Impact of seven minute delay

[Syllopsium]

The 0810 from Blackrod to Piccadilly today was 'cancelled', speeding through Blackrod seven minutes late, missing Horwich and Lostock, and going direct to Bolton (departing there three minutes late).

Northern's initial response that the service was 'overcrowded' as it was short formed (two carriages). It was not overcrowded, and a picture I took proves this.

They have responded to someone else who could not get off at the three skipped stops saying 'sadly we had to amend this service due to congestion, in order to prevent further disruption to other services running on this route'.

How much of this is utter tosh, and basically not an excuse to provide Bolton a better service at the expense of the other stations? Obviously this is a peak time service, and it being cancelled means people will be late for work.

 

[DarloRich]

The 0810 from Blackrod to Piccadilly today was 'cancelled', speeding through Blackrod seven minutes late, missing Horwich and Lostock, and going direct to Bolton (departing there three minutes late).

Northern's initial response that the service was 'overcrowded' as it was short formed (two carriages). It was not overcrowded, and a picture I took proves this.

They have responded to someone else who could not get off at the three skipped stops saying 'sadly we had to amend this service due to congestion, in order to prevent further disruption to other services running on this route'.

How much of this is utter tosh, and basically not an excuse to provide Bolton a better service at the expense of the other stations? Obviously this is a peak time service, and it being cancelled means people will be late for work.

I suspect from the tone of your initial posting your aren't actually interested in any underlying reasons or potential impacts.

 

[Syllopsium]

I actually am interested in the underlying reasons, partly because trains are interesting, and partly because it might provide me with a larger stick to beat Northern with. i.e. Who is gaining at my loss? Obviously I'd like to be able to get where I want on time, especially when travelling from a station with a limited number of trains per hour.

Yes, I am also browned off by being lied to by Northern, although I suspect the people on the ground/enquiries have limited information, and it's a pretty horrid job to do given Northern's lacklustre performance.

 

[JBuchananGB]

Passengers at Blackrod, Horwich and Lostock were able to catch the service 16 minutes later to Manchester Victoria. Not ideal, but should have been acceptable.

 

[Kite159]

Passengers at Blackrod, Horwich and Lostock were able to catch the service 16 minutes later to Manchester Victoria. Not ideal, but should have been acceptable.

Just remember to put a delay repay claim in for arriving 15+ minutes late.

 

[Paul Kelly]

Northern's initial response that the service was 'overcrowded' as it was short formed (two carriages). It was not overcrowded, and a picture I took proves this.

They have responded to someone else who could not get off at the three skipped stops saying 'sadly we had to amend this service due to congestion, in order to prevent further disruption to other services running on this route'.

Perhaps it was an honest mistake/miscommunication - someone on Northern's Twitter team may have misunderstood congestion on the rail network as meaning overcrowding on the train itself?

Or maybe it could have been overcrowded earlier in its journey, which caused it to become delayed?

 

[Syllopsium]

Oh, I absolutely will put in a delay repay claim (although I doubt it'll account for much on an annual traincard), and yes, 8-9am is unusual in having two southbound trains in close proximity so the impact is annoying, but not extreme.

Of course for the passengers that wished to alight at Blackrod, it's not a 15 minute delay, or the seven minute delay if the train had stopped there, it was a 29 minute delay, just under the half hour for the next delay replay stage. How convenient.

However, looking at the schedules there appears to be a fair bit of time between trains at Bolton, Salford Crescent, and even near Piccadilly. I'm presuming the congestion would be coming into Piccadilly or affecting the journey it turns into after Piccadilly.