What has been your longest rail replacement taxi?

[adc82140]

Slightly off topic, but my grandmother got a coach replacement taxi from Bognor Regis to Norwich some time in the 1990s, because the National Express coach didn't pick her up (the coach driver's excuse was that nobody ever got on there so he didn't bother). The cabbie was only too pleased to do the run, after a phone call home to check with his wife first

 

[styles]

The cabbie was only too pleased to do the run, after a phone call home to check with his wife first

I actually quite enjoy driving. I know I would earn more shunting people around central London, but from a job satisfaction point of view I would much rather a 400mi round trip on better roads without e-scooters and phone-obsessed tourists. That would probably be my whole shift done and I could call it a day!

 

[Carbean]

I actually quite enjoy driving. I know I would earn more shunting people around central London, but from a job satisfaction point of view I would much rather a 400mi round trip on better roads without e-scooters and phone-obsessed tourists. That would probably be my whole shift done and I could call it a day!

Talking to cab drivers on local routes I usually ask them about their longest journey, I was surprised to find most dislike long journeys as they can make more doing short journeys during a shift than one long journey which takes them out of circulation for hours or more. Lots of these drivers part own shared taxis so oncoming driver not pleased if his vehicle is a couple of hours away.

 

[LickeyIncliner]

I seem to remember reading in one of the railway magazines about someone who was trying to get from (I think) Guildford to Perth, and their first train was delayed so they missed the last daytime train from London to Scotland with a connection to Perth ... and were provided with a taxi all the way from Waterloo to Perth!

I hope the passenger was offered hotel accommodation and travel on a morning train as an alternative. I for one would regard an 8 or 9 hour taxi trip as adding insult to injury

 

[coupwotcoup]

Not me personally but c2002, back in the days of Waterloo, our Eurostar from Paris had been scheduled for an 8pm (ish)
arrival until all routes back to London were suddenly blocked following tunnel falls as the train came to a halt just past Ashford.

We then proceeded to crawl, and I mean crawl, for the next eight and a half hours, before eventually limping into South London
at 4.30am with many a panic attack and all food/water necessities long exhausted - duty free wine saw me through the worst!

But fair play to E* who had arranged alternative travel onwards for stranded passengers, with a queue of black cabs reminiscent
of their Paris counterparts preparing to take soldiers to the Marne in 1914, snaking out of the station.

The staff managed to pair up as many people who lived in the same area together and I can still distinctly recall a family in front of
me saying they were heading to somewhere North of Glasgow!

 

[Trainbike46]

My longest one is 63 miles, Rotterdam to Boxtel (both NL), after a very delayed Eurostar, arranged by the NS staff onboard north of Brussels.

 

[The exile]

Not my longest - but definitely the “riskiest” (and possibly illegal?) Worcester SH - Worcestershire Parkway in July 2020 - 5 complete strangers definitely not social distancing!

 

[43094]

I was once offered a Bournemouth to Keighley taxi, after delays around Bournemouth meant I'd no chance of getting home.

I turned that down in favour of the train into London.

Once in London I was offered a Waterloo to Keighley taxi....

I turned *that* down in favour of the 2333 Kings Cross to Leeds Whitehall.

On arrival at Whitehall (at around 0230), I was *not* offered an onward taxi, and it to took a long discussion to secure one....

 

[Segedunum]

Haparanda to Boden (Sweden), at 131km.

A single taxi was what Norrtåg thought was a suitable rail replacement service. Needless to say it was a squeeze and people were left behind, nevermind at intermediate stops. The taxi was going to Luleå but I bailed in favour of a train.

 

[pitdiver]

Not the normal Rail Replacement taxi. But when I worked for LUL there was Manager who was required to work on the 26th Dec. As there were no Nation Rail services a taxi was organised to bring him in to work and take him home at the end of his shift. No problem but he lived in South Wales. Normally he stayed in London but had decided to go home for a Christmas break.

 

[Wolfie]

Birmingham New Street to Euston with three other people in a black cab when Virgin cancelled the last train.

 

[Amos]

I have also had a good experience with Eurostar at Waterloo when there were issues in Paris and we arrived back after the last train.Taxi was only to Milton Keynes,so certainly not the longest journey, but the driver had his meter on and the trip came to £163.I was most impressed as our return journey on the train cost £39.

 

[Amaranthe]

About 30 odd years ago I worked for McDonalds in Dundee and 4 of us were seconded to Fort William to help train staff and open the new branch there.

For some reason I can't recall there was disruption between Dundee and Glasgow so we were put in a taxi to Crianlarich to get us to the Fort William train in time.

 

[AY1975]

The issue with trying to put people on the sleeper is that by the day of running, it is often fully booked, both beds and seats. The sleeper operations refuse to put two people from separate groups into the same room now as well, so not even like you could ask the people with a spare bed in their twin rooms to share with a stranded passenger without breaking their own policies. If you're lucky a Caledonian Double or Accessible Double may be available but I've certainly been on when they've had nothing to upgrade to.

These days yes, but obviously under BR and in the early days of privatisation under ScotRail, solo Standard Class berth passengers were often placed in a compartment with a stranger of the same sex.

Not sure what would have happened in those days if a passenger travelling via London to Scotland (or Cornwall) who got delayed and missed their last daytime train to their destination but could be accommodated on the Sleeper (it's not fully booked every night, or certainly used not to be, especially midweek), whether they would have been entitled to a berth at no extra cost or only to a seat.

That said, I'm surprised they bothered with a taxi instead of putting the passenger up in a hotel for the night and sending them on the first journey up the next day.

Maybe all hotels in central London were fully booked that night?

 

[D1511]

Another Preston to Edinburgh AWC victim here, during storm Babet in October 2023. I didn't fancy the prospect of a dodgy Uber driver over Shap in high winds with 3 other randoms though, so I took the hotel in Preston option, with a few other like minded fellow pax.
I ended up getting the same unit I'd been decanted from up the road early-ish the next morning (with a grand total of about 30 other passengers spread across a 11 car set) and I was home by 10am. AWCs do not travel warning wasn't lifted until after I'd had my breakfast at home!

 

[aar0]

Bristol Parkway to Swansea after heavy rainfall around Birmingham in 2017 meant I missed the last connection. meter was on and it cleared £200 but I don’t recall where it finished. I’d asked XC for a hotel in Birmingham once we’d already been delayed several hours but they weren’t interested…

 

[Dougal2345]

Quite a few years ago I rolled up at Oslo station with my pre-booked ticket to Åndalsnes - causing much confusion when it became apparent that the ticket was for a train that didn't exist.

They popped me on a train to Lillehammer, with a voucher for a taxi to take me on to Åndelsnes - taxi journey must have been about 160 miles. I had a look at the taxi meter, can't remember the exact NOK figure it came up with, but think it was around £600...

More recent was a journey Cherbourg-Rennes. A cancellation in the first leg of the journey meant I arrived in Granville after the last train to Rennes had left. After finding a member of staff (not easy) she put me into a taxi for the remaining 60 or 70 miles...

 

[35B]

Not strictly me, but relevant. In October 98, the Trawsfynnydd Lament railtour arrived at Euston in the wee small hours after some problems en route. The organisers put people together for journeys from the set downs where possible, but a large number of us got to Euston and needed transport. We were bunched together at the top of the ramp down to platform 17, and were called by distance. The first call was "one for Newton Abbot", followed by "three for Andover". My trip to Bromley was minor by comparison.

All were in London black cabs.

 

[EYFanatic]

Once had a Rail Replacement Taxi from Bruxelles Midi to Amsterdam Centraal at just under 256km (took a longish route due to roadworks) and then convinced the driver to go a little further and drop me off at the Heineken Experience. On the way there, had to stop for fuel at an Esso and discovered that my Nectar and Esso apps actually worked on the continent so I got quite the haul of points to boot!

 

[DesDobramento]

Slightly off-topic but, in the not too distant past, Avanti's website referred to a Saturday evening bus replacement from Edinburgh Waverley to Birmingham New Street.

 

[hornbeampark]

My longest was a mere 62 miles from Exeter St Davids to Liskeard.

I’m not sure how the process works but they (GWR at St Davids) called Northern (who caused my first major delay) to get permission so I assume they paid for it.

I say that because it makes me chuckle imagining someone from Northern Control getting a call from Exeter at 2 in the morning asking for £100 to pay for a taxi.

 

[D1537]

Cardiff to Crewe (~160m via the M5) on a Saturday night after a farce outside Cardiff meant there was no way of getting to Bristol or Crewe for 1S19 Bristol-Glasgow sleeper. Missed out on the pilot 37 from Worcester and found out later it was some extremely common ex-boilered Welsh machine (37177? 37182? I forget), so no loss.

Banbury to Southampton (~100m) due to a freight train fire at Aynho. A very fast fleet of Nissan Bluebirds got us to The Dell at 2.55pm, just in time for us to watch our team lose 3-0.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

This wasn't a rail connected journey, but I once asked a taxi driver in South Wales what his longest journey had been, and he replied - "Newport Docks to Hull Docks"!

It was caused by a sailor missing his ship at Newport and having to travel to Hull, which is where it's next port of call was. The taxi driver was quite happy, as I think he was paid cash in hand; I can't remember how much, but it was quite a lot, even allowing that it was the mid 1990s. What I didn't ask and have always wondered about is why there was the urgency to get the sailor to Hull? After all, they could have put him on a train, which would have been much cheaper, even including an overnight stay!

My only taxi journey was between Totnes and Exeter St David's a few years ago on a Bank Holiday Monday. It was caused by a Tesco lorry driver hitting a bridge outside Plymouth, and the result was a complete closure of the line in both directions for many hours. I was advised to get a taxi to Exeter and get on a train back to Newport, which I did; I made a compensation claim which was met in full (as was a Delay Reply claim because I was some hours late getting home).

 

[FenMan]

Far from the longest taxi trip, but one that worked out well.

A late Saturday evening Virgin West Coast to Euston was getting more and more delayed so the guard came round asking passengers about onward connections. There was no chance of me making it to Waterloo in time for the last train to Camberley, so I was given a slip and told to turn right at the top of the ramp. I went through a doorway to find a large circus of taxis with Virgin staff trying to match passengers to destinations that cab drivers were prepared to go to.

It came to my turn and said I was going to Camberley. No other passengers were interested so I knew I'd bagged a solo ride. The drivers were asked "Anyone for Camberley?" and one piped up and said he'd do it. Once safely heading away from Euston, he confided that he'd been working all day in London and was about to head back to his home in Frimley, about a mile away from where I lived. He was very happy to be paid for going home and gladly dropped me at my front door. The bonus being, the trains to Camberley are so slow I was back home 15 minutes earlier than if the train had run to time.

 

[EYFanatic]

Far from the longest taxi trip, but one that worked out well.

A late Saturday evening Virgin West Coast to Euston was getting more and more delayed so the guard came round asking passengers about onward connections. There was no chance of me making it to Waterloo in time for the last train to Camberley, so I was given a slip and told to turn right at the top of the ramp. I went through a doorway to find a large circus of taxis with Virgin staff trying to match passengers to destinations that cab drivers were prepared to go to.

It came to my turn and said I was going to Camberley. No other passengers were interested so I knew I'd bagged a solo ride. The drivers were asked "Anyone for Camberley?" and one piped up and said he'd do it. Once safely heading away from Euston, he confided that he'd been working all day in London and was about to head back to his home in Frimley, about a mile away from where I lived. He was very happy to be paid for going home and gladly dropped me at my front door. The bonus being, the trains to Camberley are so slow I was back home 15 minutes earlier than if the train had run to time.

Had one like that - was in Doncaster after losing the roofpod on a Pacer going MAN-SHF so missing my last train home (told to go as far as Donny on my ticket and talk to the staff there) and various taxi drivers refused to do it and one piped up and said he'd do it... So off in a Metrocab from Doncaster to Hull and, speaking to the driver, was informed that he was going to see his brother in Cottingham the following day anyway so this way he gets paid for it and he gets in a few hours earlier

 

[Skiddaw]

This wasn't a rail connected journey, but I once asked a taxi driver in South Wales what his longest journey had been, and he replied - "Newport Docks to Hull Docks"!

It was caused by a sailor missing his ship at Newport and having to travel to Hull, which is where it's next port of call was. The taxi driver was quite happy, as I think he was paid cash in hand; I can't remember how much, but it was quite a lot, even allowing that it was the mid 1990s. What I didn't ask and have always wondered about is why there was the urgency to get the sailor to Hull? After all, they could have put him on a train, which would have been much cheaper, even including an overnight stay!

Perhaps he was the captain!

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Perhaps he was the captain!

That's a good point .... I don't remember asking who he was!

 

[EYFanatic]

Perhaps he was the captain!

If you'd like, my father worked on Hull docks as a ship broker and agent at that time... He would have heard about such a thing and I can ask him in the morning

 

[EbbwJunction1]

If you'd like, my father worked on Hull docks as a ship broker and agent at that time... He would have heard about such a thing and I can ask him in the morning

Yes, if you could, please .... it would be interesting to find out what the background is! Thanks.

 

[BeijingDave]

Apologies. I replied to the wrong message. I was thinking of the 250 mile, 6 hour one way journey.

I am curious about why (in the UK) we don't just offer people hotel accommodation in such cases as a first option.

Recently, when flying MAN-HEL-PEK with Finnair, my MAN-HEL leg was delayed meaning I missed the only HEL-PEK flight of the day.

I was offered a hotel room nearby (about a 15 minute drive from the airport as I remember) or a tortuous re-routing to get me there as soon as possible (via Munich). I chose the hotel, which would have saved Finnair some money probably as they weren't having to pay out to codeshare airlines.

In this case too, surely an overnight hotel room would be much cheaper for the TOC than some of these taxi journeys.