I was listening on the radio this morning to a report about the hideous queues at St Pancras. But then heard that E* are actually running 80% of services. Surely a more sensible way of handing this would be to ask people to turn up at their allotted time and then transfer them to the closest available train? Surely this would be preferable to getting a whole days worth of passengers turn up in the morning and then make them wait in the cold for hours?
-
Our new ticketing site is now live! Using either this or the original site (both powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!
Needless Eurostar Chaos?
- Thread starter williamn
- Start date
- Status
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R
RailUK Forums
shinkansen1966
Member
Yes, there does seem lot of needless chaos at St Pancras.
Now, I will be using St Pancras on Thursday to take an EMT service. Can I expect to do battle with the crowds, security and police between the station entrance and platforms 1-4 ?
Now, I will be using St Pancras on Thursday to take an EMT service. Can I expect to do battle with the crowds, security and police between the station entrance and platforms 1-4 ?
mallard
Established Member
- Joined
- 12 Apr 2009
- Messages
- 1,304
I was at St. Pancras yesterday (came off EMT and left on SET).
There was a long queue of Eurostar passengers and the station was more crowded than usual, but it seemed fairly orderly, no security or police around that I saw.
There was a long queue of Eurostar passengers and the station was more crowded than usual, but it seemed fairly orderly, no security or police around that I saw.
northwichcat
Veteran Member
Yesterday they only ran 3 Europe bound services and that was more than on Sunday. It seems Eurostar aren't letting some people board the service they have a ticket for even if it's running as they are giving the people who should have travelled yesterday and Sunday priority.
The Barlow Boy
Member
- Joined
- 29 Aug 2010
- Messages
- 696
I don't know were you heard that they're running 80% of their services. I'm guessing that it's more like 50% from what I've heard from their own staff.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Because they have crap trains that die at the first sight of a snowflake or frost - that's why.
Judging by the media reports today, which I know can be very distorted, Eurostar are not taking any new bookings before Christmas. I find that very sensible if they have a backlog of passengers.
What I don't find so sensible is abandoning the booking system and making everyone queue up at the station. I would have thought it preferable to honour existing bookings for today and tomorrow as much as they can, and fit those who were delayed and who stillw ant to travel in to any spaces.
At the moment it seems as if Eurostar have just said 'It's every one for themsleves'
Geezertronic
Established Member
From what I understood, the trains were having difficulty getting through to their destinations due to the weather affecting Paris and Brussels too?
telstarbox
Established Member
Apparently they had a whole empty carriage on one service last night:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog...isrupt-christmas-travel-live-updates#block-28
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog...isrupt-christmas-travel-live-updates#block-28
Someone on the Guardian Live blog claims that the reason E*'s are running slow is because they STILL haven't been snow proofed after last years debacle, so the only way to ensure that snow doesn't get in is to run them at slow speeds.
Obviously the government can't do much to intervene in the situation since it sold off its stake a short while ago.
Obviously the government can't do much to intervene in the situation since it sold off its stake a short while ago.
Failed Unit
Established Member
But it will be a national embarrassment to the French who may act. Imagine in a few years time if the Siemen's trains were still running and Alstom ones had to go slow because of snow.
However slower runnning is standard practise in snow. You want to stop don't you?
However slower runnning is standard practise in snow. You want to stop don't you?
Oracle
Established Member
The local BBC Radio Solent news announcer mentioned five hours or so queues at 'ST PANCREAS'!
I was in St Pancras station on Friday morning when they were announcing the SNCF had imposed speed restrictions in France due to bad weather in the Liile/Paris areas so services were taking up to 30 minutes longer. Presumably this affects the diagramming of the services.
Yes, fewer trains have been and are currently running. Yet I still think it would be possible to move everyone in an ordelry and controlled way using spare capapcity in trains today and tomorrow. Not everyone who was booked is going to be able or want to travel now. Quesues of three hours and more all over the TV is yet another embarrassment for the railways that the TV news will show over and over again.
Apparently this question was asked in parliament and in fact SNCF etc services are running at normal line speed in France / Belgium. SET is running a normal service here on HS1 too, so its the trains at fault and not the infrastructure.
Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
That's interesting - in the Telegraph today it said that the TGVs in France are restricted to 105mph as well.
Clearly there is a lot of contradictory information coming out from varios places, but at least they have not ( so far! ) had anything stall in the tunnel, which suggests the condenation proofing is at least working better.
Now, if the problem is the slower line speeds meaning there are not enough trains to cover all the normal departures, then I would wonder about looking at running a 30 minute interval shuttle from St Pancras to Lille with TGV shuttles onwards from there to Bruxelles and Paris.
It would of course extend journey times even more with the change at Lille, but it would keep the capacity up and allow the backlog to be shifted quicker.
Clearly there is a lot of contradictory information coming out from varios places, but at least they have not ( so far! ) had anything stall in the tunnel, which suggests the condenation proofing is at least working better.
Now, if the problem is the slower line speeds meaning there are not enough trains to cover all the normal departures, then I would wonder about looking at running a 30 minute interval shuttle from St Pancras to Lille with TGV shuttles onwards from there to Bruxelles and Paris.
It would of course extend journey times even more with the change at Lille, but it would keep the capacity up and allow the backlog to be shifted quicker.
EM2
Established Member
There are speed restriction on High-Speed lines in France and Belgium, NOT on HS1. It's due to heavy snow and also icicles forming on the overhead.
That means fewer services running.
Despite warnings, people are still turning up at St. Pancras without tickets, and expecting to get a train, even though there are no tickets being sold. They are insiting on queuing, which obviously extending the queue!
That means fewer services running.
Despite warnings, people are still turning up at St. Pancras without tickets, and expecting to get a train, even though there are no tickets being sold. They are insiting on queuing, which obviously extending the queue!
EM2
Established Member
E* have been saying turn up one hour before departure, and they'll get you on the next available service. Unfortunately, people are turning up four or five hours ahead, forcing them to operate a 'first-come, first-served' system.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Says who?
EM2
Established Member
It's what was on their website and their Twitter feed since 18:30 yesterday.
I see, the BBC was sending the wrong message. I must admit, having watched the news at 0830, I would have been rather confused if I was supposed to be on Eurostar today. They gave the distinct impression that it was first come, first go!
There is something I don't get.. why don't they let extra people on the trains when they've got massive backlogs like this. It's common on pretty much every other line in the UK for people to have to stand, so why not on Eurostar? Is there some kind of restriction due to speed?
EM2
Established Member
Channel Tunnel regs do not permit it.
dk1
Veteran Member
All passengers MUST be allocated a seat on Eurostar even if they never sit in it. Tags with name & seat no should be attatched to luggage but rarely are now.
Eurostar is run very much like an airline - there are no standing passengers onan aircraft either!
Are Eurostars still running at linespeed/their top speed (whichever is lower) (186mph I think) on HS1? If so then logiclly the problems are with the weather on the other side of the channel, not any failure to snow-proof the trains (although it could be a combination of both, if the weather here is not cold enough to break the trains). It does sound like Eurostar could be doing a little better on the 'organisation / allowing passengers to board' front though, would probablly be better if it could work more like a railway than an airline (although allowing standing passengers would probablly be a bad idea).
I think I heard someone on here say that the power being put into the OHLE on HS1 can be increased to melt snow/ice, is that true?
I think I heard someone on here say that the power being put into the OHLE on HS1 can be increased to melt snow/ice, is that true?
I still haven't got my head round that one, the North Of London Eurostar sets I'm sure would have been allowed had they been used as intended, so maybe the rules are just to do with door spacing?
TGV
Member
Let me clear this up. 80% of services were ran. The majority of trains have been weather-proofed and are running fine. Even sets that haven't been are running fine at present. There have been no failures like last year and it's thanks to hard work. The delays are due to speed restrictions imposed by sncf in France. The Siemens trains that everyone thinks are the holy grail are also subjected to speed restrictions in mainland Europe. Please get facts straight before posting rubbish.
- Status