did get the 2054 DON - LDS then he got to LDS at 2131.

It is unclear what is happening with the 2140 to MAN though. If he makes that, he should be ok...

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/ldbdetails/fjFE1YQW0GXIaB5EMRndXw==?f=MAN

Nowhere nearv as acuurate as TRUst etc, but it was 14 late off YRK, and is 'delayed' at LDS.

 

[yorkie]

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/ldbdetails/fjFE1YQW0GXIaB5EMRndXw%3D%3D?f=MAN

Nowhere nearv as acuurate as TRUst etc, but it was 14 late off YRK, and is 'delayed' at LDS.

Was it? The train shows as last reporting between Darlington & Northallerton. The * indicates reports were overdue at NTR and THI. There is nothing to say what the different coloured text at York means! But when it has departed it says "Departed" and it doesn't say that for York.

However a set swap could have occured, which would confuse the system.

Very few trains have been reporting since around 2030 so I reckon there is a fault with the system.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Was it? The train shows as last reporting between Darlington & Northallerton. The * indicates reports were overdue at NTR and THI. There is nothing to say what the different coloured text at York means! But when it has departed it says "Departed" and it doesn't say that for York.

However a set swap could have occured, which would confuse the system.

Very few trains have been reporting since around 2030 so I reckon there is a fault with the system.

Thanks yorkie, just relaised that was the case, and came allongto post it. There's still a 2208 or 2240 though, doubt you'll make it CRE or PRE on that time though

 

[YorkshireBear]

exciting stuff East coast puncutality for this quarter is not going to be healthy

hope youve made it!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Due 2251 into MAN, last reported between Darlington/Northallerton

 

[bennorthyork]

Thanks everyone. I am on the sleeper sat in the lounge car having a wee dram of whisky. Outcome was I arrived Doncaster missing last connection to the sleeper so station staff put me in a taxi for Crewe. I arrived with 15 minutes to spare and then the sleeper was 20 late. I think someone asked if I had been on the Chieftain and I was all the way to Doncaster. It changed headcode to form the 1300 Edinburgh to Kings Cross for some reason at Edinburgh. It was the latest UK train I have been on and it was full and standing from Edinburgh.
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Arriving into Fort William shortly. Great trip up in the snow. Will be catching the 11.40 back to Glasgow.

 

[CallySleeperKid]

Thanks everyone. I am on the sleeper sat in the lounge car having a wee dram of whisky. Outcome was I arrived Doncaster missing last connection to the sleeper so station staff put me in a taxi for Crewe. I arrived with 15 minutes to spare and then the sleeper was 20 late. I think someone asked if I had been on the Chieftain and I was all the way to Doncaster. It changed headcode to form the 1300 Edinburgh to Kings Cross for some reason at Edinburgh. It was the latest UK train I have been on and it was full and standing from Edinburgh.
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Arriving into Fort William shortly. Great trip up in the snow. Will be catching the 11.40 back to Glasgow.

Great news, It was like a little drama watching this unfold last night, Keep us informed how you get on.

 

[bennorthyork]

Currently on 11.40 Fort William to Glasgow running 35 late. Radio signal problems apparently. Should still be on time for 16.40 Glasgow to Euston.
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Here we go again! On the 16.40 Glasgow to Euston which is currently stopped behind a failed train. Today I am aiming to get to London in time to get the FGW sleeper. The countdown clock for my time to change at London is ticking!

 

[MCR247]

Good luck

 

[yorkie]

A broken down train is causing disruption at Lockerbie.
Because of this, there are delays of up to 50 minutes to trains between Edinburgh / Glasgow Central and Carlisle. These delays are expected to continue until approximately 19:30.

1440 GLC - EUS got through ok, but the following 1452 EDB - BHM is stuck near Lockerbie since around 4pm. Either this failed (probably a Voyager) or it could be behind a freight train.

Setting off over half an hour later they really should have warned people and given you the option of going to King's Cross!

The 1600 GLC - BHM and 1614 EDB - MIA are both behind it.

 

[bennorthyork]

On the move again

 

[MCR247]

According NR, if nothing else goes wrong you should be in euston by 22:04

 

[yorkie]

The 1452 EDB -BHM passed Gretna 146 mins late due to a train fault. It's expected into Carlisle shortly. Hopefully they'll let it be overtaken!
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According NR, if nothing else goes wrong you should be in euston by 22:04

That's quite optimistic, recovering 20 minutes would take quite some doing!

However it's extremely likely to be behind the 1958 PRE-EUS, and then it is also likely to be behind the 2015 MAN-EUS which is booked to pass Colwich at 2107, so I just can't see it recovering much time. Yes, it is possible to overtake but NR signallers don't seem to know what regulating means these days.

I predict it will arrive after both the above trains, shortly after 10.30pm.

That still leaves the OP over an hour to get to Paddington though!
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1452 EDB - BHM has finally limped into Carlisle at 1840, a mere 155 minutes late!

 

[bennorthyork]

We are crawling along and the NR estimate for arrival time keeps creeping up and up. There is still quite a lot of time to spare and I am relaxing with my free dinner and free wine while filling in compensation forms. I am guessing that I must be up to 400 pounds in compensation for delays in 3 days if all my claims are accepted.
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Passed Carlisle but in a queue of trains for Preston and beyond.

 

[yorkie]

You won't catch them. They all call at less stations than you! Your train to London should be designated a class 2 between Carlisle and Warrington, as it calls at all shacks. The rattling mid-range DMUs to Brum & Manc are booked to call at less stations than your Pendo! :P

No wonder they wanted to withdraw the ALR or restrict it. In weather like this it's going to cost them more in taxis and compensation than the revenue for the ticket.

 

[Railjet]

No wonder they wanted to withdraw the ALR or restrict it. In weather like this it's going to cost them more in taxis and compensation than the revenue for the ticket.

I don't understand why they don't restrict refunds to a pro-rata amount (as I believe an earlier poster said one TOC is doing).

 

[bennorthyork]

I see what you are saying about the ALR. I wonder how many they sell. I suspect relatively few so in the overall scheme the compensation will be relatively little. The queue of trains I was in yesterday had probably 1500 people travelling from an average of Edinburgh to Kings Cross on full and standing trains and all entitled to full refunds as either delayed by 3 hours or 5 hours approx. Imagine that bill. Must be into 6 figures.
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Each toc could restrict to pro rata daily amount and I think they should. The problem comes with delays with more than one toc in one day. It would be difficult to know who should compensate out of the pro rata amount.

 

[yorkie]

If it was BR, you could simply have all rovers be sent to them at the end with a list of delayed trains for consideration. They could then look at the overall use of the rover and if 10% of trains were delayed you'd get 10% back or something like that. Under the present system you can get 10% of trains delayed and potentially get the entire cost of the rover back!

And as for the taxi, you have to admit it's a bit daft and costing the rail industry £millions. They would have saved the cost of that taxi by saying get a train to Leeds (Leeds then is a lot more convenient to get to Preston by road than Doncaster is to Crewe!) and try to make that Manchester train, if the Manchester train was made then a taxi would be totally unnecessary.

I would rather see the huge taxi bill cut than lines closed. But somehow we must save £billions if rail travel is to survive.

Why is it that when I got a taxi from London to York, they didn't send us by rail to Peterborough? That would have saved over 1/3 of the taxi bill. And we'd have got there quicker. We also said accommodation would be fine but they insisted on a taxi. And it was a black cab. Ludicrous. Yet if a customer underpays by 10p they can be prosecuted!

 

[Railjet]

If it was BR, you could simply have all rovers be sent to them at the end with a list of delayed trains for consideration. They could then look at the overall use of the rover and if 10% of trains were delayed you'd get 10% back or something like that.

That seems an eminently sensible solution. I guess the problem of splitting between TOCs would make it an administrative pain, though. Also, who can check if you were actually on the train?

With Inter-Rail passes you are supposed to fill in a travel report (forming part of the ticket) listing out each train you have taken. This would assist in verifying delays, missed connections etc. (It also helps in revenue allocation, but only if you are willing to send it in). However, it's very easy not to bother filling it in, and in hundreds of journeys, I have not seen one guard look at it.

 

[bennorthyork]

The trouble with that is it would probably cost more to administer than save. Could they instead if there are severe weather warnings in force not pay compensation claims for delays? The taxi thing is daft. They should not allow a taxi if overnight accommodation is cheaper.

 

[sheff1]

They should not allow a taxi if overnight accommodation is cheaper.

A taxi should be provided if that is what the passenger needs/wants. An overnight in Doncaster is not something to force on anyone .

But, seriously, overnight accommodation anywhere is of no use if you have an early morning appointment, flight etc 150 miles away.

On the question of compensation on Rovers, I can't see any sensible argument against a daily pro rata cap.

 

[yorkie]

Update: bennorthyork's train arrived into Euston at 2253, giving him 52 minutes to get from Euston to Paddington. Barring a major farce on the Underground, he should make it for the 2345 from Paddington. I guess we'll find out soon!

 

[bennorthyork]

Made it with 30 minutes to spare! Thanks all.
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On the 16.15 Cardiff to Holyhead enjoying a great meal but delayed being stuck behind a broken down freight. Does anyone have any more info on that one? Not in a rush as staying overnight in Holyhead. Just interested.
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We are apparently due to set off on single line working in about an hour so will get to Crewe at about 22.00 and the train is going to terminate there. We then have to wait for the next Holyhead train. So optimistically 01.00 into Holyhead.

 

[MCR247]

Whats the point in that if the stock has to get to Holyhead anyway?

 

[John @ home]

On the 16.15 Cardiff to Holyhead enjoying a great meal but delayed being stuck behind a broken down freight.

My understanding is that the delay report for today's 16.15 Cardiff Central - Holyhead is "This train has been delayed by a member of train crew being unavailable".

 

[yorkie]

My understanding is that the delay report for today's 16.15 Cardiff Central - Holyhead is "This train has been delayed by a member of train crew being unavailable".

Which is nonsense as it was delayed between Leominster and Craven Arms and the train is non-stop (so obviously no crew change) between Abergavenny and Shrewsbury.

The train departed Shrewsbury at the time it should be arriving into Holyhead! ETA into Crewe is 2120. I expect the 2123 Crewe-Chester local to be held to allow all passengers to board. Could be cosy as it may be a 'dogbox'. This is due Chester 2146.

However there is no onward train to Holyhead until 2256, arriving 0053! Surely they will arrange something and not force passengers hang around for over an hour.
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Whats the point in that if the stock has to get to Holyhead anyway?

If the guard is out of hours and no replacement is available the train would have go to ECS. This is a possibility.

 

[bennorthyork]

The guard was out of hours so it was cancelled from Crewe but I asked him to phone ahead for the 2100 Crewe to Holyhead to be held and it was. We are all on there now and it is full.
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What is a dogbox?

 

[yorkie]

Phew! Well done ATW. Shame the guard isn't passed on loco hauled stock by the sound of it, as it would have made more sense to run that.

A dogbox is a Class 153.

What's your plan for tomorrow?

While you are in the area I'd highly recommend the Ffestiniog Railway (I believe this is free with an ALR) and Welsh Highland Railway.

On Friday are you taking the 1846 Euston - Preston (Class 90 & Mk 3s, often referred to as the "Pretendalino")? If I had an ALR that's one train I'd definitely do!