Train journeys question

[goldenfleece]

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

[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?

[Cyclone]

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.

[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

[Cyclone]

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.

[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

[banesmabes]

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?

[Cyclone]

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.

[sylvia]

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

[sylvia]

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