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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To say that It feels like there's no effort to reduce train stress.

188 replies

hockeysticks89 · 24/03/2022 16:26

I'm sitting at Euston, having missed my hourly train by seconds. When I approached it (running, which is not an attractive look for me) at its proper departure time a guy blew a whistle at me and said no. He saw me coming but gave the lock doors command as I approached.

Fair enough but I know from experience that they only put the station up on the board for my Crewe train around five minutes before it departs, at which point everyone literally charges like crazed animals. If you're slightly infirm you're screwed, it's a health and safety nightmare.

There are more platforms than there are trains. Guards know in advance which station it's going from.

AIBU to state that there appears to be no desire to reduce the stress of train travel in this situation? Grrrrr

OP posts:
junglejane66 · 24/03/2022 16:55

Are they trying to reduce train stress?

Nightlystroll · 24/03/2022 17:01

That happened to me in the dead of winter with snow on the platform. A train was late in so people had to leg it up and down stairs over the platform to catch the connection. The guard could see and hear everyone coming and waited til they got on the platform and then shut the doors before people could get on. The guard said they get fined if they left late. But it was one of their trains that was late in, that made us late for the connection. So they should just suck up the fine. And what made it worse was that the train was just on a spur line that shuttled back and forth once an hour so if it had left one minute late, it wouldn't have inconvenienced anyone.
I rarely catch the train so this was a new experience but sadly those that use the train everyday, said it was a regular experience and looked at me with a sort of world-weary pity at the futility of me remonstrating with the guard.
Ten minutes later another guard approached and asked me if I'd calmed down. 😡 Which just added to my irritation and so she got a piece of my mind on how her company was run too.
And same operator, in summer, we got to the station and onto the connection but the train didn't move. It turned out the driver said he'd done his hours, and he just got off, leaving no one to drive the train. A guy from the office came out and walked the length of the train to see if anyone could drive a train! Say what now? And the train was blocking the track so another train couldn't get past.
The govt ultimately removed their licence. Because, honestly, to call yourself a train company, surely the very minimum requirement is to have trains with a driver on them?

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 24/03/2022 17:05

So you waited in the concourse and as soon as saw which station - I assume you meant platform - you ran straight there but it wasn't enough time to get there?
That seems very unreasonable on behalf of the train operators.
Thankfully I mainly travel from St Pancras where they seem to give you at least 10 minutes and there are fewer platforms and it's less of a distance from the screens to the trains.

Lockheart · 24/03/2022 17:06

The best way to reduce train stress is to get there on time, especially if you know that you'll have to wait an hour for another one! Sorry OP but you know doors close X minutes before departure, if they wait for you they'll have to wait for the person running behind you, and the one behind them, and the one behind them...

MoiraNotRuby · 24/03/2022 17:07

There's a lot of train bastards at Euston. I actually think they might have a staff game going on. It sucks.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 24/03/2022 17:08

A guy from the office came out and walked the length of the train to see if anyone could drive a train! Say what now?
Yeah - that didn't happen. Even if you are a driver, you need up to date route knowledge so there's no way that would have worked.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 24/03/2022 17:09

@Lockheart

The best way to reduce train stress is to get there on time, especially if you know that you'll have to wait an hour for another one! Sorry OP but you know doors close X minutes before departure, if they wait for you they'll have to wait for the person running behind you, and the one behind them, and the one behind them...
^ This - when I am on the train, I don't want it to wait for people, I want it to go on time please.
happysunr1se · 24/03/2022 17:12

If you look on the Train Line website it tells you which platform they predict the train is coming in on... it was mostly correct when I used to travel from Paddington to Slough.

It meant I could be through the gate before the people waiting under the concourse departures board.

I have commuted in and around greater London for 2 decades. Unfortunately I have many many many stories like yours :(

ScarlettSunset · 24/03/2022 17:12

I've had this. I'm disabled and can't always get to the train on time from the main waiting area as they don't always put the platform number up with enough time for me to be able to get to it.
It always feels like literally every other train has the platform up on the board half hour ahead except the one I need to get.

AnotherDelphinium · 24/03/2022 17:13

YABU.

You should have got there on time. It’s advertised all over the stations that train doors close XX minutes before departure, so why should everyone else be delayed because of your poor organisation?

If you want a heads up on which platform a train is coming into, try realtimetrains.co.uk, obviously last minute changes can happen, but it’s correct the vast majority of the time.

Belladonna12 · 24/03/2022 17:14

@Lockheart

The best way to reduce train stress is to get there on time, especially if you know that you'll have to wait an hour for another one! Sorry OP but you know doors close X minutes before departure, if they wait for you they'll have to wait for the person running behind you, and the one behind them, and the one behind them...
You can't get there in plenty of time at Euston as they put the platforms up at the last minute.
Belladonna12 · 24/03/2022 17:16

I agree with you. Euston is very stressful. I can't believe they get away with it really as people who can't run or walk very fast must miss the train all the time. I am disabled and I can't go to London by train anymore because of it.

PuntasticUsername · 24/03/2022 17:17

Realtraintimes.co.uk is a useful website. It shows which platform a train is expected to leave from, way before the info boards in the station. Obviously sometimes there's a late change, but I've found it's mostly accurate and enables you to get a head start on the crowd.

ShavingTheBadger · 24/03/2022 17:18

Euston is awful for this. A couple of minutes to get from the concourse to the train isn’t enough, especially when they are checking tickets before you get in. It’s hateful and I completely agree with you.

daimbarsatemydogsbone · 24/03/2022 17:20

she got a piece of my mind on how her company was run too.
Because everyone knows the frontline staff are actually CEOs and senior managers. I really can't stand people who do this - it's liek the ones who shout at doctor's receptionists as if they are Sajid Javid.

katicomps · 24/03/2022 17:20

I use Euston often and I get what OP means.

There's a big departure hall with the boards up for each train and they only put up what platform it's leaving from at the last minute.
People literally take off running as soon as it appears. I'm fit enough but it's still a stressful few minutes if you're yanking a case along with you, then you get to the train and you don't know wether to get on at the first door and battle all the way down the aisle or walk on the platform and risk getting left behind.
The train will leave within minutes so yeah, if you're a teensy bit late or disabled… Sad

Belladonna12 · 24/03/2022 17:21

@PuntasticUsername

Realtraintimes.co.uk is a useful website. It shows which platform a train is expected to leave from, way before the info boards in the station. Obviously sometimes there's a late change, but I've found it's mostly accurate and enables you to get a head start on the crowd.
And what if they change the platform at the last minute to one a distance away as often happens at Euston?
Drivingmisspotty · 24/03/2022 17:22

My grandma travelled to London via Euston several times a year for about 60 years. I remember when they started this not telling you the platform until the last minute business. She knew which platform her train went from. Always the same one. So she went to wait before it was displayed. And one of the people working there fetched her back on one of those little buggies! My grandma was Blush she said ‘everyone was watching me, they knew what that old fool had done!’ (I expect they were quite sympathetic actually!)

I guess it is to prevent platforms overcrowding. And maybe so they can switch platforms last minute without people having to go up and down. I agree it is annoying but it does make me remember my lovely grandma every time I use the station!

WhatNoRaisins · 24/03/2022 17:22

I remember watching a last minute platform change from an upper level and the crowd running through the station was scary. It's all well and good making public transport more accessible but anyone even slightly unsteady on their feet would have been at risk in that situation.

Palavah · 24/03/2022 17:23

@ScarlettSunset

I've had this. I'm disabled and can't always get to the train on time from the main waiting area as they don't always put the platform number up with enough time for me to be able to get to it. It always feels like literally every other train has the platform up on the board half hour ahead except the one I need to get.
Speak to passenger assistance. They have been very helpful in enabling me to avoid the euston crush with a wheelchair
Chishnfips · 24/03/2022 17:23

I thought the train doors close 30 seconds before departure time anyway.

Palavah · 24/03/2022 17:24

Euston is HORRENDOUS for this. A massive stampede down the ramp. Although they don't give loads and loads of notice it's normally enough to walk calmly down from the concourse to the train, you just might not grab an unreserved seat.
I'm hopeful of a redevelopment that improves the layout and reduces the crush.

TottersBlankly · 24/03/2022 17:26

It’s true the train announcement process at Euston is vile. Definitely the worst I’ve encountered anywhere. The moment where everyone who can is pretty much forced to race across the concourse and down the slope to a train is the stuff of nightmares. And I have often wondered what happens if one can’t run.

Sorry I have no solution to offer.

WTF475878237NC · 24/03/2022 17:26

Some people can't read. The OP is quite clear. This is not about her not getting there early enough to read the board. I once tried to outwit the buggers and they used a platform I had never departed from before.

YANBU OP.

Belladonna12 · 24/03/2022 17:30

@TottersBlankly

It’s true the train announcement process at Euston is vile. Definitely the worst I’ve encountered anywhere. The moment where everyone who can is pretty much forced to race across the concourse and down the slope to a train is the stuff of nightmares. And I have often wondered what happens if one can’t run.

Sorry I have no solution to offer.

People who can't run just can't get a train from Euston. It is incredible that they get away with it.
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