Lost Property Procedures

[BrozefT]

Hello all. I realise very similar questions to have been asked previously, but I was just wondering if you could evaluate my chances of recovering a lost bag.

I got an evening train from High Wycombe to Wembley Stadium on Friday (departing at 20:17 if that's any help) and stupidly left my rucksack in the overhead luggage rack. I've filled out the appropriate forms on Chiltern's website and now I'm playing the waiting game.

I'm pretty sure the bag wasn't stolen, because the only thing inside of value to a thief was my e-reader, which is still registered to my Amazon account (and hasn't downloaded the contact details email I sent it, so hasn't connected to the internet). The train was quiet (as was the return train I took at about 23:30) and nobody appeared to be particularly dishonest-looking so I'm relatively confident it was picked up by a member of staff at some point later in the night.

My question is, how long should I wait until I write the bag off as a loss? What are the steps in the lost property procedures at Chiltern? I understand it takes time for lost items to percolate through to the central lost property office and be catalogued, but I'd have hoped that it would have reached there by now (4 days later, though 2 of those days were weekend) considering the terminus of the service was London Marylebone, where the lost property office is. Could my bag have ended up at another station if that train wasn't just running between High Wycombe and Marylebone all night (and if so, could it have been picked up by another TOC)?

How would you rate my chances of seeing this bag again?

 

[t_star2001uk]

When lost property is found at Marylebone late at night it is logged, then placed in a secure container. Once a week the contents of the container are taken to the Lost Property room where they are entered in to the system. I know it does seem a bit silly that the lost property at Marylebone is only taken down once a week but there is a fair amount which comes from other out stations every day that has to go through the process and there is only 1 person who deals with it all. So just be patient and if it was found im sure they will be in contact as soon as possible....

https://www.chilternrailways.co.uk/lost-property-0

 

[168lover]

Hello all. I realise very similar questions to have been asked previously, but I was just wondering if you could evaluate my chances of recovering a lost bag.

I got an evening train from High Wycombe to Wembley Stadium on Friday (departing at 20:17 if that's any help) and stupidly left my rucksack in the overhead luggage rack. I've filled out the appropriate forms on Chiltern's website and now I'm playing the waiting game.

I'm pretty sure the bag wasn't stolen, because the only thing inside of value to a thief was my e-reader, which is still registered to my Amazon account (and hasn't downloaded the contact details email I sent it, so hasn't connected to the internet). The train was quiet (as was the return train I took at about 23:30) and nobody appeared to be particularly dishonest-looking so I'm relatively confident it was picked up by a member of staff at some point later in the night.

My question is, how long should I wait until I write the bag off as a loss? What are the steps in the lost property procedures at Chiltern? I understand it takes time for lost items to percolate through to the central lost property office and be catalogued, but I'd have hoped that it would have reached there by now (4 days later, though 2 of those days were weekend) considering the terminus of the service was London Marylebone, where the lost property office is. Could my bag have ended up at another station if that train wasn't just running between High Wycombe and Marylebone all night (and if so, could it have been picked up by another TOC)?

How would you rate my chances of seeing this bag again?

Welcome to the forum. The train you caught once arrived into Marylebone formed the 21:13 to Aylesbury. According to RRT(Real Times Trains) This train was then stabled at Aylesbury Station or Aylesbury Depot. This would have hopefully meant that a member of staff would have picked it up and handed it in. If it was handed in at Aylesbury hold tight as it would be sent to the Central Lost Property at Marylebone. As long as you have given a good description of it you should recieve an email as and when it arrives back to Marylebone and sorted.

 

[fowler9]

Without wanting to sound negative the only time I ever got something back (In forty years of leaving stuff on trains) was when someone broke the rules and did me a favour.

On another occasion after a Friday night out and a dozing off on the train incident (A train with continuous announcements about how leaving luggage unattended could delay the service) I left a massive metal framed rucksack on a train, reported it 30 minutes before the train made its next stop, and no one ever found it. The train wasn't delayed. Either no one looked for it, someone nicked it or no one found it (Unlikely). Either way the announcement about it possibly delaying trains wasn't true which is possibly the most concerning fact. Either way if you don't have your stuff back pretty sharpish I would give up.

Totally my own fault mind and I was very annoyed at myself.

 

[Rick1984]

I left a rucksack at Havant and despite my best efforts I never managed to get it back. They were unwilling to use the CCTV to confirm if it was picked up by staff or stolen, as I knew the time I'd left it, as they said it wasn't a crime.

 

[pdq]

A few years ago I left my bag on a TPE train when I got off at Dewsbury. Realised straightaway and went to the ticket office. She phoned the guard who found the bag, and somehow at Leeds arranged to put it on the next train back and pass it back to the ticket office. I returned to the station an hour later and was reunited with the forgotten bag. That was customer service at its greatest throughout the process.

Sent from my HTC One M8s using Tapatalk

 

[BrozefT]

When lost property is found at Marylebone late at night it is logged, then placed in a secure container. Once a week the contents of the container are taken to the Lost Property room where they are entered in to the system. I know it does seem a bit silly that the lost property at Marylebone is only taken down once a week but there is a fair amount which comes from other out stations every day that has to go through the process and there is only 1 person who deals with it all. So just be patient and if it was found im sure they will be in contact as soon as possible....

Thanks for the info. I assumed that if it went to Marylebone and I hadn't heard by Monday then it was gone, but like you say, I think I just need to be patient for the time being.

Welcome to the forum. The train you caught once arrived into Marylebone formed the 21:13 to Aylesbury. According to RRT(Real Times Trains) This train was then stabled at Aylesbury Station or Aylesbury Depot. This would have hopefully meant that a member of staff would have picked it up and handed it in. If it was handed in at Aylesbury hold tight as it would be sent to the Central Lost Property at Marylebone. As long as you have given a good description of it you should recieve an email as and when it arrives back to Marylebone and sorted.

Thanks very much, you all seem like knowledgeable and friendly people here, thanks for taking your time to answer my questions! That's interesting, and in a way quite good to know because I think it's quite likely my bag was picked up if the train was taken out of service not long after reaching Marylebone. I guess unless you know what days Aylesbury sends lost property down the line, there's no way of guessing when the bag would turn up in the system. Assuming (worst case) it gets sent on a Friday, and takes a day or two to be processed at Marylebone, it could be next week before it shows up. It's frustrating, but I at least know I shouldn't preemptively start replacing my items just yet, thanks!

Without wanting to sound negative the only time I ever got something back (In forty years of leaving stuff on trains) was when someone broke the rules and did me a favour.

On another occasion after a Friday night out and a dozing off on the train incident (A train with continuous announcements about how leaving luggage unattended could delay the service) I left a massive metal framed rucksack on a train, reported it 30 minutes before the train made its next stop, and no one ever found it. The train wasn't delayed. Either no one looked for it, someone nicked it or no one found it (Unlikely). Either way the announcement about it possibly delaying trains wasn't true which is possibly the most concerning fact. Either way if you don't have your stuff back pretty sharpish I would give up.

Totally my own fault mind and I was very annoyed at myself.

Oh yes, I was a complete muggins here. Judging from the other posts here and from what I now know about how Chiltern's lost property works, if I hasn't showed up by next Friday then it's probably gone forever.

I left a rucksack at Havant and despite my best efforts I never managed to get it back. They were unwilling to use the CCTV to confirm if it was picked up by staff or stolen, as I knew the time I'd left it, as they said it wasn't a crime.

It is annoying that there's no real way of knowing whether it got lost in the system or picked up by a thief. I think it's likely my bag has been picked up by staff, I'm just hoping their lost property procedures work well enough that I can be reunited with it.

 

[londonbridge]

I left a scarf on a Grand Central train once. The instructions for lost property on their website gave a number at Kings Cross for property left on southbound trains, and a different number for northbound trains. In my case I needed the latter, so I dialed the number and got an answerphone message voiced by a surly-sounding woman saying 'leave details of the property you've lost and we'll call you back only if we find it', they never did.

 

[philden]

To counter the bad experiences here, back in 2004 I left my camera on a SWT service from Waterloo. I reported it fairly quickly, I don't think my name was on it. After a few days I got a call that it was in the main office at Waterloo and collected it.

 

[fowler9]

I hope you get your stuff back mate by the way. Its always nice to get a good news story.

 

[DarloRich]

I left my little camera on a London Midland train. After lots of backward and forward I got it back safe and sound. The hardest part was actually getting the lost property office at Euston to give me it when I arrived!

The main delay was getting it through the chain of custody and booked into Euston. It took me about 10 days to get it back and involved a trip to Euston. no real hardsship

 

[BrozefT]

I hope you get your stuff back mate by the way. Its always nice to get a good news story.

Thanks a lot. I think that my chances are about as good as they could be, it's just hard having the patience for it. 2 weeks feels like quite a long time.

I left my little camera on a London Midland train. After lots of backward and forward I got it back safe and sound. The hardest part was actually getting the lost property office at Euston to give me it when I arrived!

The main delay was getting it through the chain of custody and booked into Euston. It took me about 10 days to get it back and involved a trip to Euston. no real hardsship

Again, this gives me some optimism. It's only been 6 days so far (4 really, considering it probably wasn't moved anywhere at the weekend). Did you know they had it before those 10 days were up? I wouldn't mind the wait if I knew the bag wasn't in oblivion, but at the moment all I have are a favourable set of circumstances and the knowledge that my Kindle hasn't been used by anybody else, so probably hasn't been stolen.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I hope you get your stuff back mate by the way. Its always nice to get a good news story.

Good news (and general thread update, for anyone showing interest or anybody who, like me, stumbles across this after losing something on the railway)...

Email came through this afternoon from the lost property office saying my bag has been found! I'm especially happy because it means I'll get my stuff back in time for my holiday booked for the week after next.

The stuff in the bag would have been expensive to replace. Affordable, but a sizeable hole in my finances (and annoying too, I have a pair of prescription glasses in that bag) and a few gifts so mild sentimental value. I would just like to say thanks to everyone for helping to put my mind at ease, I was feeling quite anxious about it because it was such a stupid and expensive mistake, and not having any idea about whether it might possibly return was getting to me.

I'll head down to Marylebone to collect my bag in the next few days, I probably wont post unless something goes wrong. Thanks all!

 

[t_star2001uk]

Glad to hear that the system is working. It is a bit unfortunate that it takes so long but the amount of items to process daily can be huge.

 

[fowler9]

Thanks a lot. I think that my chances are about as good as they could be, it's just hard having the patience for it. 2 weeks feels like quite a long time.



Again, this gives me some optimism. It's only been 6 days so far (4 really, considering it probably wasn't moved anywhere at the weekend). Did you know they had it before those 10 days were up? I wouldn't mind the wait if I knew the bag wasn't in oblivion, but at the moment all I have are a favourable set of circumstances and the knowledge that my Kindle hasn't been used by anybody else, so probably hasn't been stolen.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Good news (and general thread update, for anyone showing interest or anybody who, like me, stumbles across this after losing something on the railway)...

Email came through this afternoon from the lost property office saying my bag has been found! I'm especially happy because it means I'll get my stuff back in time for my holiday booked for the week after next.

The stuff in the bag would have been expensive to replace. Affordable, but a sizeable hole in my finances (and annoying too, I have a pair of prescription glasses in that bag) and a few gifts so mild sentimental value. I would just like to say thanks to everyone for helping to put my mind at ease, I was feeling quite anxious about it because it was such a stupid and expensive mistake, and not having any idea about whether it might possibly return was getting to me.

I'll head down to Marylebone to collect my bag in the next few days, I probably wont post unless something goes wrong. Thanks all!

Nice one mate, glad to hear it. Enjoy your holiday.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

Officially when lost property is found it is handed in th the terminating station of the service it was found on. That of course doesnt necessarily mean the service you were travelling on as the train may jave formed a different service before the item is spotted.

When handed in to the terminating station it then becomes under the charge of the TOC managing that station and will then end up logged and transferred to their lost property management location.

So for an example.say you lost a bag between Leeds and Huddersfield on a TPE service. The train is off to liverpool from Scarborough. if it is discovered at Liverpool it will be given to the excess baggage company office as the station is managed by network rail. If however The bag isnt discovered at Liverpool and the set forms a newcastle service. traincrew find it and hand it in to Newcastle. Managed by VTEC they log and record the bag, hold it for a week then transfer it to their lost property office at Newark.

The trouble is lost property on the railway gets lost within the complex of companies and proceedures. If i come across something I will try and find a phone number or email address to contact the loser and liase with them how they can retrieve it. not all staff play by the same book and far too many will ignore lost property because its not worth the hassle or they dont want to be associated with it in any way or that its simply not their problem.

 

[86246]

A few years ago I left my bag on a TPE train when I got off at Dewsbury. Realised straightaway and went to the ticket office. She phoned the guard who found the bag, and somehow at Leeds arranged to put it on the next train back and pass it back to the ticket office. I returned to the station an hour later and was reunited with the forgotten bag. That was customer service at its greatest throughout the process.

Replace Dewsbury with Huddersfield and I had the same experience with TPE earlier this year. Very impressive.