Hi All
Just wondering if any one on the forum uses the CENTRAL TRAIN that starts at Liverpool Lime Street and goes through Sheffield to Norwich stopping at chesterfield ,nottingham, grantham,peterborough ely.etc
If so was wondering if anyone does how do they find this train service regarding how full the trains are at different times of the day as I have been having a conversation with central train regarding this service and am trying to find out what other people think
thanks

At this time of year it's quite reasonable all the time I think (although I rarely catch them in the middle of the day, mainly 'rush hour' ones). A lot of people are on holiday, so it's nice and quiet in a morning, and they have recently purchased a lot of 3 coach trains, so you're more likely to travel on one of those too which helps at busy times.

The time to avoid is Friday evening, especially during 'term time' as it's full of homesick students with loads of bags! I always make other arangements to get home, as it's just a nightmare - battery hens would complain about the conditions! :) Students from Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, all converging on the one train is just too much!

Of course, any time the train is busy you hear those wonderful pearls of wisdom from people, who, I'm sure, think they are the first people to think of them:

They should put an extra coach on

and of course, the 'funny' ones, come up with

They'll never get the trolly through here...

Oh, how I laugh :roll:

On a more serious note, Central have improved the service no end over the last couple of years, much more punctual, and often newer and bigger trains. The biggest problem they face is that the services are such long journeys, the suggestions of 'put another coach on when it's busy' are hard to do - a train which leaves Liverpool or Manchester at a quiet time, may hit Sheffield or Nottingham at busy times, and vice-versa - For most journeys it's a busy time somewhere, and people just love to moan.... :)

Hi Sniperwookie
Thanks for your reply I do understand what you say.
It was just that I had recently had a problem with this service from manchester to norwich
Yes by the time the train got to manchester it was packed with people standing and even thou I had reseved seat someone was sat there and wouldnt move ,it was a two carrage train and yes you are right the only thing I heard was it should be a three carrage train lol
Not much help to me being disabled and not having a seat central trains say there trains are never usually that full at any time of the day which I didnt believe because I went home to sheffield last year for a holiday and came up against the same problem leaving sheffield
wait to see if anyone else has had problems with this service

I do notice that sometimes there are random occassions when it's very busy, for no aparant reason, and if you send off a customer comment form they tend to send back a generic reply ('thank you for your comments, we will take them on board').

If they do claim they are never packed full then they really are lying - as I mentioned in my previous post, Fridays during term time is unbelieveable (and Fridays in general aren't good) and they regularly leave people behind at stations as everyone can't pack on, but the rest of the week I've rarely had problems - only when earlier trains are cancelled are they that bad

I would have to say I'm more stunned that some fool wouldn't move - I've never seen that one happen before - people are just ignorant at times!

Hi Sniperwookie
Yes I agree they seem to send standard replys to anyone that complains lol

They say they cant do anything if someone sits in a reserved seat wiether the person whos reseved seat is disabled or not to me this is not right would they like to stand on a train for a hour like I did last week and have to hold on for dear life if I hadnt had to catch a connection in norwich I would have waited for the next train.
I wasnt the only person who had reseved seats and people were sat in them so it seems normal .

I just find it terrible with what is going of at the moment that they allow over 25 people to stand on a train that is doing a four and half hour journey plus all the luggage left unattened you really never know these days think it will be a long time before I travel with central train again ,

A Customer Services manager at John Lewis told me about a year go that standard replies is all we are ever likely to get and personalised letters are a thing of the past. Strikes me that you are lucky enough to be among the few that even receive a standardised letter, many people dont even get that.

I used to use this train (between Manc and Sheff) a lot as a student. I never once got a seat! One particular journey was so crammed that people were having to stand in the toilet cubicle.

on a sunday mornings, the journey from Manchester back 2 Sheffield is a joke, loads of people trying to get on 2 crappy carrages ever week with loadsa people having to stand all the way. And it happens every week.

Originally posted by wendygs
A Customer Services manager at John Lewis told me about a year go that standard replies is all we are ever likely to get...

Blimey, do John Lewis run the trains now?




(only joking)

Originally posted by northernboy
Blimey, do John Lewis run the trains now?



Mmm.

Never Knowingly On-time.

I'll get my coat...

I get this train quite frequently (I live in Cambridge and my parents live in Manchester); the Sheffield-Manchester stretch is one of the busiest usually. I find that if I'm travelling from Manchester, it's worthwhile getting on at Oxford Road, and then when lots of people get on or off at Piccadilly quickly grabbing a decent seat.

Hi All
Thanks for all your messages
And Central Trains state they never allow people to stand on there trains and also there trains are never full
so who are they kidding but I am trying to take this matter further with them so anyone else had any experiences I would love to know, more so if you happen to be dissabled
thanks

Whenever I've got this train it's been (relatively) empty on arrival in Sheffield, then packed as far as Manchester, then quiet again thereafter. I guess the problem is that it wouldn't be cost effective for the company to run longer trains for the whole route when the capacity is only really needed on a couple of short stretches.

Thankfully, all my work trips to Manchester are to the university, which means I get on and off at Oxford Road.

Another issue is you don't actually pay for reservations a train ticket is just to get you from a to b by whatever menas the train company deem (it's in the operating conditions)

There are 2 trains and hour between Shef and Man (and occasionally a third slow one!).

As some one posted earlier Central are investing in new carriages and most of these are now 3 cars..as oppose to two so someone is listening.


As rail travel is basically turn up and go it's the luck of the draw as to weather the train is full train companies have no way of knowing really.A party of 50 people could turn up 5 mins before departure for a train.

And in this day and age is it really safe for the conductor to challenge someone if they are sat in your seat? They are liable to get spat at,swore at or in some cases physically attacked/stabbed. It's in the news all the time.

Hi semerpus.
No you dont have to pay for reserved seats but when you are disabled you are guarenteed a seat so they say.
Yes central trains do have some three carrage trains but it doesnt seem many on here have seen them.
Regarding how many people are travelling surley in this day and age with tecnology they must know how many tickets they have sold .
Regarding people sat in reserved seats and not moving I understand what you say about the ticket collector not wanting to say anything but be honest would you like to stand for a four and a half hour journey when you were disabled I think not

Originally posted by sylvia
Hi Sniperwookie
Yes I agree they seem to send standard replys to anyone that complains lol

They say they cant do anything if someone sits in a reserved seat whether the person whos reseved seat is disabled or not to me this is not right would they like to stand on a train for a hour like I did last week and have to hold on for dear life if I hadnt had to catch a connection in norwich I would have waited for the next train.
I wasnt the only person who had reseved seats and people were sat in them so it seems normal .

I just find it terrible with what is going of at the moment that they allow over 25 people to stand on a train that is doing a four and half hour journey plus all the luggage left unattened you really never know these days think it will be a long time before I travel with central train again ,

I used to struggle on sticks/ crutches, before I went into the chair for any real distance. (still manage with my crutches, if it's a very short distance i.e. straight out of the door into the car, and straightin at the other end...)

I found that if people were "kind enough" to observe me standing, using said crutches, a little "trick" (for want of a better way of putting it) that came in useful was to use my lack of balancing ability in my favour.

When the bus lurched (As is virtually inevitable) the inability to remain upright, landing on the lap of the person occupying the seat, usually got results. :)

I would have thought that if you had reserved a seat, needing one because of your disability, that you ought to get some recompense/refund etc if the company fail to ensure that you actually are able to benefit from the planning that you and they had done to ensure your comfort and safety on the journey (even if it's a partial refund?)

I and my best friend went to London last year. There was a total fiasco on the trains, we'd booked/ reserved the wheelchair space and associated seats in first class, and when the train came in, there was no wheelchiar area in first class, at all.

We had to get in the standard class carriage, where the wheelchair space was very cramped.

There were problems, because the way the train had stopped meant that the entrance to the carriage with the wheelchair space in it had lined up with one of the roof supports, so the ramp could not be deployed.

I had to get on the train at the next entrance, and fight my way through the coupling area to get into the carriage with the wheelchair space.

To add insult to injury, I had to endure having other passengers stacking their luggage on and around my chair, (grrr!) and the train was so crowded I could hardly breathe.

There were other things associated with this nightmare of a journey, and when we raised the isssue with Midland Mainline, we recieved a refund.

PT

I used to use this service a lot when I lived in Cambridge and I would get it to travel between Ely and Sheffield. From my experience it is pretty much always full. It’s not too bad if you can travel earlier in the day, but as mentioned pretty much anytime Friday PM is bad, and anytime on Sunday. The trains they use are far too small for the number of large student cities it links together. The trains are also badly designed for taking luggage. The luggage racks are small and fill up very quickly, which means you see a lot of luggage having to be left in the gangway.

I think it’s appalling that reserving a seat doesn’t actually guarantee you a seat, especially if you are disabled! One thing I did find with Central Trains is that they are terrible at actually even putting the reserved tickets on the seats (they didn’t even used to have signs on saying which was coach A and which was coach B!). I always reserved a seat and probably about 75% of the time when I got on the train there were no reserved tickets in ANY seats, and I would nearly always have to show my reservation to the person who was unknowingly sat in my seat.

Hi Plain Talker

I had to laugh to myself when I read what you had put about loosing your balance and falling in someones lap .
I did fall over on my train journey straight into the lap of the person that was sat in my reserved seat but I didnt get a seat only a mouthfull telling me to be more carefull Oh I would love to tell you what i said but I think you m,ay be able to guess.
I have written to central train but still waiting for a full responce If I ever get it lol

Sylvia , sorry if i wasn't clear I wasn't disputing that if you are disabled you should get a seat you should!!! I was just stating a few points of fact.

You say that in this day of technology train companies should know how busy they are gonna be and how many tickets sold....I refer back to my original point...by the time ths service reaches Sheffield its already been running about 2 and a half hours there is NOTHING to stop a party of 50 people turning up 5 mins before it's departure and buying tickets to travel and joining this train...on the flip side no body could turn up for that train and it'd be quiet (yeah right ha ha).

Its down to the point of flexibility and turning up and travelling..the only way to stop it would to be make all trains bookable in advance like planes and you can only get on that train which would take away all the spontanaitty (spelt wrong i know but i hope u get wot i mean)

But surely if us lowly passengers can figure out that friday afternoons and sundays are busier than other times, the train company should too.

Semerpus - I understand your point about large parties, but that would be a rare occurance and surely an extra carriage on the trains that are always busy would go some way to resolving the issues, if not in every single instance.

Personally I use the slow train from Sheffield to Manchester. It is usually fairly quiet, but even when school parties etc show up there is enough space and they usually get off after a few stops - they never go further than Edale. Yeah it takes longer but it is much less stressful! I once caught this train and then changed to the Central train you are discussing, it took a bit longer to complete my journey but the trains were, if not quiet, empty enough for me to get a seat!

Hope you manage to get some sense out of Central at some point Sylvia - it sounds like you were treated disgustingly and they are denying their responsibilities to their passengers.

As I mentioned before, and a lot of people have confirmed, the big problem with the service is students. The trains are not packed full all the time, mainly when there are a lot of students going home (Fridays) and returning to uni (Sundays).

During the holidays it's fantastic (I get a seat everyday :) ) The problem is that these big bursts of passenger numbers mean it's not cost effective to just buy more, bigger trains, or run more frequent services, as they are only needed a few hours a week, for half the year.

Now I know I'm coming to Centrals defence a lot in this thread, but they really have improved so much over the last two years, that they deserve credt where it's due. I haven't had cause to complain due to lateness for months now (so the last 200+ journeys I've made have all been on time, to within a couple of minutes). It would be fantastic to have bigger and better trains, and they are working towards it, but you these things take time, and cost a lot of money - I recall reading a figure of about half a million per coach.

The reserved seating is a problem, although by the sound of it that's a lot to do with rude people, more than it is to do with Central specifically, although I've known a few operators have problems getting the reservations out, which is a bit poor (Midland have the same problem on their London service from time to time). I've sometimes seen the ticket collector/guard be more forceful when it comes to ensuring people move for reserved seats, you do expect them to do the right thing by their passengers.

sylvia, it probably is worth making it clear about your situation, and how unhappy you are. If nesecarry you can always try to escalate the problem to a manager/supervisor, and see if they can provide you with any more help, and it is the sort of problem they should want to deal with. They do just send out a standard letter by default, so contacting them again certainly couldn't hurt.

You must have been very unlucky to be on a train where not one person would offer you their seat.

There is actually a fine for sitting in reserved seats as far as I'm aware, at least on Midland Mainline.

If someone refuses to move just sit on them! If they didn't reserve a seat and you did they have no rights to the seat.

Then again the number of people that seem to be incapable of matching a ticket to a seat is unbelievable! then again Virgin don't make it easy by only showing the coach letter inside the coach once in a blue moon on the displays.

Central Trains always used to be standing room if that a few years ago but as others have said it's definitely improved. Still, seeing as I live in Chesterfield I'll attempt to get the Midland Mainline where possible as it's usually a lot less full.

The peak hour Liverpool to Norwich service is terrible as they only usually put on 2 carriages, hence you are normally crammed into the interior walkway until you get past Nottingham.

I used to complain and always got a refund on my ticket as I used to state it was a breach of health and safety (especially if you are forced to stand in the toilet with 10 other people.

If everyone claimed their money back, I’m sure they would add extra carriages onto the train. I have done it so often now, that I now have a standard letter that I send and change the dates.

As for reserved seats, I find it is impossible to get to your seat as the train is so packed, so someone always takes it, meaning you have to stand the whole journey.

Also, I have found the staff at Sheffield Station rude. Several times I have been blocked from entering the train as it was too full, despite me having a reserved seat. They basically say tough luck and go via Derby or wait for the next one.

But that’s British Transport for you!

We should be more like the French and refuse to pay to be crammed in like sardines – I’m sure they would add more carriages then!

Originally posted by semerpus
Another issue is you don't actually pay for reservations a train ticket is just to get you from a to b by whatever menas the train company deem (it's in the operating conditions)

There are 2 trains and hour between Shef and Man (and occasionally a third slow one!).

As some one posted earlier Central are investing in new carriages and most of these are now 3 cars..as oppose to two so someone is listening.


As rail travel is basically turn up and go it's the luck of the draw as to weather the train is full train companies have no way of knowing really.A party of 50 people could turn up 5 mins before departure for a train.

And in this day and age is it really safe for the conductor to challenge someone if they are sat in your seat? They are liable to get spat at,swore at or in some cases physically attacked/stabbed. It's in the news all the time.

if you have booked a seat and someone is in it then they should move.
If they don't then the train manager should make them move.
A reserved seat is guaranteed unless reservations are cancelled for some reason, tickets bought at the ticket office are not guaranteed a seat, just the transport.

If all these trains are full, is there not the possibility of a new provider running a sheffield-manchester hourly shuttle, or something similar?

I have heard about "open access" projects to the railway where new companies can run new services (ie Hull Trains) and wonder if it would be viable here...

I've had people sitting in my reserved seat a few times and they have always moved. Though I have never had to use any of the Central train services so I don't know what people are like on those.

I have seen someone on a Virgin train refuse to give up the seat so the guard was called, who informed the seat-stealer the transport police would be called and they would be put off the train at the next stop if they refused to give it up. And I've also seen another person fall victim to seat stealing on a Mainline train when the 'reserved' signs hadn't been put up, who was instantly given a seat in First.

But if there's no guard (like might happen soon on some Mainline trains) just make the journey hell for the seat-stealer - long as he/she does not look too 'hard'. Or just sit on the floor if you can.

A seat reservation doesn't GUARANTEE you a seat, purely for the fact that in extreme circumstances a train may be formed short (ie a carriage missing) and your seat could be in that missing carriage, or for some other reason the seat may not be there.

Certainly on Mainline services it is true that there is a penalty for occupying someone elses reserved seat (£50 I think) and even a penalty of £200(?) for removing a reservation label (fines could be other way round!). But train staff, like any other public facing job, have to use their discretion. That's not to say tho, that someone who has a disabled space reserved shouldn't ever get sat - the train crew should always move a "seat stealer" on in that event. But for everyone else I imagine that sometimes making sure the train is run safely overrides the concern over who's sat in which seat - ?

I don't really know where Central stand officially on reservations as I never use their services (or rarely). Perhaps "seat stealing" is so common they can't be bothered to deal with it, or if they did they'd never get the train from A to B!?!?

Clearly the easy answer is bigger trains, but in this age of privatised railways it all boils down to money and how much they can pass back to shareholders.

I also used to get this train between Sheffield and Peterborough. After getting sick of how slow and busy it was, I started changing at Doncaster and getting the GNER instead. There are always more seats available and it can cut my journey time by up to 50 minutes, despite having to change.

Where carriages have been missing, I've seen train staff actually go and find people other seats or even sit them in First, so I'm sure they must do their best. And there's not a lot anyone can do about extreme circumstances. That's why I've sat on the floor before now.

On the point of when a person with a disability finds their seat stolen, I wonder how train staff use their 'discretion'? Are they instructed only to make an issue of it if the person has a visible disability, as many disabilities are hidden ones.

When people form a 'scrum' at the doors it doesn't help either - I once saw a man reliant on crutches physically shoved out of the way as he tried to get onto a commuter train at Sheffield station. Though I wonder how you could organise queues?

Probably on some services the passengers are either not going very far or they are so used to seat stealing they are just used to it so don't make a fuss. :rolleyes:

I wonder what will happen when trains are required to have seatbelts, as that's bound to come in seeing as they reduce casualties in crashes. At least instant ticketing could still carry on, it would just be a question of linking the IT system in the booking halls to the system for advance bookings.

Originally posted by Netsrik
I also used to get this train between Sheffield and Peterborough. After getting sick of how slow and busy it was, I started changing at Doncaster and getting the GNER instead. There are always more seats available and it can cut my journey time by up to 50 minutes, despite having to change.

It is quite amazing how much quicker it is doing it this way. I used to travel Cambridge-Sheffield a lot, and it was actually quicker to change once at Peterborough, get on GNER and then change again at Doncaster, than it was to travel the 15 miles from Cambridge to Ely and change onto the Central Train going to Sheffield - and this was with 20-30 minutes waiting at Peterborough and a further 20-30 mins waiting at Doncaster!

The only problem I found with changing twice was that if one train was late the whole journey went drastically wrong and I would end up enormously late.

Originally posted by Mathom


I wonder what will happen when trains are required to have seatbelts, as that's bound to come in seeing as they reduce casualties in crashes. At least instant ticketing could still carry on, it would just be a question of linking the IT system in the booking halls to the system for advance bookings.

you make it sound so simple, I've just spent 2 years working on a new front end for the system used to allocate seats (and everything else in the backend), with over 100 developers on the project at it's peak.

Doing something like that would be far far from simple.

But it would keep you in a job for a few more years at least, eh? ;) It would be good though if something like that could be done as it would save much of the trouble!

Hi All
Well I got a email today from central trains saying how sorry they were to hear of my journey going wrong . and would I like a small food hamper as way of saying sorry
After spending £96 to get from norwich to blackpool like a battery hen I would hate to say on hear what I said lol
I decided I needed to talk to someone else so have now emailed all my letters and central trains replys to there managing director so will have to wait and see if he bothers to answer me ,
Yes it is true you cant always see people disability which is partly true in my case I have problems with my back But also on this journey back I had a accident while away and was strapped up from toes to thigh and could only hop (dont laugh)
on and of the train so it was plain to see but the person in my seat didnt seem to care i was stood on one leg trying to keep my balance while the train was moving .
Oh well as they say thats life
I would love the managing director to see all the messages on hear about central trains he may then decide they need bigger trains lol some hope

england neil.... you say several times you have found staff at sheffiel station rude and you have been prevented by them from boarding a train even tho you have a reserved ticket cos the train is full.


Surely then these guys are doing their job, the trains full and so they aren't allowing anyone on it...for safety reasons..... weather or not you have a reserved seat theres not alot they can do about it cos the trains full and you know as well as i do that people arent gonna shift.

These guys probably have been shouted at and swore at in their actions to try,in vain to stop people cramming onto a train.They shouldnt be rude but it must be pretty disheartning for them when people can clearly see the train is full but insist in trying to squeeze on and they are advising you not to for safety reasons.

People seem to think the station people can manage to pull a coach outta thin air, make a delayed run on time and find you a seat when its sardine city......

numerous times i've heard these guys spoke to like **** when all they've done is try and advise/assist.

I regularly use this train between Sheffield and Liverpool. Obviously it's not a problem when travelling to Sheff because being first on the train at the beginning of the line makes it easy to get a seat but the overcrowding always occurs between Sheffield and Manchester. When going back to Liverpool I always try to go mid afternoon mid week. Are there no other services than run between Manc and Sheff?

thers an hourly shef man man airport and a bi hourly shf man service but it stops everywhere

I had wanted to use this service after a Midland Mainline London/Sheffield train was terminated at Derby due to engine failure. With the exception of the 1st class compartment the entire train was packed, I was not allowed on and nor was I allowed to use the 1st class compartment although there is a policy which does entitle passengers to use 1st class when the train is packed.

In one case where MM made the wrong seat reservation for me and there were no other seats available, most unusually the train manager moved me straight in to 1st class without equivocating.

Dont know what Central's Customer Services is like but if it's anything like Midland Mainline its the same as John Lewis and the same as all the other Customer Services Departments, ie standard replies ducking out of accepting responsibility for shoddy service.

It has suprised me how many people have said the same thing about Central Trains service .
I am hoping to hear back from there Md in the near future so will be interested to see what he has to say about this service will let you know when I hear

Originally posted by sylvia
It has suprised me how many people have said the same thing about Central Trains service .
I am hoping to hear back from there Md in the near future so will be interested to see what he has to say about this service will let you know when I hear

It might be worth putting a print out of this thread in the post to him!

Hi banesmabes
I was thinking of that but didnt know if i was allowed to copy the messages
I thought it would be a good idea if the MD of central trains saw what we all thought of his service lol

What happened to the great 10 carriage trains they used to run from Blackpool North to Skegness, which took in Manchester, Sheffield, Chesterfield, Nottingham, Peterborough, etc.....and the Sheffield Manchester trains in the 1980's used to be at least 8 carriages long.....why do they try and squeeze all these people onto tiny trains?? Safety? Health? Money???? Hmmm.....the latter of course...

I remember around 1987 coming back to Sheff from Manchester one night on a 10 carriage express train, which believe it or not was the regular Man-Sheff service....it simply terminated at each city and just went backwards and forwards......one stop at STockport and that was it.......old rolling stop and one of those huge diesel engines.....when I got off the train at Sheffield the door fell off onto the platform....one of those proper opening ones with hinges and pull down windows......the carriages were all well knackered...shortly after that those foul DMU's came in which were 2 carriages long.......hated it, and finally gave up the train for that journey shortly after that....

but hey it was nostalgia

OK, I'm confused about something, maybe you Railway experts can answer this?

At Christmas and other busy times, we are advised to book early for train travel, and sometimes on the news it will say 'all the trains on x day are fully booked'. Likewise, if you try to book online, the system will tell you if a service is already full. So in light of this, (apart from those times when a train is unexpectedly missing a carriage) how is it that a train can get so full that people who have booked cannot get on? Surely the easy answer is for passengers to show their ticket upon boarding/entering the platform?

Originally posted by Mathom
OK, I'm confused about something, maybe you Railway experts can answer this?

At Christmas and other busy times, we are advised to book early for train travel, and sometimes on the news it will say 'all the trains on x day are fully booked'. Likewise, if you try to book online, the system will tell you if a service is already full. So in light of this, (apart from those times when a train is unexpectedly missing a carriage) how is it that a train can get so full that people who have booked cannot get on? Surely the easy answer is for passengers to show their ticket upon boarding/entering the platform?

there are two types of ticket (or at least 2 that matter for this issue).
Those with an allocated seat, and open travel tickets which allow you to take any service but do not guarantee a seat.
Most of the tickets sold are of the latter type.
Thus the train companies (in fact ATOC - Association of Train Operating companies) have no way of knowing if a given service is full. They can make a guess based on the number of open tickets sold and when they were sold, but you don't have to catch the next train when you buy a ticket.

People with an allocated seat should never be unable to board the train, even if reservations are cancelled due to a problem, although in the latter case it would be down to the train manager to ensure that they were allowed on.

I have been on a train before which on picking up at derby, didn't move and announcement came over saying that it wasn't moving until some people got off and caught the next train. Harsh, but open tickets don't guarantee a time of travel either.

Hi Cyclone.
I agree with what you say about two types of ticket ,but on both my recent journeys on central train service from norwich to liverpool all the seats had reservation tickets on so why did the train company allow people on without reservations seems strange I think three quarters of the seats were reserved and most people didnt get there reserved seat unless they got on at the beginging of the journey
and also like mathon says at busy times like christmas they seem to know when a train is full so why not other times it is a mystery to me ,still waiting to hear from MD good job I am not holding my breath lol

Originally posted by sylvia
Hi Cyclone.
I agree with what you say about two types of ticket ,but on both my recent journeys on central train service from norwich to liverpool all the seats had reservation tickets on so why did the train company allow people on without reservations seems strange I think three quarters of the seats were reserved and most people didnt get there reserved seat unless they got on at the beginging of the journey
and also like mathon says at busy times like christmas they seem to know when a train is full so why not other times it is a mystery to me ,still waiting to hear from MD good job I am not holding my breath lol

they are allowed to carry passengers who stand, and the reservations won't all be for the entire journey.
I don't understand why people with reservations didn't find their seat and tell whoever was there to move.

I've not seen the announcements that a service is full at xmas before, but it could be that the train has already set off and the train manager has declared it full and radio'd ahead to the stations it stops at.
The system does record the availability on each train, but i don't think buying open tickets decreases that availability as it doesn't have to be used on any given train.
It is also possible to set the service as 0 availability or closed on the sytem, which would stop them selling allocated tickets. But you could still buy a ticket from A - B without seat allocation, although you might not be allowed on the specific service you wanted to get on....
I'll have to watch out at xmas and see what goes on.

Hi Cyclone
I did find my reserved seat and also ask the person to move the answer was not polite but there again when the train was full and people standing I guess it was expected they didnt want to stand for their journey either
the only difference is that I am disabled but it didnt bother them and the ticket collecter was no were to be found as usuall but they cant do much either when the trains are so full
I feel there should be some method of knowing how full the train is when it leaves liverpool or norwich and then they could phone ahead to other stations on route but again that might be to much to expect lol

Originally posted by sylvia
I feel there should be some method of knowing how full the train is when it leaves liverpool or norwich and then they could phone ahead to other stations on route but again that might be to much to expect lol

I have seen this happen with Virgin trains. I went to Huddersfield recently and had to return on a Sunday when there weren’t any direct trains, so I had to change in Leeds. The journey turned into a nightmare because when I got to Leeds two Virgin trains in a row were listed on the screens as ‘full and standing’. The station staff were having to mount a one-off-one-on system and only those who could not get alternative trains to their destination were given priority. The result was I had to get a train to Doncaster (as there were no other direct services to Sheffield for 2 hours – which is ridiculous!), and that was a slow train because there were no GNER trains due to stop in Doncaster for 2 more hours also. I then I had to change again at Doncaster and get the final train to Sheffield. In total the journey from Huddersfield to Sheffield took three trains and three and a half hours. I am NEVER doing that journey on a Sunday again!

Is it really too much to ask train companies to understand that good old economic model of supply and demand?

Originally posted by sylvia
Hi Cyclone
I did find my reserved seat and also ask the person to move the answer was not polite but there again when the train was full and people standing I guess it was expected they didnt want to stand for their journey either
the only difference is that I am disabled but it didnt bother them and the ticket collecter was no were to be found as usuall but they cant do much either when the trains are so full
I feel there should be some method of knowing how full the train is when it leaves liverpool or norwich and then they could phone ahead to other stations on route but again that might be to much to expect lol

make sure you complain, you'll probably get a free ticket or your money back on that ticket.

well had a letter this morniong from MD of central trains and he is looking into my complaint lol

well got a letter this morning from MD of central trains saying that if i want to take a journey on central trains if i ring him he will allow two people to travel free
as if i would want to travell on there trains ever again

What sort of thing would you have liked them to have done?

to have given me a explanation to why my journey turned into a nightmare and at least give some reason why this seems to happen all the time on there trains