'Ask the conductor to open the windows if not already opened'

[northwichcat]

The title is a response from Northern Rail on Twitter to someone questioning why heat is being emitted in the saloon on a Southport-Manchester train yesterday. The rolling stock used on Southport-Manchester services are 142s, 150s and 156s. Is there a reason why they say the conductor should open the windows and not the passenger? Given some Southport services are 4 car trains which include a 142 or/and a 150/1 in the combination and only have 1 conductor on board the passenger may have had difficulty in asking the conductor.

 

[roritoberry]

I used the southport - airport train twice yesterday and both times they were merseyhell pacers and the heaters were on

 

[yorkie]

The rolling stock used on Southport-Manchester services are 142s, 150s and 156s. Is there a reason why they say the conductor should open the windows and not the passenger?.

Perhaps because they don't know if Class 158 stock is operating on the route? Based on several conversations I've seen on Twitter regarding ticketing, some TOCs don't have knowledgeable people posting from their Twitter accounts!

In fact here's a recent example from Northern...

leslie clarke ‏@poochielou66 11h
@northernrailorg ow much is a return doncasta medowhall fare is
Expand

Northern Rail ‏@northernrailorg 10h
@poochielou66 Hi, it £4.20 for a return ticket.​

Is it?

http://brfares.com/#fares?orig=DON&dest=MHS&rlc=

SDR £6.80
CDR £5.50
SDS £4.20

And here's another...

Keiran Waite PhD ‏ ‏@EduardoSoftSkin 16h
Action on the 18:21 Sheffield to Leeds - about 10 drunken males causing chaos, they departed at Rotherham, retweet this @northernrailorg
from Rotherham, Rotherham

Northern Rail ‏‏@northernrailorg 16h
@EduardoSoftSkin This is not one of our services! @crosscountrytrains​

No, CrossCountry do not call at Rotherham! Keiran Waite obviously meant the 18:18 which departed late, and typed slightly the wrong time.

We all make mistakes, but some of those Twitter feeds are so full of basic errors, that my conclusion is they're pointless! (some people think Twitter is making forums like this redundant. My response to that =)

 

[Welshman]

It was a lot simpler in the olden days, when the fireman turned-on the steam-heat valve from 1st October-30th April, when coupling to the coaches; and from the 1st May to the 30th September, didn't.

And you could open the windows yourself - some with a leather strap!

 

[northwichcat]

I used the southport - airport train twice yesterday and both times they were merseyhell pacers and the heaters were on

They don't turn off. Possibly something to do with waste engine heat being sent to the saloon?

 

[ANorthernGuard]

They don't turn off. Possibly something to do with waste engine heat being sent to the saloon?

You can not turn the Saloon heating on off on most FNW 142's. Merseyrail 142's have a thermostat at each end where the tip up seats are to turn them down, however they rarely work. We used to be able to turn the saloon heater fans off however we can't even do that now as some bright spark decided to start removing the Aux heater over ride so now if the fans get turned off the engines overheat, They are horrible to work and i know they are horrible for the passenger in any hot/cold weather as the heating is pants in Winter.

 

[yorksrob]

The rolling stock used on Southport-Manchester services are 142s, 150s and 156s. Is there a reason why they say the conductor should open the windows and not the passenger?

Perhaps they were getting confused with 158 windows that cannot be opened by the passenger.

Was on a pacer yesterday where the heating had come on. I wonder whether a passenger had knocked the (usually quite visible) thermostat.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

Perhaps they were getting confused with 158 windows that cannot be opened by the passenger.

Was on a pacer yesterday where the heating had come on. I wonder whether a passenger had knocked the (usually quite visible) thermostat.

Eastern 142's have a thermostat us western lot do not have that sort of luxury lol

 

[northwichcat]

Perhaps they were getting confused with 158 windows that cannot be opened by the passenger.

The 158 windows should only be opened if the air conditioning is ineffective and I'm sure the conductors who work the 158s would be able to work that out without a passenger needing to tell them.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Eastern 142's have a thermostat us western lot do not have that sort of luxury lol

A 142 that I travelled on yesterday had the luxury of the original (worn out) brown floor covering. Obviously one of the 142s that FNW earmarked for withdrawal when the Oldham Loop opened and Northern haven't bothered to bring it up to the same standard as the other 142s despite no 142s actually being withdrawn as a result of the Oldham Loop closure.

 

[Captain Chaos]

The 158 windows should only be opened if the air conditioning is ineffective and I'm sure the conductors who work the 158s would be able to work that out without a passenger needing to tell them.

This is the same as 166's now. Windows are locked shut unless the air conditioning isn't working. Passengers are being told to ask the Conductor to open the windows if the air con is not working. The irony of course is that when they are working the DOO services there is nobody to open them!

 

[yorksrob]

Eastern 142's have a thermostat us western lot do not have that sort of luxury lol

It's grim out west
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The 158 windows should only be opened if the air conditioning is ineffective and I'm sure the conductors who work the 158s would be able to work that out without a passenger needing to tell them.

Maybe so, but it's the only feasible explanation I can think of for suggesting that the guard should be asked to open the windows !

 

[Greenback]

The 158 windows should only be opened if the air conditioning is ineffective and I'm sure the conductors who work the 158s would be able to work that out without a passenger needing to tell them.

A guard last week on an ATW 158 opened the windows without any request. I didn't think it wa sparticularly hot, just stuffy due to the fullt rain, but the breeze was very welcome, even if the air conditioning was working and got a bit messed up as a result.

 

[causton]

A guard last week on an ATW 158 opened the windows without any request. I didn't think it wa sparticularly hot, just stuffy due to the fullt rain, but the breeze was very welcome, even if the air conditioning was working and got a bit messed up as a result.

Indeed, I did the Settle-Carlisle line on a 158 this week and the guard opened the windows as the air-con was either broken or so ineffective we couldn't tell the difference. Of course knowing the British weather as we passed over the Ribblehead viaduct it started raining :roll:

 

[185]

When FTPE had 158s their maintenance was so bad, I opened a hopper window and it fell off.

Another report a week later of a passenger being knocked unconscious by a loose one.

 

[corin paul]

Twitter should be left to poeple and not companies. Companies should not touch it, stay away and give it a wide berth.

 

[Tibbs]

Twitter should be left to poeple and not companies. Companies should not touch it, stay away and give it a wide berth.

Companies should only do it if they understand it and can do it well.

Unfortunately most TOCs don't have anywhere near the customer service ethic (or indeed the communication style) needed to make twitter an effective tool.

 

[swj99]

Indeed, I did the Settle-Carlisle line on a 158 this week and the guard opened the windows as the air-con was either broken or so ineffective we couldn't tell the difference. Of course knowing the British weather as we passed over the Ribblehead viaduct it started raining :roll:

Last time I went on a train (Guildford to Wokingham about 18 months ago) they didn't need to open the windows - the rain was getting in easily enough through the roof anyway. In fact, one passenger was using an umbrella.

 

[starrymarkb]

Twitter should be left to poeple and not companies. Companies should not touch it, stay away and give it a wide berth.

Try tweeting Delta Air Lines (@deltaassist) - they are a good example of how to do it!

 

[island]

LM does quite well.

 

[Tibbs]

LM does quite well.

They do, but they're very much the exception.

 

[dewsnapsliding]

LM does quite well.

That's very reassuring, when they don't appear to know how to run a train operating company.

 

[northwichcat]

When FTPE had 158s their maintenance was so bad, I opened a hopper window and it fell off.

When they hired a couple of CT 158s they put in standard notices apologising for the poor standard of them. I thought they were the same standard as the rest of the TPE 158s.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

When they hired a couple of CT 158s they put in standard notices apologising for the poor standard of them. I thought they were the same standard as the rest of the TPE 158s.

I remember the quality of the Transpennine 158s dropped off significantly the moment the deal for the 185s was signed!

 

[northwichcat]

More bad tweeting from Northern Rail:

Passenger: "18:37 out of Leeds is on fire. Unimpressed with actions & lack of communication from your staff"

Northern Rail: "HI, Sorry to hear that. We have passed all complaints about the heating forward and apologise."

Passenger: "actual FIRE!"

 

[Muzer]

Lol, I like that

 

[Eagle]

Would be the second fire-related incident on the railways this evening. Birmingham International was fully evacuated at about 17.45 when the alarms went off (turned out to be a false alarm).

 

[mullin]

More bad tweeting from Northern Rail:

If you think how many tweets, letters and phone calls they get from people moaning every day about the heaters still being on, someone describing a train as being 'on fire', till someone actually tells the CR team what is going on, who wouldn't think they're just describing the train as being too hot?

 

[GadgetMan]

If you think how many tweets, letters and phone calls they get from people moaning every day about the heaters still being on, someone describing a train as being 'on fire', till someone actually tells the CR team what is going on, who wouldn't think they're just describing the train as being too hot?

Just have to accept the fact that there are a lot of people out there who enjoy spending all their spare time combing through everything Railstaff say and do hunting for things to criticise them for.

As to the OP, staff who man the twitter desks are Customer Service staff and will not have thorough knowledge of each individual traction type that their TOC runs. Don't see the need for a pathetic thread to be started everytime they get something wrong.

 

[swj99]

Don't see the need for a pathetic thread to be started everytime they get something wrong.

With so many differing views, outlooks and opinions, who could say for sure whether a thread is pathetic or not ?

 

[87015]

That's very reassuring, when they don't appear to know how to run a train operating company.

Somewhat bias, but c2c seem to be able to do both rather better anyway...