Lines now open with TPE running a normal service, Virgin are running an hourly shuttle between Carlisle and Glasgow calling at Lockerbie and Motherwell, probably using Voyagers as it looks as if only diesel trains are able to run along the line as OHLE work probably hasnt finished.
The last train of the day from Glasgow, the 2010 to Crewe was certainly diesel. Two Voyager units and what a shambles that turned out to be!
Platform indicators showing both booked stops to Crewe and aso information that said service would terminate at Carlisle for onward connections. Same indicators were saying to board the front 2 cars of the rear train - why? The front unit was locked out of use and we left GLC on time, full of kilted and "happy" football or rugby supporters en route to a big game in Cardiff.
Such was the noise being generated by the crowd that announcements could not be heard at all.
On arrival at Motherwell, the train sat for 25 minutes whilst everyone was moved to the front unit and the local police spoke with the fans about their conduct. The reasons given for moving everyone were "safety issues", which reading between the lines, appeared to be that the female train manager feared for her safety as she was on her own in the back unit with only the driver in the front unit for company, no catering staff or mobile cleaners.
Arrival at Carstairs produced another 10 minutes whilst the train manager dealt with pax off the Tpex terminator from Edinburgh which connects into the Crewe train. No station staff at Carstairs so you can imagine the confusion with pax trying to get into the rear unit which by then was locked out. To make matters worse some of those joining should have been on an earlier VT service form Edinburgh to Birmingham which had been cancelled.
Allowing for running under caution, we lost further time and I alighted at Lockerbie a shade over 45 minutes late, what happened at/after Carlisle I don't know.
So in summary, both EDB and GLC station staff managed to clear their respective stations of potentially troublesome pax which was great for them.
Seemingly no thought was given or plans made as to how those same pax were going to be managed when on the train, no evidence of VT management at GLC to sort any potential problems, just the normal despatch staff doing there best with little or no information. No VT staff going through the train to assist people - not all of whom were sport fans -with onward connections from Carlisle etc.etc.
During the whole disruption there has been scant information available from VT, Tpex or NR as to how pax are to make their journeys to/from the intermediate stations. Most of the advice online appears to have centred around using EC services from EDB rather than VT from GLC and ticket inter availablity.
Somehow I doubt that Mr Branson will be making any statement on the handling of the whole OHL incident on "his" railway!!
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I'm going to start to sound like a broken record with this (
), but it's bugging me now -- when a 66 drags the sleeper with a dead 90, where does the ETS come from?
Might get a better response if you start a new thread?
(I'll get my coat on the way out) :P
