Commuting by train - TransPennine express
Discussion
I found it easier to drive TBH. Only tried it a couple of times, but because it stops everywhere, it didn't work for me. I was York to Liverpool though, which didn't help.
East / West commutes in the north are poor whichever mode of transport you use inside of normal commuter hours TBH.
East / West commutes in the north are poor whichever mode of transport you use inside of normal commuter hours TBH.
Ha, all change. You'll be lucky!
It's the same staff, same management having the same issues. Any change won't be an overnight process.
I do think there has been a real drive over the last few months to improve things. Still lots of cancellations, way more than there should be, but definitly a marked improvement from where they once were.
Hopefully in time they'll be back to where they should be.
It's the same staff, same management having the same issues. Any change won't be an overnight process.
I do think there has been a real drive over the last few months to improve things. Still lots of cancellations, way more than there should be, but definitly a marked improvement from where they once were.
Hopefully in time they'll be back to where they should be.
I have to take the TPE from Yorkshire across to Manchester airport once a month. Just once there and back.
It used to be ok pre-covid; not enough carriages and a miserable experience in economy but they were reliable enough to get to the airport on time if you always allowed for your train being cancelled and taking the next one. First class was decent and they had those nice filter coffees, now it’s just instant crap.
Post covid it is completely and utterly unusable. I’ve now missed three flights because of those
s and have been left stuck at the airport unable to get home because they’ve cancelled the return service. I just save myself the hassle now and either take a taxi or simply use Heathrow instead. I feel sorry for anyone who has to use the service every day. Here’s an example of the last time I tried to use it….
It used to be ok pre-covid; not enough carriages and a miserable experience in economy but they were reliable enough to get to the airport on time if you always allowed for your train being cancelled and taking the next one. First class was decent and they had those nice filter coffees, now it’s just instant crap.
Post covid it is completely and utterly unusable. I’ve now missed three flights because of those
s and have been left stuck at the airport unable to get home because they’ve cancelled the return service. I just save myself the hassle now and either take a taxi or simply use Heathrow instead. I feel sorry for anyone who has to use the service every day. Here’s an example of the last time I tried to use it….
My son lives in Marsden and works in Manchester.
He works from home 2 days a week.
He finds the trains OK-ish for the 9 to 5 commute, but its the evenings when the service falls apart.
If he wants to stay in Manc into the evening, its best to drive in (early) so he knows he can get home.
He works from home 2 days a week.
He finds the trains OK-ish for the 9 to 5 commute, but its the evenings when the service falls apart.
If he wants to stay in Manc into the evening, its best to drive in (early) so he knows he can get home.
Marsden is a lovely little town, with a vibrant life pulse.
Pretty much self contained with about 5 pubs, many proper shop, a small Co-op, several clubs and the Mechanics.
A big Aldi in the next village (Slawit), or Morrisons in Meltham.
They have their own Jazz festival in the Autumn, but beware, they are a bunch of heathens as they celebrate all the old Pagan festivals !
Pretty much self contained with about 5 pubs, many proper shop, a small Co-op, several clubs and the Mechanics.
A big Aldi in the next village (Slawit), or Morrisons in Meltham.
They have their own Jazz festival in the Autumn, but beware, they are a bunch of heathens as they celebrate all the old Pagan festivals !
woodypup59 said:
Marsden is a lovely little town, with a vibrant life pulse.
Pretty much self contained with about 5 pubs, many proper shop, a small Co-op, several clubs and the Mechanics.
A big Aldi in the next village (Slawit), or Morrisons in Meltham.
They have their own Jazz festival in the Autumn, but beware, they are a bunch of heathens as they celebrate all the old Pagan festivals !
A great coffee and bakery place in Slawit, down by the canal, there is also Dark Roast coffee who roast the best coffee.Pretty much self contained with about 5 pubs, many proper shop, a small Co-op, several clubs and the Mechanics.
A big Aldi in the next village (Slawit), or Morrisons in Meltham.
They have their own Jazz festival in the Autumn, but beware, they are a bunch of heathens as they celebrate all the old Pagan festivals !
I have friends who come up from London in their BMW, have the car serviced and stay in a B and B, go shopping in Manchester and have a great time. Labour rates on the servicing are half what they pay in London.
K87 said:
woodypup59 said:
Marsden is a lovely little town, with a vibrant life pulse.
Pretty much self contained with about 5 pubs, many proper shop, a small Co-op, several clubs and the Mechanics.
A big Aldi in the next village (Slawit), or Morrisons in Meltham.
They have their own Jazz festival in the Autumn, but beware, they are a bunch of heathens as they celebrate all the old Pagan festivals !
A great coffee and bakery place in Slawit, down by the canal, there is also Dark Roast coffee who roast the best coffee.Pretty much self contained with about 5 pubs, many proper shop, a small Co-op, several clubs and the Mechanics.
A big Aldi in the next village (Slawit), or Morrisons in Meltham.
They have their own Jazz festival in the Autumn, but beware, they are a bunch of heathens as they celebrate all the old Pagan festivals !
I have friends who come up from London in their BMW, have the car serviced and stay in a B and B, go shopping in Manchester and have a great time. Labour rates on the servicing are half what they pay in London.
Also….Holme Valley Mountain Rescue base there…..well, we only had to use them once
nice bunch of folk, I raised £4K for them doing my LEJoG later 
On the TPE trains….maybe they will improve, but my daughter had received several full refunds for issues….one of which was when she was dumped in Manchester with no way to get to Sheffield. They had to run a taxi-minibus for a bunch of people….home by 2am: bloody awful!
We were not surprised to hear they were being taken over. I do wonder what changes that will bring….the suspicious part of me expects the staff to broadly remain the same and no heads to roll….
K87 said:
woodypup59 said:
Marsden is a lovely little town, with a vibrant life pulse.
Pretty much self contained with about 5 pubs, many proper shop, a small Co-op, several clubs and the Mechanics.
A big Aldi in the next village (Slawit), or Morrisons in Meltham.
They have their own Jazz festival in the Autumn, but beware, they are a bunch of heathens as they celebrate all the old Pagan festivals !
A great coffee and bakery place in Slawit, down by the canal, there is also Dark Roast coffee who roast the best coffee.Pretty much self contained with about 5 pubs, many proper shop, a small Co-op, several clubs and the Mechanics.
A big Aldi in the next village (Slawit), or Morrisons in Meltham.
They have their own Jazz festival in the Autumn, but beware, they are a bunch of heathens as they celebrate all the old Pagan festivals !
I have friends who come up from London in their BMW, have the car serviced and stay in a B and B, go shopping in Manchester and have a great time. Labour rates on the servicing are half what they pay in London.
Great guy and very good at his job, I'm not sure if he's still about but Marsden and it's surrounding areas was quite nice as well.
I remember a time when I used the oxymoron that is the Trans Pennine Express as far back as the late 1980s to travel daily to college in York. Back then it was a proper ancient relic of a train with Miss Marple style carriages adorned with hideously varnished plywood panels often adorned with badly carved initials of crap football teams and those seats with ears that had been tainted with a million farts.
Then in the early 90s the 8 carriage stock was replaced with new four carriage trains. Engines in each carriage replaced the single locomotive unit, which meant it was very noisy. When setting off the engines would hit full revs but without any according appreciable sensation of acceleration. When anyone describes how a car with a CVT transmission works, this must be what it’s like, or at least this is how I imagine it. A small blessing is that least it had air con, which was great when it was occasionally controlled properly, rather than being set to 2 million degrees in a heatwave or on chiller blast freezer mode in mid winter.
The Trans Pennine [not very] Express over the years successfully cemented my dislike of rail travel. I’ll only travel by rail as a mode of last resort, and even on the occasions I use it, for some reason nothing goes right. Hence, If you see me getting on the same train that you’re catching, please FFS, get the next one because it will be delayed.
Then in the early 90s the 8 carriage stock was replaced with new four carriage trains. Engines in each carriage replaced the single locomotive unit, which meant it was very noisy. When setting off the engines would hit full revs but without any according appreciable sensation of acceleration. When anyone describes how a car with a CVT transmission works, this must be what it’s like, or at least this is how I imagine it. A small blessing is that least it had air con, which was great when it was occasionally controlled properly, rather than being set to 2 million degrees in a heatwave or on chiller blast freezer mode in mid winter.
The Trans Pennine [not very] Express over the years successfully cemented my dislike of rail travel. I’ll only travel by rail as a mode of last resort, and even on the occasions I use it, for some reason nothing goes right. Hence, If you see me getting on the same train that you’re catching, please FFS, get the next one because it will be delayed.
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