FCC Mysterious Vanishing Train

[embers25]

Does anyone have any idea what happened to the 0434 from St Panc to Bedford on Saturday morning? Luckily the 0404 was 20+ mins late and so we just caught that but the 0434 was not on the departure boards at any station or on live departure boards despite being in both the old and new timetable. I asked the FCC staff on the gates at Luton Airport Parkway (yes thy were manned at 5am!) to get the rather amusing and ill informed action of them looking at the timetable seeing it should have run and then responding that it wasn't shown as they were operating a new timetable (which of course started today not yesterday and also still includes that train albeit at 0432). Surely if it is going to be canx it should at least be shown as that on the departure screens?
I did find it also kind of bad that there was no announcement of arrival at Luton Airport Parkway on train as at that time of day many tourists were on the very full train and several at least would have missed it had I not have warned them. I know overnight announcements on trains returning clubbers are rare but particularly as it was misty, the train was late so hard to judge its arrival and full of tourists it should be an automatic.

 

[asylumxl]

FCC seems to be good at this recently.

On the weekend, I took an EMT service to Luton Airport Parkway. A connecting Bedford service should have arrived a few minutes later, and since the core was closed, I saw it in St Pancras. Yet when I got off at Parkway, the connecting service had vanished and I had a 40 minute wait.

 

[mackenzie_blu]

I can do you one better. Last week a customer asked why the xxxx train wasn't on the board as its on her iphone app so I checked the timetable. Nothing. So I asked the supervisor has this train been put in as an 'extra'. After a few minutes later, all the time watching this dot travelling closer to us and even being told the train has arrived at x station, the supervisor gets back. Both email system and our intranet has nothing so we don't think this train is running. I inform him Im watching it on a customers iphone. Supervisor then decides to ring control. By this point the train is pulling into the platform and is announced as an all stations to Bedford. Werid as the iphone says all stations to Luton. Cue five minute delay why control figure out its a cancelled then reinstated then cancelled and finally reinstated but no-one knew it had been reinstated the second time expect customers! One good thing is we had a few laughs but it happened all well. By the end customer realised they had more up to date information than us!

Tho the public site stating a train is running on time due to early delays still gets me!

 

[RochdalePioneers]

Waiting at East Croydon earlier for an FCC north to St Pancras. Timetable on the platform says 1617 and 1627. No 1617 on the board even listed as cancelled. Dles this train exist I wonder or is it a typo?

 

[williamn]

Was at St P last night and the order of trains on the boards kept changing at very last minute way as they entered the station - very confusing for customers!

 

[mackenzie_blu]

Waiting at East Croydon earlier for an FCC north to St Pancras. Timetable on the platform says 1617 and 1627. No 1617 on the board even listed as cancelled. Dles this train exist I wonder or is it a typo?

That would be because the 1617 is in the full timetable and not the reduced timetable currently running. For some stupid reason the full timetable has to be displayed even tho in situations like these its confusing and counter productive.

 

[Aussie_Rail]

We tend to call these 'Ghost trains', they show up despite it not being timetables nor announced by the stations PA system. One good thing is though sometimes when they show up as a city bound train in peak hour they are pretty empty and you get a seat.

Although they sound awesome, they are usually equally as rare as a 7/11 run by a local.