To be so full of rage

[LittleLionMansMummy]

About the trains.

I commute to London once or twice a week. Today's problem is the classic 'disappearing train'. That is, it apparently shouldn't have shown on the online timetable because it no longer exists. I've had to wait an hour for the next train. On a mainline service. I will now be late for my 10.30 meeting despite leaving my house at 7.40.

Seriously, how could they get it so fucking wrong?! It's been like this for weeks now and I just know that coming home will be the same, if not even worse. They are literally stealing hours of my life away! Delays, cancellations, misleading information, I am so frustrated at feeling so utterly powerless about it all. There's literally nothing I can do except continue to pay extortionate amounts on the off chance I migbt get to work, or back home, at some point.

Yep, the train network is a mess.
There are no longer any trains from here before 8am. (People can't get to work on time).
Trains that are on the new 'timetable' are continuously being cancelled.

The next one from here after the 8am is 8.57 now - unless I pay even more (£110 return) to get a 'fast' train. I think it's the fact I have absolutely no ability to change or influence it for the better.

It's really frustrating. Is anything being done about it? Problem is all over the UK & in the news but it's been going on for weeks...

Don't forget that you can get a refund for cancelled/delayed trains.

There is a train strike today where I live. I am currently waiting for the first train of the day 🙄

Last week we had a train running 30 minutes late on the way home. This was on "real time". We were all told to catch the next one on a different platform as this would be going first half hour later than the first one was scheduled. Just to watch the first train merrily trundle out 10 mins later with about 4 people on it because oops they got it wrong. So the next train then had double the amount of people in rush hour, standing room only. It's a joke

Some of us do it daily love so I’m not really sure I sympathise too much with a part timer 🙄

Some of us do it daily love so I’m not really sure I sympathise too much with a part timer 🙄

Train top trumps.

Some of us do it daily love so I’m not really sure I sympathise too much with a part timer 🙄

The cuntiness is strong in this one

Don't forget that you can get a refund for cancelled/delayed trains.

But not for trains that weren't supposed to run.

Some of us do it daily love so I’m not really sure I sympathise too much with a part timer 🙄

Yes and some of us live closer/ further away and have shorter/ longer journeys? I don't think it means I am precluded from complaining. I still work full time and have a family to get home to in the evenings.

Love.

@Fizzy - I pride myself on it

You can blame the tories for privatising British rail.

@Desasha but it was even worse when it was nationalised? Surely what we should be blaming the tories for is not privatising the railways all the way. Or for not putting any investment into/privatising motorways leaving many people with no alternative to the shitty train service. Or for not providing tax cuts to businesses that have high rates of telecommuting. Britain is a really small country, it shouldn't be so difficult to get around.

To be fair, British Rail was epically shit. I'm old enough to remember it, unfortunately. But the current situation is just as bad. These timetables should never have been allowed to go through. No doubt the person ultimately responsible will fall on their sword eventually, though not without receiving a golden goodbye...

They are literally stealing hours of my life away!
yes, it's completely disgusting and I can't believe the train companies gets away with it, but I don't know what commuters can actually do.

People are making groups and complaining to their MPs, writing endless letters everywhere, but that's not enough to achieve anything.

It is soul destroying, some people are losing their jobs because of that, others are missing interviews, hospital appointments, and childcare is a huge problem. It's physically impossible to plan 4 hours journey twice a day just in case.

To anyone who laugh saying people should move: to where? and live how? You easily find a job within a week or 2 in London (for example), it's not that easy in other parts of the country.
London (again, for example) needs teachers, nurses and so on, who can't afford to live near their work anyway.

OP, complain, try to find other local commuters who can pester your local MP, contact watchdog... I am not sure it will help but not doing anything will help even less.

I booked a day out in Stevenage recently. What should have been a 2 train journey lasting 70 minutes ended up being 4 trains and a tube and took nearly 4 hours due to all the cancellations. And coming back the next day was the same. God knows how people who live in that area are getting to work every day.

Train strike here today, too. I'm going to venture out in the hopes that their strike timetable is correct.

For us the disappearing train means that they cancel a train, but don't bother to announce anywhere that it's cancelled. It'll show as running on time until it's the time it's to depart and it's nowhere to be seen. It'll then show it as delayed by one minute. The expected time will go up minute by minute, following the clock, with no train in sight. After ten or fifteen minutes, they simply put up the details of the next train, showing as running on time, without ever declaring the previous train as cancelled. Last week this went on for a good four hours without any trains actually leaving. There were actual engineering difficulties, but it would have been much better to just say that no trains are leaving until approximately X time, than have people hovering confusedly wondering if this train will actually turn up.

I have tried so fucking hard with the trains. So so hard. I drive EVERYWHERE now. I just couldn’t continue being late for everything, sometimes not arriving at all. I have my own business and so far this week 1 member of staff has not arrived at all and 3 been over an hour late due to fucking trains.

For us the disappearing train means that they cancel a train, but don't bother to announce anywhere that it's cancelled. It'll show as running on time until it's the time it's to depart and it's nowhere to be seen.

Are you on Southern? I have colleagues who this happens to regularly.

The way the franchises are allowed to operate is the problem. They take the profit but losses such as refunds for camcellations and delays are underwritten by the government so it has no direct impact on the profits.
The system is a mess. The idea of competition improving services and driving down prices never applied as we got lots of monopolies instead.

@LittleLionMansMummy Northern. They often do have the information of what's going on somewhere, but not anywhere visible on the station, nor will the staff admit to knowing anything. Last week no info on station or their train app, but if you actually went to their website and did some digging, they had an announcement of no trains until at least X hours. No idea why that couldn't also be communicated elsewhere.