Passengers making mistakes

[dvboy]

On Thursday evening I boarded the 2049 from Wolverhampton to Manchester Piccadilly mistakenly assuming it called at Stafford (all other XC to Manchester trains Mon-Sat do). I think the guard was sympathetic (or not bothered about an excess) and I got away with paying for the fare from Stoke on Trent back to Stafford, and the extra hour it added to my journey.

It made me wonder what kinds of mistakes people have made getting on the wrong train and how much it has cost them?

 

[185143]

I was on a Virgin Train from Manchester and a passenger had a Hathersage to London route via Sheffield off peak return with booked seats on an East Midlands train! He was offered the option of alighting at Stockport to go to Sheffield with an endorsed ticket which he refused to do so the TM returned after Stockport and charged him for the SOS at £160.50!

I boarded a Virgin train at Stafford once that I thought was going to Birmingham... Luckily that TM was sympathetic!

 

[VisualAcid]

Last new years day got a circle line from Pad that terminated at Edgware Road whilst trying to get to St Pancras about 2 in the morning. Lucky I found out night buses existed .

 

[bnm]

My most costly error was falling asleep on a Taunton - Bristol XC journey.

Woken at Birmingham New Street (where the service terminated) by cleaners. Too late at night for a return to Bristol, so I had to shell out for a hotel room. Also, no member of staff at Birmingham NS would authorise return travel gratis. I was in the wrong so any discretion would have been a bonus. I accepted that, so I had to buy a ticket the following day to get home.

Falling asleep cost me in the region of £100.

 

[trainophile]

Not a particularly costly mistake, but one I kicked myself for anyway. I always tried to avoid taking trains that were likely to be packed with football fans (only because of the overcrowding, nothing personal ).

When Cardiff were in the Premiership, I was dismayed to find that I was booked on a train starting there to Manchester, that would arrive about an hour before kick-off v Man Utd. I've travelled with Cardiff fans before, and there are a lot of them, who can easily fill a couple of ATW's coaches! I hastily booked myself another ticket for the following day, knowing my Advance was non-refundable.

Come the day of the match - I was mortified and to find out that Cardiff were actually at home to Man Utd, so all the fan travel would be in the opposite direction! Silly little detail I'd completely overlooked in my panic :roll: .

Won't be making that sort of mistake again .

 

[DarloRich]

moving in with my ex girlfriend
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oh you mean on tickets!

got on what i thought was a Virgin train to Manchester at Euston (stopping at MK) turned out it was Glasgow, first stop Warrington! doh!

 

[yorkie]

Booking non-refundable tickets for a sporting event that got moved, and several of the people whose tickets I bought refused to pay me. It probably cost me about £80. Also had people refuse to pay for tickets because they couldn't make it, and disappear after owing money for railtours (e.g. James (EOR), OTS). Concequently I am not so keen to make group bookings for railtours or other events as I used to be, as my total losses were well into 3-figures.

got on what i thought was a Virgin train to Manchester at Euston (stopping at MK) turned out it was Glasgow, first stop Warrington! doh!

How much did that cost you?

 

[Blindtraveler]

Not a wrong train error but my idea of saving a few quid on an Aberdeen>Euston seated sleaper Advance was a silly one, as due to the loud breaks of the MK2 and the faulty Air Con which ment it was far to hot I didnt sleap and spent the £25 or so I saved oncoffees and using a station shower at Victoria the next day. Its been Berths since!

 

[David57]

Not an expensive move, but when the motor show moved to the NEC from London, BR put on special trains to move the crowds (imagine that happening today, kids, ask your Dad!), a few friends visited the show, and decided to have an evening in Birmingham City Centre.

Boarded Northbound train, expecting it to call at BNS, only to find it was 'Right Away' to Crewe via Aston and Bescot!

Got back to Birmingham without a ticket check, so no extra charge, but taught me a lesson in 'Assuming where a train will go'!

 

[Blindtraveler]

you did well to get to Barns and back BHM Equals Birmingham Newstreet

 

[Gathursty]

Cutting my losses after breaking up with a girl from Clacton-on-Sea whilst at uni and not wanting to spend another night at the resort a single to Wigan cost me £57 IIRC (2009). Shocking when you're a student (even with a railcard!!)

 

[Trainfan344]

Having to spend in the region of £40odd quid because I didn't sort my railcard out in time and had advances booked with railcard discount.

 

[PermitToTravel]

You could have bought a railcard from any station with a ticket office for £30

 

[Crossover]

Probably a few weeks ago when I missed my alarm and missed the connection to a booked train from Doncaster to Newark Northgate for a day in Lincolnshire. Ended up having to get to Peterborough to pick up the return of the train I was meant to meet in Lincoln which cost £30 with a railcard. Not ideal but not too bad all things considered. On the plus, as I was able to get to Peterborough much quicker than Lincoln it did mean I only needed an off-peak ticket to get to Doncaster rather than Anytime - every cloud and all that!

 

[yorkie]

N
Boarded Northbound train, expecting it to call at BNS...

You should have gone to Waterloo for BNS!

 

[dvboy]

Booking non-refundable tickets for a sporting event that got moved, and several of the people whose tickets I bought refused to pay me. It probably cost me about £80. Also had people refuse to pay for tickets because they couldn't make it, and disappear after owing money for railtours (e.g. James (EOR), OTS). Concequently I am not so keen to make group bookings for railtours or other events as I used to be, as my total losses were well into 3-figures.

I don't blame you. I've had this problem before too for events such as shows and theme parks and the like, so now I say that the booking will be made on a specific date, and if I don't have the money by then it won't get booked (I won't book travel for other people, I tell them what my arrangements will be and they can book their own to travel with or separately as they wish).

 

[ASharpe]

I've learnt from my regular mistake. I used to end up buying at least 1 walk-up ticket a month to see my girlfriend. I just buy a pair of advances 12 weeks out to get me there every week. I still kick my self for buying singles when an open return would have only cost me about 1.5% more.

Not my loss but I once bought a rather expensive anytime return for travel mainly(but not wholly) on Virgin west coast despite having a Y-P railcard AND returning off peak.

My muck-ups after buying a ticket have always resulted in sympathy from the guard.

 

[trentside]

I'm fortunate that I've never made an expensive mistake. I did once end up in Edinburgh, having been taken ill before I was due to fly out to Stockholm - having decided to abandon the trip, I then had to fork out about £60 for a single back home on the train. On top of feeling ill, that didn't exactly make me any happier!

 

[ATW Alex 101]

I lost/had my tickets stolen outside a chippie in Wembley which included an unused great escape ticket, the days great escape ticket, my travelcard and other tickets to Alfreton from Nuneaton and this was about 18:00 in winter and had barely any cash on me so ended up ringing my old man to book me some tickets from an any-card collection website, in the end I ended up owing about £25 to him, not a great loss to many of you but it was for a 14 year old lad who at the time, had no income!

Before that, I had to change TWO advances as per this thread, incurring a loss of £20, again a lot of money for a 14 year old who again, at the time, had no source of income.

Probably my most expensive mistake to date though, was about £45 a few years ago (before I was allowed around the country unaccompanied) and I had booked me and my dad on a well-known anomaly ticket allowing travel from London to Inverness. It was only until I had told my dad that it was a dodgy ticket that he said "no we're going to have to abandon the trip" . Because it was a railcard discounted ticket, I couldn't have used it on my own even if I could have convinced my folks at the time to let me go on my own.

 

[yorkie]

Probably my most expensive mistake to date though, was about £45 a few years ago (before I was allowed around the country unaccompanied) and I had booked me and my dad on a well-known anomaly ticket allowing travel from London to Inverness. It was only until I had told my dad that it was a dodgy ticket that he said "no we're going to have to abandon the trip" . Because it was a railcard discounted ticket, I couldn't have used it on my own even if I could have convinced my folks at the time to let me go on my own.

Ah, Baldock-North Sheen As you held reservations and an itinerary, your tickets were valid ( Routes permitted by booking engines ). Older members (eg cjp) who did that ticket didn't have any hassle, so your Dad's presence would have probably meant no issues. However younger members did have issues, and I recall ModernRailways was very well compensated indeed for the actions of a certain Scotrail Guard towards him.

 

[theblackwatch]

you did well to get to Barns and back BHM Equals Birmingham Newstreet

Are you sure that was the case in 1978 when the venue of the motorshow was moved?

 

[johntea]

Not an expensive mistake, but I once had a few too many drinks at a work do and managed to get from Shipley to Leeds fine then even navigated to the Leeds to Sheffield train fine!

I then fell asleep after intending to get off at Castleford, and I suddenly awoke and noticed the train was at a station, any station, right better get off, oh I appear to be at Wombwell station!

The only phone I had on me was an old Nokia at the time, I ended up having to sleep it rough at the station until about 5am when I got a train to Barnsley then wandered round there for an hour until a train to Castleford!

The main thing that has bugged me in the years since is...why didn't I just stay on the train until Sheffield? At least I could have found a hotel or something!

In fact just the other week I was feeling a bit tired and caught the 23:10 Leeds to Castleford bus, drifted off for a few moments then again suddenly woke up thinking the bus was at the final stop so got off, to quickly find I was in the Methley area! My iPhone was dead as a dodo but I somehow managed to walk it home in an hour! Lived to tell the tale too considering they switch half the street lighting off at night now too!

Long story short...try not to fall asleep on public transport. Or if you plan to, at least set an alarm around the time you think you need to wake back up!

 

[martinsh]

On Thursday evening I boarded the 2049 from Wolverhampton to Manchester Piccadilly mistakenly assuming it called at Stafford (all other XC to Manchester trains Mon-Sat do). I think the guard was sympathetic (or not bothered about an excess) and I got away with paying for the fare from Stoke on Trent back to Stafford, and the extra hour it added to my journey.

I've made exactly the same mistake myself ! However, I was intending to travel to Crewe and had tickets Wolves - Stafford and Stafford - Crewe. Just meant I had to change at Stoke and wait 45 mins ...

 

[trainophile]

(Edit: reply is to johntea)


... and always carry an emergency phone charger! Although I'm not quite sure how your lack of working phones on these occasions would have made much difference to your predicament :-? .

 

[fowler9]

Three times dosed off on London Midland services from Lime Street over the course of a good few years meaning to get off at South Parkway. First time reached Birmingham, the second Runcorn, the third Stafford. Each time encountered lovely staff and paid minimal amounts for what were turn up and travel fares. I won't divulge further information for fear of getting staff in to trouble or myself. Each journey cost me more than using my Trio ticket and paying nothing.

Oddly enough I think the most I paid was the Runcorn one. Certainly the least was Birmingham at £0. They took pity on me. Ha ha.

 

[johntea]

Well at least I could have found a taxi number with a smartphone in Wombwell and probably the same the other week (Plus a torch of some sorts to compensate for the lack of street lighting!).

I often wish I was brave enough just to knock on a random persons house for assistance, but I'm not

 

[Abpj17]

Mmmm, for short commuter oversleeps (i.e. evening/late evening, invariably have a season ticket) - by a station or two - what proportion do we think buy a ticket for getting back to where they should have got off?

 

[fowler9]

Mmmm, for short commuter oversleeps (i.e. evening/late evening, invariably have a season ticket) - by a station or two - what proportion do we think buy a ticket for getting back to where they should have got off?

When it has happened I approach someone and ask to buy a ticket. On the Birmingham occasion no one would take my money. On the Stafford occasion the staff at Stafford would not take my money. I changed at Crewe and bought a single there. On the Runcorn occasion I bought a South Parkway to Runcorn Return on the way out. I don't think there is an Mmmmm about it. The staff know if someone is taking the **** on a regular basis.

 

[hassaanhc]

About £45 after I booked Advances for me and a friend and he didn't go :mad: For both journeys I'd have preferred to pay about £10 more for a walk-up ticket.

About £30 after I booked Advances for a day I already had a feeling I was going to be busy on and wouldn't be able to go. They had to be changed, £25 including fee for one and new £4.95 ticket for the opposite direction.
Waterloo actually made a mistake as the member of staff kept the wrong bits which l didn't pick up on, and had to fudge it when I went back the next day. Luckily I didn't come to grief when I went to get that train, the station staff thought 2 were travelling, while TM did a quick scribble and went :P.

As for falling asleep, luckily I only wasted about 30 minutes after falling asleep on a bus. Next stop was some distance away (Route 607 at Southall), and there was traffic as usual, the frequent services in London helped though

 

[fowler9]

About £45 after I booked Advances for me and a friend and he didn't go :mad: For both journeys I'd have preferred to pay about £10 more for a walk-up ticket.

About £30 after I booked Advances for a day I already had a feeling I was going to be busy on and wouldn't be able to go. They had to be changed, £25 including fee for one and new £4.95 ticket for the opposite direction.
Waterloo actually made a mistake as the member of staff kept the wrong bits which l didn't pick up on, and had to fudge it when I went back the next day. Luckily I didn't come to grief when I went to get that train, the station staff thought 2 were travelling, while TM did a quick scribble and went :P.

As for falling asleep, luckily I only wasted about 30 minutes after falling asleep on a bus. Next stop was some distance away (Route 607 at Southall), and there was traffic as usual, the frequent services in London helped though

Don't get me started on falling asleep on the bus. I am nearly 40 years old and have been having after work Friday pints for some 15 of those. My bus route goes to John Lennon Airport and I live about half way their, well, not far from South Parkway.