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  1. J

    June 2024 Timetable Change

    I was complaining about the fast service from Orpington, and got a stock answer about the slow services, which are irrelevant as they are nearly all overtaken (unless of course you have huge gaps between the fast trains). According to RTT one train isn't being removed, just its 0922 stop at...
  2. J

    June 2024 Timetable Change

    I complained to Southeastern, and got this completely useless and irrelevant answer.
  3. J

    June 2024 Timetable Change

    They've removed 2 fast trains from Orpington to London Bridge early morning off-peak. There is now a 38 minute gap between 9:12 and 9:50. That's one through train that now won't stop, and one Orpington starter removed. They really don't want me to go to London for the day, do they.
  4. J

    Rerouting all Southeastern Mainline services into Victoria (and via Crystal Palace?) or Waterloo - could it work?

    London Bridge with 2 tube lines, Thameslink and the bridge itself, is a lot more useful for commuters accessing the high density commercial areas. Charing Cross is the best station for leisure traffic. Victoria. with a lot of residential property, is a lot less useful as a destination. So even...
  5. J

    Charing Cross-Tunbridge Wells terminators (millennium period)

    Nearly all traffic has one London station as a destination, so most passengers have no interest in intermediate stops. But Orpington is a feeder point to the whole of SE London, the best point to switch from local to regional services. So why does Sevenoaks have 6tph fast to London, but...
  6. J

    Charing Cross-Tunbridge Wells terminators (millennium period)

    The change 2 years ago to only have a half-hourly fast service from Orpington to London Bridge is very regrettable. Served sometimes by Hastings trains, other times by Tunbridge Wells terminators, and even a shuttle starting at Orpington, its a muddled system, and gives a lousy service, as the 4...
  7. J

    Passengers abandon train at Lewisham with 3rd rails still live.

    What worries me about this incident is the rigid rules about signalling. A driver can see the conditions and sense the stress building in his passengers, but its the signaler in a comfortable chair in a warm room far away who makes the decisions, and is always likely to discount the experience...
  8. J

    Have you had valid Delay Repay claims rejected?

    Southeastern rejected one London Bridge to Orpington when a Ashford fire took out 3/4 of their network. No trains were leaving LBG, so I went via Victoria with an hour's delay, only to find the LBG trains has resumed in the meantime. Paid on appeal. Not happy they quibbled on a day when they...
  9. J

    Ashford fire 20/12/18

    SE have just rejected my delay repay claim, as after their "tickets valid on other routes" tannoy message I went from LBG to Orpington via Victoria, with hour+ delay, but they say a train left London Bridge after I'd bailed. As I'm not psychic, I'm appealing, and will take it to the ombundsman.
  10. J

    delay repay for zero fares on oyster

    Southeastern's delay repay system doesn't handle Oyster or contactless well. You are asked to attach a photo of your paper ticket, its not at all clear what information from the Oyster website is needed. I cobbled together a page from screenshots, and complained.
  11. J

    Penalty Fare After Approaching Collector

    The DLR's lack of gates keeps catching me out, as I can never remember for occasional journeys whether the validators are at street level or platform level, not helped with the complexity of the proof of route intermediate ones I don't understand. I suspect this dislike of automated systems is...
  12. J

    Penalty Fare After Approaching Collector

    By their act of contritely going to a revenue officer and proactively reporting their mistake. If I seek out the guard on a train, I'd expect them to charge me the normal fare. If I thought I'd get a PF, I might take my chances with the barriers/inspections, and that's a slippery slope to...
  13. J

    Your suggestions for the next Southeastern franchise

    Orpington has about 5.1m entry/exits and 1.1m interchanges. While its 10min from its High Street, its has solid housing for a mile around, though very limited commercial stuff. It has its own bus terminal and is on 17 bus routes. With Victoria, Thameslink and Hither Green slows its a good point...
  14. J

    Penalty Fare After Approaching Collector

    While the PF make be valid, I do dislike the holier than thou attitude of many posters "how could anyone forget to touch in". Because we are human, and we make mistakes, because of distraction, or not noticing a little light did not flicker on an otherwise open gate at a suburban station...
  15. J

    Trivia: Unusual train services

    Lovely train the 0846 Orpington to London Bridge. Presumably it allows one more peak journey, talking it out to Sevenoaks and back would add 25 minutes and make it miss the peak traffic. The odd stops for the Victoria fasts are probably because the trains have standing room for one extra...
  16. J

    London Bridge Station

    As an off-peak user, the experience is worse. I miss getting off at the city end and quickly getting to the Tube, the quick platform change using the bridge, and the on-platform toilets.
  17. J

    Passengers abandon train at Lewisham with 3rd rails still live.

    I think the report covers passenger welfare well (though the idea that passengers could not handle a toilet without a powered door or flush is daft, they should be designed to degrade to a gravity disposal solution). With hindsight clearly the fault was inflexible signallers not allowing...
  18. J

    Your suggestions for the next Southeastern franchise

    While its long been a frustration that fasts don't stop at Orpington in high peak (and enable transfer to the Victoria line), its understandable as they'd be swamped, SouthEastern have been stopping fasts in the shoulder peak at 7.15 and 8.45, where there is capacity. Sevenoaks needs 4tph of...
  19. J

    Passengers abandon train at Lewisham with 3rd rails still live.

    Railways are poor at quick solutions to anything, hardly surprising given solutions are expected to last decades. Mobile app developers are very quick to do so, and consumers quick to adopt them, and will pay for good ones. The railway provides an API to train running information, the app uses...
  20. J

    Passengers abandon train at Lewisham with 3rd rails still live.

    I suspect Railway work attracts people who like order and rules (and that's no criticism), and they probably obey rules more than others in society in their private lives. But they need to understand that many other people don't view authority in the same way, and are likely to seek more radical...

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