Well known people travelling standard class

[northwichcat]

When he was a guest speaker at an event in Knutsford he was seem alighting a Pacer at Knutsford, in contrast when MP George Osborne visits Knutsford he travels by Pendolino First Class to Wilmslow and then gets a taxi from there.

Since he's probably travelling from London that seems to make a lot of sense!

By why First Class and why does he need a taxi? If he used the bus between Wilmslow and Knutsford he could talk to some of his constituents while travelling. The buses used between Wilmslow and Knutsford are usually 58 reg Optare Versas so he'd hardly have to subject himself to something terrible by using the bus.

 

[185]

I hear the even the chancellor doesn't.... even though he only pays standard

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20008342

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Ann Widdecombe sat next to me on a rail replacement bus once a few years ago in Kent. A person got hit by a train, so it was buses only. She could well have been in first class on the train until it terminated, but was then promoted to have the privilege to sit next to me on the standard class only bus.

I was once on a Euston train which was cancelled at Crewe, and found that one of my inconvenienced fellow passengers was Gwyneth Dunwoody (local ASLEF-sponsored MP and also chair of the Transport Select Committee).
She was not best pleased.

 

[northwichcat]

I hear the even the chancellor doesn't.... even though he only pays standard

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20008342

If you recall his aide tweeted saying that Osborne requested a first class ticket but he purchased a standard ticket by mistake. However, a couple of hours later that tweet was deleted and a later statement from George Osborne's office said that Osborne's meeting finished early and it meant he was a train with no seat reservation so he upgraded to first class to get a seat with a table.

At the time of the incident bidding was open for the next West Coast franchise so I think Virgin tried to be careful as to what they said to the media following the incident.
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I was once on a Euston train which was cancelled at Crewe, and found that one of my inconvenienced fellow passengers was Gwyneth Dunwoody (local ASLEF-sponsored MP and also chair of the Transport Select Committee).
She was not best pleased.

There's a plaque in The Zone building at Northwich station saying the building was officially opened by The Right Honourable Gwyneth Dunwoody. Given Northwich is connected to Crewe by a train line with no passenger services I'd be interested to know how exactly she got there and (assuming she went by train) whether she made any comments about the inconvenience encountered i.e. either having to go all around Chester or having to be picked up from Hartford station 3 miles away.
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I just remembered when James May was doing his record model railway attempt he went to the station where Oz Clarke was supposed to be arriving. A 143 was shown arriving but Clarke was absent, he then turned up in a taxi claiming he missed the train (or refused to travel on a Pacer?)

 

[ANorthernGuard]

Jarvis cocker is also a regular on the Hope valley line. A very polite down to Earth he seems to me.

 

[Hellfire]

I did read a while back that the BBC had purchased 24,000 rail tickets for travel on the Euston/Manchester route since moving to Salford. Didn't specify but would assume standard class. Susanna Reid for one travels daily.

The BBC doesn't allow FC travel. All its tickets are booked by the individual travelling via Trainlne Business. You get a warning message if you haven't booked the cheapest ticket.

I don't have the figure for tickets booked but I doubt it is anywhere near the figure quoted. Most BBC staff work either in Salford or London and have very little need to travel between the two.

And Susanna Reid doesn't travel daily. She only presents three days a week in Salford.

 

[HowardGWR]

I think a lot of the TV people are freelancers so I assume they pay for their own travel out of their ludicrous fees. I am pleased I know so few of them, as it means I don't watch all this on-the-sofa cr*p. I do watch football and listen to Radio 5 in the car, so I am aware Adrian Chiles has recently crept back to the Beeb. I wonder how he travels between the ITV studios and Salford?

 

[northwichcat]

The BBC doesn't allow FC travel. All its tickets are booked by the individual travelling via Trainlne Business. You get a warning message if you haven't booked the cheapest ticket.

What about services where the Standard Advances have sold out but some First Advances remain?

 

[jamesst]

After he promised the guard a guaranteed 8% pay rise?
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What gets overlooked when the BBC claim gets made is ITV pay a lot for people travelling from other parts of the country to London. They've used both Cardiff and Manchester based newsreaders as relief newsreaders, a Bristol based weather presenter as relief weather presenter and have used a Manchester based one in the past and they have a news editor who is Preston based. They paid for someone to relocate from the North West to London to be Daybreak newsreader, while they pay to transport Paddy McGuinness to and from Kent for recording 'Take Me Out.'

The difference being ITV is paid for by adverts not the licence fee...

 

[dcsprior]

The difference being ITV is paid for by adverts not the licence fee...

If anything, that should mean we expect ITV to be run as a cut-throat business, but the BBC to be delivering some kind of social good - which includes spreading high-skilled, high-value jobs around the country - even if there is an initial cost due to transitional arrangements for existing staff.

 

[user15681]

I was once on a Euston train which was cancelled at Crewe, and found that one of my inconvenienced fellow passengers was Gwyneth Dunwoody (local ASLEF-sponsored MP and also chair of the Transport Select Committee).
She was not best pleased.

I can imagine. Talking of MPs, one of my local MPs was on my train during the commute one morning, in standard I should add. He got off at Victoria, looked at the ticket barriers closed and went to the ticket office on the platform side of the barriers. I overheard someone else who had recognised him suggest 'the corrupt bugger was trying to fare evade'. He may have, or may not.

 

[Hellfire]

What about services where the Standard Advances have sold out but some First Advances remain?

Then the cheapest ticket rule applies. Most of the people who make the trip go up and down in a day so travel on peak services.

Bear in mind that people whose jobs have moved to Salford but who haven't moved themselves don't get their fares paid anyway. The BBC doesn't pay for journeys between home and normal base.

 

[GodAtum]

The difference being ITV is paid for by adverts not the licence fee...

Exactly, as a company, I expect ITV to do whats best for their shareholders. the BBC I expect to be value for money for license payers.

 

[northwichcat]

The difference being ITV is paid for by adverts not the licence fee...

Yes but if BBC had almost everything except regional programs based in London then the same would apply for BBC.

 

[sarahj]

Vince cable, stnd class, heading from London to Eastbourne

 

[dk1]

Really? The first Manchester arrival from Euston is 08:28 and she's on air from 06:00. I seem to recall in a newspaper interview she said she planned to stay based in London when Breakfast moved and to travel up on Sundays and back down on Wednesdays and see how that went.

I read an article where she said that she travels down to Manchester the night before, stays overnight in the hotel, presents BBC Breakfast then back up to London so she is at home when her children come in from School. Then does it all over again. Not on the show later in the week though. Make-up did a good job on her whilst doing Strictly too!!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

A couple of years ago, my parents were sat opposite the author Will Self on a very busy 185 from Glasgow Central to Manchester Airport. They said they were surprised to see him in standard class, considering the first class section was pretty much deserted, to the point that they (but not Self) upgraded before the train got to Lockerbie.

 

[duncanp]

It was reported in the papers that Prince William took a normal service train to Cambridge yesterday to take up a course in Agricultural Management.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukn...ridge-begins-Cambridge-University-course.html

Probably fair to assume that he travelled in First Class though.

 

[GodAtum]

It is understood he travelled to the city in a public carriage, although it was not clear which class of ticket he bought for the journey.

I guess he was in 1st but can anyone confirm?

 

[B&W]

Baron Cowdrey (the English Cricketer) Sir Patrick Moore, James Heriot ( ie Christopher Timothy) Brian Scott (he went on to become headboy of the Western Region) amongst others used to queue up with everybody else in the morning for buttered toast, coffees etc on the Bognor Victoria buffet trains. They were always pleasant and passed the time of day whilst waiting.
Occasionally used to see Baron Olivier ( Lawrence ) at Pulborough as he and Joan Plowright had a house overlooking the river Adur at Ashurst, but think he went 1st class.

Do not know if anybody of note still uses the line, like quite a few others I use my car now to Orpington to get to London- its faster, cheaper and more comfortable as you only have 15mins to travel on those awful hard cramped seats the Electrostars have.
Brian

 

[snowball]

My late father once encountered the late Eric Morecambe on a London-Manchester (or reverse) train. I don't know which class - my father usually travelled second but was occasionally supplied with a free first-class ticket. He said Morecambe had just the same personality in person as on TV.

 

[185]

Frank Carson, a regular in standard from Blackpool to Preston long before first class on that route.

Never forget at Preston... "Now... where do I go for London Euseless?"

RIP Legend

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The late Sir Norman Wisdom would use 455s between Waterloo and Epsom; of course these have no 1st class so there is no choice in the matter for anyone anyway!

 

[Michael.Y]

I just remembered when James May was doing his record model railway attempt he went to the station where Oz Clarke was supposed to be arriving. A 143 was shown arriving but Clarke was absent, he then turned up in a taxi claiming he missed the train (or refused to travel on a Pacer?)

That was the second train episode. On the first one Oz recreated the entire ACE route with a model ACE, including the trip on the Tarka Line, involving not a Pacer, but a Class 150. Luxury!
http://youtu.be/RzgF_D_8s_g?t=40m52s

In the second episode Clarke just said "I came by car." No reference to having missed a train or something. May said something to the guard "Oz Clarke was supposed to be on this train.....it's not your fault.....it's almost certainly his..."
http://youtu.be/Zh5d8nx738E?t=10m48s