allbarbarry
Member
Hello All,
I've unfortunately returned to the forum to seek advice with a far less than satisfactory experience of using the railway. A few specific details to my experience I have intentionally omitted.
I travelled to London by train last week for an evening out with some friends (travelling by myself). When I arrived at the station for my return journey, I discovered that my last train home had been cancelled. This was late at night and the place was mostly empty, with very few passengers around and nearly no staff.
I approached the ticket office, which is managed by Network Rail and was still open. The staff member there refused to assist me and told me that I needed to approach my train operator to get help with getting home. They said that I had to travel by Underground to another mainline station (which is the main station of the operator) to see someone there. The train operator's customer assistance phone line was closed.
When I got to the other station, there were a number of what I assume are platform staff in purple high-visibility jackets, who didn't want to hear anything from me, said there was nothing they could do and told me to leave the station as it was closed. I asked to speak to a manager. They immediately escalated the situation unnecessarily and behaved in a blatantly thuggish manner. They accused me of being aggressive towards them (which I was not, I had spoken very politely and did not swear once). I was shouted at to leave, which I agreed to do, but wasn't given the opportunity to before they got hold of me and physically removed me from the station. They locked metal shutters across the station entrance and exit.
It was at this point my phone ran out of battery and died. I walked to the Underground attached to the station, where a very helpful staff member was able to look up the timetable on his phone and tell me that the next train ran sometime around 5am. With no other option, no where to go in London, and needing to get home for tomorrow (I had work), I ended up having to hail down a black cab in central London and pay the fare of over £300 to get home. I have the receipt for this.
Although alone, I am not thankfully a particularly vulnerable individual. I do not drink. During this time, I was being nearly constantly approached by beggars, drunks and people clearly under the influence of other substances. I dread to think of the potential danger the railway would've put an alone woman or girl through, or a disabled person.
I'm not sure how to approach this situation, with the form of action that I'll have to take. I don't feel that a full refund of my ticket, nor the reimbursement of my taxi cost, and a hashed cheap apology quite cuts it, considering the complete abandonment of the railway from their responsibilities, as well as the probable assault I suffered from staff.
How best might I proceed?
Barry
I've unfortunately returned to the forum to seek advice with a far less than satisfactory experience of using the railway. A few specific details to my experience I have intentionally omitted.
I travelled to London by train last week for an evening out with some friends (travelling by myself). When I arrived at the station for my return journey, I discovered that my last train home had been cancelled. This was late at night and the place was mostly empty, with very few passengers around and nearly no staff.
I approached the ticket office, which is managed by Network Rail and was still open. The staff member there refused to assist me and told me that I needed to approach my train operator to get help with getting home. They said that I had to travel by Underground to another mainline station (which is the main station of the operator) to see someone there. The train operator's customer assistance phone line was closed.
When I got to the other station, there were a number of what I assume are platform staff in purple high-visibility jackets, who didn't want to hear anything from me, said there was nothing they could do and told me to leave the station as it was closed. I asked to speak to a manager. They immediately escalated the situation unnecessarily and behaved in a blatantly thuggish manner. They accused me of being aggressive towards them (which I was not, I had spoken very politely and did not swear once). I was shouted at to leave, which I agreed to do, but wasn't given the opportunity to before they got hold of me and physically removed me from the station. They locked metal shutters across the station entrance and exit.
It was at this point my phone ran out of battery and died. I walked to the Underground attached to the station, where a very helpful staff member was able to look up the timetable on his phone and tell me that the next train ran sometime around 5am. With no other option, no where to go in London, and needing to get home for tomorrow (I had work), I ended up having to hail down a black cab in central London and pay the fare of over £300 to get home. I have the receipt for this.
Although alone, I am not thankfully a particularly vulnerable individual. I do not drink. During this time, I was being nearly constantly approached by beggars, drunks and people clearly under the influence of other substances. I dread to think of the potential danger the railway would've put an alone woman or girl through, or a disabled person.
I'm not sure how to approach this situation, with the form of action that I'll have to take. I don't feel that a full refund of my ticket, nor the reimbursement of my taxi cost, and a hashed cheap apology quite cuts it, considering the complete abandonment of the railway from their responsibilities, as well as the probable assault I suffered from staff.
How best might I proceed?
Barry
