Lack of charging options at Blackburn station or on the Northern train

[johntea]

Dear Northern Rail

When faced with a 40 minute wait at Blackburn station and then a 2 and a bit hour journey on your train services and 1% phone battery it would be nice to have somewhere just to charge it for a few minutes!

...there are 4/5 electrical outlets as you enter the station but they are key locked to the 'off' position!

Think this calls for a tweet as I don't see any great danger in leaving them live!

For anyone in the same situation (you poor soul!) if you nip to the nearby Vue complex there is a live double plug socket in there near the stairs to the cinema...hurrah!

 

[Bullfield WEst]

Don't buy a phone that will not take a fresh charged replacement battery.

 

[mirodo]

Or, buy an external battery which can be kept in a coat pocket/ bag and used to charge your phone as required. Anker is a good brand - they have several models available, including one for a tenner on Amazon which contains enough power for a full recharge of most smartphones.

 

[CarltonA]

Or try turning the confounded thing off for a change. Life was not really all that bad before they came along.

 

[Bald Rick]

Or don't run your phone down to 1% on the basis that you will be able to charge your phone at a place where you would have to steal someone else's electricity to do so.

 

[lincolnshire]

Dear Northern Rail

When faced with a 40 minute wait at Blackburn station and then a 2 and a bit hour journey on your train services and 1% phone battery it would be nice to have somewhere just to charge it for a few minutes!

...there are 4/5 electrical outlets as you enter the station but they are key locked to the 'off' position!

Think this calls for a tweet as I don't see any great danger in leaving them live!

For anyone in the same situation (you poor soul!) if you nip to the nearby Vue complex there is a live double plug socket in there near the stairs to the cinema...hurrah!

Like it or lump it, if you use a socket that is not your own or have permission to use, it amounts to stealing electricity.

How did we mange years ago ?

 

[Joseph_Locke]

Like it or lump it, if you use a socket that is not your own or have permission to use, it amounts to stealing electricity.

How did we mange years ago ?

Have you got a postal address I can send the answer to?

 

[Smethwickian]

Johntea, if while waiting at a station near your house I felt a bit thirsty but the operator hadn't provided and refreshment facilities, would you like to leave your front door and fridge open so I can come in and help myself to something to drink, free of charge? No? Thought not. But you are happy to walk into a cinema where you are not a paying customer and abstract electricity....

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I too recently changed trains at Blackburn station and was disgusted to find there was no-one was giving away free beer nor were there any complimentary sit-down, three-course dinners available.

When faced with a 40 minute wait at Blackburn station and then a 2 and a bit hour journey on your train services I find this absolutely appalling.

 

[Darandio]

Awaits the raft of posters telling us it's absolutely fine because it's only 0.08p.

 

[NotATrainspott]

The Northern ITT says that by 2020, all Northern Regional services must have one power socket for every two seats on board.

Abellio went above and beyond the ScotRail franchise requirement for sockets so who knows, maybe a Northern bidder will do the same.

 

[AM9]

The Northern ITT says that by 2020, all Northern Regional services must have one power socket for every two seats on board.

Abellio went above and beyond the ScotRail franchise requirement for sockets so who knows, maybe a Northern bidder will do the same.

And by 2020 there will be a thriving 'Northern Powerhouse'. Mmmm..

 

[talldave]

Once incentive for keeping my phone charged (at my expense) is that my bank's app gets me a free coffee at a number of stations. I must have a word with them about extending their generosity to three course meals!

 

[Minilad]

Lets hope there are no PCSO's in the Blackburn Vue vicinity

 

[spongsdad]

Yawn.

 

[modernrail]

God forbid we aim for a modern railway with modern facilities in the North. I love telling the office I will be out of contact because I am travelling in the sub-standard bit of the country. Lets not raise our aspirations and go on about stealing electricity instead - it is much more useful. Even more important we fail to get over the irony that this the bit of the world in which the sparks of the industrial revolution were first ignited. I must remember to complain to Northern Rail that my train is not being hauled by a horse.

 

[Philip Elliott]

Since when were Coalbrookdale and the Derwent Valley in the north..?

 

[muddythefish]

God forbid we aim for a modern railway with modern facilities in the North. I love telling the office I will be out of contact because I am travelling in the sub-standard bit of the country. Lets not raise our aspirations and go on about stealing electricity instead - it is much more useful. Even more important we fail to get over the irony that this the bit of the world in which the sparks of the industrial revolution were first ignited. I must remember to complain to Northern Rail that my train is not being hauled by a horse.

Very good. 10/10

 

[yorksrob]

Dear Northern Rail

When faced with a 40 minute wait at Blackburn station and then a 2 and a bit hour journey on your train services and 1% phone battery it would be nice to have somewhere just to charge it for a few minutes!

...there are 4/5 electrical outlets as you enter the station but they are key locked to the 'off' position!

Think this calls for a tweet as I don't see any great danger in leaving them live!

For anyone in the same situation (you poor soul!) if you nip to the nearby Vue complex there is a live double plug socket in there near the stairs to the cinema...hurrah!

Ignore the whining from the Songs of Praise brigade and complain.

If Northern want people's custom, they should provide adequate facilities. InterCity TOC's seem able to provide such things, so why can't Northern (many of who's journey options are as long as InterCity journeys and as expensive anyway).

We're not talking about installing a pullman carriage in every train - a standard socket in the station should be possible to provide in the 21st century.

 

[spongsdad]

Ignore the whining from the Songs of Praise brigade and complain.

If Northern want people's custom, they should provide adequate facilities. InterCity TOC's seem able to provide such things, so why can't Northern (many of who's journey options are as long as InterCity journeys and as expensive anyway).

We're not talking about installing a pullman carriage in every train - a standard socket in the station should be possible to provide in the 21st century.

Oh, for goodness' sake, let's get a bit of perspective here. The OP had a twenty minute wait and is peeved that he couldn't charge his 'phone. There are plenty of stations where customers have a wait and can't have a pee. I know which facility I'd prefer. And whilst we're at it, what about better facilities for disabled passengers, who frequently can't even get on a train at peak periods and, if they use a wheelchair, can't ride on substitute bus services during engineering possessions?

 

[modernrail]

Yes, you are right, all those things should be addressed. That doesn't mean that antiquated stock and stations that do not respond to modern technological needs should not be addressed as well. Nor does it mean that people who raise the problem are not within their rights to do so. We can choose to run an out of date train set, or seek an up to date piece of infrastructure fit for a modern economic region that is able to compete with the rest of the world, so that its young people are able to get lovely things like…. jobs. Yes, I am afraid plugs are an important part of that equation. Now what time is my horse due?

 

[najaB]

If Northern want people's custom, they should provide adequate facilities. InterCity TOC's seem able to provide such things, so why can't Northern (many of who's journey options are as long as InterCity journeys and as expensive anyway).

I believe that the Northern ITT requires sockets on board so they are coming. As to sockets in stations, they are *very* few, far between and rarely if ever intended for public use.

We're not talking about installing a pullman carriage in every train - a standard socket in the station should be possible to provide in the 21st century.

When Northern get their new trains there will be sockets. Northern aren't alone in not providing sockets, by the way. I think that in Scotrail's fleet only the Class 380s have sockets and some of their journeys are in excess of 4 hours.

 

[modernrail]

Eurostar are also behind the curve, having won the "Longest time possible to refurbish a single train" award for the last decade (the previously annual award having being held by them for a number of years now whilst they finished their….anyway you get the point). Plugs and wifi are just as important as steam boilers and punching in cards were in their day. It is a different economy with different needs. I have to say smart phones are also a pretty good way of finding out what on earth is going on with your train when the system decides to screw up and information is less than forthcoming from the people it should come from. A bit of charge can quite literally help you go a long way.

 

[Bald Rick]

I spent 6 hours in the SWALEC, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, two weeks ago, and there was no where to charge my iPad. Absolute disgrace in this modern age as I had loads of Facebook updates to do.

Who do I complain to?

 

[modernrail]

This forum should be shut down immediately. Using a modern medium to post views should be stopped and users should be told to stop being so damned demanding. There is no reason why pigeons can not be used to post messages instead.

 

[Jonny]

Since when were Coalbrookdale and the Derwent Valley in the north..?

It depends on which River Derwent. There is more than one. I can vouch for this one as northern:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Derwent,_North_East_England

Coalbrookdale, on the other hand, is not northern though.

 

[bunnahabhain]

Dear Passenger,

Please show me where your ticket entitles you to free electricity.

 

[Bantamzen]

I too recently changed trains at Blackburn station and was disgusted to find there was no-one was giving away free beer nor were there any complimentary sit-down, three-course dinners available.

When faced with a 40 minute wait at Blackburn station and then a 2 and a bit hour journey on your train services I find this absolutely appalling.

Captain, congratulations! You have just won the internet!!

 

[Harpers Tate]

Hey Cortana,
Where can I charge my..........

Cortana? Are you there? Cortana? Hello??

 

[yorksrob]

Oh, for goodness' sake, let's get a bit of perspective here. The OP had a twenty minute wait and is peeved that he couldn't charge his 'phone. There are plenty of stations where customers have a wait and can't have a pee. I know which facility I'd prefer. And whilst we're at it, what about better facilities for disabled passengers, who frequently can't even get on a train at peak periods and, if they use a wheelchair, can't ride on substitute bus services during engineering possessions?

Given the outbreak of sanctimony that seems to have emerged on this subject, it's not me who needs to obtain a sense of perspective.

I have slightly more sympathy in some circumstances with difficulties providing toilet facilities - these are expensive to install and maintain and require staff input. Blocking people from using an existing wall socket is a bit pathetic in comparison.