How late is irritating?

[YorkshireBear]

Right then.

If you are on a train how late until you think it is unacceptable and get irritated. Scouring Northern's Twitter as a regularly do when procrastinating they get quite a few where they say apologies it is running 2 minutes late or 5 or 8 or 10. People are genuinely furious at a 5 minute delay saying it is absolutely disgraceful.

For me i start to get disappointed at 15, irritated at 30 and annoyed at an hour. (although this can depend on the type of delay. I.e. no train crew annoys me more than suicides)

Main questions is what are other peoples tolerances?
When as Staff operating the trains does it start to annoy?

One of my friends came back from Europe recently and said.
"German Railways are not that much better, yeah the trains are a bit nicer but they are just as late and unreliable as over here"

 

[Goatboy]

Right then.

If you are on a train how late until you think it is unacceptable and get irritated.

When I miss my connection.

 

[yorksrob]

Generally it's around ten minutes, but this can vary -

For example, if I have a tight connection, this goes out the window, or if the info screen just keeps adding extra minutes on everytime the train is supposed to be due.

 

[PeterY]

A few minutes doesn't worry me. Living in an area with high frequentcy, there'll be another along soon.

Irritating is cancelling trains because of lack of drivers. (London Midland):cry:

 

[SWT_USER]

Don't generally mind if a train is late as long as I know beforehand. Don't know if it's the same for all TOC's but FGW are terrible at updating the boards on stations - the scheduled arrival time will pass then the board will update saying it's 5 minutes late.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....Main questions is what are other peoples tolerances?....

It depends on a few things, if I'm not in a rush, a delay of any amount is little more than a nuisance, if I need to be somewhere quickly it works me up a bit more. That said, my mood can vary this. Equally, I suppose, it can be different if I am expecting it.

....When as Staff operating the trains does it start to annoy?....

Truth be told, as a member of staff, it's not the delays that annoy me............

 

[plastictaffy]

As a staff member, the only delay that irritates me is my last train of the day taking me home or to the Booking on point!!!

 

[Oswyntail]

It does depend on how tight my timings are for what i am going to do. I do get really annoyed when, as often happens, a train is held up at the west end of Leeds station so that it a) arrives late and b) is passed by the hourly Ilkley train I was intending to catch. But, as a rule, I do not mind, so long as I am given enough information about how delayed a train is and, if possible, why. I also find I get more quickly annoyed waiting on a platform for a train to arrive late than being on a train that is getting in late.

 

[northwichcat]

One of my friends came back from Europe recently and said.
"German Railways are not that much better, yeah the trains are a bit nicer but they are just as late and unreliable as over here"

I was at a central Munich S-Bahn station when a train was announced as cancelled and some people were clearly outraged, despite many only having to wait a few minutes for the next service and it was only the ones travelling to the stations towards the end of the line that had to wait 20 minutes for the next train.

Also I was Cologne Airport station when an announcement apologised for a delay to the service and any inconvenience it may cause - the delay was 80 seconds.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

When I miss my connection.

Exactly. If you've got 7 minutes to make a connection then a 5 minute delay is very annoying, as you'll probably see your connecting service but won't be able to board it.

If the train is hourly and you need to be somewhere 10 minutes walk from the station at, say 14:00 and the scheduled arrival time is 13:20 then a 15 minute delay can cause no problems.

 

[trainophile]

When the overhead information board on the platform says On Time and it's three minutes after my train should have arrived.

 

[cf111]

When the overhead information board on the platform says On Time and it's three minutes after my train should have arrived.

I agree with the sentiment. It tends to be the lack of, or sometimes blatantly wrong information provided that annoys me more than the delay.

 

[DarloRich]

When I miss my connection.

i dont mind missing a connection but i hate JUST missing a connection - branch train pulls in just as the main line train pulls out! That always seems worse to me!

Worse is the local train is late but you might make it, get a move on, oh this is tight, hurry up guard, open the doors, chop chop, rush over the bridge, race for the connecting train just for it to pull off or the doors to be locked situation - that leads to lots of chuntering!

 

[LowLevel]

I genuinely do wish to provide a quality service for my passengers. Niggling little 4 or 5 minute delays do annoy me at work and I can see why it annoys the passengers as well. Seeing that it's often due to the same old Network Rail TSRs and signalling/pway problems, or consistently poor pathing that recur day after day is equally annoying, especially when people I know within that company tell me they're chopping back on maintenance/manpower where possible.

 

[trainophile]

Just to add - when the train has been stopped (not at a station) for over five minutes and there hasn't been any announcement as to the reason. I appreciate that sometimes the crew don't know either, but just "we're waiting for a signal to proceed" would at least let the passengers know that the driver hasn't collapsed!

 

[YorkshireBear]

Just to add - when the train has been stopped (not at a station) for over five minutes and there hasn't been any announcement as to the reason. I appreciate that sometimes the crew don't know either, but just "we're waiting for a signal to proceed" would at least let the passengers know that the driver hasn't collapsed!

That varies from person to person as some staff actually do that and it is always very helpful. Our Cross Country woman the other day was very good at Westgate, northbound we were waiting for a GBRF 66 and its full coal rake to go into Wrenthorpe sidings and it was taking michael and we were sat in westgate for 10 minutes she kept coming on and saying it is because of a slow moving freight train infront.

 

[northernchris]

For me its more the frequency of delays. Anything up to 5 minutes late I class as on time, because if I was to drive the equivalent journey I doubt I'd be able to arrive at exactly the same time twice. However, over the last few weeks around 1/3 of my recent journeys with Northern have run between 5-20 minutes late and although they have been caused for a variety of reasons it is now getting more than a little annoying.

 

[Muzer]

This may vary when travelling for other purposes, but when leisure travelling (as an enthusiast - usually wanting to do something in particular but other than that relatively laid back) here's what happens:

 

[northwichcat]

Muzer: If you're travelling on a £5 return ticket then the promise of at least £1.25 in compensation wouldn't have such a big effect, but if you're on a £50 ticket then £12.50 in compensation would have an effect.

 

[LBSCR Times]

When it is running 10' late and Southern decide to run the train fast.....

 

[317666]

Like others have said, when I just miss my connection, especially if it's on a rover and it messes up the rest of the day's plan. The odd five minutes, on the other hand, happens so often that I'm just used to it without getting annoyed.

 

[TheJRB]

Worse is the local train is late but you might make it, get a move on, oh this is tight, hurry up guard, open the doors, chop chop, rush over the bridge, race for the connecting train just for it to pull off or the doors to be locked situation - that leads to lots of chuntering!

Absolutely. The worst one I've had like this was at Colchester when changing from a non-stop Liverpool Street on platform 3 to a train from platform 4 to get back to Stratford. The train from Norwich was four minutes late and even though the connecting train couldn't leave until that did, two minutes wasn't quite enough time to get all the way from the south end of platform 3 to 4 (but there was enough time to wave at the driver as the train left without us! ).

 

[Stonesourscotty]

I was at Wallgate Yesterday the Southport train was 24 minutes late this meant the following Kirkby and Wallgate stoppers where going to be late yet the boards said ontime Meant i was stuck on a ****ty Merseyfail pacer 9 minutes late and i was advising people that my own train would be late... i was told by a few over 50's i should work for Northern over the people that provide information which i didnt know if i should be offended by or not??

 

[TheJRB]

When it is running 10' late and Southern decide to run the train fast.....

I know what you mean; I had a (First Great Western) train from Redhill and we wanted to get to Wokingham. It was 27 minutes late and was run non-stop after Guildford to Reading, forcing us to change at Guildford on to an already late running stopper!

I must admit, I've always wanted to catch a late running train on the Ashford-Tonbridge line to experience the non-stop run!

 

[Goatboy]

If my train is 59 late I'm really annoyed. If it's 60 late I'm pleased.

 

[chris89]

Not really that much so for me. As most the times for trains i get all have others following or not long till the next bus.

But if it is mega late, meaning miss last bus home from Wolves and having to fork out for a taxi then annoyed. Especially if it isn't 60mins so don't get delay repay.

One reason i avoid any trains after 12:51 Departure from Edinburgh to Wolves/B'Ham

 

[All Line Rover]

Anything more than 5 minutes, particularly on the outward journey or if I have a connection to catch.

 

[wensley]

I reckon somewhere between 10-15 when travelling, as long as I haven't got a tight connection at the other end!

 

[Polarbear]

For me, it depends very much on the circumstances.

Travelling to somewhere with a deadline of any description (appointment/check in/meeting/work) and a small delay can be very irritating.

On the other hand, when you get off your late running train at point "X" and find that the last connecting service of the day (which you should by rights have missed) is also late & you've made it - it's rather welcome!

Personally, I find unexplained delays more irritating than those that are explained to me.

 

[sheff1]

When the overhead information board on the platform says On Time and it's three minutes after my train should have arrived.

^^^ this

... and when the board says a train has 'Arrived' and it is still not visible down 400yds of straight track.

 

[ModernRailways]

On the Metro, I personally didn't used to mind a small delay or a train not turning up because I always get the train earlier than the one required anyway. Lately, it has been consistently delayed and so now a train not turning up within 5 minutes annoys me. More so, because the PIS on the platforms is switched off and there has been no apology or anything or any information whatsoever from anywhere.

On National Rail, it depends on frequency and where I'm heading. If the train service is every 15 minutes or more then I don't care as I know the next train will be fine. If however, there are delays exceeding 10 minutes or so I tend to get irritated.

I don't care about delays when there is an announcement explaining though - as long as it is a valid reason unlike the 'Trains delayed due to Atmospheric weather conditions' we got from Metro.