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Yes we've digressed a little. However, it's all relevant because the lack of care that abounds with running trains, seems to also be prevalent when customers try to express concerns about it. The over-riding issue is the all round lack of customer focus, and the apparent inability and/or...

Yes, I did make a complaint, but their response was that the 22.54 had to be released without further delay in order to avoid pathing problems in the Portsmouth area. This was even though my complaint suggested that pathing problems were unlikely at that time of night. It was as though the...

I always used to say this too, but sadly no longer. Increasingly, rail staff are becoming like insurance companies, ie their job is not to assist, it's to find reasons why they shouldn't - by making the fault into that of someone else. Yes, I know very well that many rail staff still genuinely...

I appreciate your points but ... if you're commuting then many are on flexible hours these days, so arriving an hour or two late can usually be accommodated. And don't forget that modern culture is often incredibly tolerant even when people go so far as to throw "sickies". So therefore it...

I'm "on about" both situations. Having staff availability for an extra hour needs goodwill and flexibility from the staff themselves, as I've already suggested upthread. Staff availability for a whole shift needs planning by management. Both situations need to be made to work if passengers /...

These are not mutually exclusive options, both are perfectly possible with a bit of planning about how you run your life. If your work means there's a fair chance that you might be needed to assist people due to a late train, then leave a little buffer time after your shift before you make...

You've summed it up really. I'm clearly old fashioned and my attitude is probably out of sync with many on this forum, but when I was younger I would always arrange my home life according to my work, including whatever flexibilities work might demand. If work commitments meant I needed to do an...

Not quite. It's the staff on the ground who need to sort things out. But ... it's the managers who need to account for all of it, including rewarding their staff properly, and ensuring that passengers get reasonable help. Managers who haven't experienced the problems that many, many passengers...

Yes, it's a job. That job is to serve customers and to do what is reasonable to get them where they want to go. If a train load of customers arrives where you are near to the end of your shift, and there are no other members of staff to assist them, do you walk away when they might be stranded...

I disagree. This is not implicit in my comment. I'm simply expressing a hope that staff would have customer interests in mind and not rush off home immediately their shift has ended, if they know that numerous people will be left stranded by their doing so. I would like to think they would be...

This just underlines my point about being motivated by money first, and enthusiasm for the railways a poor second. Nobody would expect (nor should be expected) to work for "poverty wages". However, with financial reward being so paramount (perhaps among senior managers even more than staff on...

Hmm, your comment is reflective of modern society, and I remain convinced that modern thinking is the downfall of railways in the UK. When I was at school, and later at university, myself and numerous people I knew would have driven trains thinking very little about the money. So long as we had...

Exactly, it's the constant cost-cutting that causes many problems in many industries. If something is working well, then one might think it's a good idea to stick to the successful formula, but then some young whizz-kid comes along with the mistaken belief that the system should be made more...

In many industries, if a member of staff isn't available for an essential job, and the company knows about this many hours in advance, they call up a replacement member of staff who is on standby. It's not rocket science! If this isn't done, or worse the company is run in a manner where it...

I haven't worked for the railways directly but I've always believed they could have so much going for them. Trouble is the UK culture is just so pro car, often even in rail management. As for my original point, it's hard enough to run rail services in this heat, but when you add in the lack of...

Well we made it to the ship on the next train. 1h3m late so roll on Delay Repay! Which makes the train trip a whole lot cheaper than driving and parking, or taking the coach! A bit hand to mouth for the journey though - such a shame the railways aren't more reliable.

I'm not convinced by your willingness to find reasons to excuse XC. Perhaps you should have joined those passengers standing for over 2 hours and then see whether your point of view changes. Meanwhile, as for your question, if I had all the facts I might be able to give you an answer. My...

I can't answer that, I can only guess. But ... both trains were heading for Bournemouth, and you might think one unit could be detached at Southampton if necessary. Meanwhile, we're now on the second train, just 5 coaches and seriously overcrowded, with train manager asking people to try to...

Here's another question. XC have publicly announced that the cancellation is due to driver shortage, but this suggests that the train could still go if it had a driver. Now, surely the trainset will be in the wrong place, so why not couple it to the next service, which then only requires the...

Yes, they seem to operate in a skeleton staff basis, ie just one person notifies XC that they won't be turning up, and despite many hours of notice, they simply have no-one else to call on. I thought big organisations had cover, precisely as an advantage of being a big company, but it seems...