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Thameslink Services/Timetable from May 20th 2018

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Failed Unit

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We have lots of threads stating how difficult delay delay is to claim with GTR. Basically taking 40 minutes per week to do. Often having to type the same information they already have. Recapture etc adding an unnecessary hurdle. They claim it is to prevent fraud. My claim is it is to put off claims. Other commuters agree and frequently bring it up at meet the management sessions.

They are not going to improve it. It is not in their interest to.
 
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mrmatt

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We have lots of threads stating how difficult delay delay is to claim with GTR. Basically taking 40 minutes per week to do. Often having to type the same information they already have. Recapture etc adding an unnecessary hurdle. They claim it is to prevent fraud. My claim is it is to put off claims. Other commuters agree and frequently bring it up at meet the management sessions.

They are not going to improve it. It is not in their interest to.

I login, add the details of the trains and add bank details. Sure they could remember my bank details and ticket price (it prefills my key number but not the amount for some reason) but claiming has never been simpler...
 

ComUtoR

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The only reason passengers are taking it out on staff is because no one has told them what is going on.

It's not the only reason why passengers are taking it out on staff. Abuse from passengers is a daily occurrence. This debacle has just put more fuel on the already burning fire.

There is no excuse for the abusive and vitriolic behavior from the passengers.

I love being told that trains are always late or cancelled; just as mine rolls into the station on time.
I love being told that its because the everyone is out on strike; as I'm standing there, in uniform or leaning out my cab window.
I really love being told that the station is a mess; as the passenger is pouring the contents of their drink onto the platform.
I find it just lovely when I'm told that my train isn't going to Penge East, because Thameslink doesn't go to Penge East and that Southeastern doesn't drive Thameslink trains; as I'm getting out the cab of a 700.
I have a pretty nice watch that my Sister bought me for Christmas; I love it when people tap theirs furiously, I wonder if the face gets scratched.
I love being given the universal sign for.., as I pass through a station I'm not actually booked to call at.
I love being told I'm useless for not knowing the next service to Clapham Junction and what platform its on.
My geography is ok (ish) but I truly love being told *'I'm not very helpful' because I don't know how to get to random, unknown station, halfway up the country.

I also love being told that its because Drivers are taking the pee with route learning, the union is dragging it out, I should give up my rest days, I should work overtime, I should just do as I'm told or find another job, I drive too slow on restrictive signals or coming into a platform, because, you know, this forum would never say any of that...

*the polite terms.

BTW I love my job.

I know it sucks and I feel your pain too. We are working hard to get this all resolved.
 

Tunnel Bore

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It is annoying that they ask for bank details every time, capcha every time and doesn't default the tick details for annual season tickets. I think that is just some form design that is simply as poor as most other things they do. The fact that the auto-delay-repay has not worked once for me despite numerous valid claims arsing is boiling my urine though. That is another good idea in principle with a useless implementation.
 

jon0844

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They were refusing claims before the timetable change, but plenty of people online saying they're paying without fuss now - and quickly.
 

Lee_Again

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Why make it an industry? Just give season ticket holder (i.e. 1 week or over) a 75% refund (pro rata for monthly/annuals etc.) unquestioned for all weeks from 21st May until the timetable is running at 95%. Claiming for every ticket is a PITA and is designed to put people off. And the cost of processing must be enormous.

This is just another simple task the rail industry makes more difficult than it needs to be. Keep it Simple.

Some may demand 100% (like me, and we're right) and the company might say 0% which is wrong. At 75% most people will be happy - including me.
 

ijmad

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The new timetable will be published on or before July 9th.

How stable will it be on the day its introduced, I wonder? Or are we going to see emergency amendments to the emergency timetable...
 

jon0844

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How stable will it be on the day its introduced, I wonder? Or are we going to see emergency amendments to the emergency timetable...

Well the first day is the World Cup final, and a Sunday. The date of the world cup final would have been known for a long time, so whether England might be in it or not, many people may not have volunteered to work that day simply because they want to watch it.

Hopefully Monday will work. It has to. Not just because of what may or may not happen in terms of who runs the contract, but simply the fact that people NEED to rely on the train service again.
 

Failed Unit

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Well the first day is the World Cup final, and a Sunday. The date of the world cup final would have been known for a long time, so whether England might be in it or not, many people may not have volunteered to work that day simply because they want to watch it.

Hopefully Monday will work. It has to. Not just because of what may or may not happen in terms of who runs the contract, but simply the fact that people NEED to rely on the train service again.

Personally i think they will fail.

They claim they want to focus on the peak. They have removed many already. They do poorly now. Some peak services rarely run. Where will the drivers come from?

Off peak may improve. Peak I will be amazed if it isn’t like today.

As for the weekend service it is hardly demanding now and the performance is still pathetic. Maybe if the change booked traction to 365s it may help. But GTR management are not that competent otherwise they would have already done it.
 
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Slightly off topic but I am a leisure traveller who has been able to avoid the train chaos by using the car or local park and ride, but have come to a point where I have to use the train to get from Royston to Wool on an advanced ticket.

The question is what happens if the designated train from Royston to Kings Cross is late or even cancelled what happens to the validity of my advance ticket from Waterloo to Wool if I miss the designated train there.
 

tsr

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Slightly off topic but I am a leisure traveller who has been able to avoid the train chaos by using the car or local park and ride, but have come to a point where I have to use the train to get from Royston to Wool on an advanced ticket.

The question is what happens if the designated train from Royston to Kings Cross is late or even cancelled what happens to the validity of my advance ticket from Waterloo to Wool if I miss the designated train there.

Nothing happens to its validity. It is valid on the next available connecting service(s) if you have been delayed due to an incident on the railway (whether long-term, like this, or not) meaning trains cannot run to their booked times.

Bearing in mind the failure of Thameslink's timetable change is nationally well-known, the guard on the train to Wool should only need a brief explanation to understand what's happened, should there be a delay.
 

SAPhil

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GTR is paying out Delay Repay based on the original timetable and is now offering season ticket holders 1 month free travel

Where is this stated (the free travel bit). I can see nothing on their website?
 

infobleep

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infobleep

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It's not the only reason why passengers are taking it out on staff. Abuse from passengers is a daily occurrence. This debacle has just put more fuel on the already burning fire.

There is no excuse for the abusive and vitriolic behavior from the passengers.

I love being told that trains are always late or cancelled; just as mine rolls into the station on time.
I love being told that its because the everyone is out on strike; as I'm standing there, in uniform or leaning out my cab window.
I really love being told that the station is a mess; as the passenger is pouring the contents of their drink onto the platform.
I find it just lovely when I'm told that my train isn't going to Penge East, because Thameslink doesn't go to Penge East and that Southeastern doesn't drive Thameslink trains; as I'm getting out the cab of a 700.
I have a pretty nice watch that my Sister bought me for Christmas; I love it when people tap theirs furiously, I wonder if the face gets scratched.
I love being given the universal sign for.., as I pass through a station I'm not actually booked to call at.
I love being told I'm useless for not knowing the next service to Clapham Junction and what platform its on.
My geography is ok (ish) but I truly love being told *'I'm not very helpful' because I don't know how to get to random, unknown station, halfway up the country.

I also love being told that its because Drivers are taking the pee with route learning, the union is dragging it out, I should give up my rest days, I should work overtime, I should just do as I'm told or find another job, I drive too slow on restrictive signals or coming into a platform, because, you know, this forum would never say any of that...

*the polite terms.

BTW I love my job.

I know it sucks and I feel your pain too. We are working hard to get this all resolved.
I wonder if the Department for Transport want people to believe it's the unions. Not that they could publically say that.
 

infobleep

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Basedon when the service departs the station;

  • The AM peak is from 06:30 to 09:30
  • The PM peak is from 16:00 to 19:15.
https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/t...646250000#INC98491DC61118400591C8C15F281AE834

Apologies if this has been mentioned already but given the numbers travelling on the trains, it can't be easy for revenue protection inspectors to workout if someone should be sitting in first class or not, when nor holding a first class ticket.

If someone boards a train at 06:29 then they shouldn't be sitting in first class without a frist class ticket but someone who boards at say 06:34 could. The RPI would need to consult a timetable to work out who needs to pay extra and who doesn't.

Also this seems to be based on the ticket you hold, so there might be some savings by buying a ticket from an earlier station if your travel is around the time first class tickets are now required again.
 

Failed Unit

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https://www.thameslinkrailway.com/t...646250000#INC98491DC61118400591C8C15F281AE834

Apologies if this has been mentioned already but given the numbers travelling on the trains, it can't be easy for revenue protection inspectors to workout if someone should be sitting in first class or not, when nor holding a first class ticket.

If someone boards a train at 06:29 then they shouldn't be sitting in first class without a frist class ticket but someone who boards at say 06:34 could. The RPI would need to consult a timetable to work out who needs to pay extra and who doesn't.

Also this seems to be based on the ticket you hold, so there might be some savings by buying a ticket from an earlier station if your travel is around the time first class tickets are now required again.

Has anyone seen a RPI on a train since this shambles started? I think the RPI will only care at the point in time they checked the ticket. Otherwise someone stood from Brighton would not be able to sit down at Hayward’s Heath.

Love to see GTR argue it in court. Apart from the bad publicity the wording at the stations says between x and y. So if you are stood at 0629 - then you can sit at 0630 in first.
 

tsr

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GTR services are now in heightened chaos this evening due to incidents not of their own making - people struck by trains on the south MML and on the south WCML.

(Also congestion caused by a train having hit a bike on the track near Beckenham Hill... said bike has caught fire.)
 
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Failed Unit

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GTR services are now in heightened chaos this evening due to incidents not of their own making - people struck by trains on the south MML and on the south WCML.

Be interesting to see how the trains to see how trains to Cambridge/ Peterborough are dealt following this incident.

I know it is a tragic incident for all involved, but sadly it won’t be the last time it happens. GTR will be judged by their response to this.
 

tsr

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And now someone may have been struck by a Southern service in the Clapham Junction area. Victoria-Balham stopped. SWR being stopped as well, likely briefly, but enough to cause trouble.

Be interesting to see how the trains to see how trains to Cambridge/ Peterborough are dealt following this incident.

I know it is a tragic incident for all involved, but sadly it won’t be the last time it happens. GTR will be judged by their response to this.

They're trying to do stuff like sending them bi-directionally through the Core (as should be done) and not cram things together so the crossovers can't be used. It's all pretty sluggish though.
 

BRX

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They're trying to do stuff like sending them bi-directionally through the Core (as should be done)

How does this work / what does it achieve? Is this a way of letting services overtake one another in the core - or is it to push through a large number of services in the same direction in one go?
 

tsr

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How does this work / what does it achieve? Is this a way of letting services overtake one another in the core - or is it to push through a large number of services in the same direction in one go?

In this case, various northbound Thameslink services aiming for the Midland Mainline (ie. St Albans/Luton/Bedford etc.) were held in the Core due to the incident on the MML. However, these stationary or slow moving trains were (bar one) on the westernmost of the two lines.

While they were being held, or terminated and moved out of the way, other Thameslink services which run via the East Coast Mainline (ie. Peterborough/Cambridge etc.) were sent on the adjacent line in the same direction, in order to overtake the trains which were being held.

The incident on the MML was such that all lines through the incident site were blocked for some time, so there were very few southbound trains which needed to be held for the northbound trains to run on both lines.

The signalling system is fully equipped to route trains onto either line through the Core section within Central London, and has been for years.
 

dlj83

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I'm guessing that the rear first class will no longer be declassified on all routes when they bring in the new timetable.
 

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OwenB

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I'm guessing that the rear first class will no longer be declassified on all routes when they bring in the new timetable.
Does anyone have a link to this mythical timetable that's supposed to be released on Monday? I presume it's different to the pdf I saw on here a few days ago?
 

jon0844

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I'm guessing that the rear first class will no longer be declassified on all routes when they bring in the new timetable.

The rear is declassified on all 700s all day and the front during the peak. On 365s and 387s first class is declassified in the peaks and in operation off peak. This continues into the new timetable.
 

ChiefPlanner

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My wife - texted earlier no trains at SP , fatality and asked whether she should go via Watford or Hatfield (how I laughed,.....)

She got a train in the end.
 

otomous

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It's not the only reason why passengers are taking it out on staff. Abuse from passengers is a daily occurrence. This debacle has just put more fuel on the already burning fire.

There is no excuse for the abusive and vitriolic behavior from the passengers.

I love being told that trains are always late or cancelled; just as mine rolls into the station on time.
I love being told that its because the everyone is out on strike; as I'm standing there, in uniform or leaning out my cab window.
I really love being told that the station is a mess; as the passenger is pouring the contents of their drink onto the platform.
I find it just lovely when I'm told that my train isn't going to Penge East, because Thameslink doesn't go to Penge East and that Southeastern doesn't drive Thameslink trains; as I'm getting out the cab of a 700.
I have a pretty nice watch that my Sister bought me for Christmas; I love it when people tap theirs furiously, I wonder if the face gets scratched.
I love being given the universal sign for.., as I pass through a station I'm not actually booked to call at.
I love being told I'm useless for not knowing the next service to Clapham Junction and what platform its on.
My geography is ok (ish) but I truly love being told *'I'm not very helpful' because I don't know how to get to random, unknown station, halfway up the country.

I also love being told that its because Drivers are taking the pee with route learning, the union is dragging it out, I should give up my rest days, I should work overtime, I should just do as I'm told or find another job, I drive too slow on restrictive signals or coming into a platform, because, you know, this forum would never say any of that...

*the polite terms.

BTW I love my job.

I know it sucks and I feel your pain too. We are working hard to get this all resolved.

And now it seems being accused of being hung over, even though if they thought for more than two seconds they’d realise that is an extremely serious and unlikely occurrence. Unlike most workers, we can’t drink every night after work, however sunny it is or however many World Cup games are on.
 

Lee_Again

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The rear is declassified on all 700s all day and the front during the peak. On 365s and 387s first class is declassified in the peaks and in operation off peak. This continues into the new timetable.
Can you provide evidence for this?

Off peak declassification is well known and documented, but I don't recall seeing anything about 365/387 off peak.
 
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