Made up excuses for lateness

[saismee]

They’ve started using swans on the line this year. Never heard it before because it’s obviously ridiculous, but over the last couple of months they’ve used it repeatedly in different parts of the country.

I've seen plenty of pictures of swans on the line recently. Yes, it's a real thing, both in stations and in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Darandio]

All of these excuses, even when they’re true, are lies. The real reason is always shareholders and profits.

It seems your post was aimed at Northern Rail. Given it's government owned and relies heavily on massive subsidies then you are quite wide of the mark.

 

[GordonT]

Swans on the line? Not heard that one before. Perhaps it was due to a cygnet failure?

Bringing the trains to a screeching halt.

 

[Falcon1200]

They’ve started using swans on the line this year. Never heard it before because it’s obviously ridiculous

Why is it ridiculous? Swans are large birds and can cause damage if struck by a train.

Today it was initially a dog on the line

Dogs are also a genuine cause of delay, partly because if there is a dog on the line there is quite likely to be a human looking for them, and because train drivers are unwilling to run them over.

All of these excuses, even when they’re true, are lies. The real reason is always shareholders and profits.

Nonsense - Who are the shareholders in Network Rail?

Perhaps you could advise which infallible industry you work for please?

 

[Horizon22]

The fact that it’s true doesn’t make it a valid excuse. It is the train companies’ job to provide trains and crews. It is their job to run a level of overhead so that genuinely unexpected or unpredictable events can be coped with. If they can’t provide the basic things they’re being paid for they aren’t doing their job.

You do realise this is a contradiction in terms right?

Why would something that’s true not be valid? Would you rather they lie? By all means have a gripe with what got to that point but once you are there is absolutely correct to then say “shortage of train crew”, or whichever adjacent suitable reason.

The initial discussion was about lateness and delay reasons and you’ve just in a couple of months later to have a rant about train service generally.

 

[Horizon22]

They’ve started using swans on the line this year. Never heard it before because it’s obviously ridiculous, but over the last couple of months they’ve used it repeatedly in different parts of the country.

I’ve heard it for years - there are particular hotspots often near tunnels or rivers & bridges which swans like to sit on. So perhaps you were not listening or weren’t impacted.

Today it was initially a dog on the line, then a swan, and now they’re cancelling half the trains between Liverpool and Manchester. Seriously? Just do your job. And the dead giveaway is when they change the excuse.

They are doing their job; by ensuring the safety of the line is not compromised and potentially running at caution which may cause delays, and thus alterations to service or cancellations.

When you say “changing the excuse” you mean reason has been adapted because there is new information. And by saying “excuse” over and over you are coming at this discussion in bad faith and probably annoyed.

Really, we all know that trains from Liverpool to Manchester get cancelled frequently because the companies don’t leave enough time for it to turn around, don’t have a spare train, and don’t pay overtime to the staff, so if anything goes wrong at all, all the trains get cancelled.

I go to work, I do my job, I wouldn’t get paid if I didn’t. I have to show up at work an hour early now because the trains are so unreliable, and my journey home (eg today) may well be padded by an hour because northern rail can’t be bothered to do their job, and I’m furious about it. Why do I keep handing over my money? Scumbags.

All of these excuses, even when they’re true, are lies. The real reason is always shareholders and profits.

Drivers, controllers, signallers, platform staff and gateline staff are all “doing their job”. You clearly have some pent up anger here and want to vent which is fine, but please be mindful of how you are coming across by coming up with factual errors (“shareholders and profits”) (“padded by an hour”) and other remarks (“Scumbags”).

They are not all lies - it’s public transport and things can happen (just like a RTC or a breakdown can on a motorway). That’s not to say you can’t have a dig at Network Rail or Northern or whoever about performance issues you have, but calling everything lies and excuses when you have people with vast experience as either staff, passengers or stakeholders on these forums is unlikely to land well.

 

[Farang]

It's now two weeks since the wife paid for her Oystercard with no sign of it arriving. Today TFL gave themselves another 2 weeks to get it to her - their third target date. The explanation? A "technical issue".