WCML Tickets 27/12/14

[Starmill]

Can anyone summarise what is in place for tomorrow please? Are Virgin Trains and London Midland tickets being accepted on Chiltern Railways, or CrossCountry and East Midlands Trains services?

All websites, particularly on mobile, are useless at disseminating information.

Many thanks.

 

[185143]

A poster at Stockport simply says 'You may need to travel on other operators on alternative routes. Your ticket will be accepted.

 

[causton]

LM says to use Chiltern, Met line, EMT, Thameslink etc, with no explicit mention that tickets are valid. Virgin says to use EMT, Chiltern, EC etc but once again, not specifically saying tickets are valid...!

 

[Max]

Virgin Trains are advising passengers to use the following routes:
- Between Manchester and London should travel via Sheffield and London St Pancras International
- Between Liverpool and London should travel via Nuneaton and Leicester
- Between Glasgow and London should travel via the East Coast mainline
- Between Birmingham International and London a direct train will run between Birmingham and London Euston via the Chiltern Lines

For London Midland, see attached screenshot from their website.

 

[Starmill]

Does anybody think an LM ticket from Crewe to London will be accepted on XC Tamworth - Birmingham and then Chiltern, or Nuneaton - Leicester and then EMT? I guess as long as I don't use LM only on VT it will be not considered taking the pee? Anything I can fall back on if XC don't like it?

 

[Kite159]

Crewe to Derby to St Pancras?

Didn't EMT increase the Crewe/Derby trains to 222s the last time Watford Junction was closed?

 

[causton]

Yes, sure I read somewhere on here 1x 222 and 1x multiple 153s or 156s on the Crewe - Derby this weekend.

 

[185143]

I tweeted EMT on Wednesday who said a 222 would be out on Crewe-Derby this weekend but no Manchester HST.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Suggested route for Crewe (and Tamworth) to London is indeed via Derby and St Pancras. I would advise against using Chiltern as, even with services being strengthened, they're likely to be wedged because you can't fit several Pendolinos worth of passengers an hour into two Chiltern services.

 

[bb21]

I assume that a substantial number of people would be travelling on EMT, given that when I booked my tickets for tomorrow a few weeks back, Standard Advances on some trains were twice the price of First Advances.

 

[cjmillsnun]

Can anyone summarise what is in place for tomorrow please? Are Virgin Trains and London Midland tickets being accepted on Chiltern Railways, or CrossCountry and East Midlands Trains services?

All websites, particularly on mobile, are useless at disseminating information.

Many thanks.

Of course they are. TOC have standard procedures for this.

 

[roritoberry]

Hi, Just wondering if anyone has advice on alternative routing for Saturday, I have a return leg of a Southend to Manchester Stns off peak return. I was planning to use the MML and go via Sheffield but given the EC trouble is there an alternative I could use in case it is silly busy at St Pancras tomorrow with the extra displaced passengers from EC on top of the VT ones? Don't mind a longer journey time if it means comfort.
Thanks for the tips!

 

[bb21]

Paddington to Reading and then XC north is an option, but you will be stuck on Voyagers for a few hours.

Other than that I think Chiltern is your only option, which are likely to be wedged, and change at Birmingham.

 

[Starmill]

So the only piece of cross-acceptance not in place is London Midland tickets on the VT service?

 

[roritoberry]

Paddington to Reading and then XC north is an option, but you will be stuck on Voyagers for a few hours.

Other than that I think Chiltern is your only option, which are likely to be wedged, and change at Birmingham.

Hi, Thanks for the info, just want a back up plan and I need to get back on Saturday! Just seen on GN website that EC tickets are not valid on MML so hopefully won't be too bad then.

Just in case will I need to pay an excess to go via Reading?

Cheers

 

[bb21]

Hi, Thanks for the info, just want a back up plan and I need to get back on Saturday! Just seen on GN website that EC tickets are not valid on MML so hopefully won't be too bad then.

If EC messes up then it is more than likely arrangements will be made with EMT to accommodate pax on their services.

Just in case will I need to pay an excess to go via Reading?

Cheers

No. It is a permitted route anyway.

 

[GatwickDepress]

I hold a ticket from Ore to Milton Keynes Central routed via Kensington Olympia. Southern's advice has been "tickets are accepted on London Midland services". Am I to take from this I can use the Underground to go to Stanmore and catch a replacement bus from there?

 

[bb21]

The only thing mentioned on NRE is:

No Southern service will run between Watford Junction and Clapham Junction. Passengers should use London Midland and London Overground services.

So I think the answer is yes. In fact with closures on this scale, anything reasonable will be passed and the main concern of all staff is to get people moving and to their destination asap.

 

[GatwickDepress]

The only thing mentioned on NRE is:



So I think the answer is yes. In fact with closures on this scale, anything reasonable will be passed and the main concern of all staff is to get people moving and to their destination asap.

Thank you, bb21, you've relieved quite a bit of nervousness there!
At least NRE shows just one direct journey via KPA, departing Ore 2050 arriving into MKC at 0228, so if the gateline staff say no I can wait all day for that.

 

[Starmill]

Indeed, I am hoping my Sandbach to Birmingham ticket will be accepted via Stoke and the diverted XC services (via Nuneaton).