To be really funking fed up of the shit train services in this country

[Medschoolmum]

I paid £170 for an advance ticket for a trip into London this morning. Journey of around 1.5 hours. Booked a seat with a table so that I can work on the train. Got up 45 mins earlier than usual to get to the station on time. Parked at the station for an exorbitant sum. Arrive to be told that train is delayed by 22 mins. Annoying, but OK, I have built in additional time. Not a massive issue.

After waiting for 10 mins, they announce that the train is cancelled. Not stopping at my station because they are running late. (This is not some tiny village station with one person on the platform BTW- it is a substantial sized station with loads of people waiting for that train.

We are informed that the next train will depart half an hour after the original scheduled train. This will mean that I'm a bit tight on time but should just about make it to my meeting on time. This is why you build in a buffer zone, right?

So now the next train is delayed as well, who knows when or if it will arrive. When I finally manage to get on the train, it's clearly going to be heaving. No chance I'll get a seat. And in the meantime, I'm still sitting here in a dingy waiting room drinking crap coffee.

The last time I took a train was around 10 days ago. That one was also cancelled for a different reason. I was delayed by around 40 mins.

I know I can claim back the ticket cost etc, but how on earth do they get away with charging such extortionate prices for such ridiculously unreliable services? I used to live overseas in a country where the trains were much cheaper, cleaner and ran like clockwork. Why are we so incapable of doing the same?

I'm not convinced that nationalising them is going to fix the problem either... the days of British Rail weren't exactly much better.

I am so fed up of this shit show.

Well I was about to post saying that everything I'd been on for the last couple of days has been on time. Then a pheasant got stuck in the points.

I don't understand how they make any money... I've had all of at my (massive) fares from London to the South West refunded by at least 50% every time I've used it in the past year because they're ALWAYS late.

If the last train home is cancelled the train company will (has to) supply alternative transport. Usually rail replacement buses, if there is only a few passengers they will pay for taxis.

We've just returned from Norway - we did our whole trip by train. Oh what a breath of fresh air it was
The trains departed and arrived on time. We booked on the app and got update texts if the departure or arrival platform was changed! The trains were clean, every train ticket booked came with a reserved seat, we had reclining chairs, a table and free coffee. The windows were clean enough to take photos through 😂
The final leg of our trip from Bergen to Oslo was about 500km and took 7 hours and our tickets were about £60 each!

@Notamum12345577 yes they are supposed to but who wants to wait 2/3 hours waiting for the taxi and in more than one occasion my DDs were told to get the 5am train instead 🤬

If you can find someone from the relevant train company.

As if the roads are any better, who hasn't sat for hours on a motorway

Just read this out to DP. He's fuming for you and telling me about his last three train rides with vigour! I was with him so I already know but now you know some people feel strongly!

We've had some real shitty journeys also crammed in like sardines or missed our connection due to lateness and had to wait. Before all the recent strikes etc we once waited for a train which arrived but couldn't depart as there was no one to drive it. Driver hadn't turned up for his shift. They didn't know this until the train arrived. I don't know how they can be so disorganised.

You are v fortunate. This is no longer my experience of Chiltern.
Short carriage-trains during rush hour from Birmingham to London. So even if you can manage to get on the train (and forget about it if you have luggage), chances are you'll be standing up all the way to London if you try to get on past Warwick. The service is often no better at the weekends.

Turns out that Chiltern were fantastic when they were bidding for the franchise renewal. Once the Govt handed the franchise on a plate back to them, lo and behold - the service deteriorated.

Ticket prices have soared. An off-peak return to London from Banbury cost £16 return with a railcard in 2014. Now it costs £25.50.

The roads aren’t significantly worse than they were 5 years ago though whilst the trains have deteriorated dramatically.

I have had far more problems on roads than railway tracks in my travels over the years

Except the huge pothole problems.

True.

It doesn’t matter if the station has no staff. Control room staff will be aware that the train is cancelled, and they will get the bus or whatever ordered and sent there. If no staff they would probably send some from another station to assist with the passenger flow

The train services are incredibly unreliable.
I have to travel to the Midlands and Manchester area for work.
Going is usually OK, sometimes a delay or seat reservations all cancelled so can't get a seat but usually arrive within 30-40 minutes of the time the train should arrive.
Coming home is always a nightmare.
Trains cancelled due to being short of train crew, landslides, trespassers, no driver, you name it. I usually have a delay of around 45 minutes to two hours meaning I eventually get home about 10/11 pm.
It costs more than a return flight to Italy or Spain and it takes longer.
It's a joke. We are supposed to use public transport for the environment but it's so unreliable and expensive.

I travel on the train into London most weeks - have to say most cancellations and delays are due to the following

• suicides on the line
• trespassers on the line
• a plank of wood hit a train last week
• a tree came down on on the overhead lines last week

None of those issues are going to be solved by nationalisation

It's absolutely ridiculous that the government talk about environmental targets without a proper, reliable and affordable public transport system. People need an alternative to cars and in lots of cases we would happily get on a train rather than sit in traffic, deal with potholes, the myriad of congestion charges in big cities and parking is a complete nightmare. Right now trains are not the alternative because they are expensive, uncomfortable and it is highly likely you will not get to your destination in time if at all.

100% agree. I would happily train all over the place if it was a viable cost alternative to driving and you knew you’d get a seat and the train would actually arrive.

Do you live on the same planet as me?
Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to work but I promise you it doesn’t.

You can work on the train which is a bonus

The problem is decades of underinvestment. If you travel by train in continental Europe it is so so different. Double decker trains!

Just wait until they get nationalised. I remember the horror then.

There was no horror. They were better than now. I used to catch loads in the early 80’s.

Now is just anarchy on the trains.

They were good. I remember....
The only time was when the strikes happened (strikes also happen now) and they were right to strike. They closed so many of the train stations following the beacher report leaving us with this shit show we have now and a reduced service

I now live in a country with a nationalised rail service. Its brilliant. Cheap and efficient. Trains stop at "unprofitable" stations as its to serve the community not for profit

They weren't anything like as bad as they are now, and I'm not looking back through rose tinted spectacles.