RANT - :censored: Public Transport. SHOVE IT !!!!
Discussion
:rant mode on: 
Un-
ing-believable!
My old folks fly home later today, at the end of a week long stay. My g/f is taking them to the airport, given I am working today, so rather than use two cars I thought I'd travel to Portsmouth on the train today - with the g/f bringing my folks down later this morning, in time for us all to lunch before running them to Southampton airport.
So I got dropped at Horsam station in time to catch the 0651 Southern 'service' - which arrived 11 minutes late and proceeded to gradually lose yet more time with every stop. My connection from Havant to Cosham did not wait (of course), so I faced either an hours delay for the next connection, or at the advice of some plump elderly fwit attendant, catching a train to Hilsea (where!?) then another coming back on myself to Cosham. This I duly did, only to arrive at Hilsea to find a 30 minute wait for the next train - which did not stop at bloody Cosham.
So I walked into the office. Forty fing Five (45) minutes later I finally made it in. So my 55 minute door-to-door commute by car, took 2 hours and 55 minutes.
Public transport? You can shove it Mr Blair.
NEVER, EVER AGAIN. :rant mode off:
Un-
ing-believable! My old folks fly home later today, at the end of a week long stay. My g/f is taking them to the airport, given I am working today, so rather than use two cars I thought I'd travel to Portsmouth on the train today - with the g/f bringing my folks down later this morning, in time for us all to lunch before running them to Southampton airport.
So I got dropped at Horsam station in time to catch the 0651 Southern 'service' - which arrived 11 minutes late and proceeded to gradually lose yet more time with every stop. My connection from Havant to Cosham did not wait (of course), so I faced either an hours delay for the next connection, or at the advice of some plump elderly f
wit attendant, catching a train to Hilsea (where!?) then another coming back on myself to Cosham. This I duly did, only to arrive at Hilsea to find a 30 minute wait for the next train - which did not stop at bloody Cosham. So
I walked into the office. Forty fing Five (45) minutes later I finally made it in. So my 55 minute door-to-door commute by car, took 2 hours and 55 minutes. Public transport? You can shove it Mr Blair.
NEVER, EVER AGAIN. :rant mode off:
It was just unbelievable.
They would have to pay me a six figure salary to commute daily into work by train.
Anyone who does so on a daily basis must be blessed with the patience of a Saint. I guess on a direct line things ought to be marginally better. Any journey that requires making a connection somewhere though...
They would have to pay me a six figure salary to commute daily into work by train.
Anyone who does so on a daily basis must be blessed with the patience of a Saint. I guess on a direct line things ought to be marginally better. Any journey that requires making a connection somewhere though...
I'm quite lucky in that Chiltern Turbos are regularly the best performing train company and they're the only one i ever really use.
The tube in London is touch and go... regular delays due to 'signal problems'... ffs its 2005 nearly... surely you can sort out signals that WORK... its not exactly rocket science!
ggrrr
The tube in London is touch and go... regular delays due to 'signal problems'... ffs its 2005 nearly... surely you can sort out signals that WORK... its not exactly rocket science!
ggrrr
I like Mr Blairs approach. Tax the motorist until he realises that public transport is the sensible option.
Only in SE Cornwall, we have about 6 archaic double deckers which can't fit down the lanes, they also go around with about 3 people (including the driver). So, if nice Mr Brown makes petrol any more expensive, I will start running organic cheetah spunk and other alternative fuels.
When I was carless in Newcastle (uni) I used the Met-ro which was great. One problem, when I did get my wheels up there, I could drive around all day on the price of a ticket.
Stinking, overpriced and late. Vote with your feet. I would rather ride a bike than have to put up with being ripped off.
Only in SE Cornwall, we have about 6 archaic double deckers which can't fit down the lanes, they also go around with about 3 people (including the driver). So, if nice Mr Brown makes petrol any more expensive, I will start running organic cheetah spunk and other alternative fuels.
When I was carless in Newcastle (uni) I used the Met-ro which was great. One problem, when I did get my wheels up there, I could drive around all day on the price of a ticket.
Stinking, overpriced and late. Vote with your feet. I would rather ride a bike than have to put up with being ripped off.
We live where you can hear the cows farting in fields, a new bus service was recently introduced here, one every hour so not bad.
My good wife had to get into work one Saturday morning and I was away with the shopping trolley. No worries said she I will catch the bus.
Waited at the stop for almost an hour and NOTHING.
Phone up bus company to moan and was told -'did'nt turn up Oh thats strange'.
The only time we need it
My good wife had to get into work one Saturday morning and I was away with the shopping trolley. No worries said she I will catch the bus.
Waited at the stop for almost an hour and NOTHING.
Phone up bus company to moan and was told -'did'nt turn up Oh thats strange'.
The only time we need it
I was going to post the following story at the time it happened but didn’t have Internet access and forgot. This thread just reminded me of it.
My last experience on UK public transport was 7 hours to get from Brighton to my parents house at Bourne End, near High Wycombe, one Sunday last month (although I didn’t get to Bourne End - by train). It’s quite an incredible chain of events:
Turn up to get 11:00 ish train from Brighton to Victoria. There’s engineering works so I have to get a bus to Three Bridges then a train to Victoria from there
. So 30 min wait for the bus, 45 min bus ride to Three Bridges, 10 min wait at Three Bridges for the next train and then onto Victoria, now about 13:30 so over an hour late already.
Next get the circle line from Victoria to Paddington. Have to wait about 20 mins for 5 district line trains to go through before the first circle line train comes along. So by the time I get to Paddington it’s well gone 14:00.
Next get train from Paddington to Maidenhead. Next train is leaving in 15 mins - good. Get on train and wait. 15 mins past departure time still in station. Driver comes over the PA and says “there’s some kids playing on the line just outside the station and we can’t leave until the police have got them”. Great, this’ll take another 15-20 mins I think, so decide to wait. 30 mins later still sitting in the station when driver comes over the PA again. Turns out the “kids” is a woman on a bridge just outside the station threatening to commit suicide so no trains are leaving Paddington until she’s been talked down by the Police 
. Everyone gives up and leaves the train at this point. It’s now about 15:00; time to find a plan B.
Plan B is take a train from Marylebone to High Wycombe and phone for a lift from there (it’s close to Bourne End). So it’s back on the tube to get the Bakerloo line from Paddington to Marylebone. I get to Marylebone about 15:30 and look on the signboard for the next train to High Wycombe – there are none. So I ask a guard on the platform. There’s engineering works on the line so no trains from Marylebone to High Wycombe . I’m advised that to get to High Wycombe I need to get back on the tube and go to West Ruslip (14 stops with 2 changes) where I can pick up a train from there. So now I’m faced with a mammoth tube journey of find a plan C. I choose plan C.
Plan C is to get a train from Marylebone to Amersham and phone for a lift. Amersham is about 40 mins drive from my parents but by this time I’m so pi**ed off with trains I just want to get home. So another 20 min wait and finally I get a train to Amersham which gets me there in pretty much the prescribed time. By the time we’d driven back to my parents it was gone 17:30 – about 7 hours door to door.
So they charged me 21 quid for a journey that didn’t even get me to the destination I’d paid to go to and then took 7 hours to complete it (and about a couple of miles of walking). I can drive this in 1:15 on a clear road and about 1:45 if the Surrey section if the M25’s heavy.
Public transport? Never again (in the UK)!
Oddly enough I do have several very good experiences of public transport on the continent.
My last experience on UK public transport was 7 hours to get from Brighton to my parents house at Bourne End, near High Wycombe, one Sunday last month (although I didn’t get to Bourne End - by train). It’s quite an incredible chain of events:
Turn up to get 11:00 ish train from Brighton to Victoria. There’s engineering works so I have to get a bus to Three Bridges then a train to Victoria from there
. So 30 min wait for the bus, 45 min bus ride to Three Bridges, 10 min wait at Three Bridges for the next train and then onto Victoria, now about 13:30 so over an hour late already. Next get the circle line from Victoria to Paddington. Have to wait about 20 mins for 5 district line trains to go through before the first circle line train comes along. So by the time I get to Paddington it’s well gone 14:00
. Next get train from Paddington to Maidenhead. Next train is leaving in 15 mins - good. Get on train and wait. 15 mins past departure time still in station. Driver comes over the PA and says “there’s some kids playing on the line just outside the station and we can’t leave until the police have got them”
. Great, this’ll take another 15-20 mins I think, so decide to wait. 30 mins later still sitting in the station when driver comes over the PA again. Turns out the “kids” is a woman on a bridge just outside the station threatening to commit suicide so no trains are leaving Paddington until she’s been talked down by the Police . Everyone gives up and leaves the train at this point. It’s now about 15:00; time to find a plan B. Plan B is take a train from Marylebone to High Wycombe and phone for a lift from there (it’s close to Bourne End). So it’s back on the tube to get the Bakerloo line from Paddington to Marylebone. I get to Marylebone about 15:30 and look on the signboard for the next train to High Wycombe – there are none. So I ask a guard on the platform. There’s engineering works on the line so no trains from Marylebone to High Wycombe
. I’m advised that to get to High Wycombe I need to get back on the tube and go to West Ruslip (14 stops with 2 changes) where I can pick up a train from there. So now I’m faced with a mammoth tube journey of find a plan C. I choose plan C. Plan C is to get a train from Marylebone to Amersham and phone for a lift. Amersham is about 40 mins drive from my parents but by this time I’m so pi**ed off with trains I just want to get home. So another 20 min wait and finally I get a train to Amersham which gets me there in pretty much the prescribed time. By the time we’d driven back to my parents it was gone 17:30 – about 7 hours door to door.
So they charged me 21 quid for a journey that didn’t even get me to the destination I’d paid to go to and then took 7 hours to complete it (and about a couple of miles of walking). I can drive this in 1:15 on a clear road and about 1:45 if the Surrey section if the M25’s heavy.
Public transport? Never again (in the UK)!
Oddly enough I do have several very good experiences of public transport on the continent.
I had to commute from portchester to portslade for a week when my head gasket went. If you'd have continued to fratton you'd probably have picked up a better connection to cosham. Cosham, Hilsea and Bedhampton are pretty much on a triangle of track that points towards Portsmouth. Unfortunatly the only straigh through services from Havant to Cosham are the ones from Gatwick/Brighton to Southampton/Winchester, only about 1 an hour.
When I picked my car up it was just as bad. Drive hire car to Arundel, pick up car. Catch train from Portchester to Fratton, to Barnham, to Arundel, massive uphill walk to pick up hire car which had to be returned to Thrifty who are sitated right in the middle of that aforementioned triangle (with no public transport back home)
Before I started driving my worst was Southampton, Fraton, Havant, Barnham, Three Bridges, Haywards Heath. 9am finish time needed, left on the first train, fell asleep, had my wallet stolen.
When I picked my car up it was just as bad. Drive hire car to Arundel, pick up car. Catch train from Portchester to Fratton, to Barnham, to Arundel, massive uphill walk to pick up hire car which had to be returned to Thrifty who are sitated right in the middle of that aforementioned triangle (with no public transport back home)
Before I started driving my worst was Southampton, Fraton, Havant, Barnham, Three Bridges, Haywards Heath. 9am finish time needed, left on the first train, fell asleep, had my wallet stolen.
DJFish said:
Just think, some poor sods have to do that every day!
And most train companies have just 'improved' their timetables as well!
Like me......
Well I use the underground, but it's like doing a second job.
When those six numbers come up, the commute will be the bit I'll miss the least.
MilnerR said:
Did a 23 mile commute into manchester (little town up north) and it worked out £300 per year cheaper to run a car (insurance, servicing, tax and diesel) than get a train. It was also faster, more convenient and more comfortable. I should use public transport? why?
Ickle town upp North....
It is the best
U haven't met the northern contingent have you?
CharlieAlpha66 said:
It was just unbelievable.
They would have to pay me a six figure salary to commute daily into work by train.
I get paid a seven figure salary and have to commute by train every day but the decimal point is in the wrong place.
They have recently removed half the seats on my service to fit more people in
Just to make you feel better, it's good to know that these private companies get public money subsidies to run their "services".
Oh, and of course, to encourage you to use them, the government, with help from the likes of Ken Livingstone and most local authority highway departments, try to make driving as awkward and expensive as possible.
Oh, and of course, to encourage you to use them, the government, with help from the likes of Ken Livingstone and most local authority highway departments, try to make driving as awkward and expensive as possible.
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