A visitor on the trains
Discussion
A friend of mine has just flown over from Canada to see a relative, and observes the British railway system:
'St. Pancras has new indicator boards. They must be driven by a quantum computer as they indicate each train's departure time but not the platform. I'm waiting to see if they will switch to show the platform with no departure time.
The numbers suddenly appeared on the indicator boards with about 5 minutes to go. I had a seat in carriage B, but there were no identifying letters on the carriages as I dashed down the newly revealed platform. I asked an EMR worker on the platform how to find carriage B. She looked at me disdainfully and explained as if to a small child that carriage A was next to the locomotive and B would be next to that. (Big shuttle sprint for carriage F passengers then, given the long curved platform with the front well out of sight).
When I reached and boarded the second carriage from the front, an internal corridor sign revealed this was carriage D. I later gathered that the train had been assembled from two halves with the first half reversed and nominated backwards. For our further amusement there was no passage between the two halves. This meant travellers for Long Eaton (short platform - oh the irony!) seated in the back half of the train had to alight at the preceding station to re-enter a front carriage.
The air conditioning was not working. As a concession to customer service I was allowed to move further forward to 1st class where I had more room to sweat. Eventually a tea cart appeared pushed by the EMR misinformer from the platform. I asked for a cold beer. She said she couldn't serve anyone in first class (someone else's department) and she had only come that far forward to turn the cart round!
Bring back British Rail!'
We Brits probably accept that as normal service
'St. Pancras has new indicator boards. They must be driven by a quantum computer as they indicate each train's departure time but not the platform. I'm waiting to see if they will switch to show the platform with no departure time.
The numbers suddenly appeared on the indicator boards with about 5 minutes to go. I had a seat in carriage B, but there were no identifying letters on the carriages as I dashed down the newly revealed platform. I asked an EMR worker on the platform how to find carriage B. She looked at me disdainfully and explained as if to a small child that carriage A was next to the locomotive and B would be next to that. (Big shuttle sprint for carriage F passengers then, given the long curved platform with the front well out of sight).
When I reached and boarded the second carriage from the front, an internal corridor sign revealed this was carriage D. I later gathered that the train had been assembled from two halves with the first half reversed and nominated backwards. For our further amusement there was no passage between the two halves. This meant travellers for Long Eaton (short platform - oh the irony!) seated in the back half of the train had to alight at the preceding station to re-enter a front carriage.
The air conditioning was not working. As a concession to customer service I was allowed to move further forward to 1st class where I had more room to sweat. Eventually a tea cart appeared pushed by the EMR misinformer from the platform. I asked for a cold beer. She said she couldn't serve anyone in first class (someone else's department) and she had only come that far forward to turn the cart round!
Bring back British Rail!'
We Brits probably accept that as normal service
Yertis said:
Why this nostalgia for BR? It was a national joke. I agree the railways aren't perfect now but they're certainly no worse. I quite like the trolley service for example – far better than staggering up to the dingy buffet and then spilling coffee all they back to my seat.
The last part was probably tongue in cheek; he grew up in England and emigrated in the 1970s. I haven't been on a train for over 10 years - and the service to London was down for engineering works so we had to get on a bus to Southend and then catch another train.Whilst not a train expert I suspect the system was at its finest 120+ years ago. No internet, no smartphones, just steam, metal and people who were proud of their jobs.
Simpo Two said:
Whilst not a train expert I suspect the system was at its finest 120+ years ago. No internet, no smartphones, just steam, metal and people who were proud of their jobs.
I would love to know what this assumption is based on, as it is unlikely you had first hand experience of the trains 120+ years ago... Condi said:
I would love to know what this assumption is based on, as it is unlikely you had first hand experience of the trains 120+ years ago...
True, but then we also know about the Roman Empire... books. Our predecessors weren't as daft as we modern types like to think.For absolute proof I guess you'd have to read a few yearsworth of C19 newspapers and pick out the articles about railway issues.
As a student in the '80s I used BR and it worked perfectly well. Go to station, buy ticket, get on train, arrive at destination. I don't remember any problems and it didn't need a mobile phone. I could even get my bike taken from Essex to Warwickshire and Lancashire by rail by dropping it off at the station a few days before. How do you get a bicycle to Lancashire now?
I think much of the problem is caused by corporate desire to save money, so they get rid if of as many people as possible and try to replace them with a website. Now perhaps if they could replace train drivers, that might get things going better!
Simpo Two said:
A friend of mine has just flown over from Canada to see a relative, and observes the British railway system:
'St. Pancras has new indicator boards. They must be driven by a quantum computer as they indicate each train's departure time but not the platform. I'm waiting to see if they will switch to show the platform with no departure time.
The numbers suddenly appeared on the indicator boards with about 5 minutes to go. I had a seat in carriage B, but there were no identifying letters on the carriages as I dashed down the newly revealed platform. I asked an EMR worker on the platform how to find carriage B. She looked at me disdainfully and explained as if to a small child that carriage A was next to the locomotive and B would be next to that. (Big shuttle sprint for carriage F passengers then, given the long curved platform with the front well out of sight).
When I reached and boarded the second carriage from the front, an internal corridor sign revealed this was carriage D. I later gathered that the train had been assembled from two halves with the first half reversed and nominated backwards. For our further amusement there was no passage between the two halves. This meant travellers for Long Eaton (short platform - oh the irony!) seated in the back half of the train had to alight at the preceding station to re-enter a front carriage.
The air conditioning was not working. As a concession to customer service I was allowed to move further forward to 1st class where I had more room to sweat. Eventually a tea cart appeared pushed by the EMR misinformer from the platform. I asked for a cold beer. She said she couldn't serve anyone in first class (someone else's department) and she had only come that far forward to turn the cart round!
Bring back British Rail!'
We Brits probably accept that as normal service
A few questions come to mind:'St. Pancras has new indicator boards. They must be driven by a quantum computer as they indicate each train's departure time but not the platform. I'm waiting to see if they will switch to show the platform with no departure time.
The numbers suddenly appeared on the indicator boards with about 5 minutes to go. I had a seat in carriage B, but there were no identifying letters on the carriages as I dashed down the newly revealed platform. I asked an EMR worker on the platform how to find carriage B. She looked at me disdainfully and explained as if to a small child that carriage A was next to the locomotive and B would be next to that. (Big shuttle sprint for carriage F passengers then, given the long curved platform with the front well out of sight).
When I reached and boarded the second carriage from the front, an internal corridor sign revealed this was carriage D. I later gathered that the train had been assembled from two halves with the first half reversed and nominated backwards. For our further amusement there was no passage between the two halves. This meant travellers for Long Eaton (short platform - oh the irony!) seated in the back half of the train had to alight at the preceding station to re-enter a front carriage.
The air conditioning was not working. As a concession to customer service I was allowed to move further forward to 1st class where I had more room to sweat. Eventually a tea cart appeared pushed by the EMR misinformer from the platform. I asked for a cold beer. She said she couldn't serve anyone in first class (someone else's department) and she had only come that far forward to turn the cart round!
Bring back British Rail!'
We Brits probably accept that as normal service
1. Are there any locomotive hauled trains leaving St Pancras these days?
2. Are there any curved platforms at St Pancras?
3. Are there any tea trolleys still in service on EMR trains?
Simpo Two said:
I have no idea, merely quoted him. I presume something leaves St Pancras or there wouldn't be much point in keeping it open!
There is no doubt that there are trains going to and from St Pancras. However, I can't think of any services that are still locomotive hauled and there are no curved platforms at St Pancras (certainly not ones used by EMR). So whilst it is an amusing story of a foreigner's observations of British railways it sounds like it is just a story rather than an actual observation.I take 'locomotive' to mean the unit at the front with lots of vents in the side and a big engine in the middle. But that's probably changed too.
ETA I recall a rail trip from Essex to Swansea by rail and my experiences were equally exasperating as his, with knobs on. That was the day they closed three different underground lines just as I arrived at them. I wrote up my experiences as 'Journey of a Lifetime and it ran to 5 pages of A4.
ETA I recall a rail trip from Essex to Swansea by rail and my experiences were equally exasperating as his, with knobs on. That was the day they closed three different underground lines just as I arrived at them. I wrote up my experiences as 'Journey of a Lifetime and it ran to 5 pages of A4.
Edited by Simpo Two on Monday 11th September 19:30
There are indeed no loco hauled trains from St P any more. All of EMR’s services are operated by diesel trains with underfloor engines and the front and rear vehicles being seated carriages. The carriage letters are displayed at every passenger door on an electronic screen, along with some other information.
/anorak mode. HTH!
/anorak mode. HTH!
Southerner said:
The carriage letters are displayed at every passenger door on an electronic screen, along with some other information.
He says 'Theory only! There was an electronic screen inside that was only visible from inside the carriage. Due to its orientation along the corridor, the sign was not visible from outside the passenger door. It was only when I was inside that I could see it was carriage D and not carriage B. In the Netherlands the theory is fact as each Dutch train door does have an outward facing screen that identifies the carriage externally. Not so on the EMR train I boarded.'I haven't caught a train for probably 30 years but did recently to buy a motorcycle
I completely agree with what he found
I arrived at the train station to find payment is by an app which I had to download
It was a local single platform station with an arrow showing each direction and the electronic notice board saying which train came in next - all clear and easy
The train at 9.07 am was empty and brand new, I was impressed and on the short journey to the main station I thought we ought to take family trips by train
I then arrived at Leamington Spa main station and thought it looks exactly the same as it did 30 years ago (and probably 200)
I then had multiple platforms to choose from and like the op it wasn't clear at all where the train was leaving - it was announced shortly before it arrived but I had a disconcerting 10 minutes trying to Google it
I got on the train to find it was 20+ years old and of course this was the one I was on for three hours
The AC was working but the Wi-Fi was so slow as to be useless and my phone despite being dual SIM both EE and O2 kept losing signal so that was my relaxing three hours gone
We had the same thing with the train being multiple sections with no passage between the two sections and I hadn't looked at the carriage when I got on because it wasn't clear
We had an announcement halfway through saying that direction of the train was changing - I couldn't work out whether that now meant that the coaches were re-numbered but I sat still and looked as miserable as everyone else so no one approached me
Then the train started filling up I had a girl behind me coughing, a foreign man to the side babbling on his phone and later a young family of presumably special children making various noises / squeals for two hours
I now understand why you aren't allowed to carry weapons on public transport -because after 2 hours I felt like killing every f
king one of them
The biggest problem with public transport is the public. I shall remain in my car and on my motorcycle to limit my exposure to them
I completely agree with what he found
I arrived at the train station to find payment is by an app which I had to download
It was a local single platform station with an arrow showing each direction and the electronic notice board saying which train came in next - all clear and easy
The train at 9.07 am was empty and brand new, I was impressed and on the short journey to the main station I thought we ought to take family trips by train
I then arrived at Leamington Spa main station and thought it looks exactly the same as it did 30 years ago (and probably 200)
I then had multiple platforms to choose from and like the op it wasn't clear at all where the train was leaving - it was announced shortly before it arrived but I had a disconcerting 10 minutes trying to Google it
I got on the train to find it was 20+ years old and of course this was the one I was on for three hours
The AC was working but the Wi-Fi was so slow as to be useless and my phone despite being dual SIM both EE and O2 kept losing signal so that was my relaxing three hours gone
We had the same thing with the train being multiple sections with no passage between the two sections and I hadn't looked at the carriage when I got on because it wasn't clear
We had an announcement halfway through saying that direction of the train was changing - I couldn't work out whether that now meant that the coaches were re-numbered but I sat still and looked as miserable as everyone else so no one approached me
Then the train started filling up I had a girl behind me coughing, a foreign man to the side babbling on his phone and later a young family of presumably special children making various noises / squeals for two hours
I now understand why you aren't allowed to carry weapons on public transport -because after 2 hours I felt like killing every f
king one of themThe biggest problem with public transport is the public. I shall remain in my car and on my motorcycle to limit my exposure to them
Edited by KTMsm on Tuesday 12th September 07:53
Simpo Two said:
A friend of mine has just flown over from Canada to see a relative, and observes the British railway system:
'St. Pancras has new indicator boards. They must be driven by a quantum computer as they indicate each train's departure time but not the platform. I'm waiting to see if they will switch to show the platform with no departure time.
The numbers suddenly appeared on the indicator boards with about 5 minutes to go. I had a seat in carriage B, but there were no identifying letters on the carriages as I dashed down the newly revealed platform. I asked an EMR worker on the platform how to find carriage B. She looked at me disdainfully and explained as if to a small child that carriage A was next to the locomotive and B would be next to that. (Big shuttle sprint for carriage F passengers then, given the long curved platform with the front well out of sight).
When I reached and boarded the second carriage from the front, an internal corridor sign revealed this was carriage D. I later gathered that the train had been assembled from two halves with the first half reversed and nominated backwards. For our further amusement there was no passage between the two halves. This meant travellers for Long Eaton (short platform - oh the irony!) seated in the back half of the train had to alight at the preceding station to re-enter a front carriage.
The air conditioning was not working. As a concession to customer service I was allowed to move further forward to 1st class where I had more room to sweat. Eventually a tea cart appeared pushed by the EMR misinformer from the platform. I asked for a cold beer. She said she couldn't serve anyone in first class (someone else's department) and she had only come that far forward to turn the cart round!
Bring back British Rail!'
We Brits probably accept that as normal service
British trains are a superb advert for car ownership.'St. Pancras has new indicator boards. They must be driven by a quantum computer as they indicate each train's departure time but not the platform. I'm waiting to see if they will switch to show the platform with no departure time.
The numbers suddenly appeared on the indicator boards with about 5 minutes to go. I had a seat in carriage B, but there were no identifying letters on the carriages as I dashed down the newly revealed platform. I asked an EMR worker on the platform how to find carriage B. She looked at me disdainfully and explained as if to a small child that carriage A was next to the locomotive and B would be next to that. (Big shuttle sprint for carriage F passengers then, given the long curved platform with the front well out of sight).
When I reached and boarded the second carriage from the front, an internal corridor sign revealed this was carriage D. I later gathered that the train had been assembled from two halves with the first half reversed and nominated backwards. For our further amusement there was no passage between the two halves. This meant travellers for Long Eaton (short platform - oh the irony!) seated in the back half of the train had to alight at the preceding station to re-enter a front carriage.
The air conditioning was not working. As a concession to customer service I was allowed to move further forward to 1st class where I had more room to sweat. Eventually a tea cart appeared pushed by the EMR misinformer from the platform. I asked for a cold beer. She said she couldn't serve anyone in first class (someone else's department) and she had only come that far forward to turn the cart round!
Bring back British Rail!'
We Brits probably accept that as normal service
Scabutz said:
Yertis said:
Why this nostalgia for BR? It was a national joke.
An international joke. There is a joke about it in Die Hard 2. Air stewardess says something like we are like British rail, late but get you there in the end. Bit like BR and all comers since
Sounds like someone looking to confirm their decision to leave the country was correct while in reality they just weren't familiar with the rail system, got a bit confused and worried. I struggle to find platforms and carriages on French trains because they don't do it like what we do here. Does that mean French trains are crap and they should bring back de Gaulle?
ATG said:
Sounds like someone looking to confirm their decision to leave the country was correct while in reality they just weren't familiar with the rail system, got a bit confused and worried. I struggle to find platforms and carriages on French trains because they don't do it like what we do here. Does that mean French trains are crap and they should bring back de Gaulle?
Last time I got a train out of St Pancras (the same station mentioned by the OP), the platform wasn't displayed until 4 minutes before departure. I caught a train for the first time in about 10 years a few weeks ago.
I found that the website automatically worked out the cheapest ticket prices for our party of 4, as well as offering several other options.
The trains were clean and left and arrived on time.
The nice lady at the ticket office gave the kids little entertainment packs for the journey.
The Elizabeth line is fantastic.
The toilets at Paddington however
I found that the website automatically worked out the cheapest ticket prices for our party of 4, as well as offering several other options.
The trains were clean and left and arrived on time.
The nice lady at the ticket office gave the kids little entertainment packs for the journey.
The Elizabeth line is fantastic.
The toilets at Paddington however
To be fair, whether embellished a little or not, there is definitely some truth in the original post.
I had to go to London on the train, so I booked a ticket, booked a seat (ordinary cattle class). It was an evening service. The half of the train that I'd booked my ticket on didn't turn up (those horrible GWR Hitachi trains). Luckily the service was quiet so it wasn't a problem.
On the journey home a couple of days later, at Paddington, waiting for the train. It's listed, no platform number. Platform is announced minutes before departure, and "most" of the assembled crowds make a break for the train, causing chaos at the barriers. I find my reserved seat and sit down.
Half way into the journey, there is an announcement. At the next station, the half of the train I'm on (the rear half) isn't proceeding, so anyone in the rear half of the train needs to get off and move to the front unit.
Those Hitachi trains are also truly awful - They won't be around for half as long as the old Intercity trains, all the ones I've been on rattle and have poor fit and finish - and uncomfortable seats. On the odd occasion trains are actually not on strike and I need to catch one, it's still a bit of a treat when an Intercity turns up.
I had to go to London on the train, so I booked a ticket, booked a seat (ordinary cattle class). It was an evening service. The half of the train that I'd booked my ticket on didn't turn up (those horrible GWR Hitachi trains). Luckily the service was quiet so it wasn't a problem.
On the journey home a couple of days later, at Paddington, waiting for the train. It's listed, no platform number. Platform is announced minutes before departure, and "most" of the assembled crowds make a break for the train, causing chaos at the barriers. I find my reserved seat and sit down.
Half way into the journey, there is an announcement. At the next station, the half of the train I'm on (the rear half) isn't proceeding, so anyone in the rear half of the train needs to get off and move to the front unit.
Those Hitachi trains are also truly awful - They won't be around for half as long as the old Intercity trains, all the ones I've been on rattle and have poor fit and finish - and uncomfortable seats. On the odd occasion trains are actually not on strike and I need to catch one, it's still a bit of a treat when an Intercity turns up.
Simpo Two said:
Go to station, buy ticket, get on train, arrive at destination. I don't remember any problems and it didn't need a mobile phone.
Other than booking my ticket on the phone I do this 1-2 times a month. I’ve had more delays on planes this year than trains. It’s a really simple process. Also having the ticket on the phone means it’s one less thing to lose. Gassing Station | Boats, Planes & Trains | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff