Pathetic Thameslink part 427

Mutant Lemming · 29 Aug 2017

Tried to renew an annual season ticket (thankfully this should be my last one ever) at Thameslink ticket office at St.Pancras.
After queueing for the sole open window (on a busy afternoon) the lady behind the counter said she didn't know how to issue it and could I wait to one side for a colleague who knew how to came back - after a few minutes she said 'oh, it may be some time'.

I gave up and went next door to the East Midland ticket office with no queue and three staff on duty. Was issued the ticket instantly and without any fuss or drama.
Needless to say once purchased I proceeded to the Thameslink platforms where trains were delayed due to a 'trespass incident'.
On arrival at destination the gates were yet again operational while the ticket office was closed and gateline unstaffed. How is someone who has issues with a ticket supposed to get in or out of the place?

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Timrud · 29 Aug 2017

I'm not sure Thameslink are to blame for a trespass incident

Llanigraham · 29 Aug 2017

Mutant Lemming said:
Needless to say once purchased I proceeded to the Thameslink platforms where trains were delayed due to a 'trespass incident'.

Can you please explain how Thameslink are responsible for a trespass incident?

bramling · 29 Aug 2017

Llanigraham said:
Can you please explain how Thameslink are responsible for a trespass incident?

Thameslink as a concept certainly would hold some liability if one were, for example, travelling north from St Pancras and the service was delayed thanks to a problem south of the river.

NSE · 29 Aug 2017

Well she may be new and not know how to do it. If so, we've all been there, learning on the job.

WelshBluebird · 29 Aug 2017

NSE said:
Well she may be new and not know how to do it. If so, we've all been there, learning on the job.

In which case, at a busy London terminal, I would expect someone more experienced to be on shift and able to help with any queries she had without having to wait "some time".

NSE · 29 Aug 2017

WelshBluebird said:
In which case, at a busy London terminal, I would expect someone more experienced to be on shift and able to help with any queries she had without having to wait "some time".

No true, but we've all been there, short staffed whilst training to train new staff etc.

RichmondCommu · 29 Aug 2017

NSE said:
Well she may be new and not know how to do it. If so, we've all been there, learning on the job.

Maybe so but I would be astonished if that were the case. Lots of people here in the SE buy season tickets.

Llanigraham · 29 Aug 2017

bramling said:
Thameslink as a concept certainly would hold some liability if one were, for example, travelling north from St Pancras and the service was delayed thanks to a problem south of the river.

Oh, come on!!
Any excuse. :roll:
No TOC can be held responsible for a trespass incident.

507021 · 29 Aug 2017

Timrud said:
I'm not sure Thameslink are to blame for a trespass incident

Completely agreed.

Antman · 29 Aug 2017

Mutant Lemming said:
Tried to renew an annual season ticket (thankfully this should be my last one ever) at Thameslink ticket office at St.Pancras.
After queueing for the sole open window (on a busy afternoon) the lady behind the counter said she didn't know how to issue it and could I wait to one side for a colleague who knew how to came back - after a few minutes she said 'oh, it may be some time'.

I gave up and went next door to the East Midland ticket office with no queue and three staff on duty. Was issued the ticket instantly and without any fuss or drama.
Needless to say once purchased I proceeded to the Thameslink platforms where trains were delayed due to a 'trespass incident'.
On arrival at destination the gates were yet again operational while the ticket office was closed and gateline unstaffed. How is someone who has issues with a ticket supposed to get in or out of the place?

I was under the impression that gates had to be kept open if they were unstaffed? All sorts of potential safety issues.

bramling · 29 Aug 2017

Llanigraham said:
Oh, come on!!
Any excuse. :roll:
No TOC can be held responsible for a trespass incident.

I know what you're saying, however it doesn't change the fact that if someone goes and designs a railway which has an inherent likelihood of importing delays, that railway has to take some responsibility for an imported delay which would otherwise have been contained within its own local area. Obviously one wouldn't blame the TOC, but we could blame the industry and the politicians.

AM9 · 29 Aug 2017

I blame George Stephenson, - no let's blame the Romans. Had they not invented the wheel, - a serious political error, then there couldn't have been railways for these poor tresspassers to get lured onto. :roll:

bb21 · 30 Aug 2017

I must say I am slightly surprised by this, as I normally buy my season ticket at the Thameslink ticket office at St Pancras and has never had any issue. Must have been your luck on the day.

bramling said:
I know what you're saying, however it doesn't change the fact that if someone goes and designs a railway which has an inherent likelihood of importing delays, that railway has to take some responsibility for an imported delay which would otherwise have been contained within its own local area. Obviously one wouldn't blame the TOC, but we could blame the industry and the politicians.

The very interconnected nature of the network means delays cannot always be contained in a small area. They can spread very quickly.

Sometimes it is possible to pin some blame on a TOC if service recovery in the aftermath is poor, but it is often difficult for an outsider to judge what is the result of poor recovery and what is simply a result of the disruption and not much more can be done about it. TOCs generally take service recovery quite seriously as there are understandably financial implications. Such decisions are regularly reviewed.

bromleyboy21 · 30 Aug 2017

I'll add to that - yesterday afternoon I got to Farringdon at about 15.50 to catch 16.05 to Sevenoaks and the next 2 southbound departures were a train going to Blackfriars in about 25 minutes and a Brighton train in 45 minutes!!!

I asked the guy on the platform if the screens were correct as I couldn't quite believe it was right but he said it was so I decided to get the tube to Victoria and a train from there.

When I arrived at Victoria I checked online and the 16.05 was now running on time! In the end it got delayed in the core and ran about 15 minutes late from what I can see.

But my point is how could the information at Farringdon be so incorrect and useless? Is their attitude to try and drive passengers away during disruption? Surely they would have known that this service was going to be running?

Altnabreac · 30 Aug 2017

AM9 said:
I blame George Stephenson, - no let's blame the Romans. Had they not invented the wheel, - a serious political error, then there couldn't have been railways for these poor tresspassers to get lured onto. :roll:

Poor Mesopotamians, not getting credit for their circular inventions.

Joe Paxton · 30 Aug 2017

Mutant Lemming said:
...
On arrival at destination the gates were yet again operational while the ticket office was closed and gateline unstaffed. How is someone who has issues with a ticket supposed to get in or out of the place?

There would have been a member of staff somewhere in the vicinity of the gateline.

High Dyke · 30 Aug 2017

NSE said:
Well she may be new and not know how to do it. If so, we've all been there, learning on the job.

Maybe. That said there was a young lady on the EMT ticket desk yesterday morning. Very polite and the most gorgeous smile. She was apologetic as she had to check her notes whilst trying to issue me a PRIV rate ticket. She explained that she had only recently started. I couldn't fault the lady, she sold me the ticket i required with the minimum of fuss or delay.

EM2 · 30 Aug 2017

bromleyboy21 said:
But my point is how could the information at Farringdon be so incorrect and useless? Is their attitude to try and drive passengers away during disruption? Surely they would have known that this service was going to be running?

That service starts from West Hampstead at 15:50, so it's possible that it hadn't actually started running yet (perhaps there was a couple of minutes delay for some reason).

Oh look, it was actually five minutes late - http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/train/G48381/2017/08/29

OwlMan · 30 Aug 2017

bromleyboy21 said:
I'll add to that - yesterday afternoon I got to Farringdon at about 15.50 to catch 16.05 to Sevenoaks and the next 2 southbound departures were a train going to Blackfriars in about 25 minutes and a Brighton train in 45 minutes!!!

I asked the guy on the platform if the screens were correct as I couldn't quite believe it was right but he said it was so I decided to get the tube to Victoria and a train from there.

When I arrived at Victoria I checked online and the 16.05 was now running on time! In the end it got delayed in the core and ran about 15 minutes late from what I can see.

But my point is how could the information at Farringdon be so incorrect and useless? Is their attitude to try and drive passengers away during disruption? Surely they would have known that this service was going to be running?

Farringdon is run and managed by London Underground.

samuelmorris · 30 Aug 2017

To be honest, from walking through the St Pancras ticket hall area, I regularly see queues for Thameslink desk with it almost completely unmanned compared to a near full complement of staff at the East Midlands desk, so I can certainly believe this. There's no reason to blame the TOC for a trespass issue delay (though on balance, there is all too often every reason to blame Thameslink for delays, just not this particular reason) and using it as an excuse to push the argument about it being a flawed concept is a bit of a cheap shot really. It's a valid argument, but the impending forecast punctuality crisis from the expansion of the service has nothing to do with a general complaint about customer service, really. The topic under discussion here just exemplifies a general poor attitude from GTR in general, which, even though I am usually quick to defend rail operators against mindless criticism and general commuter-rage, does seem to be the impression they have given me as well.

Mutant Lemming · 30 Aug 2017

Joe Paxton said:
There would have been a member of staff somewhere in the vicinity of the gateline.

I was there and there wasn't.

Once again the apologists rally round for a company that doesn't give a monkey's about it's fair paying passengers.

Day two -
outward morning peak - every other train cancelled as too many trains need fixing
return - train arrives 8 minutes late, board it, departs St.Pancras then they decide it will run fast from West Hampstead.
Intermediate station passengers have to decamp at a wet West Hampstead.

Mutant Lemming · 30 Aug 2017

Timrud said:
I'm not sure Thameslink are to blame for a trespass incident

They may not be but how they respond and cope with and how they treat and inform their long suffering passengers IS in their remit.

MidnightFlyer · 30 Aug 2017

bromleyboy21 said:
I'll add to that - yesterday afternoon I got to Farringdon at about 15.50 to catch 16.05 to Sevenoaks and the next 2 southbound departures were a train going to Blackfriars in about 25 minutes and a Brighton train in 45 minutes!!!...

I was at St Panrcas yesterday morning, awaiting the 1000 to Sevenoaks. Being 19 minutes late it was decided to run it all stations to Blackfriars, then right away Bromley South and Sevenoaks only. We were only 2 down departing Bromley South, and made it to Otford 5 early. Whilst I appreciate their efforts I can't help but feel they were a bit too far to the other extreme, as unless they got calls inserted on other services, this left the Catford loop and Eynsford etc with nothing at all heading south for an hour!

In an ideal world you'd run it to its usual calling pattern once enough time had been made up to facilitate a safe and legal reversal at Sevenoaks (or wherever), and have the systems and communications in place to implement that. (Don't misinterpret this as having a bash at GTR, their control or planning, but I was a bit bemused at the likes of Bat & Ball missing out on services when, had it just been a perpetual two minute delay, it would undoubtedly have called...)

Elecman · 30 Aug 2017

Can a TOC can be blamed if the trespasser is seen to walk off the end of the platform or just jumps down from the platform edge?

Llanigraham · 30 Aug 2017

Elecman said:
Can a TOC can be blamed if the trespasser is seen to walk off the end of the platform or just jumps down from the platform edge?

Well it seems that M/L blames the TOC, but then he also appears to be blaming them for it raining as well now. :roll::roll:

AM9 · 30 Aug 2017

I'm surprised that nobody has claimed that the trespasser was so frustrated at Thameslink's poor service that he/she decided to go walkies on the tracks. That was a whingeing opportunity wasted.

shredder1 · 31 Aug 2017

Reading through the post, the OP hasnt blamed the TOC for the trespass incident, quote "were delayed due to a 'trespass incident'.

gordonthemoron · 31 Aug 2017

If you think Thameslink are bad, try Harz Elbe Express in Germany, run by the wonderful Transdev, no station staff (they rely on Deutsche Bahn), no information when things go wrong, no replacement bus services, basically nothing

plymothian · 31 Aug 2017

Hasn't this argument previously concluded it IS the TOC that is responsible for all delays and problems?
They are the ones whom the passenger enters a contract with when they take money for tickets; they are the ones who are responsible for service recovery; they are the ones who 'sub-contract' to NR and should hold them to account.

Pathetic Thameslink part 427

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