To think there's something really broken about west coast/northern trains?

[MossyPillows]

I don't hear much about it online, but wonder if anyone has noticed this steady but thorough decline in services?
I travel by rail for work between Lancashire and South Cumbria, most Avanti trains are cancelled, very delayed or overly full. This is every day of the week, although much worse on Sundays.
Also issues with Northern Rail, which seemed to be functioning ok until this year. A rail worker at Windermere told us today that 'no one wanted to work Sundays' so the trains were all cancelled for today.
Apparently this had nothing to do with the coming strikes.

Does anyone know what the heck is happening or if there is any awareness countrywide of this issue? It is forcing people into car use even if they choose not to, and god help those who rely on the system to take children to school between towns, or getting to work on time.

It feels like a managed decline, but of course that makes no sense.

Bingo.

I returned from Germany in 2002 and the train service was bad but got steadily better (West Midlands). Commuted daily until 2015 and it was generally ok. Am very happy I now work locally enough to cycle to work. Colleagues who come from the city I used to commute to now drive as the train service is so poor. I occasionally think of looking for another job but my short local commute is worth more than more money.

I burned another fifty quid getting a taxi home from Manchester yesterday, no other option. I'll get my train ticket refunded, but I won't get that back.

I am outside the GMCA so I don't have a vote anyway but I honestly think if Andy Burnham could fix the trains, Manchester would probably make him president and secede from London.

He can't of course, because I now conclude London makes sure that nobody else in this country ever has a chance, on purpose. It's choking this country to death. Labour will cut the service even further and then spend another 100 billion on the South East, just like the Tories did. How much did HS2 cost?

Why is it we pay taxes when we don't get anything. There's no doctors, no trains, the schools have fallen down. What is the point of taxes any more. What is the point of government. It's a fucking joke.

Literally the current government are trying to fix this by renationalising. How well it goes remains to be seen, but at least they’re trying something rather than just letting this shitshow carry on like the last government did.

To be fair, MPs, apart from the very highest levels of government, and the ones representing London and commuter-belt seats, use trains more than most people because they have to commute to and from their constituencies weekly. We could do with a few more ministers from the North West to help put pressure on the shit service from Avanti.
The Minister for Transport comes in from Swindon but that's not such a bad line.

I bet you a million pounds they will

1. make a load of speeches about how it's all the Tories fault
2. claim there will be improvements in some hazy distant future and call it a stupid name like the Northern Magic Box We Promise YAY
3. regretfully cut the plan in the next budget but one
4. make some more speeches about how they can't do anything and it's all Russia/China/Reform/Elon Musk's fault
5. bonus new twist: go on some podcasts and tell Alistair Campbell sadly about how they can't do anything and it's not their fault, a bigger boy came and took the train

I'm reminded of WS Gilbert's letter to the Times in 1897.

"In the face of Saturday the officials of the company stand helpless and appalled. This day, which recurs at stated and well-ascertained intervals, is treated as a phenomenon entirely outside the ordinary operations of nature, and, as a consequence, no attempt whatever is made to grapple with its inherent difficulties. To the question, "What has caused the train to be so late?" the officials reply, "It is Saturday" — as who should say, "It is an earthquake.""

Private rail service obviously in those days: and, by strange coincidence, the railway he was complaining about was the London and NorthWestern

I’m willing to give Labour a chance at this stage.

I’ve lost patience with the Tories who let Avanti be this bad, for this long, and then gave them a new three year term after it was recommended they took the franchise away.

It’s that simple.

That's brilliant 😂Thank you for sharing it!

Normally seen in a cut down Twitter-friendly versions, but I prefer the solemn long-form original: nobody gets to make that much money from comedy without being genuinely funny.

For all those hoping that nationalising the trains will solve the problems, Scotrail is under the control of the Scottish government and it's still a disaster.

Update: had to get a bus that took 3 hours from Ambleside to Lancaster today.

Friend of mine had to get a coach that took 2 hours from Kendal (wtf?) to Ambleside a few days ago.

No trains running to and from Windermere at present, no explanation, no sign of it on trainline or the Northern website. Absolutely nothing. They're not even striking ffs.
No buses run through Oxenholme so it's a taxi or go to hell. No compensation.

How anyone relying on the train service in Southern Cumbria deals with this is anyone's guess. Have never in my 50 yrs seen it this bad. The staff are sadly rude, especially to a woman alone, and if I ask questions I am pretty much ignored. I am sure they're fed up, as we are, but something really stinks.

Dreadful.

2 hours!!!! Ridiculous.

It's an utter shit show.

I think it would be far better if they reduced the service but actually ran what was on the timetable than the current state of affairs.

Did you read the BBC report, it's official that the NW has the worst service in the country something like 8.6% of services cancelled.

I didn't know that, although not surprised. I know it might sound a bit silly but I do think that this is impacting people's quality of life. It can really wear you down when dependent upon it, and these's this sense in general of so much being broken.
I never used to feel this way, and it also feels like it's a sort of 'monolith' that we can't change :(

My friend witnessed many people in a similar situation trying to get around the south Lakes (residents, not tourists) looking pretty worn down by it, many of them walking away from the ticket office saying 'fuck it'. People seem more tired and dejected than angry. I suppose it does that to you over time.

Also aware that vehicle owners are often stuck in awful delays and gridlocked in many places, too. I don't know what the over all solution is.

It's frustrating as the train journey is quicker than by road! We want to ease congestion but the trains are ridiculously awful.

Part of it is staff shortage, they probably have hideous irregular shifts because there is no common sense about employees needing to arrange childcare etc.

Avanti are truly terrible. I have been trying to avoid Sundays with them for years, but Saturdays are almost as bad.

Avanti west coast are really bad. All this talk of levelling up a couple of years ago - I’d settle for a reliable train service to my capital city. It should not be this difficult or expensive for us plebs in the grim old North to visit London!!

Correct.

I do wonder this myself. I would say 90% of rail journeys with Avanti I get some sort of refund. Last week Manchester to London the train was packed and we were 31 mins late arriving so everyone entitled to half their rail cost back? How much did that cost them? Return train was cancelled too but no refund as I did manage to get on the earlier train.

I don't mind the staff. At least on our line the staff are as depressed about the situation as we are. The announcements over the tannoy are dejected and sympathetic.

It's just a run down service. It's being run down. I do think we, in general, are being run down. Everything is shabby and broken and sad. The only beauty is in the hills these days.

All those moaning about Avanti, on the Carlisle to Preston route they are our best service and put both Northern and Transpenine to shame.

Northern Rail Fail are so unreliable where we live.
DD gets the train to and from work. One day last week there were 5 trains cancelled in each direction, which is appalling given that we only have one train an hour. She has had to splash out on taxis at £20 each time on more than one occasion to get to work.

Luckily our MP responds quickly to concerns like this and has already challenged Northen Fail on their shit service. She published their unhelpful response on the local Facebook page the same day that people were complaining.

DH recently received a summons for jury service soon and he is already stressing on how to get there if the trains let him down.

Just logged in Facebook and our MP has posted again about the shit service and outlined the action she has taken so far. I'm glad I voted for her.

The main problem with old British Rail was under investment. The rolling stock was fairly tatty and passenger carriages grubby and neglected. Privatisation was going to bring lots of investment and improvements. Sadly not though. The group that took over the lines and buildings sold of lots of the assets so upgrades became a problem. They were meant to improve our line and stations only to point out that the land where the new line and station needed to go was now houses.
Their safety record was also poor eventually they were taken back under public control.

The rolling stock is a bit of a mix, the long distance trains are newish but not big enough and the local trains are mostly the same ones from the 70s and 80s.

You do get people saying it was awful under nationalisation but it wasn't this bad.

The UK had an economic boom in the 1980s in which Thatcher's government played their part. However, Thatcher herself saw cars as the future and therefore invested in road-building rather than public transport.

The problem is that we now know that the construction of a new road or the improvement of an existing one serves to stimulate demand, so the new road becomes as congested as the old one. Basically she chose the wrong option.

I think it's all of the lines. DD gets Great Northern to school and it's now worse than when there were train strikes. There's as much disruption, but you can't plan for it.

She's on holiday now and I had to pause the notifications I have for her trains being delayed or cancelled as it was just pinging away every day.

Mostly it is cancellations due to lack of crew. Sometimes her train sets off and then is cancelled before it gets to us. Other times it doesn't even start.

And the refund process is deliberately convoluted.