Late trains with no explanations or apologies

[TUC]

Noticeable that on 1740 Leeds to Selby last night (one of the services that were the subject of my OP) which was a few minutes late there were copious apologies for that and for the train being overcrowded. I wonder if someone reads this thread ...

 

[northwichcat]

FTPE aren't great at giving explanations. I've travelled a few times recently when the train's been delayed by 15 minutes or more, and you often just don't get an explanation at all.

I've not found that with TPE, although I've found where there's a crew change the second conductor can give a different excuse to the first.

Conductor on Scarborough-Liverpool service (being held outside York) said the train was being delayed due to another train occupying their platform at York having a train fault. Change of crew at York, then the second conductor apologised for the delay after leaving York, saying it was due to a track defect. Second conductor then apologised again as it caught up the York-Blackpool service (which stops at stations between York and Leeds.)

TPE are generous with compensation levels for delays compared to Northern.

 

[bunnahabhain]

I always aim to provide a full breakdown of the root cause of the delay. I once made an announcement that gave half a dozen reasons for why the train was late because all of them were valid and had delayed the train during the journey when I was travelling onboard it.

 

[Dom395]

Some on-train staff are very forthcoming with apologies and explanations when trains are late. I've even heard some apologies where I didn't think one was needed, such as a train arriving three minutes late.

However from some there is a deafening silence. For example, yesterday the 0808 from Selby to Leeds left Selby 10 minutes late and arrived at Leeds 14 minutes late. The 1740 return journey in the evening had a similar problem, being 14 minutes late throughout. There was not a word of apology or explanation in either case with only the automated station arrival announcements being used.

On some occasions staff won't know the cause of the lateness, although on many occasions they will. However, even when they don't know,a simple apology is surely basic customer courtesy. Why are some staff so apparently reluctant to do a basic communication task?

At Crayford they always seem to apologise for delays but I have a sinking feeling that's not entirely true.

 

[Butts]

I think the solution to this whole malaise is for people to actually complain about the lack of information / apologies

 

[Parallel]

Contrarily to what I said previously, my train left the station I boarded at 45 minutes late today, with no acknowledgement or apologies for the delay... I thought that was quite bad... 45 minutes late! (Granted, it was down to an electrical fault which affected signalling at Westbury, but still...)

 

[Hadders]

Whilst I wouldn't want a Ryanair style fanfare I do think it would be a good thing for guards to announce when their train is arriving on time.

I was on a Swansea-Paddington service last Saturday which was 10 minutes late leaving Cardiff. Profuse apologies were made at each subsequent stop which was good.

However due to a barnstorming run (and I suspect some timetable padding) we arrived on time into Paddington. The on-time arrival wasn't mentioned by the guard when they announced that we were arriving into Paddington.

I bet most of the passengers went away thinking the train was late be aide they'd heard the guard apologise 3 or 4 times, when in fact it was on-time.

I've only ever heard a guard ackowledge an on-time arrival once in all my years of train travel. It was on a GNER service into Kings Cross.

 

[Butts]

]Whilst I wouldn't want a Ryanair style fanfare I do think it would be a good thing for guards to announce when their train is arriving on time.[/B]
I was on a Swansea-Paddington service last Saturday which was 10 minutes late leaving Cardiff. Profuse apologies were made at each subsequent stop which was good.

However due to a barnstorming run (and I suspect some timetable padding) we arrived on time into Paddington. The on-time arrival wasn't mentioned by the guard when they announced that we were arriving into Paddington.

I bet most of the passengers went away thinking the train was late be aide they'd heard the guard apologise 3 or 4 times, when in fact it was on-time.

I've only ever heard a guard ackowledge an on-time arrival once in all my years of train travel. It was on a GNER service into Kings Cross.

Just as well as on some lines the "tape" would probably seize up. On the other hand if you had a Family Fortunes style uh oh it would be worn out