Newark Northgate - Wrong Trains Boarded?

[westv]

Yet again someone appears to have boarded the Executive at Newark when they actually wanted a station north of York. Not sure how often this happens as I am only aware of people getting on the wrong train in the carriage I am in and only on a Friday but it must happen enough for me to notice.
Just wondering why this might happen. Something wrong with announcements at the station or perhaps people not taking any notice of them?

 

[najaB]

Something wrong with announcements at the station or perhaps people not taking any notice of them?

My money is on the latter option.

 

[westv]

Just to add, I've never seen anybody get on the wrong train at Peterborough, Grantham or Doncaster. Only ever Newark.

 

[Chrism20]

The Edinburgh is five minutes behind the Exec.

My money is def on passengers not paying attention. There can’t be many occasions where there are two services so close together at Newark which is probably the reason.

 

[Starmill]

Assuming you mean the Hull service (which you didn't make particularly clear!) then surely it is not a catastophic mistake? They can simply change at Doncaster.

As your service arrived at 1844 and the Edinburgh train is due to leave Newark North Gate at 1846 it would be entirely likely that someone would make that mistake.

 

[westv]

So the close arrival time must be a problem then for some. Maybe the announcements aren't clear enough either??
Does the other service actually stop at Doncaster?

 

[Starmill]

When both services are on time it should be clear, but as the service to Hull arrived at the time that the service to Edinburgh would be expected to that will inevitably cause confusion. There should be a manual announcement to ensure everyone is aware of that.

That particular service to Edinburgh does not call at Doncaster, no.

 

[Chrism20]

So the close arrival time must be a problem then for some. Maybe the announcements aren't clear enough either??
Does the other service actually stop at Doncaster?

Nope, next stop for the Edinburgh is York.

 

[westv]

Well that all makes sense.
What might also have helped would be an announcement from the TM that it isn't the other service - although currently there hasn't been a single announcement for anything else - it would have worked the other times this has happened.

 

[Welly]

Are there no destination strips/displays in the coach windows?

 

[westv]

Are there no destination strips/displays in the coach windows?

Nothing in the carriage I am in.

 

[tgrb]

What is the "executive"?

 

[Darandio]

What is the "executive"?

The Hull Excecutive, which incidentally isn't the Hull Executive any more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_Executive

 

[Starmill]

I suspect it is shorthand for the former name of the 1719 London Kings Cross to Hull service - which was called 'The Hull Executive'.

 

[takno]

Just to add, I've never seen anybody get on the wrong train at Peterborough, Grantham or Doncaster. Only ever Newark.

I've seen people getting on a a non-stop London train at Doncaster when they wanted a local train. I think the 4 hour round-trip rather spoiled their plans for the evening.

 

[Alan2603]

I've seen people getting on a a non-stop London train at Doncaster when they wanted a local train. I think the 4 hour round-trip rather spoiled their plans for the evening.

Likewise at York, where I was once on a non-stop Grand Central train to London, when a group of somewhat elderly people who boarded at York asked if the train was the Scarborough train when we were about 3 miles south of York (They had realised that Platform 3 changed to platform 4 at the north end of York station but thought they were on Platform 4 whilst actually still being on Platform 3 and never realised the train was heading the 'wrong way', nor that it was a GC train as opposed to a TPE train).

I have often seen (usually older) people with GC only tickets get on a VTEC train and vice versa - I think it maybe a throwback to BR days where all trains were BR so it didn't matter which train people caught (a lot of people still refer to it a 'British Rail' - I wonder if it is the two tracks with the arrows symbol at stations and on tickets that causes the problem?. Should the tickets have the relevant TOC's symbol on instead instead of the two tracks/arrows symbol?).

 

[The North Briton]

It does happen with monotonous regularity and even, on occasion, passengers have got all the way to Hull before they realise the train isn't going any further. Now that can't be the fault of the announcements!

 

[High Dyke]

When both services are on time it should be clear, but as the service to Hull arrived at the time that the service to Edinburgh would be expected to that will inevitably cause confusion. There should be a manual announcement to ensure everyone is aware of that.

That particular service to Edinburgh does not call at Doncaster, no.

Announcements at Newark Northgate are done by a human, not a 'digital doris'.

 

[eastdyke]

Announcements at Newark Northgate are done by a human, not a 'digital doris'.

Which is a plus. But the recent removal of the barriers has taken away the chance of easy interaction with VTEC staff for the nervous and for the unwary, that is a big negative (for pax).

 

[High Dyke]

Which is a plus. But the recent removal of the barriers has taken away the chance of easy interaction with VTEC staff for the nervous and for the unwary, that is a big negative (for pax).

Oh I agree. If it's any consolation I've boarded the wrong train before. Instead of getting off at Newark Northgate (it must be that station) I was whizzed through to Doncaster non-stop... Made me late for a meeting with my manager at the time. You would've thought I might have known better though...

 

[tspaul26]

I've seen people board the Hull service in error at Peterborough in similar circumstances when they actually wanted the Edinburgh.

This was despite the platform monitors, the destination notices on the train, the manual announcement on the platform, the manual announcement on the train, the despatcher and me all telling them that it was the Hull service and not the Edinburgh service.

What more can the railway do?

 

[Mag_seven]

I've seen people board the Hull service in error at Peterborough in similar circumstances when they actually wanted the Edinburgh.

This was despite the platform monitors, the destination notices on the train, the manual announcement on the platform, the manual announcement on the train, the despatcher and me all telling them that it was the Hull service and not the Edinburgh service.

What more can the railway do?

Exactly - people get on the wrong trains all the time because they either don't listen to the announcements etc or just assume! I've even done it myself boarding what I though was a Bristol bound train at Reading (it was arriving at the time the Bristol was due and was an HST) only to discover once it has left that it was a slightly late HST heading towards Hereford, first stop Oxford.

 

[Polarbear]

Unfortunately, people do sometimes get on the wrong train. There are many reasons why-most alluded to in the course of this thread.

Can't say I've NEVER done this myself, I have. But it has only been once or twice in many years of travelling. I'd add that I've used rail as a mode of travel regularly over the years, and know my way around, hav got largely taught myself.

Now I appreciate that many people don't actually travel by rail that often. What does amaze me though, is the woeful lack of knowledge out there when it comes to UK geography! This is something that gets quite a few people into trouble.

Another problem is that people will frequently ask if a particular train is going to place A, and jump on, when they are actually travelling to place B, which they assume the train will call at (because it MUST call at B to get to A in their mind).

Of course, the other issue in this electronic age, is people wandering around welded to their mobiles, not paying attention, then blaming anyone but themselves when things go buns up!

 

[tspaul26]

Is this the Cambridge train?

Yes...non-stop.

 

[Starmill]

They are done manually only when they are done at all, which is what I was getting at.

 

[Chris M]

Exactly - people get on the wrong trains all the time because they either don't listen to the announcements etc or just assume! I've even done it myself boarding what I though was a Bristol bound train at Reading (it was arriving at the time the Bristol was due and was an HST) only to discover once it has left that it was a slightly late HST heading towards Hereford, first stop Oxford.

I have a very dyslexic friend who made a similar mistake at Reading when travelling Swindon to St Leonards avoiding London. At Reading they needed a train to Redhill, but got on the HST calling at Redruth - first stop Taunton. He arrived rather later than planned.

 

[Dr_Intoxicated]

Last Friday I was on the Hull service and the guard actually made an announcement that we were not the Edinburgh service so it must be something that happens regularly if the Hull train is running a bit late.

 

[PeterC]

At least the railways don't seem to have people joining the ticket office queue to show their prebooked tickets to the ticket clerk. When working at a concert venue I saw this as a regular feature of customer behaviour.

 

[xotGD]

You also get the people who say 'Is this the Edinburgh train?' meaning the train FROM Edinburgh.

 

[Taunton]

In the 1980s when the North London Line trains from Watford ran through to Liverpool Street, they left from the bay on the opposite side of the platform from a WCML service to Liverpool Lime Street (next stop Runcorn). All shown on notices and indicators of course

Yes' people would get on the wrong one...