Unexpected - but positive - anecdotal experiences on the railway

[yorkie]

This thread is for anedcotes regarding experiences you had on the railway that have been positive in nature.

I'll start with an experience at Finsbury Park this afternoon:

A worker was delivering (or had collected a delivery of) water bottles, but the box broke, sending several bottles towards the track. Everyone around helped pick the errant bottles up, and all were recovered.

 

[Farang]

Good idea for a thread.

I was having a hard time trying to book some tickets for my Mum on the GWR website, so I resorted to phoning them. As I waited on the line, I mentally rehearsed how I would let the guy on the other end know what I thought of their website.

Someone answered the phone and I made a last second decision to complete the transaction before complaining. I explained I was buying a ticket for my Mum and he said "If you don't mind me asking, sir, how old is the lady?" We established she was a senior citizen and he said "Well sir, we have a special price ticket that's not available online."

I was so pleased, I forgot to complain.

 

[superalbs]

Good idea for a thread.

I was having a hard time trying to book some tickets for my Mum on the GWR website, so I resorted to phoning them. As I waited on the line, I mentally rehearsed how I would let the guy on the other end know what I thought of their website.

Someone answered the phone and I made a last second decision to complete the transaction before complaining. I explained I was buying a ticket for my Mum and he said "If you don't mind me asking, sir, how old is the lady?" We established she was a senior citizen and he said "Well sir, we have a special price ticket that's not available online."

I was so pleased, I forgot to complain.

Sorry, but what ticket is this?

 

[Purple Train]

This is less "positive" per se and was more something that made me laugh: I was on platform 5 at Exeter St Davids waiting for a Paddington train. A driver was standing on the edge of platform 6, having a shouted conversation with two of his colleagues standing adjacent to the depot building. A member of platform staff walked up to the driver bearing a Special Stop Order. She gave it to him and stepped back as he studied it, then raised it above his head and roared in triumph to his depot colleagues, "I'VE GOT PEWSEY!"

The other one that sticks in my mind is when I had a complicated split itinerary from Seamer to Exeter via Cardiff and got delayed by 70 minutes coming down the Marches. The lady at Newport station said I'd be fine to get on the next available train to Bristol, the guard on that train was very jolly and promised me that I'd get there, and then when the service fell down around Bristol and I'd forgotten my ticket wasn't valid on CrossCountry services, the guard was very understanding and let me stay on the train. Though this was a particularly great example, it's always stuck with me how 99.999% of railway staff are genuinely helpful and dedicated and I can honestly say I've never been treated badly, even on the very few occasions when there have been disagreements about validity etc.

Also, what a lovely idea for a thread; it makes a nice change from all the recent doom and gloom on the railways!

 

[Sun Chariot]

Two spring to mind:

1981: a family trip from the Home Counties to Blaenau Ffestiniog. I recall a Met Camm: as we plunged in the tunnel, we discovered a total absence of lighting in our carriage... The slate mine was interesting for Young Chariot.
For reasons I cannot remember, our family of 4, plus another 8 people, walked into the station after the return DMU's departure. I recall a bustle of staff activity: a private motor coach duly arrived and we 12 were given a hair-raising journey to Shrewsbury. There, we were bundled on a Crewe-bound train, a Womens' Institute excursion, which had been held for us. I recall a Mk2 p/v 1st class compartment, with jovial old ladies.
At Crewe, we were herded to an incoming Euston service; and Young Chariot's first travel in a West Coast Main Line Mk3.
The lateral-thinking and the pulling-out-the-stops, was a true credit to all involved.

Roll forward to 1992 and the filming of one scene of Inspector Morse "The Day Of The Devil". If you saw the programme aired on TV (1993), it's where the late John Thaw was sat on platform 1 south end, speaking with (what turned out to be) "the baddie".
TV crew filming from platform 2, opposite them; and sound crew recording a couple of feet from the camera.
Lots of curious folk - yes, I was loitering for a good look too! Oxford station's staff took it all in their stride, magnificently: trains still ran people still used the station and filming still continued. A very slick BR station team.

 

[speedy1]

TPE host welcoming me on board and taking drink + food order before I even sat down

TPE host offering wheelchair passengers a drink, making them feel welcome

TPE host – not a guard! – kicking someone out of First class, not putting up with the usual excuses.

TPE host denying a drunken person more wine, very tactfully

My Mum often uses the Special Assistance at King's Cross, Euston, Leeds and Piccadilly to/from the train, and is always very complimentary of them

I like LNER's efficiency in first class

I've passed through Huddersfield a couple times recently it seems they have a lot of staff around to help people on the platforms

Two spring to mind...1981

This made me chuckle out loud LOL 1981!

 

[Sun Chariot]

TPE host welcoming me on board and taking drink + food order before I even sat down

TPE host offering wheelchair passengers a drink, making them feel welcome

TPE host – not a guard! – kicking someone out of First class, not putting up with the usual excuses.

TPE host denying a drunken person more wine, very tactfully

My Mum often uses the Special Assistance at King's Cross, Euston, Leeds and Piccadilly to/from the train, and is always very complimentary of them

I like LNER's efficiency in first class

I've passed through Huddersfield a couple times recently it seems they have a lot of staff around to help people on the platforms

Some great service. Were all those examples unexpected (as per thread title)?

 

[MalaiseForever]

I was up in Glasgow last week and thought I would treat myself to the onboard upgrade to Standard Premium on Avanti, as standard class was rammed and I could only find rear facing seats. The Train Manager came through and didn't charge me the upgrade fee as he said it was too warm in standard anyway. On the way back south, I again tried to do the onboard upgrade and a different Train Manager didn't charge me as it was Friday evening. Two very appreciated and unexpected gestures.

 

[Egg Centric]

TPE host welcoming me on board and taking drink + food order before I even sat down

TPE host offering wheelchair passengers a drink, making them feel welcome

TPE host – not a guard! – kicking someone out of First class, not putting up with the usual excuses.

TPE host denying a drunken person more wine, very tactfully

While we're on TPE, I was very impressed with this the other day:

I'd never heard of this before - was on a TPE service today from Middlesborough to Manchester and when by Dewsbury I'd still seen no trolley asked about getting some water and not only did they do that (and confirm there was no trolley today), they immediately gave me their machine to type my email in and I got a £20 gesture-of-goodwill voucher, from which you could select a bunch of retailers.

I wasn't even complaining, just asking for water! Pretty chuffed tbh, I'd rather have £20 and water than £0, a packet of crisps, and some Earl Grey.

So worth knowing that they can do this on the train without having to involve customer services or anything (cue being told this by ten different posters that this is super common knowledge, but I've never seen it on a train before!)

 

[Egg Centric]

I was also very pleased (for obvious reasons) when the attendant at Bushey station stopped someone nicking my - at the time brand spanking new - £2k e-bike on the first and last time I used the bike shed there. I still have the half sawn through bike lock somewhere but can't find it to take a quick pic for this thread. I do try to send through thanks through customer services for going above and beyond (I did in the above TPE example too) anyway but was especially effusive with praise with that one!

 

[cyclebike]

Got off the train in Bridgwater having wrestled our bikes out of the IET bike cupboard to realise I'd left our helmets and sun hats in the overhead rack.
Legged it over to the bridge to the ticket office, kind lady phoned Taunton to see if they could intercept them there.
Later called me back to say Taunton couldn't help but passed me the number for Exeter St Davids (where train had just terminated). Helpful fellow there nipped out and got them off the unit.
We were in Exeter the following day and gladly collected our hats and passed on our thanks; all's well that ends well!

 

[speedy1]

Some great service. Were all those examples unexpected (as per thread title)?

Lol sorry for not sticking exactly to the thread title .. Some, yes

 

[DH1Commuter]

I’d had a really challenging day and was en route to London late evening for a meeting next day. LNER staff member asked if I wanted a drink and I said yes. Then on the way back passed a couple more with a smile.

Pennies for the railway but so appreciated.

 

[johntea]

I always find it really positive when there is a major delay on a train (in particular the late evening ones) where the guard will come down the train and try to check with every single passenger what their destination is and take it upon themselves to arrange the logistics for any passengers who will miss a connection / last train so they're not then having to try and find assistance on their own when they arrive which can often be a complete nightmare! (also even just guards who announce over the tannoy 'sorry we're delayed...make sure you claim the delay repay you're entitled to as a result though!')

To be honest I've generally found staff wise 99/100 experiences are usually positive just the odd negative one now and again, the attitude test goes a long way if you're human with them they'll probably be human back to you!

 

[The Mercian]

I won’t give specific examples but the many Train Managers and Guards who have let me travel on earlier trains than my booked Advance ticket as I’ve either arrived early or ended up ahead of schedule. I always ask if I can board and never push it if the answer is no.

 

[Farang]

Sorry, but what ticket is this?

I'm afraid I only remember the conversation, not the details of the ticket. It was a few years ago.

 

[LowLevel]

Some years ago now on an hourly service I waited for a young lady on her way to university as she was making a good effort running for the train and she burst into tears as she hopped through my door.

Just before we got into the terminus she handed me a lovely little hand drawn cartoon of me with my old Avantix ticket machine by way of thanks which I still have tucked away somewhere.

 

[spyinthesky]

Travelling back from Germany in 1985, I had to catch a very early train from Dortmund to Cologne to get my connection to Ostend. Having stayed up all night in town as I had no chance of getting to Dortmund station so early.

After about 3 minutes on the train I fell asleep and when I awoke the train was dark. After coming to my senses I looked at my watch realising my connection left Cologne in 4 minutes.

Not knowing where I was, I decided I had to get off this train and jumping down with my bags I startled a worker who was doing something to the carriage from which I had jumped.

My German was basic but I got by and he said there was no chance of getting across the river in the time I had. He pointed to a neighbouring train and said this will be going in a few minutes, but was waiting for a driver. He helped me onto the train and wished me luck.

Sitting down and wondering when the next Ostend train would be, I looked up at the destination slip on the window which said Ostend.

It was my original connection but was starting late.

 

[yorksrob]

I've had a couple of occasions where due to crowding I've been sat in first class with £10 on the table ready to pay a weekend upgrade and have been let off.

The classic is when you're train's late for a connection and the connection turns out to be equally late. Had that a few times.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Being handed a complimentary ice cream tub on a badly delayed Settle and Carlisle service after a steam train in front had failed.

 

[yorksrob]

Being handed a complimentary ice cream tub on a badly delayed Settle and Carlisle service after a steam train in front had failed.

Ooh, did they have the blackcurrent and cream flavour !

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Ooh, did they have the blackcurrent and cream flavour !

Yep, that was the one I got given. Absolutely delicious! Have then bought exactly the same on a subsequent visit up to Appleby.

 

[Farigiraf]

A few years back, I was going to Norwich for the day and there coincidentally happened to be a game at Carrow Road that day. Boarded the morning service from Cambridge to Norwich (it was already 4-car 755s at this point), full and standing. It was already leaving passengers behind at Cambridge North, and a number of already intoxicated matchgoers onboard began practicing their hooliganism for later on in the day, which as you can expect was enough for me to bail at Ely.

Was considering either aborting the trip or heading down via Stowmarket (I guessed that there was no point waiting for the 2-car EMR service) when a few mins later an unadvertised extra turned up forming an extra Norwich service as a 'rescue train' for those unsuspectingly caught up in the football traffic - sure, it did also fill up by Thetford, but at least I managed to get an actual seat for the whole hour! Football extras aren't uncommon but this stands out to me for how promptly it happened - still not sure how they managed to timetable it last-minute.

Another GA delight - being on a delayed Ipswich-London service (after a 20-30 min period of nothing running south of the station) where every single connecting branch line service (Harwich, Sunshine Coast, Sudbury) somehow managed to wait for our train. Again, no idea how that was possible but well done GA.

 

[Segedunum]

A few years back, I was going to Norwich for the day and there coincidentally happened to be a game at Carrow Road that day. Boarded the morning service from Cambridge to Norwich (it was already 4-car 755s at this point), full and standing. It was already leaving passengers behind at Cambridge North, and a number of already intoxicated matchgoers onboard began practicing their hooliganism for later on in the day, which as you can expect was enough for me to bail at Ely.

Was considering either aborting the trip or heading down via Stowmarket (I guessed that there was no point waiting for the 2-car EMR service) when a few mins later an unadvertised extra turned up forming an extra Norwich service as a 'rescue train' for those unsuspectingly caught up in the football traffic - sure, it did also fill up by Thetford, but at least I managed to get an actual seat for the whole hour! Football extras aren't uncommon but this stands out to me for how promptly it happened - still not sure how they managed to timetable it last-minute.

I did notice that on Saturday just gone GA were simultaneously doing extras for the Newmarket Races on top of a relief from Brandon to Norwich for the football. Very well planned.

 

[yorksrob]

Yep, that was the one I got given. Absolutely delicious! Have then bought exactly the same on a subsequent visit up to Appleby.

Yes, its the best one !

 

[dgl]

A few years ago I got delayed coming back hoke from my Aunts due to an incident, put in a claim to GWR/FGW and ended up getting a reply saying that I wasn't eligible due to it not being their fault but got given a cheque for £30 as a gesture of good will, the £30 was more than the cost of the return ticket and I had been given mknrh by my aunt for the ticket and she was happy for me to keep the money.

Also during the Hooke landslip a few years ago being allowed to go via Castle cary/Westbury to Paddington rather than Weymouth to Waterloo even with cheap advance tickets. We got there earlier, could leave later. If only the train back from Paddington wasn't 5 carriages, snug it was!

 

[styles]

Had a wheelchair user I was helping with a journey over the weekend. Pretty much everything went smoothly (apart from one apparently grumpy person at Chester station).

The bonus experience was that on their Transpennine Express service, they were allocated a space in a first class carriage, and despite informing staff they were on a standard class ticket, they were provided with drinks, snacks, and hot food. I thought that was a nice gesture.

 

[Adam Williams]

• Avanti's staff's professionalism whilst responding to (and making arrangements with the emergency services & control for) the passenger directly in front of me who was having a suspected heart attack. Very fortuitously there was a consultant cardiologist on-board, but the response for the railway was made all the more difficult by the emergency services not being at all clear on when they might be able to reach Watford (and therefore giving nobody and idea as to whether the train should proceed to Euston or not) and then seemingly losing track of the control log entirely after we went through a tunnel and got disconnected!
• The Network Rail customer reception staff member at Birmingham New Street sorting taxis without fuss for about 30-40 passengers, including myself, after CrossCountry screwed up at ~11pm at night back in late July
• Chiltern staff at Leamington sorting me out a plaster shortly before my departure time, after I got a particularly nasty papercut (cardcut?) across my palm from a CCST ticket which kept bleeding..
• This week:
  • SWR's pricing manager getting a customer ticketing problem completely resolved within half an hour of sending an email
  • Staff at RDG proactively asking for input on E-Ticket design improvements

 

[JBuchananGB]

A few years ago I accompanied a friend with her sick child from Southport to Alderhey Hospital. MerseyRail to Bootle Oriel Road then bus to the hospital. When we were on the bus, my friend realised she had left her bag with various important possessions, including mobile phone, on the train. From the hospital I called MerseyRail's number for lost property. The train had just reached Hunts Cross, the guard had informed the lost property office about the bag he had found. It was agreed that the bag would be taken back to Southport station for collection. When we got back to Southport a few hours later, the bag was ready and waiting. Good result. Well done MerseyRail. (Awful journey to make with a sick child. Departed Alderhey Hospital 4.30pm for the trip back to Southport, got off train at Southport at 6.30pm. Then another bus ride home.)

 

[Struner]

A few years ago I accompanied a friend with her sick child from Southport to Alderhey Hospital. MerseyRail to Bootle Oriel Road then bus to the hospital. When we were on the bus, my friend realised she had left her bag with various important possessions, including mobile phone, on the train. From the hospital I called MerseyRail's number for lost property. The train had just reached Hunts Cross, the guard had informed the lost property office about the bag he had found. It was agreed that the bag would be taken back to Southport station for collection. When we got back to Southport a few hours later, the bag was ready and waiting. Good result. Well done MerseyRail. (Awful journey to make with a sick child. Departed Alderhey Hospital 4.30pm for the trip back to Southport, got off train at Southport at 6.30pm. Then another bus ride home.)

& good of you too!