Chiltern during WCML blockades

[MerlinRail 804]

Going into Marylebone today, seeing how busy it is today due to the WCML blockade (credit where it’s due Chiltern seem to have done the best they can) made me wonder about the use of silver sets on days like this.

I know they’re getting old and maintenance and all that, but there is currently, as usual for a Saturday, only one of the 4 in operation, and only for one run to Stourbridge in the peak. Surely they could be using at least one or two to increase capacity, either by replacing units allowing Aylesbury Vale via Met line to get a service, or an extra couple of (maybe “ultrafast”) services to Birmingham and back.

I’m guessing it’s either to do with their age or staffing (guards?).

 

[Oxfordblues]

I was very impressed today with the way staff at Marylebone dealt with the crowds, with a gyratory system in place to separate departures from arrivals. The extra revenue would easily pay for the additional staff. Adrian Shooter would have been proud!

 

[Watershed]

I was very impressed today with the way staff at Marylebone dealt with the crowds, with a gyratory system in place to separate departures from arrivals. The extra revenue would easily pay for the additional staff. Adrian Shooter would have been proud!

I imagine Chiltern won't quite be getting their fair share here, unless there is some kind of manual intervention. The revenue apportionment in ORCATS for interavailable (Any Permitted etc.) tickets is based on a standard weekday timetable, and isn't generally adjusted for engineering works.

Now yes, some people will be buying via High Wycombe tickets instead during the WCML closure, of which Chiltern will receive the vast majority of the revenue. But these are cheaper than the Any Permitted fares so the industry is recieving less revenue as a whole. In fairness I'd say that's a reasonable compromise given the longer journey times and crowding.

 

[NickBucks]

There is no Chiltern service on the Met line today,certainly beyond Amersham as a new bridge is being installed over the line at Stoke Mandeville.(South east Aylesbury Relief Road).

 

[MerlinRail 804]

I was very impressed today with the way staff at Marylebone dealt with the crowds, with a gyratory system in place to separate departures from arrivals. The extra revenue would easily pay for the additional staff. Adrian Shooter would have been proud!

Yes they defo did handle it well. I’ve just always wondered why they don’t make more use of the silver sets for stuff like this

 

[CyrusWuff]

Yes they defo did handle it well. I’ve just always wondered why they don’t make more use of the silver sets for stuff like this

Two main issues: The loco-hauled sets need a Guard for the entire journey, as opposed to just Banbury - Birmingham for the 165s and 168s; plus they have lower capacity than an equivalent number of DMU vehicles.

 

[MerlinRail 804]

Two main issues: The loco-hauled sets need a Guard for the entire journey, as opposed to just Banbury - Birmingham for the 165s and 168s; plus they have lower capacity than an equivalent number of DMU vehicles.

Guard and pathing permitting, I’d personally use them to run an extra ultrafast service rather than replacing a unit anywhere

 

[InvHst]

I was very impressed today with the way staff at Marylebone dealt with the crowds, with a gyratory system in place to separate departures from arrivals. The extra revenue would easily pay for the additional staff. Adrian Shooter would have been proud!

Just seen a post on social media of someone complaining about said system and has apparently been assaulted by a staff member?

https://x.com/i/status/2005374853642387493

I have just been physically assaulted by @chilternrailway staff
Please retweet
I am bleeding

Have Chiltern brought external security in to help manage or is it there staff?

 

[Nova1]

Not sure of the exact service but a friend has said that at Moor St Chiltern were keeping some carriages locked, with staff saying it was so stations down the line people could board. That makes sense actually.

 

[Chriso]

Just seen a post on social media of someone complaining about said system and has apparently been assaulted by a staff member?

https://x.com/i/status/2005374853642387493

Have Chiltern brought external security in to help manage or is it there staff?

They normally have travel safe officers there in the evenings and at busy times to help the gateline staff

 

[Cruzz]

Either way, credit to the staff on the ground, crowd management clearly made a big difference.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Just seen a post on social media of someone complaining about said system and has apparently been assaulted by a staff member?

https://x.com/i/status/2005374853642387493

Some suggestion there, however, that he might be a form of "auditor" and thus might not be wholly innocent.

 

[PLY2AYS]

Just seen a post on social media of someone complaining about said system and has apparently been assaulted by a staff member?

https://x.com/i/status/2005374853642387493

What a strange video.

I sincerely hope this person is okay. However, I do often wonder with complaints such as this; what series of events lead to this particular person being allegedly forcibly ejected from Marylebone?

I don’t have access to X, so if anyone has any additional information, please DM me!

 

[CyrusWuff]

Some suggestion there, however, that he might be a form of "auditor" and thus might not be wholly innocent.

If they've allegedly been assaulted, surely they'll have reported it to the BTP rather than just posting a Tweet? Also to Chiltern so the CCTV is retained.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If they've allegedly been assaulted, surely they'll have reported it to the BTP rather than just posting a Tweet?

Though there's assault and there's reasonable force used to remove someone who has been asked to leave* and has refused to do so; the BTP would have no interest in the latter any more than the regular police would be interested in a nightclub or pub bouncer having chucked someone out, something that happens quite often. I wasn't there so I can't comment on where it may have been on that scale, but if he is acting like an "auditor" one can make one's own judgement.

* On private land, which the railway legally is, they don't need to be reasonable in asking someone to leave, they just need to have done so, provided the reason doesn't infringe a protected characteristic.

 

[Elecman]

Didn’t see any evidence of him bleeding as he stated he wax

 

[NeilCr]

Steven Barrett is prolific on YouTube. He has been seen on GBNews on occasions as their tame barrister. He's had dustups on X with - among others - The Secret Barrister

Looking on X and elsewhere Chiltern Railways asked them to contact him about the incident - as did the BTP. It seems that he was finally escorted to his train by the station manager Mr Gumbo.

 

[voyagerdude220]

What a strange video.

Very!
Surely if he's indeed sustained an injury as a result of the actions of Railway Staff, he'd show evidence of this on his video.

I always say there are two sides to every story.

It makes me laugh when I sometimes have idiots at work filming me because they're unhappy at me following my TOC's terms and conditions/policies which they're not happy about, as surely all this does is confirm I'm performing my job correctly.

(And funnily enough the aforementioned person filming never gives any context to their self made video to explain what they've done which was wrong in the first place.)

 

[tony6499]

It seems he is one of those people who complain about anything and everything, weird if I had been assaulted as he claimed and bleeding I'd be calling the police and maybe getting medical treatment, not posting on social media

 

[voyagerdude220]

It seems he is one of those people who complain about anything and everything, weird if I had been assaulted as he claimed and bleeding I'd be calling the police and maybe getting medical treatment, not posting on social media

Exactly. I suspect the reason why he didn't simply report the matter to the Police/BTP is because it wasn't 100% as he stated.

 

[Kite159]

Probably a case of him trying to be funny and jump a queue for a Birmingham bound train and getting caught out.

 

[tgsh2011]

Be very wary of Steven Barrett. He is a barrister with a long history of posting nonsense takes on the law with many colleagues in the profession calling him out regularly. I nicknamed him M'learned friend of the Block Button. It is strange that he does not appear to have reported this alleged assault to BTP and, for a barrister, has little understanding of the railway by-laws.

 

[Bungle]

Anyone know what the loads on the trains are like now people are heading back to work?

I’m heading down to London for the darts on Friday afternoon from Moor St - departures every half hour when I need to go - and just wondering if I’ll be able to board my preferred service / get a seat / need to join a long queue and maybe miss my intended one, etc.

My mate will board at Bicester North, so similar question for him.

Still time to book a National Express if required but I’d prefer the train.

 

[87electric]

Be very wary of Steven Barrett. He is a barrister with a long history of posting nonsense takes on the law with many colleagues in the profession calling him out regularly. I nicknamed him M'learned friend of the Block Button. It is strange that he does not appear to have reported this alleged assault to BTP and, for a barrister, has little understanding of the railway by-laws.

I watched him give evidence to a House of Commons Bill Committee not so long back.
Barristers don’t have knowledge of every aspect of law. They do choose what to specialise in.

 

[tgsh2011]

I watched him give evidence to a House of Commons Bill Committee not so long back.
Barristers don’t have knowledge of every aspect of law. They do choose what to specialise in.

I am aware of that being a legal professional myself. The problem with Steven is that he does profess expert knowledge in areas of law he has no idea about in reality (constitutional law comes to mind). The video posted by him also makes plain he is a barrister, as if that has anything to do with the issue at hand. As I said, what Barrett should have done was report the matter to BTP and not cause a scene on social media (which would potentially prejudice any criminal investigation).

 

[LondonDrone]

Travelled to High Wycombe from Marylebone yesterday morning, and confirm that gate staff were being over zealous holding everyone back, and unaware of the Wycombe only trains . The station was empty at the time. I had to explain to the gentleman there was a train on platform 6, leaving in 5 minutes, and he had to check with his supervisor before apologetically allowing me through.
Well done for Chiltern for amazing provision for the extra passenger traffic (Silver sets all out.) Less praise for the extra gate line staff brought in..

 

[Steveswan10]

When GWR had diversions in place, some went to Waterloo and some to Marylebone, couldn't Avanti do the same-obviously having to be dragged? Is it there not enough capacity or the station not long enough?

 

[soil]

I watched him give evidence to a House of Commons Bill Committee not so long back.
Barristers don’t have knowledge of every aspect of law. They do choose what to specialise in.

he is a professional grifter.

he is not allowed to practise law, having chosen not to renew his practising certificate.

while there is nothing untoward about a barrister doing this, and there are plenty of noble professions for unregistered barristers (law lecturer, say), he now spends his time on GB News and podcasts with the likes of Liz Truss, bleating about the concerns of the (far) right.

he also boasts of his rapidly increasing twitter follower count.

he is a commercial barrister, and is presumably well-qualified in that area, however he now posts mostly about criminal law (free the right-wing rioters, lock up the left ones, lock up the asylum seekers), and when he frequently makes basic errors (which a pupil barrister should not make, albeit that by his stage in life he may have forgotten the relevant law), he invariably blocks the legal professionals who correct him.

as a barrister he would be able to file a civil claim against Chiltern easily, or make a criminal complaint. Instead he prefers to post "I am bruised" on twitter.

Chiltern's security guard may or may not have acted wrongly, but Barrett appears unlikely to ever act in a way that would allow us to find out which it is.

 

[Jan Mayen]

When GWR had diversions in place, some went to Waterloo and some to Marylebone, couldn't Avanti do the same-obviously having to be dragged? Is it there not enough capacity or the station not long enough?

Didn't Avanti divert via Banbury in the past? Vague recollection of a 15 carriage Voyager.

Edit: I meant divert to/from Euston via Banbury, not going into Marylebone.

 

[philosopher]

Anyone know what the loads on the trains are like now people are heading back to work?

I’m heading down to London for the darts on Friday afternoon from Moor St - departures every half hour when I need to go - and just wondering if I’ll be able to board my preferred service / get a seat / need to join a long queue and maybe miss my intended one, etc.

My mate will board at Bicester North, so similar question for him.

Still time to book a National Express if required but I’d prefer the train.

If your mate is going southbound, I would strongly recommend he gets a train from Bicester Village instead. I used Chiltern from Moor Street yesterday and there people standing from Solihull, so you almost certainly will have to stand from Bicester North. At Bicester Village the train will come from Oxford so should be much less busy.