Train ticket bollocks

[HawkTheSeagull]

along with the lack of bogs, the delays, the revenue protection twats and gash 50 year old carriages?

Because it all comes bundled together as one big turd pie with extra bum gravy as far as I can see.

1) Lack of toilets are down to the face that apparently most journeys are over a short distance, not hard to use a bog before/after your journey.
2) Majority of delays are down to Network Rail, who consistently have problems with signals/track daily.
3) The revenue protection "twats" are there to stop fare evaders IE to make sure people have tickets. People dont use tickets = company gets less money = less money gets invested.
4) No coaches are 50 years old - oldest ones are about 20 years old on the Gatwick Express, which break down more than the normal Southern trains because of the age.

If you have any morals, you will step off the train at Grantham for 2 seconds and then get back on (and hope your seat is still free).

As long as the train stops there - you dont even need to get off !!!

Rubbish. And sim is right I DONT EXPECT THE RAIL COMPANY TO SPEND MY MONEY ON OLD STOCK. And if they do then like he says i expect it properly serviced. How many f***ing times has gatwick express been cancelled to and from LB and Victoria?

the information should be released, those responsible sacked, and the company fined to the nth degree. I am absolutely sick to death of those carriages.

They dont spend the money on the stock - the government do that. The "express" carriages are more suited to fast journeys and are nearly 20 years older than the normal Southern trains. Southern's franchise ends in the next few years and gets merged with First Capital Connect (or whatever other company will be running the Thameslink route at the time) - id expect Gatwick Express to be gone by then myself - along with the coaches you hate so much but yet most people think they are better than the 377's.

 

[Bozza]

The whole thing is farcical.

Take next Wednesday morning and wanting to travel from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington. The single fare is £89.50.

However if you buy a single from BTM to Didcot Parkway, you'll pay £25.90. If you buy a single, for the very same train, from Didcot Parkway to Paddington you'll pay £27.50 for a total of £53.40, a saving of over £36. Same exact journey on the same train.

This isn't about "not knowing" how to use the ticketing system, it's just completely random.

 

[Tomnorthi]

Rubbish. And sim is right I DONT EXPECT THE RAIL COMPANY TO SPEND MY MONEY ON OLD STOCK. And if they do then like he says i expect it properly serviced. How many f***ing times has gatwick express been cancelled to and from LB and Victoria?

the information should be released, those responsible sacked, and the company fined to the nth degree. I am absolutely sick to death of those carriages.

When they work they are great. More leg room, the seats are more comfortable, and there are more seats as the doors are smaller and at the end of each carriage.

 

[The Large One]

1) Lack of toilets are down to the face that apparently most journeys are over a short distance, not hard to use a bog before/after your journey.

Brighton to Portsmouth is 50 miles and takes around 85 minutes.

So if you're infirm, incontinent, pregnant, or, let's face it merely in need of a slash, but need to take that train the whole distance, which Southern admit 10% of the passengers who use that route actually do, you can basically go f*** yourself...? I think I've got that right?

 

[pastafarian]

Imagine what a f*** up they'll make of the NHS when it's fully privatised.

i really do hope southern rail have nothing to do with a fully privatised NHS......perhaps they would do away with toilets in Hospitals!

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Brighton to Portsmouth is 50 miles and takes around 85 minutes.

So if you're infirm, incontinent, pregnant, or, let's face it merely in need of a slash, but need to take that train the whole distance, which Southern admit 10% of the passengers who use that route actually do, you can basically go f*** yourself...? I think I've got that right?

Well to be fair to them they have added more toilets to stations along the line - but it doesnt really help anything. Its an extreme case of course, but no other trains were/are available to provide extra seats - which Southern were required to do by the DfT. Cost to much to add toilets to the trains as well.

 

[KneeOn]

1) Lack of toilets are down to the face that apparently most journeys are over a short distance, not hard to use a bog before/after your journey.
2) Majority of delays are down to Network Rail, who consistently have problems with signals/track daily.
3) The revenue protection "twats" are there to stop fare evaders IE to make sure people have tickets. People dont use tickets = company gets less money = less money gets invested.
4) No coaches are 50 years old - oldest ones are about 20 years old on the Gatwick Express, which break down more than the normal Southern trains because of the age.



As long as the train stops there - you dont even need to get off !!!



They dont spend the money on the stock - the government do that. The "express" carriages are more suited to fast journeys and are nearly 20 years older than the normal Southern trains. Southern's franchise ends in the next few years and gets merged with First Capital Connect (or whatever other company will be running the Thameslink route at the time) - id expect Gatwick Express to be gone by then myself - along with the coaches you hate so much but yet most people think they are better than the 377's.

Wrong, wrong.

Point 1 has already been mentioned - i'm a daily victim of the toiletless trains (20p to use the lav at Portsmouth and Southsea!!)

Secondly the class 313's which were cascaded to Southern by London Overground were first built in 1976.

Wikipedia has an interesting sentence: "The youngest 313's are now 35 years old"

Stop defending the undefendable. Southern and Network Rail and pretty much all TOCs are shit, money spinning businesses which shaft the people out of sensibily priced fares or a decent standard of travel for the money paid.

 

[KneeOn]

Well to be fair to them they have added more toilets to stations along the line - but it doesnt really help anything. Its an extreme case of course, but no other trains were/are available to provide extra seats - which Southern were required to do by the DfT. Cost to much to add toilets to the trains as well.

fantastic, but what about us sods on the train?

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Wrong, wrong.

Point 1 has already been mentioned - i'm a daily victim of the toiletless trains (20p to use the lav at Portsmouth and Southsea!!)

Secondly the class 313's which were cascaded to Southern by London Overground were first built in 1976.

Wikipedia has an interesting sentence: "The youngest 313's are now 35 years old"

Stop defending the undefendable. Southern and Network Rail and pretty much all TOCs are shit, money spinning businesses which shaft the people out of sensibily priced fares or a decent standard of travel for the money paid.

Yeah i made a mistake on the ages of the trains - new ones have been ordered (which include toilets too), whether they will be used on the Coast ive no idea.

Wouldnt call you a "Victim" because you cant use a toilet for 80 minutes, its hardly the end of the world and you can easily either go before you catch your train or hold it when you reach your destination (of course, for 20p).

Network Rail are the ones that should sort it out more, with the majority of delays down to the infastructure. No TOC with a service area the size of Southern will EVER run perfect in the UK. Fares are stupidly high at peak times though, ill admit that. Off peak isnt that bad though (£20 for a day travelcard at the weekend from Eastbourne is good value i think).

 

[KneeOn]

Yeah i made a mistake on the ages of the trains - new ones have been ordered (which include toilets too), whether they will be used on the Coast ive no idea.

Wouldnt call you a "Victim" because you cant use a toilet for 80 minutes, its hardly the end of the world and you can easily either go before you catch your train or hold it when you reach your destination (of course, for 20p).

Network Rail are the ones that should sort it out more, with the majority of delays down to the infastructure. No TOC with a service area the size of Southern will EVER run perfect in the UK. Fares are stupidly high at peak times though, ill admit that. Off peak isnt that bad though (£20 for a day travelcard at the weekend from Eastbourne is good value i think).

Ok so lets fill you up with liquids and say "oh for the next 80 minutes you can't piss and we're going to throw you about for a little bit too" and see how you react then. 377's should be run on all journeys which aren't Brighton-Seaford or Brighton-West Worthing, and Bognor-Littlehampton.

 

[KneeOn]

Yeah i made a mistake on the ages of the trains - new ones have been ordered (which include toilets too), whether they will be used on the Coast ive no idea.

Wouldnt call you a "Victim" because you cant use a toilet for 80 minutes, its hardly the end of the world and you can easily either go before you catch your train or hold it when you reach your destination (of course, for 20p).

Network Rail are the ones that should sort it out more, with the majority of delays down to the infastructure. No TOC with a service area the size of Southern will EVER run perfect in the UK. Fares are stupidly high at peak times though, ill admit that. Off peak isnt that bad though (£20 for a day travelcard at the weekend from Eastbourne is good value i think).

Also the new trains you speak of which have been ordered are 377's to be used by First Capital Connect.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Ok so lets fill you up with liquids and say "oh for the next 80 minutes you can't piss and we're going to throw you about for a little bit too" and see how you react then. 377's should be run on all journeys which aren't Brighton-Seaford or Brighton-West Worthing, and Bognor-Littlehampton.

Well id be sensible about it and not drink loads before going on, or i would go before getting on the train. Could also use an alternative way of getting along the line if you honestly think you may need the toilet (use the Southampton train to Havant and change there for another Southern train to Portsmouth about 5 minutes later - both have toilets).

Also the new trains you speak of which have been ordered are 377's to be used by First Capital Connect.

Nope, the 377s used currently by FCC were due to be transferred to Southern in the next year or so - but because the new order on the Thameslink trains has been delayed, Southern wont get them back on time, hence why they have had to make a new order to cover the planned future changes. When FCC get their new trains, Southern will also then get their 377s, which could then mean the end of the 313s.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Train Operators are pretty much constrained by the franchising process into running whatever rolling stock the government is prepared to fund. The original plan to switch Class 313 trains to the Coastway lines predates the Southern franchise. I attended meetings with Connex where this was discussed. Southern were told to increase capacity on suburban London services and the only source of rolling stock to achieve this was Sussex. Hence the cascade of toiletless trains in our direction. At least they were given a lick of paint and a bit of tarting up. Connex wouldn't have bothered.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Although this is true, you have to be a funking idiot to by a ticket for a bus-replaced journey. No-one EVER checks and the bus driver couldn't give less of a shit if they tried.

what if you get it in advance? whilst not "full fare", you're still paying for a train journey, and you're given a bus journey instead

(and i have had my tickets checked on a bus replacement service )

 

[CHAPPERS]

Well id be sensible about it and not drink loads before going on, or i would go before getting on the train.

What if, as has been said before, you are infirm, elderly or pregnant? What then?

 

[Lush]

Re the toilets and the 80 minute journey, that of course assumes there are no delays and you're not kept waiting between stations on a toilet-less train for an extra hour or so due to a track side fire or some such.

 

[Brian Fantana]

The very fact that they are called 'Revenue Protection Officers' and not, say, 'Customer Service Assistants', goes to show the inherent mind-set of railway operators. Instead of striving to make sure that their customers get a) value for money, b) a good experience of their services and c) a sympathetic and pro-active staff member to assist with any issues, they are intent on hunting down anyone who has bought the incorrect ticket, even if it is through no fault of their own and as the result of an utterly moronic system.

In order to work in a customer-facing role on the railways, it seems to be a pre-requisite that you have absolutely no understanding of the system, no flexibility to take into account varying passenger circumstances and no real compassion.

 

[Brian Fantana]

1) Lack of toilets are down to the face that apparently most journeys are over a short distance, not hard to use a bog before/after your journey.
2) Majority of delays are down to Network Rail, who consistently have problems with signals/track daily.
3) The revenue protection "twats" are there to stop fare evaders IE to make sure people have tickets. People dont use tickets = company gets less money = less money gets invested.
4) No coaches are 50 years old - oldest ones are about 20 years old on the Gatwick Express, which break down more than the normal Southern trains because of the age.

They dont spend the money on the stock - the government do that. The "express" carriages are more suited to fast journeys and are nearly 20 years older than the normal Southern trains. Southern's franchise ends in the next few years and gets merged with First Capital Connect (or whatever other company will be running the Thameslink route at the time) - id expect Gatwick Express to be gone by then myself - along with the coaches you hate so much but yet most people think they are better than the 377's.

With that sort of ability to pass the buck, you are going to fit right in as a railway employee.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Well id be sensible about it and not drink loads before going on

I'm sorry, but you really are a f***ing idiot. You do not have to drink loads to need a piss, or eat loads to need a dump, within an hour of not wanting to.

 

[Brian Fantana]

I'm sorry, but you really are a f***ing idiot. You do not have to drink loads to need a piss, or eat loads to need a dump, within an hour of not wanting to.

Absolutely. Just because train operators do not legally have to provide toilet facilities, you would have thought that if they had even a modicum of common sense, and were in any way a customer-focussed business, they would realise that it's pretty shit service to not provide any on the basis that 'most customers don't use the service for its entire duration'. What a load of bollocks that is. Why is likely that only people travelling on the train for the whole journey will need to use the toilet? A pregnant, elderly or infirm person could need it within 5 minutes of the journey starting.

Utter, utter madness.