Recent content by alloneword100

What sort of offices have you worked in, where you can blithely refuse to work a bit late in order to finish off an important report which needs to go off that day to meet the deadline for a big tender, for example? Because that is the appropriate comparison. Hamburger flippers, perhaps -...

Why would a driver be so unprofessional as to let the whole of a service grind to a halt like that? How long would it have taken?

It's all about fixed costs and marginal costs. If, on average, it costs say £100 per passenger for London to Manchester, you would assume that no ticket should be priced at under £100, since they are 'loss-making'. However, if the cost of carrying one MORE passenger is only £16 (sandwiches...

But the only reason flying is quicker is that you've chosen Scotland as your example rather than other English cities, and that you don't have too long a drive back from Heathrow, which is presumably what you were thinking of. Taking travel to and from airports plus checkin time of an hour...

Southern trains to Guildford via Clandon have omitted the latter's name in automated announcements for ages (I think it used to be West Clandon, maybe they never got round to re-recording it). It just goes missing from the list, causing panic among non-regulars who were trying to get there, and...

You mean that, even though there are plenty of unreserved seats, you couldn't be bothered to pick one of those and sat in a reserved one? If so, the passenger who told you to move out of 'their' seat could quite probably be me; and I would have done it to teach you some manners...

Sorry, I've just posted re this on the other thread, but quick version - surely the issue is when you cease to be a passenger? With no definition section the answer would normally be the dictionary definition, and that would end when you got off the train. Is there any precedent on this in a...

IANAL, though I work in a related field, and have access to Halsburys Laws. Also being a sad git, I started looking at this, particularly at penaltyfines point about how long he had to keep the ticket. I find it very surprising that such an ancient act is still the basis for prosecution...

This, I think, is the key point. I use this line pretty frequently from Guildford, though not every day, and I'm normally using it in the rush hour. There are always some seats available as they arrive from Portsmouth into Guildford, and not always just the middle seats. Similarly, going the...

Absolutely right. If other fare-paying passengers are ill-mannered enough to disrupt the generally calm atmosphere of first class I am annoyed at them. If staff are, I'm annoyed at both them and their employer, and less likely to pay the extra again. Having said that, I can only remember one...

An update on my experience as posted above. I copied the posting into a complaint to Southern on the same day, 10th Feb. They say they will deal with complaints within 48 hours. It took a further chase and a copy to London TravelWatch to get any response. I then got two responses, separately...

It was five years ago, so I'm afraid I can't remember the details. We've got the menu somewhere, but I can't find it. Apart from the fact that it was just fabulous, I do remember that it was a pretty full-on old-style French cuisine, never mind the calories sort of meal... The other thing I...

"Oy, wake up scumbag, you haven't got a ticket!"? Is that how the conversation started? I don't think so, somehow. Perhaps, having made the accusation that your wallet had been searched, you could now explain a bit more clearly exactly what happened? Because my guess is that it was your...

I agree this is the point. However, the reason I sometimes pay for first, like most who do I suspect, is because you do generally find that it is more relaxing. It's partly about noise, partly about space, and partly about service. I don't have a difficulty about staff being there, but it is...

My favourite train catering experience was the evening meal on the Orient Express... :D Not an experience I'll get to repeat in the near future though. :cry: