Were Connex really that bad?

[Downlander]

With all of Govia's woes making the headlines, it got me thinking back to the late nineties when the local press was equally filled week after week with bad press about Connex South Central/Eastern.

I only started travelling by train in a big way in the mid-2000s so I don't remember Connex from a passenger's perspective. So I was just wondering now we're twenty years into privatisation and a whole heap of franchises have come and gone, were Connex really as bad as they are remembered by some? And dare I say it, are their successors today any better?

Very interested to hear what you all think, and especially any recollections of things Connex got right and wrong

 

[yorksrob]

My recollection of Connex was a bit grubby. Nothing seemed to get re-upholstered, and when things were repainted, it was into that yellow and grey which got dirty very quickly.

 

[NSEFAN]

Connex was an important lesson to the government. Letting short franchises and giving the franchisee a lot of operational freedom was a very bad idea. To be fair, this isn't something which could have definitely been foreseen at the time.

 

[Bertie the bus]

You can't really compare today's franchises with those immediately after privatisation. A lot of them were awful. SWT, which for many years has been considered a good, efficient operator, was so bad in the first years after privatisation I gave up on them and drove into central London every day instead despite it costing twice as much and taking twice as long. Virgin was a national joke.

It was basically a bunch of companies who had no idea how to run a railway making too many crew redundant, antagonising the crew that remained and running knackered old stock worse than BR.

 

[tony6499]

CSC main problem was terrible staff relations, once they realised that it was better to work with staff then against them things improved a lot , unfortunately by then the damage had been done.

 

[Robertj21a]

Yes they were.

 

[chubs]

Yes, although a major problem was the poor stock they inherited (the enthusiasts will hate me). To be fair they did order the 375's/376's/377's which were quite nice in Connex spec.

Grubby trains (inside and out), grubby stations, poor information and depressed staff are a few of the things I remember.

 

[Hophead]

CSC main problem was terrible staff relations, once they realised that it was better to work with staff then against them things improved a lot , unfortunately by then the damage had been done.

Making them wear those horrific yellow waistcoats wouldn't have helped there....

 

[yorksrob]

Yes, although a major problem was the poor stock they inherited (the enthusiasts will hate me). To be fair they did order the 375's/376's/377's which were quite nice in Connex spec.

Grubby trains (inside and out), grubby stations, poor information and depressed staff are a few of the things I remember.

The stock was fine, but it didn't seem particularly well kept at that point.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Yes, Connex was certainly that bad. The Marshlink line frequently suffered cancellations, stops were cancelled if the train was running late, and morale among non-agency frontline staff was lower than an Oceanic trench.

I can remember having to walk all the way to end of platforms at London Victoria for a 4 car train, on several occasions. Apparently it was more reliable for the company.

Connex was also hit by bad news stories - including one where a driver apparently left a train in a siding so he could collect his kids from school. How accurate that is, I've no idea.

 

[charley_17/7]

Wasn't Connex South Eastern a 15 year franchise?

I think the only think that was ever missed about Connex (South Central) was the Rugby - Gatwick service.

They also had a very good in-house magazine called 'UpFront', covering both franchises.

 

[bramling]

With all of Govia's woes making the headlines, it got me thinking back to the late nineties when the local press was equally filled week after week with bad press about Connex South Central/Eastern.

I only started travelling by train in a big way in the mid-2000s so I don't remember Connex from a passenger's perspective. So I was just wondering now we're twenty years into privatisation and a whole heap of franchises have come and gone, were Connex really as bad as they are remembered by some? And dare I say it, are their successors today any better?

Very interested to hear what you all think, and especially any recollections of things Connex got right and wrong

Personally, I never found them too bad, although I didn't use them on a daily basis. I don't remember them being too unreliable, especially on the south eastern side. However I do remember their trains often being very badly turned out, and at one the 465s were in a terrible state (although to be fair that was largely due to scratch graffiti for which no operator had found a solution at that time). I also remember staff being generally pretty miserable and surly around that time, esp on the south central side.

Perhaps their best move was a very good internal specification for their Electrostars, compared to the Southern interior versions which themselves aren't bad the Connex interior ones are wonderful.

 

[bicbasher]

From what I remember of my time commuting with Connex, the Hastings trains were on their last legs, many were grubby.

I also used their South Central Metro services, which were on the whole ok, but they didn't get round to changing the livery for all their 455/456 units.

The only thing I don't remember if it was Connex or 'South Central' who decided to remove the daytime off-peak stoppers to Charing Cross on the Sydenham line, instead transferring those 2tph slots to fast services?

 

[charley_17/7]

Another good thing Connex SouthCentral did was publish a joint timetable with Virgin Trains, covering both TOC's services on the Brighton - Milton Keynes/Midlands/North West corridor.

 

[Antman]

With all of Govia's woes making the headlines, it got me thinking back to the late nineties when the local press was equally filled week after week with bad press about Connex South Central/Eastern.

I only started travelling by train in a big way in the mid-2000s so I don't remember Connex from a passenger's perspective. So I was just wondering now we're twenty years into privatisation and a whole heap of franchises have come and gone, were Connex really as bad as they are remembered by some? And dare I say it, are their successors today any better?

Very interested to hear what you all think, and especially any recollections of things Connex got right and wrong

Yes they were, I think the name Connex will still send a chill down many commuters spines!

Whatever the shortcomings of todays operations things are nowhere near as bad as they were in those dark days!

As for that awful yellow livery.........yuk

 

[steamybrian]

Staff morale was awful as the company did not "look after" its staff.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Connex SC was awful. Only thing that ran them close was the early days of 'one' which says a lot, since 'one' was awful throughout.

 

[cjmillsnun]

I have a lot of words for Connex. None of them complimentary.

SWT had their issues to begin with, most notably allowing too many drivers to take VR and a certain comment Brian Souter made about people who wrote into complain. But nothing on the scale of Connex.

 

[bicbasher]

I also remember Connex's bus operation in London. Awful.

 

[Carlisle]

Yes, Connex was certainly that bad. The Marshlink line frequently suffered cancellations, .

That'll probably be more to do with the fact it was relying on antiquated 1958-62 built DEMUs at the time rather than who the operator was

 

[northwichcat]

Pretty much all private operators were bad at the time. Connex had two London commuter franchises so more fuss was made about them. If MTL had operations around London I think more fuss would have been made about them.

 

[yorksrob]

That'll probably be more to do with the fact it was relying on antiquated 1958-62 built DEMUs at the time rather than who the operator was

There was a known shortage of thumpers during the period, hence the decision to hire out the Hastings DEMU to cover on some occasions during the mid naughties.

Perhaps too many had been scrapped

 

[bramling]

There was a known shortage of thumpers during the period, hence the decision to hire out the Hastings DEMU to cover on some occasions during the mid naughties.

Perhaps too many had been scrapped

Not sure. From memory the only units which fell by the wayside after Connex took over were 205024 in 1999-2000 (major defect) and 207201 in May 2001 (collision damage). Govia took over in August 2001, and both units sat for ages around being used as parts donors, it's a matter of debate whether either of these withdrawals could be pinned on Connex.

What Connex did do was remove the centre cars from a number of units.

 

[387star]

To this day I have recall there being dog dirt scraped across chichester platform... The low point of the connex years

Staying with chichester the tv screen departure screens on platform two were covered in graffiti smears for years so were hardly readable

The then new yellow cis screens were inoperational a long time after introduction showing only the time or weird scrolls... Many slammers had graffiti inside and out. Once a train came in completely covered in graffiti still in service.

But at least there was a trolley service down the coastway back then

I miss tucking into breakfast in a declassified compartment on a mk1

However the brighton to bournemouth train is sorely missed please bring it back!! Used to put my bike on at chichester and off at brockenhurst great times

 

[yorksrob]

Not sure. From memory the only units which fell by the wayside after Connex took over were 205024 in July 2000 (major defect) and 207201 in May 2001 (collision damage). Govia took over in August 2001, it's debatable whether either of these withdrawals could be pinned on Connex.

What Connex did do was remove the centre cars from a number of units.

It might have been in BR days when the number of routes using them reduced quite drastically due to electrification.

 

[Antman]

I also remember Connex's bus operation in London. Awful.

From what I can remember their bus operations weren't too bad, route 3 for example

 

[TDK]

I used to work for Connex and it was dire. The problem was that Connex in fact were a French water company trying to run a UK commuter company like the French run their express services, the management were draconian, the directors didn't have a clue on the problems they had with overcrowding etc. The stock to be fair was pretty good reliability wise and Selhurst MD did a very good job maintaining the units.

One thing good about Connex was the training, the training for drivers was excellent with top quality instructors and excellent rules and traction courses, this wasn't down to the company but the training staff at Waterloo.

As a company it was terrible, the front line staff were excellent, when Go-Via took over to be fair it was like a breath of fresh air except they didn't want to give parity with Thameslink for the drivers and dug their heels in however the dispute was resolved quite quickly with ASLEF on the case.

As for the uniform, well you wouldn't have looked out of place in a circus.

 

[hello]

One thing good about Connex was the training, the training for drivers was excellent with top quality instructors and excellent rules and traction courses, this wasn't down to the company but the training staff at Waterloo.

think you will find that training for connex south central drivers moved to east croydon in the early 90's, i would say about 93, that was long before connex were on the scene!!!!!!!!!

hope punctuation is ok moderators

 

[Busaholic]

Yes, Connex was certainly that bad. The Marshlink line frequently suffered cancellations, stops were cancelled if the train was running late, and morale among non-agency frontline staff was lower than an Oceanic trench.

I can remember having to walk all the way to end of platforms at London Victoria for a 4 car train, on several occasions. Apparently it was more reliable for the company.

Connex was also hit by bad news stories - including one where a driver apparently left a train in a siding so he could collect his kids from school. How accurate that is, I've no idea.

I was a commuter into Victoria on the South Eastern side from 1967 for more years than I care to remember, and an occasional user after that upto about five years ago. For most of that time I was using the Orpington stopper, often at about 18.30/19.00, and the occasions on which you had to walk most of the length of the platform past empty/closed carriages to (usually) a 4-coach train were so many that you accepted it as the norm, and they both preceded and succeeded the Connex era as well as being within it. Connex were a shambles, though, and the Directly Operated company that took over from them could only be an improvement, and were, but not enough of course to persuade a New Labour government to continue with the arrangement beyond the 'emergency' period.

 

[cjmillsnun]

That'll probably be more to do with the fact it was relying on antiquated 1958-62 built DEMUs at the time rather than who the operator was

SWT also had plenty of VEPS and CIGS, and they took on the CEPS but were more reliable than Connex. Yes the Thumpers were old, but then again they didn't maintain them properly. Reliability suffered compared with BR.

Yes SWT had 159s, 455s and 442s, but then again Connex had 456s, 455s, 465s, 466s, 365s and also 319s.

Connex was trying to run everything on the cheap. It showed, badly.