Fast running poorly communicated.

[gabrielhj07]

Earlier today I was on a train, 1E63, running around an hour late.

Upon departing Temple Meads, the TM announced that we would no longer be calling at Bristol Parkway nor Cheltenham Spa, much to the dismay of 3 passengers in my coach.

Apparently, the TM had announced this while stationary at BRI, however no passengers boarding at BRI had an opportunity to hear it, such was the volume of people alighting.

My question is; what provisions might be in place (if any) for such passengers, who found themselves at Birmingham without a valid ticket, but who I presume would have been liable for a new ticket, having been told (in theory) of the changes?

 

[yorkie]

What was displayed on screens at the station, and what was announced over the PA there?

 

[furlong]

Whenever a train skips stops this is a risk and the train company will have some system in place to deal with it. They should just find the train manager who'll tell them what to do and endorse their tickets accordingly. Obviously they'll also be due delay compensation but that'll be the least of their worries.

 

[gabrielhj07]

What was displayed on screens at the station, and what was announced over the PA there?

Nothing when I boarded, seemed like a last minute decision. In fact, platform staff told said passengers that this was the Cheltenham train, seemingly oblivious.

 

[43066]

My question is; what provisions might be in place (if any) for such passengers, who found themselves at Birmingham without a valid ticket, but who I presume would have been liable for a new ticket, having been told (in theory) of the changes?

It would be very straightforward for staff to verify that they’d been over-carried due to a not to call order. The guard might even call ahead if they made themselves known.

Then straight back on the next train in the opposite direction, most likely!

 

[gabrielhj07]

Then straight back on the next train in the opposite direction, most likely!

I imagine so, bit of a nuisance going 80 miles out of your way but hey ho!

 

[43066]

I imagine so, bit of a nuisance going 80 miles out of your way but hey ho!

I have actually stopped additionally a couple of times for people who jumped on wanting a station 15 miles away, and realised we were fast to London (100 miles!).

A little tricky if you’ve been given a not to call order for the location they want, however!

 

[gabrielhj07]

I have actually stopped additionally a couple of times for people who jumped on wanting a station 15 miles away, and realised we were fast to London (100 miles!).

A little tricky if you’ve been given a not to call order for the location they want, however!

I count it as all part of the adventure of travelling!

 

[Lucan]

what provisions might be in place (if any) for such passengers, who found themselves at Birmingham without a valid ticket

I would be thinking of sueing the company, not worrying about them prosecuting me.

 

[Haywain]

My question is; what provisions might be in place (if any) for such passengers, who found themselves at Birmingham without a valid ticket, but who I presume would have been liable for a new ticket, having been told (in theory) of the changes?

A passenger who has been overcarried in such circumstances should not be charged for a new ticket, they should simply be passed on the next train back to the station they were would have alighted at.

 

[island]

A passenger who has been overcarried in such circumstances should not be charged for a new ticket, they should simply be passed on the next train back to the station they were would have alighted at.

And an application for DelayRepay should be entertained.

 

[Flying Snail]

Looking at the timing of that, with the HST being almost exactly 1 hour late I would say it is the fault of control to not have decided earlier to run it limited stop (Exeter, Temple Meads, Birmingham, Derby, Sheffield, Leeds) and let the closely following voyager serve the full route.

Had it been done earlier it could have been altered for the display boards and been clear to all where it was stopping.

 

[Haywain]

Looking at the timing of that, with the HST being almost exactly 1 hour late I would say it is the fault of control to not have decided earlier to run it limited stop (Exeter, Temple Meads, Birmingham, Derby, Sheffield, Leeds) and let the closely following voyager serve the full route.

Had it been done earlier it could have been altered for the display boards and been clear to all where it was stopping.

Decisions are often made much earlier than they are communicated. Manually altering display boards and automated announcements is often more difficult than making those decisions.

 

[gabrielhj07]

Looking at the timing of that, with the HST being almost exactly 1 hour late I would say it is the fault of control to not have decided earlier to run it limited stop (Exeter, Temple Meads, Birmingham, Derby, Sheffield, Leeds) and let the closely following voyager serve the full route.

Had it been done earlier it could have been altered for the display boards and been clear to all where it was stopping.

There was some suggestion on board that they should have terminated the southbound train earlier if they knew there would be trouble west of Taunton.

 

[Haywain]

There was some suggestion on board that they should have terminated the southbound train earlier if they knew there would be trouble west of Taunton.

You can only do that if you have the crew available for the return working.

 

[Kilopylae]

Once or twice I've ended up at Dawlish when I was expecting St Thomas, and a couple of occasions I've even flat-out boarded a train going in the wrong direction, no railway error at all. Guards et al have always been pragmatic and focused on getting me back to my intended destination - tickets never even came into it. Concern about someone being cited for a ticketing irregularity when sincerely lost seems like inventing a problem that doesn't exist.

 

[Bletchleyite]

My question is; what provisions might be in place (if any) for such passengers, who found themselves at Birmingham without a valid ticket, but who I presume would have been liable for a new ticket, having been told (in theory) of the changes?

Generally people only get charged extra for being unintentionally overcarried (e.g. boarding the wrong train) if they fail the attitude test or otherwise do something that looks suspicious, e.g. try to leave the station at the wrong destination (indicating that they'd actually short-fared) rather than immediately looking into how the issue can be corrected.

No good for DOO of course, but if it does happen on a train with a guard then it's sensible to proactively seek the guard and explain as soon as you realise it's happened.

 

[Sultan]

I remember a Petersfield to Waterloo fast service having both Woking and Clapham Junction stops cancelled, both of which are large key-connection stations. I tweeted to SWT (TOC at the time) whilst south of Guildford that there were a number of people (including myself) who would miss key connections so they called the driver (somehow) to re-instate the Woking stop (for the number of people heading to Basingstoke and beyond).

The power of Twitter (at the time)!

 

[AlterEgo]

Generally people only get charged extra for being unintentionally overcarried (e.g. boarding the wrong train) if they fail the attitude test or otherwise do something that looks suspicious, e.g. try to leave the station at the wrong destination (indicating that they'd actually short-fared) rather than immediately looking into how the issue can be corrected.

No good for DOO of course, but if it does happen on a train with a guard then it's sensible to proactively seek the guard and explain as soon as you realise it's happened.

This has happened to me. I got on a train which was first stop Warrington instead of first stop Milton Keynes and was passed back with no problem. Proactively finding the guard, saying "Excuse me, I've made a cock up, I'm hoping you can help" goes a very long way.

 

[Haywain]

Generally people only get charged extra for being unintentionally overcarried (e.g. boarding the wrong train) if they fail the attitude test or otherwise do something that looks suspicious, e.g. try to leave the station at the wrong destination (indicating that they'd actually short-fared) rather than immediately looking into how the issue can be corrected.

Or, occasionally, come across staff who are just too overzealous about their work.

 

[Krokodil]

And an application for DelayRepay should be entertained.

On a single ticket you wouldn't get any more back than you were already entitled to, given that even if you did hear the announcement you'd have got into Cheltenham 74L anyway, thanks to the original delay.

 

[Skiddaw]

Thanks to this thread I now have 'Oh Mr Porter' as an ear-worm...

 

[gabrielhj07]

No good for DOO of course, but if it does happen on a train with a guard then it's sensible to proactively seek the guard and explain as soon as you realise it's happened.

Yes, this is exactly what happened.

 

[voyagerdude220]

The decision to skip Bristol Parkway and Cheltenham was posted on the Tyrell system at 17:45 last Wednesday. Because of the delay to 1E63 it hadn't even reached Taunton by the time the decision to not stop at Bristol Parkway and Cheltenham had been made.

 

[gabrielhj07]

Odd then, that this was not communicated to the platform in the intervening 45 minutes.