Train service is a joke!!

Admiral Huddy

Admiral Huddy

Admiral Huddy

Man of Honour
Joined
17 Feb 2003
Posts
29,640
Location
Chelmsford
The National Express train service between London Liverpool St and Ipswich is becoming a bit beyond a joke now. For the fourth time this year we’ve had a total suspension of service. The first three were due a new bridge being built as part of the East London Line extension into Shoreditch. On all three occasions I’ve been forced to take a days leave.

This was the last time when the bridge collapsed:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7424757.stm

Anyway, last night, I got the 5:20 from Liverpool Street to Ipswich when the train sudden anchored its brakes after a rather loud explosion. It pretty much shook everyone. It felt like we hit something and there was this awful feeling that it was car or something. It turns out that the train managed to bring down the overhead electric cables but we didn’t know this at the time.

After an hour with no open windows or air conditioning, we instructed to leave the train and wait for further instructions at the line side. I wasn’t quite sure were we were. I know we had passed Ingatestone but it was hard to tell as we were in a slight embanked cutting.

got some pics:

train2.jpg


train3.jpg


train4.jpg


We were kept on the line for nearly 2 hours before a train on the opposite side rescued us. This meant walking along the line to get on the Inter-city train. I seemed weird being at ground level with the trains.

train5.jpg





It was quite scary really but in all credit, it was dealt with quite well. I guess since this is such a regular occurrence, they must get used to the drill. The police were on the scene in no time and track marshals weren’t far behind. The driver must have been waiting for these to arrive before opening the doors. You’d think there would have been panic but in general everyone was patient and compliant.

As the rescuing train pulled away, I realised I was 30 minutes walk from home. I got in the end just after 9:30. A friend of mine got a slightly later train got home about 11:30pm.:eek:

This morning, the service is running a limited service and the train I was on was still there. You can see the damage just behind. Loads of tangled over head cables and engineers scratching their heads.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7445445.stm
 
YOu have to expect these things. The infrastructure hasn't been maintained or upgraded for a long time, now Network rail, has to maintain and improve the infrastructure with a smaller budget and with more trains running. Unfortunately it's going to cause some delays.

Nice pics and I would hate to be the guys called out to make sure your safe on track :Ekk: that's one hell of a responsibility.
 
AcidHell2 said:
YOu have to expect these things. The infrastructure hasn't been maintained or upgraded for a long time, now Network rail, has to maintain and improve the infrastructure with a smaller budget and with more trains running. Unfortunately it's going to cause some delays.

Nice pics and I would hate to be the guys called out to make sure your safe on track :Ekk: that's one hell of a responsibility.
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agreed on both counts. However, I'm not sure accepting it is a choice of words I'd pick right now but I know what you mean. With Chelmsford and towns alike becoming so densly populated to serve the commute, I've noticed trains getting more and more busier each year.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
agreed on both counts. However, I'm not sure accepting it is a choice of words I'd pick right now but I know what you mean. With Chelmsford and towns alike becoming so densly populated to serve the commute, I've noticed trains getting more and more busier each year.
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Yeah probably not a great word to use. I don't think the goverment have a real plan in place. Other than forcing more renewals/projects whilst cutting the budget.
 
Mmm was carnage at Liv. St yesterday afternoon - overhead line problems at Chelmsford as well as London Fields means not many trains leaving!!! Fortunately living in Seven Sisters, despite being a slightly rough old area, has probably the best transport links compared to anywhere in London I can think of - Victoria line tube, overland to City and at a push a 45 minute bus ride to the City :cool:

PS Huddy now be honest, what really happened, that's quite impressive bringing down a mile of cable :p
 
It's not the goverments responsinbilty is it? Being privatised?

Delays like this must cost them a fortune in compensation payments under the Citizens Charter.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
It's not the goverments responsinbilty is it? Being privatised?
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it's not really privatised, we get huge grants of the goverment and they tell us what we have to do. Network Rail then decides how to meet those demands within budget. There's no profit, no shareholders. It's a bit of a weird one.
Network rail has to pay the train companies £120 a minute I think it is, so yes it costs a lot. especially when you consider one delayed train usually back up half a dozen others. However over 70% of delays are due to the train operating company and not network rail.
 
huh, public transport is rubbish.
I went to birmingham with the other half some weeks back. I normally drive everywhere because it's more convenient, however I'm a bit strapped at the moment so we decided a train would be cheaper. Got to the station: Paid for ticket - no trains running. Solution? get on the coach that's waiting outside the station. No refund of the difference between the cost of a return train ticked versus the cost of a return coach ticket. Journey took longer and included lots of waiting about at various locations along the way because there were no trains.

Had we gone by car it would have been slightly more expensive but we'd have been there on time and not had the privilege of hearing some 15 year old chav's loud mobile phone conversation from the seat infront of us for 2 hours.

I dread to think about how having to use the buses or trains to get to work every day would effect my employment needs... it's just not a practical or 'safe bet' to depend upon.
 
I used to live in east Hertfordshire and the National Express (formerly One) rail service was reason enough to move.

I travel on South West trains every day now and there's hardly ever any delays. When there are problems, they tell you what's happening and how long they expect the delay to be. The trains are air-conditioned and there's a guard on most trains.

I still travel on National Express to see my friends once a week and it's a nightmare. The trains are never on time and you never receive any information on what's going on. Even the departures boards don't display the correct information. The state of the trains is a disgrace and half the seats are missing. There's never any guards about (either at the stations or on the trains) so the trains are full of fare-dodging chavs causing trouble.

Nation Express easily run the worst services out of London. It's almost one of the most expensive.
 
The thing that truely annoys me is that they have e.g. congestion charges to "encourage" people to use alternative means of transport which are often themselves far worse on a reliability scale.

I love travelling by train in Europe. I shudder to think how much better/cleaner/faster/more reliable the trains are in countries I've taken journeys in (France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Holland, Belgium).
 
I think you should be grateful you have trains, some of us live in the largest area of Western Europe to not have a rail line. :(
 
I must say that while we all enjoy complaining about public transport (Though we don't get as many British Rail jokes now, obviously) I've never had any problems with trains, though I don't use them too often. 4 hour journeys from Newcastle to coventry, then back a couple of weeks later. I do that trip 4 or 5 times a year (So not regular by any means) but its a nice ride, and there's 240v outlets so I can be on my laptop the whole time.
I love trains :)
 
[TW]Fox;11861500 said:
We dont get threads like this when someone gets stuck in a huge jam on the M1.
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Apart from roadworks, aren't most jams caused by careless drivers?

In this case, we have a public railway service that for the 4th time this year has been closed off, leaving thousands of people stranded or forcing people to their holiday allowance. You can, to a degree, divert your car to an alternative route.


I should have never flushed that toilet :p
 
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