I made the mistake of catching the 10:15 fast train from St Pancras to Nottingham on Saturday. Just north of London the train unexpectedly stopped and after a short while the guard informed us that a window in the drivers cab had been broken by individuals throwing rocks at the train. We would continue to Luton where the damage would be assessed. Having been in a similar position before, I knew what was next. We proceeded to Luton at slow speed. Indeed a FCC stopping train kept overtaking us before having to stop at each station. As we arrived in Luton the guard informed us that we would be stopping but would not be allowed off. Shortly after that we were told the inevitable; the train was being cancelled so please get off.
As I didnt have a timetable on me, I wasnt able to check options so had to rely, like everyone else, on what staff directed. We were told to catch the next East Midlands train to Bedford where we would be able to catch a train to Nottingham. This we duly did and we were on the Corby train to Bedford. On arrival at Bedford we discovered we had a long wait for a stopping train. In fact the train was due to leave Bedford after our original scheduled arrival in Nottingham. While waiting, I spotted the 11:15 fast train from St P to Nottingham speeding through.
Eventually, the stopping train arrived and the original contents of the first HST piled on to an already almost-full five-car 222. Needless to say the sheer volume of passengers crammed on to this thing meant that despite leaving Bedford on time every station stop was extended. Accordingly, we arrived in Nottingham at 13:45 on a train that was itself 20 minutes late and one and three quarter hours after our original expected arrival.
So, why did they not stop the next fast Nottingham train at either Luton or Bedford? This would have caused a small delay to that train but would have ensured that the delay to passengers from the first train would have been only an hour or so. There would also, in all likelihood, have been more space for passengers. I suspect the answer might be what I have experienced elsewhere before whereby one set of very late passengers is deemed as better than two sets of late passengers ie trains running on time is more important than delivering passengers in as timely a fashion as possible. Or perhaps they are not allowed unscheduled stops (in which case they should have taken the train on slowly to Leicester where it would have been very late indeed). Secondly, what are the rules on broken windows in cabs? I had a look at the damage from the platform and it looked like nothing more than a cracked side window. Back in the day, steam crew were open to the elements and most diesel locomotives had side windows that could be opened, so what exactly are the safety (I assume) issues?
Incidentally, the journey back was almost as bad. Trains were rerouted from Leicester via Manston which meant a further hour and a half delay - a total of 3.25 hours delayed in the day.
As I didnt have a timetable on me, I wasnt able to check options so had to rely, like everyone else, on what staff directed. We were told to catch the next East Midlands train to Bedford where we would be able to catch a train to Nottingham. This we duly did and we were on the Corby train to Bedford. On arrival at Bedford we discovered we had a long wait for a stopping train. In fact the train was due to leave Bedford after our original scheduled arrival in Nottingham. While waiting, I spotted the 11:15 fast train from St P to Nottingham speeding through.
Eventually, the stopping train arrived and the original contents of the first HST piled on to an already almost-full five-car 222. Needless to say the sheer volume of passengers crammed on to this thing meant that despite leaving Bedford on time every station stop was extended. Accordingly, we arrived in Nottingham at 13:45 on a train that was itself 20 minutes late and one and three quarter hours after our original expected arrival.
So, why did they not stop the next fast Nottingham train at either Luton or Bedford? This would have caused a small delay to that train but would have ensured that the delay to passengers from the first train would have been only an hour or so. There would also, in all likelihood, have been more space for passengers. I suspect the answer might be what I have experienced elsewhere before whereby one set of very late passengers is deemed as better than two sets of late passengers ie trains running on time is more important than delivering passengers in as timely a fashion as possible. Or perhaps they are not allowed unscheduled stops (in which case they should have taken the train on slowly to Leicester where it would have been very late indeed). Secondly, what are the rules on broken windows in cabs? I had a look at the damage from the platform and it looked like nothing more than a cracked side window. Back in the day, steam crew were open to the elements and most diesel locomotives had side windows that could be opened, so what exactly are the safety (I assume) issues?
Incidentally, the journey back was almost as bad. Trains were rerouted from Leicester via Manston which meant a further hour and a half delay - a total of 3.25 hours delayed in the day.
