Delayed EC Service 10 Nov 2013, Leeds to London

[daniel78]

I caught this train yesterday:

Leeds (2045) – London Kings Cross (2314)

My ticket was an Advance, Halifax – London Terminals. No problems with a connecting service into Leeds.

The train barely made it out of Leeds when it had to stop, a vehicle had hit a bridge. The train was held up about 40 minutes. During this delay the guard said (as well as I can recall) “Ladies and Gentlemen, if you miss your last connecting National Rail service home as a result of this delay, we will make alternative arrangements to transport you to your destination”. No further announcements about assisting people getting home were made throughout the rest of the journey.

The train eventually arrived at Kings Cross at 2348. My intention had been to get to Seven Sisters on the Victoria Line to catch the 2347 train to Bush Hill Park. I was sitting in coach B at the rear of the train. I made my way towards the front of the train to see if I could find the TM, but no sign of him. I asked one other member of the train crew if she knew his whereabouts, she just shook her head and said “no”. No sign of any other staff offering to help people. I had a quick look along the concourse to see if there was an information desk obviously open but I didn't see one.

I don't want to get too melodramatic about the situation I was in. I did have time to get the tube to Turnpike Lane and a bus to Enfield. Maybe not with much time to spare, I heard staff shouting that the Victoria Line southbound was finished, so the tube must've been winding down. Nonetheless the behaviour of the Train Manager struck me as appalling, and I'm minded to make a complaint.

I'm interested what the more informed among you think should have happened at the end of the journey. Maybe I'm wrong and the train arrived in London in time that people were expected to get home by tube and bus as I did (it had only made up about six minutes). It's also the case that I didn't hold a ticket for the rest of my journey. In a case like London would they account for the fact that most people would be using Oyster PAYG? Anyway, on another day my ticket would have been all the way through to home, surely there would have been other passengers with such a ticket, no advice for them on what to do.

I'll stop rambling now, over to you.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I'm fascinated by "the behaviour of the Train Manager struck me as appalling".
What was this 'appalling behaviour' ?
You must tell us!

It seems to me that if you'd wanted to discuss any arrangements with the Guard then you might have wanted to do this in good time, and certainly before arrival at Kings Cross. If (s)he didn't walk past, then I'm sure you'd have found him/her in the office where you could have discussed any concern and received advice or assistance.
Personally, I don't think that a delay of 30 minutes justifies making a fuss, (though the Company will offer you 'Delay Repay' if you claim it), but I do appreciate that delays late at night can have a higher impact.

The real issue here seems to be your assessment of what might have happened but didn't. You did get home. I think you'd find more support on here if you really had been stranded.
I'm really unclear what you are proposing to complain about.

 

[daniel78]

Well I certainly think the Train Manager should have been a lot more pro-active in making his way through the train and asking passengers about their onward travel plans. That's happened every other time I've been on a train delayed late at night. It may seem obvious to you that people should find their way to the guard's office to pursue further, I think that's a pretty lousy attitude to customer service.

I don't want sympathy as you seem to think, I made a point of saying there was no real drama, but the fact is I only got home because

• I'm fit and healthy enough to get a jog on to get to the tube in two minutes
• I've done the alternative route home countless times before
• It was a relatively short journey

I've only once been so badly delayed late at night into London that the TOC (Virgin that time) have had to put people in taxis late at night, and I wasn't expecting that. The point of my posting here was to see if anyone could advise what the procedure is for a train arriving into London late at night. I can see how London is an unusual case with an extensive network of tubes and buses,and it may be that 23:48 on a Sunday is considered early enough for people to be able to get home (even though I've given one clear example of missing “your last connecting National Rail service home”). If so I'll just drop it, although I still think it was rather rude not to make any further announcement to that effect.