Crazy day with SWR (9 April)

[Trident]

Pretty much everyone here will know that trains to and from Waterloo were pretty screwed up yesterday. However some of the actions taken made things considerably worse for passengers.

Firstly, going to London Waterloo from platforms on the Reading line. The SWR website stated that due to the situation, tickets for Waterloo were valid via Reading, Paddington & the Bakerloo line, and this was confirmed by the ticket clerk at Bracknell (thanks).

Yet there were people on the train to Reading and from Reading to Paddington complaining that they'd been told they'd have to buy a new ticket via Reading & Paddington, which was considerably more expensive than the tickets they'd already purchased for the Reading/Waterloo line. I don't blame the staff giving out that info; I blame their training and the management decisions that meant they wouldn't be given that information to pass on.

Secondly, coming home. I was waiting to see if/when the 2150 Waterloo train on platform 18 would be ready for boarding. The board outside platform 18 showed "Delayed", and the board on the platform had a message which said this train isn't in service. So I looked for and found a member of SWR platform staff, asked him, and was told yes it was platform 18 but as we watched I saw I'd just missed what was what looked to be an empty train. Quite a number of people around me had also been waiting to go through the barrier and board it when the platform sign confirmed it was for Reading....which it never did.

So along with the rest of a fairly large crowd we walked back to the platform 20-24 area.

So I got on the next, the 2220. Using opentraintimes I could see it would be platform 22, so went through the barrier before the train arrived, and after a quick chat with the driver who'd brought it in boarded it as soon as I could. I'm damn glad I did get on so quickly as of course it was absolutely and totally rammed - as bad as Royal Ascot week.

 

[DelW]

Firstly, going to London Waterloo from platforms on the Reading line. The SWR website stated that due to the situation, tickets for Waterloo were valid via Reading, Paddington & the Bakerloo line, and this was confirmed by the ticket clerk at Bracknell (thanks).

Yet there were people on the train to Reading and from Reading to Paddington complaining that they'd been told they'd have to buy a new ticket via Reading & Paddington, which was considerably more expensive than the tickets they'd already purchased for the Reading/Waterloo line. I don't blame the staff giving out that info; I blame their training and the management decisions that meant they wouldn't be given that information to pass on.

On a North Downs train to Reading yesterday, there was a considerable altercation between a passenger who'd boarded at Farnborough North, and on-train staff.

As far as I could make out, the passenger had gone to Farnborough Main, found there were no trains running, just had time to get to Farnborough North for the Reading train, and was trying to buy an online ticket when the guard reached him, and said it was too late to do that. (I'm not sure whether this was an add-on ticket, or for his full journey to London). The guard appeared to be either demanding the passenger buy a more expensive ticket, or threatening prosecution, or both.

For some reason, there was already a strong revenue protection operation on board - two guards checking tickets, two RPIs (or BTP or security?) in hi-vis, and another GWR staff member. All got involved in the protracted argument. When I disembarked at Reading, all those staff had detained the passenger to one side.

There seemed to be no consideration that the passenger was trying to deal with the absence of SWR main line service from Farnborough, and the staff contention seemed to be that GWR had no obligation to assist. From a bystander viewpoint, it did all seem to be very heavy-handed and threatening, but of course I don't know the full story, or why there was the heavy revenue protection presence in the first place.

 

[Goldfish62]

On their website SWR listed very extensive ticket acceptance with TfL, GWR and bus operators outside London at an early stage. Based on the above reports it sounds like either the ticket acceptance hadn't actually been agreed with other operators or those operators had failed to pass on the info to their staff on the ground. Based on my experience of SWR being if anything even more shambolic since nationalisation and under the current invisible MD I tend to think it was for the former reason.

I'm glad I sat it out at Waterloo rather than trying alternative routes home.

 

[Jimini]

On their website SWR listed very extensive ticket acceptance with TfL, GWR and bus operators outside London at an early stage. Based on the above reports it sounds like either the ticket acceptance hadn't actually been agreed with other operators or those operators had failed to pass on the info to their staff on the ground.

I'm glad I sat it out at Waterloo rather trying alternative routes home.

Taxi reimbursement was on the table from quite early on as well. Seems to be their go-to these days when it's really bad.

 

[walkingsophie]

I did a return journey from Upper Halliford to Chilworth on that day (I think I was the first person to ever buy that ticket). Seeing the disruption, I decided to see if I could take local buses to the SWR mainline, but there was no ticket acceptence on the 557, so I had to walk half an hour to Shepperton to get the 458 to Walton. The ticket acceptance was in place on the 458, but the bus driver had to go through some menus to see that. Rest of my journey and the return journey on the SWR was mostly uneventful but quite delayed.

 

[saismee]

A brighter story from the disruption:

A young girl was travelling from somewhere SWR-land via Waterloo, onward to my station. I brightened her (and her mum's day) by letting them keep the ticket and giving them a delay repay form to get a full reimbursement for both legs of her journey . Chinese food for dinner subsidised by train disruption.

 

[Coolzac]

On a North Downs train to Reading yesterday, there was a considerable altercation between a passenger who'd boarded at Farnborough North, and on-train staff.

As far as I could make out, the passenger had gone to Farnborough Main, found there were no trains running, just had time to get to Farnborough North for the Reading train, and was trying to buy an online ticket when the guard reached him, and said it was too late to do that. (I'm not sure whether this was an add-on ticket, or for his full journey to London). The guard appeared to be either demanding the passenger buy a more expensive ticket, or threatening prosecution, or both.

For some reason, there was already a strong revenue protection operation on board - two guards checking tickets, two RPIs (or BTP or security?) in hi-vis, and another GWR staff member. All got involved in the protracted argument. When I disembarked at Reading, all those staff had detained the passenger to one side.

There seemed to be no consideration that the passenger was trying to deal with the absence of SWR main line service from Farnborough, and the staff contention seemed to be that GWR had no obligation to assist. From a bystander viewpoint, it did all seem to be very heavy-handed and threatening, but of course I don't know the full story, or why there was the heavy revenue protection presence in the first place.

I caveat with we don't know all the facts.

However, in general it infuriates me when there is severe disruption on the railway and then staff treat the customers like they are 'trying it on' when they are just trying to get to their destination. It's such bad customer service and would not happen in most other customer facing industries.

 

[fandroid]

Has that SWR website information been captured so that it can be used to assist in recovering extra fares and to defend against prosecutions/out of court ransom demands? If you know anyone who's been charged extra then point them towards the Disputes and Prosecutions section of this website for expert advice

 

[Trident]

These are screenshots from my phone. Hope they are useful to someone....

 

[bb21]

On their website SWR listed very extensive ticket acceptance with TfL, GWR and bus operators outside London at an early stage. Based on the above reports it sounds like either the ticket acceptance hadn't actually been agreed with other operators or those operators had failed to pass on the info to their staff on the ground. Based on my experience of SWR being if anything even more shambolic since nationalisation and under the current invisible MD I tend to think it was for the former reason.

I'm glad I sat it out at Waterloo rather than trying alternative routes home.

The incident happened at 1148h and ticket acceptance was agreed on an "any reasonable route" basis as of 1156h so I am afraid your money is on the wrong one on this occasion. I also know this was confirmed because it was recorded by the GWR team, not SWR team.

I am not sure how much more swiftly you expected these actions to be taken.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 11 Apr 2026 ==

...

So I got on the next, the 2220. Using opentraintimes I could see it would be platform 22, so went through the barrier before the train arrived, and after a quick chat with the driver who'd brought it in boarded it as soon as I could. I'm damn glad I did get on so quickly as of course it was absolutely and totally rammed - as bad as Royal Ascot week.

I don't know the specifics of this particular departure as there were lots of factors at play that day. Unfortunately I would say this was likely the (or at least one of a handful of the) worst nightmare(s) on the network for a long time going back in my memory. Soon after it happened all lines were blocked as the incident was potentially visible to the mainline side too on an open part of the network. The investigation by relevant authorities also took longer than anticipated which wasn't ideal (but necessary). The train then had to be moved first after power was turned on before another isolation had to be taken, all the while with the Up Main Fast plus Windsor side closed so mainline services couldn't go into Waterloo. The slow lines eventually reopened, by which time there were lots of booked crew changeovers in advance of the afternoon peak which meant extensive crew and stock displacement, and at one point Waterloo was full so nothing could move. It was certainly a day to forget for everyone, but I would say it was certainly not one where I would look back and think "oh they shot themselves in the foot here", of which there are plenty of examples I can recall.

 

[walkingsophie]

I don't know the specifics of this particular departure as there were lots of factors at play that day. Unfortunately I would say this was likely the (or at least one of a handful of the) worst nightmare(s) on the network for a long time going back in my memory. Soon after it happened all lines were blocked as the incident was potentially visible to the mainline side too on an open part of the network. The investigation by relevant authorities also took longer than anticipated which wasn't ideal (but necessary). The train then had to be moved first after power was turned on before another isolation had to be taken, all the while with the Up Main Fast plus Windsor side closed so mainline services couldn't go into Waterloo. The slow lines eventually reopened, by which time there were lots of booked crew changeovers in advance of the afternoon peak which meant extensive crew and stock displacement, and at one point Waterloo was full so nothing could move. It was certainly a day to forget for everyone, but I would say it was certainly not one where I would look back and think "oh they shot themselves in the foot here", of which there are plenty of examples I can recall.

To add to the stuff that happened that day, my train from Wimbledon was delayed due to a fault with a different train at Earlsfield, with a slow train calling at platform 7 somewhere along the way.

 

[davews]

I see the 2150 Reading service ran on time from platform 18 on Thursday despite what the departure boards were saying...

Realtime Trains | 2C71 2150 London Waterloo to Bracknell | 09/04/2026

Real-time train running information for 2C71 2150 departure from London Waterloo to Bracknell on 09/04/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Thanks BB21 for the detailed information on what was happening. Fortunately I wasn't travelling myself but could have been. The Reading line seemed to have been particularly badly effected with virtually no trains until well into the evening and one always has to ask whether a partial service eg Clapham Junction to Reading or even Staines to Reading could have been run. Their long list of options was of little help to us in Bracknell and apart from the bus to Reading (no doubt packed solid) or the X94 Ascot to Camberley would be of little use. And the use of taxis seemed to be limited to those travelling on the main line towards Weymouth only.

But as you say it was an unprecedented incident.

 

[DelW]

The incident happened at 1148h and ticket acceptance was agreed on an "any reasonable route" basis as of 1156h so I am afraid your money is on the wrong one on this occasion. I also know this was confirmed because it was recorded by the GWR team, not SWR team.

For completeness, the argument I described in post 2 took place on a train arriving at Reading at 1703.

 

[Goldfish62]

I see the 2150 Reading service ran on time from platform 18 on Thursday despite what the departure boards were saying...

Realtime Trains | 2C71 2150 London Waterloo to Bracknell | 09/04/2026

Real-time train running information for 2C71 2150 departure from London Waterloo to Bracknell on 09/04/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Thanks BB21 for the detailed information on what was happening. Fortunately I wasn't travelling myself but could have been. The Reading line seemed to have been particularly badly effected with virtually no trains until well into the evening and one always has to ask whether a partial service eg Clapham Junction to Reading or even Staines to Reading could have been run. Their long list of options was of little help to us in Bracknell and apart from the bus to Reading (no doubt packed solid) or the X94 Ascot to Camberley would be of little use. And the use of taxis seemed to be limited to those travelling on the main line towards Weymouth only.

But as you say it was an unprecedented incident.

I'm increasingly finding that during major disruption and well into the recovery period afterwards the Reading line is virtually abandoned west of Virginia Water. Ticket acceptance via Paddington is of no use if there are no trains from Reading to get you home. The 4/4a buses end up leaving people behind and are no good for Martins Heron, Ascot or Sunningdale.

With much of the crewing done from Staines and Feltham can they really not do better and run shuttles / turn trains from the west at Staines?