first time ever on a train

[Stedman]

Chrisgr31 said:

I have the fortune to commute on Southern in to London Bridge. Commuting really is down to frame of mind. There is no alternative way for me to leave the house at 7am and walk in to the office in the City at 8:50 other than travelling by train. Equally whilst the train might cost £2,700pa in reality that is only £12 per day, the congestion charge would cost £11.50 per day if I drove, let alone fuel, wear and tear etc from the 100 mile round trip.

Yes the train might often be late but it is a lot more reliable in terms of time than driving would be! The reality is that when you consider that the London commuting terminuses are operating at almost total capacity its no surprise that when something goes wrong it has a knock on effect. Social media just gives people an opportunity to moan and very often those moans really are not justified. After all the reality is no other train operating company is going to do a better job at running trains although they might be better at communication!

As long as you accept the reality of life, the possibility of being late etc then commuting is ok.

Then I often use the train when travelling for work, In general its more reliable than driving, and I can sleep. Not only that but if its late I get my money back!

No, no. Way over capacity!

[Riley Blue]

I hadn't travelled by train for decades until two years ago when I made two train journeys in rapid succession, one a return from Chesterfield to London for a family get together and the other a single from Chesterfield to Darwen to collect a car. What a contrast - the London service was far more enjoyable an experience than I had anticipated, comfortable seats in light airy carriages with helpful staff. The three-train trip to Darwen got progressively worse and worse. We arrived in Sheffield on time but then the train to Manchester was late, noisy and old. From there, the train to Darwen was packed so we couldn't get seats - it was at this point that I realised we were probably the only couple on the train without headphones in their ears, obviously 'conversation' is a thing of the past. A wet Darwen station was more welcoming than the train zombies.

Biggest surprise (and delight) was the Londonn Underground - modern, clean, on time, plenty of information about train times, even seats! I was very impressed.

[aw51 121565]

Only just found this thread (this forum is on my "reserve forum" list for when SP&L, NP&E etc are moribund of anything new ), but there are some interesting posts re: Northern Rail (taken over by Arriva on April 1st, they promised the moon on a stick plus other moons on sticks so we shall see...),

Riley Blue said:

I hadn't travelled by train for decades until two years ago when I made two train journeys in rapid succession, one a return from Chesterfield to London for a family get together and the other a single from Chesterfield to Darwen to collect a car. What a contrast - the London service was far more enjoyable an experience than I had anticipated, comfortable seats in light airy carriages with helpful staff. The three-train trip to Darwen got progressively worse and worse. We arrived in Sheffield on time but then the train to Manchester was late, noisy and old. From there, the train to Darwen was packed so we couldn't get seats - it was at this point that I realised we were probably the only couple on the train without headphones in their ears, obviously 'conversation' is a thing of the past. A wet Darwen station was more welcoming than the train zombies.

Biggest surprise (and delight) was the Londonn Underground - modern, clean, on time, plenty of information about train times, even seats! I was very impressed.

My local station - on the Manchester to Clitheroe (incorporating Darwen ) line - is Bromley Cross, it is 1.7 miles from home and an easy 30 minute walk (parking is a game of chance at best and generally impossible local to the station, and buses aren't guaranteed to dovetail conveniently); imagine walking 30 minutes then standing the same amount of time on the train... Not good . Hourly trains, 3 carriages are a bonus as I'm used to 2 carriages once hourly after the morning rush hour service (which is 2 trains an hour) - but almost all seats will be taken by the time the train gets to BMC and it is a fight to the death to get one of the few available rather than stand... It shouldn't be like this.

But trips back home will generally guarantee a seat from Madchester Victoria; those clambering aboard at Salford Uni (or even at Salford Crescent) may well suffer my inbound fate...

It really is a poor service. Yes, the staff are friendly enough - but the frequency of the service and quality of the rolling stock don't reflect any sort of "aspiration" to provide a service to us punters . Other lines serving Bolton are actually worse, and one can be lucky to even get on the train ...

[Cotty]

Trains are good outside rush hour. Unfortunately I have to commute into London every day on Southeastern. Because of the cluster fk that is London bridge, Charring Cross trains don't stop at London Bridge, so the Cannon Street train is overcrowded. People wait on the platform where the doors stop, there can be 20/30 people waiting to get though each set of doors.

Not enough leg room for someone 6 foot tall. Knees wedged into the seat in front.

[rs1952]

aw51 121565 said:

Only just found this thread (this forum is on my "reserve forum" list for when SP&L, NP&E etc are moribund of anything new ), but there are some interesting posts re: Northern Rail (taken over by Arriva on April 1st, they promised the moon on a stick plus other moons on sticks so we shall see...),

...

My local station - on the Manchester to Clitheroe (incorporating Darwen ) line - is Bromley Cross, it is 1.7 miles from home and an easy 30 minute walk (parking is a game of chance at best and generally impossible local to the station, and buses aren't guaranteed to dovetail conveniently); imagine walking 30 minutes then standing the same amount of time on the train... Not good . Hourly trains, 3 carriages are a bonus as I'm used to 2 carriages once hourly after the morning rush hour service (which is 2 trains an hour) - but almost all seats will be taken by the time the train gets to BMC and it is a fight to the death to get one of the few available rather than stand... It shouldn't be like this.

But trips back home will generally guarantee a seat from Madchester Victoria; those clambering aboard at Salford Uni (or even at Salford Crescent) may well suffer my inbound fate...

It really is a poor service. Yes, the staff are friendly enough - but the frequency of the service and quality of the rolling stock don't reflect any sort of "aspiration" to provide a service to us punters . Other lines serving Bolton are actually worse, and one can be lucky to even get on the train ...

There is as much "politics" in this as anything that gets discussed in NP&E - some would say more politics in many cases

When the railways were "privatised" in 1994, the perceived wisdom in Whitehall was that the railways would fall flat on their arse afterwards, and the whole setup was planned to manage a final decline. The word "privatised" above was put in inverted commas because Whitehall kept absolute control of what went on:

1. Train operators were invited to bid for franchises that Whitehall drew up, with Whitehall specifying the level of service that would be provided.
2. Train operators were told (and still are told) by Whitehall what trains they can have

The problem was the railways did not disappear up their own arse following privatisation; instead there was a rapid growth in passenger and freight traffic. Whether that was because of or in spite of "privatisation" is a moot point.

The upshot of this is that many train operators are well aware that their trains are inadequate for the services they are providing, but they are not allowed to get hold of any more until new stock gets built and other stock can be cascaded from other lines (I understand, for example, that the Great Western HSTs will be off to Scotland when the GWR electrification is completed (and it is already running well behind schedule) and those trains are already 40 years old now.

The other interesting quirk is that if the TOCs fail to take the blame for all this and spill the beans on who is really responsible - well - who do you think will be awarded the franchise the next time round...?

And for some reason, approximately half the country think that renationalisation is a good idea, because it will give the government more control

[TommoAE86]

I've had both sides of the coin. When I commuted with SWT to Waterloo it was the most hateful, degrading, unpleasant journey I've ever had to undertake. Only getting on a London bus is worse!

However I got on a FGW from Paddington right down into the depths of Cornwall and it was one of the most lovely train journies I've ever had. Quiet/Comfortable with happy staff and lots of space. It might've helped that it was a HST which I like only because I grew up in the 90's so anything around that time I've got a soft spot for. (HST's, 40's, 47's etc)

[FiF]

Tbh I miss the HST after the departure from the Hereford - Paddington service.

[Cotty]

TommoAE86 said:

However I got on a FGW from Paddington right down into the depths of Cornwall and it was one of the most lovely train journies I've ever had. Quiet/Comfortable with happy staff and lots of space.

That’s when trains work. Non commuter train so bit of space and quiet to get on a read a book or watch a film. Fast and relaxing, get out the other end refreshed, not stressed out about being cut up or stuck in traffic jams.

If you do get a bunch of loud annoying idiots on the train at least you can move to another carriage.

[jamiebae]

blueg33 said:

Yup hateful effing things, did my penance on one this morning as per every Tuesday



This one is unusually clean inside

Holy fking fk, that has to be a joke right? That interior shot is from a particularly spartan bus taken 30 years ago, I'm sure.

I commute by train most days, it's clean and punctual, the rest of the passengers are courteous and it gets me to work faster than a car would. I've no idea what all the fuss on this thread is about really

[Podie]

Munter said:

Train travel is nothing but stress. There are very few activities I find more stressful.

I'm quite the opposite. I can't believe people would rather drive into a city centre at rush hour.

Turn up at station, get on air conditioned train, sit at table, wait.

Either read, watch TV/film, listen to music - maybe even have a cheeky beverage or two on the train home.

[Cotty]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I tend to watch films or TV series on the train so the length of time it takes doesn’t really worry me. I have tons of stuff queued up to watch.

[Boatbuoy]

jamiebae said:

blueg33 said:

Yup hateful effing things, did my penance on one this morning as per every Tuesday



This one is unusually clean inside

Holy fking fk, that has to be a joke right? That interior shot is from a particularly spartan bus taken 30 years ago, I'm sure.

I commute by train most days, it's clean and punctual, the rest of the passengers are courteous and it gets me to work faster than a car would. I've no idea what all the fuss on this thread is about really

That's because it was made out of a bus from 30 years ago, literally!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacer_(train)

[jamiebae]

Boatbuoy said:

That's because it was made out of a bus from 30 years ago, literally!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacer_(train)

I was aware of the bus roots of the design, but I had assumed they'd at least have put some proper seats in it! I'm currently sitting in a 30 year old tram, and it's massively more luxurious and comfortable than that.

[Munter]

Podie said:

Munter said:

Train travel is nothing but stress. There are very few activities I find more stressful.

I'm quite the opposite. I can't believe people would rather drive into a city centre at rush hour.

Turn up at station, get on air conditioned train, sit at table, wait.

How did you get to the station during rush hour?
Air conditioning... (If that's fitted it'd be nice if they turned it on)
Sit!
At a table!!!
Wait. E.g. stress about if the train is the right train or it they put the wrong info on the boards again, while trying to decipher Charlie Brown on the tannoy system.

I wouldn't want to drive into a city center at rush hour either. But it's only a bit stressful during rush hour. Train travel is stressful every time, all the time.

[egor110]

Munter said:

Podie said:

Munter said:

Train travel is nothing but stress. There are very few activities I find more stressful.

I'm quite the opposite. I can't believe people would rather drive into a city centre at rush hour.

Turn up at station, get on air conditioned train, sit at table, wait.

How did you get to the station during rush hour?
Air conditioning... (If that's fitted it'd be nice if they turned it on)
Sit!
At a table!!!
Wait. E.g. stress about if the train is the right train or it they put the wrong info on the boards again, while trying to decipher Charlie Brown on the tannoy system.

I wouldn't want to drive into a city center at rush hour either. But it's only a bit stressful during rush hour. Train travel is stressful every time, all the time.

In your experience maybe.

I went to cardiff last week by train , it turned up on time it got into cardiff on time , 15 min walk later i was at the hotel and 10 min after that i was at the gig venue.

I always get the train to paddington/brighton, pre book, reserve seats and i think in the last 3 years the trains been late twice.

The advantage is i don't sit in nose to tale traffic trying to get into the city then hoping there's somewhere to park , i just get taken to the city center no fuss.

[Podie]

Munter said:

Podie said:

Munter said:

Train travel is nothing but stress. There are very few activities I find more stressful.

I'm quite the opposite. I can't believe people would rather drive into a city centre at rush hour.

Turn up at station, get on air conditioned train, sit at table, wait.

How did you get to the station during rush hour?
Air conditioning... (If that's fitted it'd be nice if they turned it on)
Sit!
At a table!!!
Wait. E.g. stress about if the train is the right train or it they put the wrong info on the boards again, while trying to decipher Charlie Brown on the tannoy system.

I wouldn't want to drive into a city center at rush hour either. But it's only a bit stressful during rush hour. Train travel is stressful every time, all the time.

There isn't a rush hour at 5:45am.
Air conditioning - works.
Sit - yep, every morning - without fail.
Table - yep, as I did this morning.
Must admit, I don't struggle with getting the correct train - even when absolutely stfaced.

Quite happy on the train TBH.

[Munter]

Podie said:

There isn't a rush hour at 5:45am.
Air conditioning - works.
Sit - yep, every morning - without fail.
Table - yep, as I did this morning.
Must admit, I don't struggle with getting the correct train - even when absolutely stfaced.

Quite happy on the train TBH.

So if you get up at the crack of dawn to beat the rush hour on the train, the train isn't too bad. But then neither is driving if you get up early enough to beat the rush.

Getting the correct train. I bet you think checking the sign on the platform is the correct destination, time and company, and then confirming it matches the info on the side of the train, means that it's the correct train. But you'd be wrong apparently.

[Kawasicki]

I was impressed with the ICE high speed train in Germany. Smooth, comfortable 180mph.

[blueg33]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It's the 5 stops after Oxford that makes it slow. But as you said it's quicker than the Cheltenham route and half the price.

I have the return tube journey down to a fine art. Get on the correct carriage at Moorgate, door stops at the foot of the stairs at Paddington. First up the stairs straight to platform 3 before the platform is announced and i can get a good seat.

[blueg33]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Me too. But it's useless at Euston, they change platforms there all the time. Obviously it also only works when there steno delays as it's not actually live platform data (don't ask me how I know!)