• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Southend Airport

Status
Not open for further replies.

DaveNewcastle

Established Member
Joined
21 Dec 2007
Messages
7,387
Location
Newcastle (unless I'm out)
It has been alledged that Southend Airport ticket office are issuing their own tickets for rail travel and in response, Greater Anglia are instructing staff not to accept them for travel.

Can anyone confirm or deny this and provide more detail?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

AlterEgo

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Dec 2008
Messages
20,035
Location
No longer here
It has been alledged that Southend Airport ticket office are issuing their own tickets for rail travel and in response, Greater Anglia are instructing staff not to accept them for travel.

Can anyone confirm or deny this and provide more detail?

Definitely correct - I have this on authority from an excellent source. GA are not accepting the tickets. I have absolutely no idea how this farce started, or what GA are actually doing behind the scenes to resolve this.
 
Last edited:

trc666

Member
Joined
6 Jul 2005
Messages
232
Location
Islington
Just out of interest what sort of comeback is there for passengers who have bought these tickets?
 

John @ home

Established Member
Joined
1 Mar 2008
Messages
5,148
what sort of comeback is there for passengers who have bought these tickets?
I think we would need to know details of the contract between the passenger and the other contracting partner (perhaps Southend Airport ticket office) to be able to answer that question.
 

34D

Established Member
Joined
9 Feb 2011
Messages
6,042
Location
Yorkshire
I think we would need to know details of the contract between the passenger and the other contracting partner (perhaps Southend Airport ticket office) to be able to answer that question.

By southend airport, do we mean the ticket office at the recently-opened rail station of that name, or some counter at the airport itself?
 

AlterEgo

Veteran Member
Joined
30 Dec 2008
Messages
20,035
Location
No longer here
By southend airport, do we mean the ticket office at the recently-opened rail station of that name, or some counter at the airport itself?

I believe the Airport itself is selling the tickets from within the terminal.
 

IainH

Member
Joined
11 Apr 2010
Messages
61
Location
Hampshire
Hmm, don't get this. Either the airport is a legitimate sales outlet - as many travel agents etc are - with all its ATOC accreditation, and therefore tickets they correctly issue must be accepted by any TOC, or its forging tickets and they should not be - which obviously would be very illegal?
 

NSE

Established Member
Joined
3 Mar 2010
Messages
1,727
Or that the airport is selling entirely its own style of ticket and simply telling people who have no railway knowledge that they are valid when they aren't. I agree though, its very odd. It comes across to me as almost a con job.
 

jon0844

Veteran Member
Joined
1 Feb 2009
Messages
28,013
Location
UK
I am reading this thread and totally confused - wondering 'how could this happen?'

It sounds bizarre!

Meanwhile, I'm selling my very own ALRs for just £15, valid for 30 days. Check the small print for validity. It's in this very message, but very small.



.
 

W-on-Sea

Established Member
Joined
18 Dec 2009
Messages
1,333
Hmm, maybe it's some Essex wheelin and dealin going on.

Brings to mind this story from the mid-90s, just pre-privatisation of the LTS line

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/rail-sale-scuppered-by-fraud-probe-1317983.html

"The fraud involved tickets being issued at one station and sold at another. Large numbers of season tickets with a London Transport Travelcard element were printed off at Fenchurch Street in central London and sold at Upminster in east London. This was advantageous to LTS because the company gets a greater proportion of revenue from tickets issued at Fenchurch Street than it does at Upminster."

I am quite intrigued as to what kind of fraud (if that is what is is)could be carried out with rail tickets at Southend Airport.
 

PW1954

New Member
Joined
23 Mar 2012
Messages
4
Nothing would surprise me about Southend Airport.

The local councils (Southend and Rochford) have bent over backwards to assist them in every way, even though the overwhelming majority of local people have been against the expansion of the airport. Perhaps the Stobart group (they own the airport) think that they can get away with anything they like.

My understanding is that the station staff at Southend Airport (new station opened last year) are paid by Stobart and not by Nat Express, who ran the franchise at the time, or Greater Anglia now.
 

Ivo

Established Member
Joined
8 Jan 2010
Messages
7,307
Location
Bath (or Southend)
The local councils (Southend and Rochford) have bent over backwards to assist them in every way, even though the overwhelming majority of local people have been against the expansion of the airport.

I take it you belong to the Stop Airport Expansion Now pressure group, who believe they represent the views of 95% of the expanded Southend area when in practice they probably don't represent the views of 5% of said area? Most people that are against the airport are the kind that would say this: "Oh no - that plane flew at 500m above my neighbour's neighbour's [...] neighbour's neighbour's house! Give me compensation immediately! No-one told me there was an airport here when I moved here in 2011!" [referring to this ludicrous story] The same people are mostly against absolutely anything that would see the town grow in an prosperous manner, including among others Southend United F.C. moving (granted, Fossetts Farm is probably planned to be bigger than it needs to be, but it is still needed for the club's long-term future).

The vast majority of Southend and the surrounding area see the airport as an opportunity, not a mistake. It will give the town links areas beyond its usual range and will boost the area's economy.

I won't bother saying any more because I have to go out soon. The only other thing I will say is this (cue anti-Labour statement): The only plan the council(s) have had of late that was a waste of space was the SERT scheme. Labour thought it was massive (in my view so they could win a few voters in a mostly Conservative area) - it wasn't. It was badly planned from the off; hence the Coalition failing it.

----------------

So that this is post at least a little on-topic, I will ask my family to see if one of them could do a little mystery shopping...
 

Clip

Established Member
Joined
28 Jun 2010
Messages
10,822

Maks you wonder just what the chartered sureveyor was thinking about by sending the letters to them. Wouldnt happen to be the big fees he could get from reprasenting them - paid for by the airport would it?

I was readin a story about it yesterday in the guardian i think and they were saying how many people were thrilled because it has brought in jobs and so on and so forth. Even the church who lost a section of their grounds were happy because of the economic boost to the region.
 

Ivo

Established Member
Joined
8 Jan 2010
Messages
7,307
Location
Bath (or Southend)
Maks you wonder just what the chartered sureveyor was thinking about by sending the letters to them. Wouldnt happen to be the big fees he could get from reprasenting them - paid for by the airport would it?

Whatever gave you that idea? :lol:

Such claims are doomed to fail. How dumb and/or naïve do you have to be to not realise there is an airport in the area? Look on any map, on the Internet, anything - it's there. And has been since before 99.9% of the townspeople were there!

I was readin a story about it yesterday in the guardian i think and they were saying how many people were thrilled because it has brought in jobs and so on and so forth. Even the church who lost a section of their grounds were happy because of the economic boost to the region.

The church were indded mostly supportive. In fact, in recognition of the church (and it having lost part of its land in the expansion), they even named the new road between Eastwoodbury Lane and Nestuda way (replacing the part of Eastwoodbury Lane that was closed to facilitate the expansion) "St Laurence Way". You can probably guess the church's name! :p
 

jon0844

Veteran Member
Joined
1 Feb 2009
Messages
28,013
Location
UK
How long has Southend had an airport?

I remember in my boy racer days, crusing along Southend seafront* (before they made it effectively impossible), seeing signs for the airport - and this was in the 1990s. I'm guessing it was there a long time before that.

Surely anyone living there would have been aware?

As it happens, I'm now living on a former airfield (part of what was owned by British Aerospace Engineering) in Hatfield and the former runway, now a school, is only 0.5km away. I'd imagine having a genuine case to be aggrieved if for some reason the school was knocked down and the runway reinstated. However, if I'd moved nearby when BAe was still open, and it was turned into a commercial airport later on, I'd have only myself to blame as I should have been aware that there was at least a chance of it expanding.


* Sorry to any affected residents, although given the demographics of the area the people I need to apologise to are probably in a better place now.

Like Eastbourne.
 

Ivo

Established Member
Joined
8 Jan 2010
Messages
7,307
Location
Bath (or Southend)
How long has Southend had an airport?

From Wikipedia...

The airfield was established by the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. It was the largest flying ground in Essex, with the greatest number of units. In May 1915 the RNAS took over, until 4 June 1916, when it became RFC Rochford. It was designated as night fighter station and many sorties were flown against Zeppelin airship raiders, including LZ38 on 31 May 1915. In 1920, the station closed and reverted to farmland for a while.

The airport was officially opened as a municipal airport in on 18 September 1935 by the Under-Secretary of State for Air, Sir Philip Sassoon, who arrived in his de Havilland Leopard Moth.[10] In the second world war it was known as RAF Rochford and once again there was much military activity seen. Southend Airport is often remembered for the car ferry flights operated by the piston-engined Bristol Freighter and the Aviation Traders Carvair. There used to be an aviation museum on the western boundary of the airport.

In 1939, the Air Ministry requisitioned the airfield and it was known as RAF Rochford during World War II. It became a satellite base. During World War II, it became a base for fighter squadrons comprising Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes as well as Bristol Blenheims. Many of the 50 pillboxes that were designed to protect the airport from paratroop landings still survive, as does the underground defence control room, which is near to Southend Flying Club. A further 20 or so pillboxes also remain in the surrounding countryside. In 1946, the airfield was decommissioned from military use and civil aviation returned in 1947, as did the Southend Municipal Airport name.

I haven't planned this quote very well.

I remember in my boy racer days, crusing along Southend seafront* (before they made it effectively impossible)

You should have a look now :p
 

W-on-Sea

Established Member
Joined
18 Dec 2009
Messages
1,333
I think it was London's 4th busiest airport as recently as the late 70s, although more recently the only passenger flights were one a week (summer only) to Jersey.

So, in a sense, the redevelopment and revival of the airport is quite a big deal. And as an ex-resident of Southend (who still owns a flat there), one I welcome wholeheartedly. Much more so than "Boris Island", one version of which really would have adverse effects on the quality of life there

Sent from my GT-S5570 using Tapatalk
 

Ivo

Established Member
Joined
8 Jan 2010
Messages
7,307
Location
Bath (or Southend)
I think it was London's 4th busiest airport as recently as the late 70s, although more recently the only passenger flights were one a week (summer only) to Jersey.

Never mind that - according to The Telegraph, at one stage it was 3rd in the country to Heathrow and Manchester!

In relation to the then-imminent commencement of EasyJet services, on March 30th they said this:

It is hoped this will be the beginning of a comeback for the airport, which, during the Sixties, was Britain’s third-busiest, behind Heathrow and Manchester.

Interesting how the page has a link to Insure-and-Go as their insurance specialists. For those who don't know, their headquarters are at Maitland House, Southend-on-Sea. (I don't know if this arrangement is still the case, but the building was formerly shared with the local College.)
 

Skymaster

New Member
Joined
1 May 2012
Messages
3
Location
Southend-on-Sea
Correct in every way. GA are refusing them.

Hi NCL1072 and DaveNewcastle

I am a new member and felt compelled to join to ensure that factual accuracy prevails. I can tell you that there is no truth what-so-ever in this malicious negative news, which was presumably started by someone with a grudge. I was at Southend Airport Station this afternoon and life was going on as normal, in the usual Stobart Rail business like efficient manner. Passengers were happily coming and going normally, there was no problem with ticket sales at all. What on earth made you comment 'correct in every way' NCL1072?
 

ralphchadkirk

Established Member
Joined
20 Oct 2008
Messages
5,753
Location
Essex
Hi NCL1072 and DaveNewcastle

I am a new member and felt compelled to join to ensure that factual accuracy prevails. I can tell you that there is no truth what-so-ever in this malicious negative news, which was presumably started by someone with a grudge. I was at Southend Airport Station this afternoon and life was going on as normal, in the usual Stobart Rail business like efficient manner. Passengers were happily coming and going normally, there was no problem with ticket sales at all. What on earth made you comment 'correct in every way' NCL1072?

Eddie Stobart PR officer? :D
 

Skymaster

New Member
Joined
1 May 2012
Messages
3
Location
Southend-on-Sea
Nothing would surprise me about Southend Airport.

The local councils (Southend and Rochford) have bent over backwards to assist them in every way, even though the overwhelming majority of local people have been against the expansion of the airport. Perhaps the Stobart group (they own the airport) think that they can get away with anything they like.

My understanding is that the station staff at Southend Airport (new station opened last year) are paid by Stobart and not by Nat Express, who ran the franchise at the time, or Greater Anglia now.

PW1957

Hi!

I am new to this forum and apart from being interested in all forms of transport, your comments are one of the reasons I joined! I believe in factual accuracy, otherwise forums such as this lose all credibility and become pretty worthless for the majority of members. As Ivo has already said, you surely have to be a member of the much discredited SAEN anti-airport group of few in number, as the fact is that the great majority of residents of Southend and Rochford are wholeheartedly in support of the airport and applaud all that Stobart's have achieved. Why is it that minority groups, what-ever their persuasion, have to resort to distortions even when the have been proven wrong?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Eddie Stobart PR officer? :D

Ralphchadkirk

No, for the record I have no business connection with them, I am just someone who believes in the truth and nothing but the truth, albeit rather old fashioned these days.

Regards.
 

John @ home

Established Member
Joined
1 Mar 2008
Messages
5,148
I was at Southend Airport Station this afternoon ... there was no problem with ticket sales at all.
We have not had a problem reported about ticket sales. The reported problem is
It has been alleged that Southend Airport ticket office are issuing their own tickets for rail travel and in response, Greater Anglia are instructing staff not to accept them for travel.
Can you offer any facts on whether rail tickets issued at Southend Airport are being accepted for travel by Greater Anglia staff?
 

Skymaster

New Member
Joined
1 May 2012
Messages
3
Location
Southend-on-Sea
We have not had a problem reported about ticket sales. The reported problem is Can you offer any facts on whether rail tickets issued at Southend Airport are being accepted for travel by Greater Anglia staff?

John @ home

I am not sure to whom you are addressing the question, but if it is to NCL1072 and DaveNewcastle then what made them think that there was any truth in the rumour? If the question was to me, then it stands to reason that as tickets are still being issued at Southend Airport Station, then by now there would be scores, if not hundreds of disgruntled passengers besieging the ticket office, demanding their money back with compensation.
As far as I understand. the ticket office equipment is linked in to the national system. Lets face it, they have been operating for goodness knows how many months now. This whole thing reminds me of the nonsense of when National Express took over the line from First, they reckoned they did not know that there was a station being built at the airport!
 

Mojo

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
7 Aug 2005
Messages
20,382
Location
0035
Again... I don't think you have read the thread. This is about ticket sales in the Airport itself, not the Railway Station.

I think the posts made by an employee of Greater Anglia, as well as an employee of another Toc who have both stated the tickets are not being accepted (and therefore have it on the best source they can, i.e. as staff who have been briefed not to accept these tickets) are accurate.
 

DaveNewcastle

Established Member
Joined
21 Dec 2007
Messages
7,387
Location
Newcastle (unless I'm out)
I will mention that I posted my request for confirmation or denial of reports followed a small but not insignificant number of these reports arising from experiences on-board AGA trains. (This is the distinction which John @ Home has made very well).
To seek substantiation, I raised the question on here, as this Forum has a good reputation as a channel of authoritative knowledge and expertise from many aspects of the industry.
I had, this morning, also requested a statement from Stobart Rail and from Abellio GA to assist in clarifying these reports. I had hoped that we might have received an industry statement today.
I can only say that none has been forthcoming.

Your counter-report Skymaster is welcome and I must say, very reassuring, but most of us probably would like clarification from the Companies, and due to the number of alledged passenger complaints on-board, specific explanations from the Train Operator.
I for one await responses from the two Companies.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top