Trivia - Furthest you've seen someone carried beyond their intended stop

[island]

I've often wondered whether people intending to defraud the railway simply buy a ticket from, say, Birmingham to Coventry, and then claim to have fallen asleep when challenged for their ticket half way to London! Do the railway authorities actually "send" people back or do they just allow them to leg it out of the station? Surely claiming over-carry must be the easiest ruse to avoid penalty fares etc?

Well, you can’t get a penalty fare if you ”forget” to get off at Coventry and the next stop is London.

 

[RolandR]

After a weekend in London, I caught the then Leeds Executive service out of Kings Cross on Monday morning to go straight to work in Leeds.
The train's first stop was Stevenage, where 2 ladies jumped on at the last moment. I can't remember where they were heading for, but it certainly was not either of the train's next 2 stops, Wakefield Westgate and Leeds.

 

[benbristow]

Once got on a train going to work in Hairmyres (stop before East Kilbride), sat down and was starring at my phone in a morning daze. Went past Crossmyloof, awesome, on my way. Then Pollokshaws West. And then... Barrhead. Oops!

Thankfully was easy enough to get the next train sitting at the platform and head back to Pollokshaws West to get the next train to Hairmyres.

Never visited Barrhead station (or the town) before so that was fun.

 

[Scotrail314209]

Once got on a train going to work in Hairmyres (stop before East Kilbride), sat down and was starring at my phone in a morning daze. Went past Crossmyloof, awesome, on my way. Then Pollokshaws West. And then... Barrhead. Oops!

Thankfully was easy enough to get the next train sitting at the platform and head back to Pollokshaws West to get the next train to Hairmyres.

Never visited Barrhead station (or the town) before so that was fun.

I dread to think what would've happened if you ended up on something non stop to Dunlop.

 

[benbristow]

I dread to think what would've happened if you ended up on something non stop to Dunlop.

Looking at the trainline the trains that go mostly direct to Dunlop stop at Barrhead. Worst case I'd end up getting the train back again

 

[LOL The Irony]

I was thinking I've never been overcarried, but then remembered the time we were trying to get to Acton to buy a car. We needed to get to Chiswick Park and the District was out for engineering works. 2 RRB overruns and a walk later, we got to where we needed to be, only to find out that South Acton was literally right there. Our origin station that day was London Euston.

 

[Ianno87]

Looking at the trainline the trains that go mostly direct to Dunlop stop at Barrhead. Worst case I'd end up getting the train back again

Normally alternate trains skip Barrhead.

 

[-Colly405-]

Not overcarried, but I once stood on totally the wrong platform at Liverpool St Circle/H&C and ended up at Aldgate East instead of Paddington. Cue a frantic "up and over" at Aldgate East, two of us plus luggage, and never being able to live it down with my then-girlfriend!

 

[Beebman]

My Mum once told me of the time in the early 1960s when she travelled with my Uncle from Reading to Edgware Road via Paddington where for some reason best known to himself he had bought a second-hand TV from somebody who lived close to the station. On their return journey carrying this big and heavy TV set they managed to get on the wrong train and went all the way around the Circle Line instead of going just one stop!

 

[Welby]

Back in the days of working at Victoria. Boarded a train to go home to the Kent coast, there was a guy, worse for drink, snoring very loudly. As people boarded, they slammed the doors (it was in the 80's) excessively, but to no avail. This happened at every stop to Sittingbourne, when he awoke, looked out the window and said !!!!! only at Sittingbourne, should of been in London an hour ago. The inward train had been the Ramsgate - London boat train.

 

[camflyer]

I once asleep on the train to Munich airport after a few beers in the city centre following a meeting and woke up at a random town in the middle of Germany. I just went to the next platform to catch the next train going back the way I had come. Fortunately I still got to the airport in time and my ticket wasn't checked.

 

[yorkie]

When I was a train guard for GNER, I lost count of the number of passengers I’d find with Peterborough tickets when doing a check after leaving KX, when we were first stop York !

People also got overcarried on the 373 White Rose services that I worked because they could never work out how to open the doors.....

I got over-carried by GNER because my bike wasn't unloaded at Doncaster, and so I ended up at Peterborough. I can't remember if this was on a White Rose or if I was taken back to Doncaster on a White Rose. I think it was a 91 + Mk4 set there and the White Rose back.

I remember the Guard was very apologetic and gave me his business card to show in case of any issues on the way back. I remember his name was something like Daniel Chartier and he sounded French, if that rings any bells for you?

 

[citycat]

Yes, I remember Daniel, and he was French. Glad he was able to assist you.

 

[Bill_Lestrange]

Hmm I got over carried, during disruption in 2015 on the WCML, to Watford when I wanted to get off at Stafford. Bit of an inconvenience at 22.00 on a Friday night... Thankfully I was travelling to Northampton.

More annoyingly is when customers pull an egress handle when they realise they've been over carried. Someone did this on the MML the other day on a 1Fxx service as it was passing Kentish Town. I imagine getting taken to Leicester wasn't what they wanted to do.

 

[zwk500]

More annoyingly is when customers pull an egress handle when they realise they've been over carried. Someone did this on the MML the other day on a 1Fxx service as it was passing Kentish Town. I imagine getting taken to Leicester wasn't what they wanted to do.

I hope they didn't let him/her get off (unless he/she did have a valid emergency). £2000 penalty for improper use then still overcarry them to Leicester would have been poetic justice! (And charge them for a StP-Leicester Single ticket.)

 

[Bill_Lestrange]

I hope they didn't let him/her get off (unless he/she did have a valid emergency). £2000 penalty for improper use then still overcarry them to Leicester would have been poetic justice! (And charge them for a StP-Leicester Single ticket.)

Haha! Quite so. They were not allowed to disembark. I don't think they were fined, but certainly tremendously inconvenienced. I doubt they'll ever do it again! I think they were required to buy a return to Leicester at the on-train rate! I can't imagine they will be repeating that one in a hurry again!

I am somewhat perplexed by these kind of mistakes. Makes me wonder what about the railway system makes it so confusing for some members of the public.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

I once saw somebody who was so drunk that they got on a train in London and fell asleep then proceeded to sleep through their stop, through the train terminating in Birmingham and then they woke up on the back working of the trip one stop away from where they needed to be anyway. It probably took them four hours instead of twenty five minutes to get home but they'd sobered up and had no memory of any of it so they basically came out of it winning.

 

[PG]

I am somewhat perplexed by these kind of mistakes. Makes me wonder what about the railway system makes it so confusing for some members of the public.

I wonder if some people just don't have the wider picture e.g. even when they are aware of impending disembarkation they wait until the train has stopped before gathering their belongings, then hunt for something in umpteen pockets/bags before shuffling towards the door. Then either manage to leave through closing doors thus delaying departure futher -which is of no consequence to them - or else be trapped on-board and decide to pull the handle!
Usually the same folk who can be heard muttering about how the trains are never on time...

 

[Killingworth]

I wonder if some people just don't have the wider picture e.g. even when they are aware of impending disembarkation they wait until the train has stopped before gathering their belongings, then hunt for something in umpteen pockets/bags before shuffling towards the door. Then either manage to leave through closing doors thus delaying departure futher -which is of no consequence to them - or else be trapped on-board and decide to pull the handle!
Usually the same folk who can be heard muttering about how the trains are never on time...

Contrasting with those who stand up quarter of an hour before their destination, get out at the preceeding station, look around and say, "is this x" when it's a small wayside station and not the city centre hub they should be at, and see the train they've left power away without them

 

[deltic]

A few years ago I was travelling to Milton Keynes from Euston. It soon became apparent this was not the stopping train a lady who wanted it to go to Kensal Green thought it was. Two business men told her dont worry the next stop was Watford Junction where they were getting off and they could point out the train she needed to go back on. 15 minutes later as we sped through Watford Junc at 100mph the two business men were by equal measures embarrassed and angry. First stop was in fact Milton Keynes and the three were last seen heading towards a poor member of staff to berate them for having got on the wrong train.

 

[millemille]

More annoyingly is when customers pull an egress handle when they realise they've been over carried. Someone did this on the MML the other day on a 1Fxx service as it was passing Kentish Town. I imagine getting taken to Leicester wasn't what they wanted to do.

Back in the mid 2000's when I was fleet engineer for the class 365's we had a spate of an egress handle being pulled on the same service at the same place over a period of a few weeks, always bringing the train to a stand at Knebworth station where the puller hopped off and legged it.

It stopped of it's own accord just before BTP were able to set up an operation to catch the culprit.

Speculation was rife, given the unerring ability of the puller to pull the handle at exactly the right time to bring the train to a stand at Knebworth with their carriage on the platform and the incidents stopping so suddenly just before BTP were able to set up to catch them, that the puller was a driver or ex driver with contacts still driving the GN route.

 

[philthetube]

A few years ago I was travelling to Milton Keynes from Euston. It soon became apparent this was not the stopping train a lady who wanted it to go to Kensal Green thought it was. Two business men told her dont worry the next stop was Watford Junction where they were getting off and they could point out the train she needed to go back on. 15 minutes later as we sped through Watford Junc at 100mph the two business men were by equal measures embarrassed and angry. First stop was in fact Milton Keynes and the three were last seen heading towards a poor member of staff to berate them for having got on the wrong train.

not necessarily fair, In that situation IU would probably head to a member of staff, but laugh about it with them.

 

[185143]

not necessarily fair, In that situation IU would probably head to a member of staff, but laugh about it with them.

Exactly. That's how you end up buying new tickets.

I know from experience-on both sides of the situation-that if you go to the staff and admit you've ballsed up, you will pretty much always get what you need. Usually with a bit of humour thrown in, albeit at your expense of course!

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Not quite overcarrying but in the same vein: Once, when travelling from Abbey Wood to London Bridge, I got chatting to the lady sitting next to me. It turned out she had been travelling on an intended journey from Stratford-on-Avon to Hartford. How did she get so far out of the way? As far as I can recall, she'd mistakenly bought a ticket from Stratford-on-Avon to Dartford instead of Hartford, AND followed the directions she'd been given to get to Dartford, only realising the mistake in time to get off and start the return journey at Slade Green! She was remarkably laid back and philosophical about her wasted day/ticket!

 

[jfollows]

Pre-Pendolino I used to go home to Manchester on the 18:25 from Euston when I could, not least because its first stop was Wilmslow, although I didn't live in Wilmslow at the time.

One day it conveyed some people who were "seeing off" a colleague or family member because they "knew" that all down express trains called at Watford Junction where they'd disembark and return to London.

Sadly, in a way, we ended up making a special stop at Rugby to eject them, I don't know what happened to them after that or whether or not they ended up paying for their extended journey. As a result I wasn't on time at my final destination of Manchester Piccadilly.

I wonder where their idea of "all trains stop at Watford" came from? For sure, more trains did so, especially before the intensive Pendolino timetable, but even at the time of my experience there weren't that many Watford Junction calls.

 

[Sand_elf]

In 1991 I was working for Trailfare, pushing the drinks trolley on the train between Waterloo and Exeter. Someone had just woken up and asked if we'd passed Woking yet. I told him we'd just passed Templecombe in Somerset, so yes

Also in 1988 my Dad caught a train from Euston to Milton Keynes. The first stop was Stoke on Trent. They closed the station and made him wander the streets for 4 hours before catching the first train back

 

[LRV3004]

Pre-Pendolino I used to go home to Manchester on the 18:25 from Euston when I could, not least because its first stop was Wilmslow, although I didn't live in Wilmslow at the time.

One day it conveyed some people who were "seeing off" a colleague or family member because they "knew" that all down express trains called at Watford Junction where they'd disembark and return to London.

Sadly, in a way, we ended up making a special stop at Rugby to eject them, I don't know what happened to them after that or whether or not they ended up paying for their extended journey. As a result I wasn't on time at my final destination of Manchester Piccadilly.

I wonder where their idea of "all trains stop at Watford" came from? For sure, more trains did so, especially before the intensive Pendolino timetable, but even at the time of my experience there weren't that many Watford Junction calls.

I know it's only 5 minutes, but that train was 1830 from Euston! I used to work it fairly often during my stint as an on board cleaner. There were two odd ones like that in the evening peak, the 1725 which did Lichfield - Wilmslow - Stockport - Manchester, and the 1830 which did Wilmslow - Stockport - Manchester.

 

[jfollows]

I know it's only 5 minutes, but that train was 1830 from Euston!

Good call, I defer to your better memory, thank you!

 

[EllieAquitrain]

In hindsight, I wish I'd stayed on the train in this case!

My brother and I got the Northern Line Charing Cross Branch from North London to meet our dad at Waterloo (I think to go to the rugby at Twickenham). We missed the stop deep in conversation, and got very frustrated by the long (by tube standards) gap between stations to Kennington, then got off and crossed over to wait for the first northbound train. We did still make our train at Waterloo, but only just. I only realised a day later that if we'd stayed put I would have got to go round the Kennington loop, and that we probably ended up getting back on the same tube train anyway!

 

[citycat]

I've often wondered whether people intending to defraud the railway simply buy a ticket from, say, Birmingham to Coventry, and then claim to have fallen asleep when challenged for their ticket half way to London! Do the railway authorities actually "send" people back or do they just allow them to leg it out of the station? Surely claiming over-carry must be the easiest ruse to avoid penalty fares etc?

As I've mentioned in an earlier post, I lost count of the number of times I did a ticket check after leaving KX and found passengers holding Peterborough tickets when it was first stop York, or heading Southbound and doing a check after York and finding passengers with Doncaster tickets when it was next stop London. Obviously, there were quite a few who were visibly distressed or annoyed with themselves (or me for some reason) for not checking, and I suitably endorsed their tickets to get them back. However, their were also quite a few who didn't seem to be that bothered at the prospect of making an extra 200 mile round trip, and sometimes there were a few clues. A suitcase and bags in the rack above their head for a shortish journey to Donny, or a distinct Yorkshire accent instead of a Cambridgeshire one when they were supposedly only heading North to Peterborough. So, I'm sure quite a few were 'at it'. The thing is, you couldn't outright accuse them of deliberately wanting to be overcarried, so you just endorsed their ticket for the next train, knowing that they would probably toss it in the bin as they legged it out of the station. Remember, this was GNER days before the barriers were brought in and station staff obviously did not have the time to escort people to the next train and wait around to ensure they boarded it.

What discouraged me somewhat as a train guard was that if you found someone without a ticket, they could just buy a ticket from you without any fear of a penalty, so it was always worth it to them to try and chance it that there wouldn't be a ticket check. While on the continent, it's normally been a case of if you join a train without a ticket, you have to actively seek out the conductor to buy a ticket to try and avoid a penalty. If he or she found you while doing a ticket check, it would be the price of the ticket plus a fine. I found that out in Italy once when my FIP ticket was apparently not valid for that particular train. The guy took no prisoners and made me pay the full fare plus a fine on top, and wasn't bothered that I had made a mistake or that I was also a conductor (guard) in the UK. So much for helping out fellow railway staff.

Just to go off topic a bit (though you might find it interesting), on my long weekends off from the railway, I sometimes used to drive the overnight Eurolines coach service from London Victoria to Amsterdam. One Saturday night, I was in Amsterdam and preparing to drive the overnight back to London. It was quite busy with several coaches boarding and the Amsterdam staff were checking tickets while I loaded the luggage. There was a dupe service covering my intermediate stops at Utrecht and Eindhoven, so I was direct to London only via the ferry at Calais. My coach was nearly full and I made a pre departure announcement welcoming passengers to the London service. We got to Calais around 3am where passengers had to get off to go through passport control. As they were getting off, an Asian female passenger in her 40's came up to me and in halting English asked me when we would be getting to Berlin as she was concerned that we now seemed to be at a ferry port. She went into mild shock when I gently explained to her that we were heading for London and not Berlin, backing up my information by pointing to the illuminated dot matrix destination sign in the windscreen clearly showing London.

It seems that the Amsterdam staff had somehow messed up and allowed her to board my coach when she should've boarded the German coach that was parked next to me. What was I to do with her? I couldn't leave her to the mercy of a cold Calais port in the middle of the night. Luckily, she had a German passport with her so I suggested that she continue to London and re arrange with Eurolines to get her to Berlin from there. So that's what we did. Luckily, she made it through passport control and I escorted her up to the lounge on the ferry, making sure she knew how to find the coach again. Then when we got to Victoria at 8am, I parked the coach up in a corner of the arrivals shed and escorted her across the road to departures and the Eurolines desk. Hopefully, she got to Berlin in the end after her unexpected side trip to London.