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Information for GTR Southern passengers during strike (no DOO discussion)

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infobleep

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Some video of the queue at East Croydon on this site

I was very smug this morning as there was no queue to go southbound <D
Interesting. Thanks for sharing that. It does appewr though that there expectation of the entire network being ground to a halt didn't happen. Perhaps they were unaware when they wrote the article, which must have been after at least one Southern branded train left towards Victoria.

I wonder how long it took to get from the end of the queue, at the point the video was shot to a train?
 
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Bishopstone

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Caught the additional 06.50 Brighton-Victoria this morning, formed of 3x GatEx 387.

Only about 25% loaded upon arrival at Gatwick. Very efficient, on-time service.
 
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vrbarreto

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The 0734 Caterham to Vic passed while I was waiting at East Croydon. It wasn't full.

Only a few people managed to board the late-running 0754 northbound Thameslink at East Croydon. It was already heaving. Luckily it was followed by a surprised GX service to Victoria, which wasn't busy. Looks like there are a few return workings from Victoria to East Croydon this evening.

The GX had stopped at Redhill, which must be a pretty rare occurrance.

I got to east Croydon yesterday about 7.20 and walked straight onto platform 4. The 07.23 Bedford service was miraculously on time and had a fair amount of standing room. Got off at blackfriars no problem.. Seems to be after 7.45 that East Croydon gets busy. Doing West Wickham to Charing Cross this morning instead and this train seems to have some of the most inconsiderate passengers I've seen in a while.. Please can you move down... No.
 
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infobleep

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Caught the additional 06.50 Brighton-Victoria this morning, formed of 3x GatEx 387.

Only about 25% loaded upon arrival at Gatwick. Very efficient, on-time service.
How were the loadings at East Croydon and any reason why it couldn't stop at Clapham Junction?

Wonder who is driving these extra services?

Maybe they are only trained on Gatwick Express stock, given so much other Southern stock exists. After all why would they want to use Gatwick Express branded stock on a Southern service, it might confuse people. Oh wait they already do that when it's not a strike day..... Say no more.

I wonder what the drivers of the additional services are doing before and after them. How many services can one relaatically drive to and from Victoria in one shift? Clearly they need to take the trains back k to a siding or depot and also collect them in advance.
 
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jha4ceb

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How were the loadings at East Croydon and any reason why it couldn't stop at Clapham Junction?
Apparently one of the passengers wondered this last night too - the train which formed the 1714 from Victoria to Brighton was delayed on its arrival because someone forced the doors at Clapham Junction.

I assume they're not stopping at Clapham for the same reason that the Caterhams aren't stopping at East Croydon - unable to cope with the volume of passengers.

Wonder who is driving these extra services?
On Twitter, Southern said they were driven by driver managers.
 

infobleep

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Apparently one of the passengers wondered this last night too - the train which formed the 1714 from Victoria to Brighton was delayed on its arrival because someone forced the doors at Clapham Junction.

I assume they're not stopping at Clapham for the same reason that the Caterhams aren't stopping at East Croydon - unable to cope with the volume of passengers.


On Twitter, Southern said they were driven by driver managers.
So how come the Brighton trains are able to stop at East Croydon? I guess they feel enough people must get off.

I wonder why driver managers couldn't drive these trains in the last drivers strike? Maybe GTR were so convinced their court action would win they didn't think it would be needed.
 

Deepgreen

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Somewhat vexing that the 1638 Blackfriars to Three Bridges yesterday (strike day) was eight coaches vice the normal 12! No apparent reason or apology for the 700/0 being used. Had a 700/1 failed, I wonder?
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So how come the Brighton trains are able to stop at East Croydon? I guess they feel enough people must get off.

I wonder why driver managers couldn't drive these trains in the last drivers strike? Maybe GTR were so convinced their court action would win they didn't think it would be needed.

Possibly there were not enough/any last time, and GTR have hurriedly trained up some more (whether adequately or properly is anyone's guess).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Caught the additional 06.50 Brighton-Victoria this morning, formed of 3x GatEx 387.

Only about 25% loaded upon arrival at Gatwick. Very efficient, on-time service.

Hmm - I'm not sure that running a train during a strike that was not widely advertised and therefore little used, on a railway that was far emptier than normal could be classed as "efficient"! However, good that you had a less painful journey for a change!

I was somewhat annoyed last evening that my Thameslink train from Blackfriars seemed to get caught behind other trains all the way from Tulse Hill to Purley, despite almost nothing else running!
 

bramling

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Possibly there were not enough/any last time, and GTR have hurriedly trained up some more (whether adequately or properly is anyone's guess).

I'd be very surprised if managers could be trained up in that sort of time. The only thing which could be done is make sure anyone already trained is fully up-to-date on their license.
 

Thebaz

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Just got the 1025 from Purley into Victoria and the loading was about 2 people per car! I'm assuming that if I try to return on the 1710 this evening my experience will be somewhat different. Any reports of the loadings on the evening services?
 

infobleep

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I wasn't certain where to put the following but didn't think it warranted it's own thread. It made me chuckle at least. I'm on a Gatwick Express branded train on a Southern service.

Right now I'd say GTR are definitely not a trusted authority. As for the network, parts of it are closed today so you'll experience slow or delayed journeys.

Much like the WiFi itself. I'd like to have done some work but it wasn't up to the job. It is only pilot at least. So one day it might improve or not..... Bit like their train service in general. Might improve or not.
 
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Bishopstone

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Has the First Class declassification policy changed yet again?

The notice of blanket declassification across the Southern network seems to have disappeared from the 'overtime ban timetable' page.
 

JonathanH

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I got to east Croydon yesterday about 7.20 and walked straight onto platform 4. The 07.23 Bedford service was miraculously on time and had a fair amount of standing room. Got off at blackfriars no problem.. Seems to be after 7.45 that East Croydon gets busy. Doing West Wickham to Charing Cross this morning instead and this train seems to have some of the most inconsiderate passengers I've seen in a while.. Please can you move down... No.

07.23 East Croydon to Bedford service ran via the Quarry line this morning as the Redhill stop was cancelled. Presumably this is because other Thameslink services had Redhill stops inserted and because the service is 8-377 rather than 12-700.

Penalty for running via Redhill appears to be about 7 minutes in each of the Thameslink services that made additional calls there (1W06, 1W80, 1W12). Brighton line Thameslink passengers apparently not happy their trains are being sent via Redhill with consequent delays.
 

Starmill

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Penalty for running via Redhill appears to be about 7 minutes in each of the Thameslink services that made additional calls there (1W06, 1W80, 1W12). Brighton line Thameslink passengers apparently not happy their trains are being sent via Redhill with consequent delays.

We could have this radical idea where there are some alternative trains that run from Redhill towards London. Say, they could come from nearby towns on electrified routes and provide them with direct trains to London as well.

Nah, clearly I'm being outlandish.
 

infobleep

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Today I have heard two manual station announcements saying that the Thameslink train is stopping additionally at Redhill today. However the broad days it will not be stopping at Redhill today.

Online via the National Rail Enquiries App is a note saying the train will be delayed due to maintenance extra stops but the only additional stop, Redhill, is cancelled.

That note and additional stop did not exist yesterday. So they added it and took it away.

The train arrives in Haywards Heath, 2 minutes late and left a further 4 minutes late. One lady asked a member of platform staff about the Redhill stop and was told if it didn't they can change at Gatwick Airport. Since boarding the train I've heard no announcement about whether Redhill is being included. Perhaps the driver is seeking clarification. I don't know. No announcement yet and train left 6 minutes late.

Not even sure if First Class is declassified. Looked online and it appears it must be. You'd think they'd make that more obvious. I told some people yesterday it was declassified. I got it wrong. Perhaps they are trying to catch people out.

97dddc301fe79816ba50f387eddb67c3.jpg

--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Looking on Southern's twitter page, first class is not declassified. You'd think they would make it more obvious. I told someone yesterday it was. I guess no one was interested in checking for people sitting in first class when they had a standard class ticket yesterday.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
So can the good folk at Redhill catch a bus, like the good folk at Horley can if they have an hours wait?

So the train has departed Three Bridges 8 minutes late and it's not even stopped at Redhill. 5 of those delay minutes were at Haywards Heath and still no announcement from the driver. This maybe a Thameslink service but it's a good indication as to what it would be like on Southern without a second member of staff.

However we have now switched to platform 1 at Gatwick but the train isn't stopping at Redhill. No announcement to say it is, other than announcement announcement at Haywards Heath station but the board said no.

Well finally at Gatwick Airport, after most passengers have alighted, the driver says we will be stopping additionally at Redhill. Wonder if that lady got off the train before he made the announcement and if so, did she get back on. The on board PIS doesn't mention Redhill.

National Rail Enquiries App does now show Redhill once more. Wonder who decided to excluded it and who then decides to include it. Maybe it was a discussion during the additional delay at Haywards Heath.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Has the First Class declassification policy changed yet again?

The notice of blanket declassification across the Southern network seems to have disappeared from the 'overtime ban timetable' page.
Yes. Trains no longer declassified on any day it seems. Not sure what has changed operationally to course this. Maybe the trains are not packed enough to need it.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
A twitter member of staff has just said trains declassified on strike days. I thought the online information didn't say this. Confusing. However maybe first class was in fact declassified yesterday and I was OK telling someone to sit in it. Can't remember the words I used though so what's to say they now think first class is declassified today. Who knows. Lol.
 
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Bishopstone

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Either so many people have abandoned commuting that it isn't necessary to declassify on a general basis, even in the peaks. Or, the financial drain from Delay Repay, lower ticket sales etc has caused DFT/GTR to look for ways to stem the shortfall: ie no longer refunding the difference to First Class season ticket holders.
 

SimonS

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Caught the 06.21 Burgess Hill to Bedford and there was an extra stop at Redhill which caused a delay into Blackfriars. It was announced several times though.

I don't know if FC was declassified but it was quickly filled. However I haven't seen a revenue protection officer since November.
 

infobleep

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Caught the 06.21 Burgess Hill to Bedford and there was an extra stop at Redhill which caused a delay into Blackfriars. It was announced several times though.

I don't know if FC was declassified but it was quickly filled. However I haven't seen a revenue protection officer since November.
It seems every additional Thameslink train that stops at Redhill prior to today, did so today as well. The one I was on left East Croydon 19 minutes late. 10 minutes of that delay could be attributed to going via Redhill providing the first 9 minutes of delay didn't lead to the train being stuck behind another train stopping at more stations between Gatwick and East Croydon. As for the first 9 minutes I'm not sure. Maybe it was discussions over whether to stop at Redhill or maybe something else.

I doubt GTR would want to publicly admit that they delayed a train by 5 minutes whilst discussing whether to stop at Redhill.
 

Barn

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We could have this radical idea where there are some alternative trains that run from Redhill towards London. Say, they could come from nearby towns on electrified routes and provide them with direct trains to London as well.

Nah, clearly I'm being outlandish.

Just need a new 12 car platform 3 at Reigate and it becomes a handy Thameslink terminus. GTR have said they're definitely up for it if Network Rail will build the thing.
 
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I used one of the few Gatwick Express trains (formed of a 12 coach 387) yesterday between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria. The front coaches (near where the entrances and exits to the platforms are) were extremely overcrowded. People were standing all in the aisles and by the doors! Yet i walked down to coach number 12 (at the South end of the train) and got the whole entire carriage to myself)!
 

Deepgreen

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Just need a new 12 car platform 3 at Reigate and it becomes a handy Thameslink terminus. GTR have said they're definitely up for it if Network Rail will build the thing.

That is included in the CP7 plans I think (2035ish). Nothing will happen for a very, very long time I suspect, as inertia rules. Let's hope GTR are a distant, nightmarish memory by then.
 

radamfi

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I used one of the few Gatwick Express trains (formed of a 12 coach 387) yesterday between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria. The front coaches (near where the entrances and exits to the platforms are) were extremely overcrowded. People were standing all in the aisles and by the doors! Yet i walked down to coach number 12 (at the South end of the train) and got the whole entire carriage to myself)!

That happens all the time, strike or no strike. I like having my own personal carriage!
 

Deepgreen

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Shambolic yesterday afternoon at Blackfriars. Trains were running very late owing to a signal problem north of the centre, and two Three Bridges trains were shown as running about ten minutes apart. All seemed fine, with the first shown as four minutes away, so I let the preceding Brighton one go. At the precise moment that it started to move, the screens all changed to show both Three Bridges trains cancelled!! Everything else also suddenly seemed to be additionally badly delayed, having been very different a few minutes earlier - how could things change so rapidly unless the previous information was badly wrong?! I ended up having to go back to Victoria, then to East Croydon (where there was torrential rain just on the point of turning to snow) to pick up a train from there - which turned out to be a TL working! It and a parallel Horsham train arrived at almost the same time at East Croydon, but the ex-London Bridge train (the 1629) was the usual four cars and too full to board (why is this train only four cars?), yet no-one seemed aware of the TL option across the platform. My train terminated at Redhill and reversed as the 1719 from there to Bedford, in what was now a driving snow storm.

My 700's information screens showed only one message throughout - to be careful on slippery platforms!

For a 700 in a blizzard, see below:
 

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Deepgreen

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Irony this morning at Dorking. Every single train indicator in the ticket hall (and there are five next to each other) was displaying the message that surfaces may be slippery (really - who would have guessed that with so much ice around?!) rather than showing any train departure information.

However, there was no warning about the many step treads that are missing (and have been for months) from the staircases in the subway, leaving crumbling steps exposed - far less predictable a hazard, but one utterly ignored for months by Southern's seemingly absent station maintenance regime.
 
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infobleep

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West Sutton to Wimbledon yesterday had the following cancellations:
14.40
15.10
15.40
16.40
17.14
17.44
18.12
18.45
20.10
20.40
21.20

Only trains to run after 14.40 were:
16.10
19.16
19.40
20.58
21.50
22.20
22.50

In the other direction it wasn't much better.

I've excluded the cancelled Southern trains from the above list.
 

tsr

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Irony this morning at Dorking. Every single train indicator in the ticket hall (and there are five next to each other) was displaying the message that surfaces may be slippery (really - who would have guessed that with so much ice around?!) rather than showing any train departure information.

However, there was no warning about the many step treads that are missing (and have been for months) from the staircases in the subway, leaving crumbling steps exposed - far less predictable a hazard, but one utterly ignored for months by Southern's seemingly absent station maintenance regime.

If the time you're posting reflects when you travelled, the entire National Rail network had just suffered a major outage of live running information (no information from train describers was available to CIS systems) so a lot of the screens across the network reverted to whatever generic messages had been preset for the day.

The slippery platforms warning has been in place since the ice started to form overnight, and is relevant because there was some very stubborn stuff on the platforms around the Southern area. One major station in your local area used about 200-300 kg of salt and ice melting solutions on a handful of platforms and a couple of paths, and the staff kept sweeping snow all night, and it still didn't prevent ice forming wherever there was a bit of moisture.

As for the steps at Dorking, I'm sure everyone agrees they're not ideal. I don't know why the treads haven't been replaced, though I am aware that station staff at Dorking have been trying to think of ways to divert as many people onto the footbridge as possible, and ways to keep that safe and clear. It seems people just carry on regardless, though. The subway there is less than ideal in quite a few ways, not least the dimensions of the thing.
 
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infobleep

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If the time you're posting reflects when you travelled, the entire National Rail network had just suffered a major outage of live running information (no information from train describers was available to CIS systems) so a lot of the screens across the network reverted to whatever generic messages had been preset for the day.

The slippery platforms warning has been in place since the ice started to form overnight, and is relevant because there was some very stubborn stuff on the platforms around the Southern area. One major station in your local area used about 200-300 kg of salt and ice melting solutions on a handful of platforms and a couple of paths, and the staff kept sweeping snow all night, and it still didn't prevent ice forming wherever there was a bit of moisture.

As for the steps at Dorking, I'm sure everyone agrees they're not ideal. I don't know why the treads haven't been replaced, though I am aware that station staff at Dorking have been trying to think of ways to divert as many people onto the footbridge as possible, and ways to keep that safe and clear. It seems people just carry on regardless, though. The subway there is less than ideal in quite a few ways, not least the dimensions of the thing.
Can they have default messages for individual stations? Maybe that is what Dorking Main needs in relation to the steps. Of course some people will ignore such messages.
 

185143

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Are GTR southern striking today (14/01)? I was under the impression that they weren't, however NRE and the Southern branded website suggests they are?
 

Bishopstone

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Are GTR southern striking today (14/01)? I was under the impression that they weren't, however NRE and the Southern branded website suggests they are?

Reduced service due to the ASLEF overtime ban. No strike.

I see direct London-Coastway trains, running hourly, have been introduced to the Saturday timetable at the last minute.
 

infobleep

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Reduced service due to the ASLEF overtime ban. No strike.

I see direct London-Coastway trains, running hourly, have been introduced to the Saturday timetable at the last minute.
Must have found some drivers they didn't know existed. :light hearted joke by the way:
 
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