Sick of train driver just passing me

[gypsytrampandthief]

Twice this week the driver "hasn't seen me" (despite today standing as close to the track as is reasonably safe and waving) Yesterday morning he didn't stop and I drove to the next station, passing the train, and got to the platform where he had pulled in for a group of teenage female students going to college. I was so furious I spoke to the ticket inspector and explained that this is the second time the driver has gone right by me. For complete transparency, the first time I was looking at my phone and late to wave, but ffs, why else would anyone be standing on an empty platform at 7.10 in the morning! Yesterday I was 100% looking up and arm out.

AIBU to think that a dumpy middle aged woman is not as "visible" as a teenage student?

Thanks for the info. My experience of trains to a variety of places has been that they have a list of stations they stop at and that’s it. Didn’t know this was a thing. Now I do. Thank you.

But where does that stop? Posts would become forests of background information in case there is someone out there who doesn't realise that not everyone lives within a couple of miles of a supermarket, drop-in centre, wide choice of schools and public transport, etc etc. How are we supposed to anticipate everything other people will choose to question because they personally haven't come across it?

And Lancashire, specifically Burnley which is not somewhere I'd ever class as rural. There's 2 lines run through Burnley one has request stops the other doesn't. The request stops are on a smaller local line.

In Switzerland you press a button on the platform and that changes the signal to red so the train stops. This may happen at some UK stations but I've never used any of them. It might be worth lobbying network rail for some sort of better system.

I mentioned that above re red flags/lights.

I personally wouldn’t wear orange hi-vis to stand out. They may mistake you for a worker waiting for access from a distance. Just a thought.

And Shropshire

It's not the "I didn't know that request stops were a thing" part that's annoying.

It's the "OP can't be telling the truth/must be wrong because trains stop everywhere in my experience".

You get the information that it's a request stop from the OP. Whether or not it's a surprise to you is immaterial.

The conductor sees your tickets and tells the driver.

H ANBU if you're at a request stop. Complain to the train operator!

Think of remote halts in National Parks with only a couple of cottages nearby. That sums up most of them.

My relative used to commute from a request stop. In the dark, he took a torch and shone it through a red scarf to flag the train down. Mostly seemed to work!

Loving the way so many people can't get their heads round trains with request stops 😆

"Can I get off at xxx?"
"Can I see your ticket please?"
"I've got no money"
"Well I'm not stopping, then"

If you are talking about a request stop station then you ought to complain to the train company with dates and times so they can identify the driver.

Plenty of stations up north have trains that you have to put your arm out for them to stop.

@Youwhatnowbiggles 100% agree.

On another thread, 3 separate posters were trying to convince me that I have not experienced what I have. It wasn’t a particularly contentious/ subjective topic either. “We didn’t have water fountains in the school.” Reply: “You must have, we had them!!” 🙄

This is the train station near where I grew up. The little white gate is the entrance.

What? The chances of getting on and off at a request stop are slim.

www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/may/15/uk-rail-journeys-railway-request-stops-secret-stations

There you go. There are 150 of them apparently.

Those saying a light would be ridiculous/dangerous/annoying. You do need to wave a light if you want them to stop after dark. That's the standard procedure.

There’s one on Clitheroe to Manchester line too, again not rural.

And do so sooner rather than later so that they can download the forward-facing CCTV before it gets overwritten.

I thought just like you @bussteward, oh there must be places in UK where you flag down a train. I did not think, like a PP, that's not a train that's a bus OP, you're getting confused 🙄

?

The man wanted to get off at a request stop, but didn't want to pay for a ticket. So with no tickets to that request stop the guard gave two buzzes and the train flew straight through.

Exactly. It’s normal here to have request stop train stations.
Obviously you realise some things are unique to your area eg we still have 11+ to one secondary school in town so if I was discussing schools I’d mention it as I know most areas don’t have that anymore.

Is it dark when you're there in the morning? Maybe a torch to save wave, although you'd need to be careful not to shine it in the drivers eyes.

And people - Google stuff before you say it doesn't happen! It's something I'm aware of despite never having had the opportunity to get on a request train.