I don't know, I'm only repeating what the guard said! I was first on, straight to our reserved seats and specifically picked that train over the opposite half-hour in the knowledge that it started at Southampton and not Bournemouth. I was quite happy!
I don't know what else they can do other than try to allocate more 5-car rather than 4-car sets to the busiest workings for extra space. Double the busiest trips maybe, even if it's only as far as Birmingham? (You could say that about any XC service though...)
Platform annoucements maybe, regarding luggage handling, where to find coach D, etc... Boarding was a nightmare, loads of people getting in the wrong carriages / wrong ends of carriages and then trying to struggle past each other in the aisles with massive suitcases, eventually giving up and leaving luggage all over the place and just sitting anywhere. More platform staff to help lift luggage and direct people (I don't think it's un-PC to observe that many cruise passengers are elderly and the assistance might be appreciated.)
I don't know what else they can do other than try to allocate more 5-car rather than 4-car sets to the busiest workings for extra space. Double the busiest trips maybe, even if it's only as far as Birmingham? (You could say that about any XC service though...)
Platform annoucements maybe, regarding luggage handling, where to find coach D, etc... Boarding was a nightmare, loads of people getting in the wrong carriages / wrong ends of carriages and then trying to struggle past each other in the aisles with massive suitcases, eventually giving up and leaving luggage all over the place and just sitting anywhere. More platform staff to help lift luggage and direct people (I don't think it's un-PC to observe that many cruise passengers are elderly and the assistance might be appreciated.)