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

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AndyW33

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Personally got overcarried from Northampton to Rugby due to being asleep. Luckily not so late at night and there were still trains back again. A work colleague once found himself being woken by a carriage cleaner at Barrow in Furness when he should have got off at Preston - and that was on a through train from Euston, which definitely dates the incident (also meaning he slept through the loco change and associated jolting).
 
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dk1

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Back in the pre-Pendolino days I boarded the 16:20 from Preston to London. We set off and the guard was rapidly round checking tickets. Two men had got on for Wigan, except the 16:20 was first stop Euston! To add to their woes we crawled through Wigan at 5mph and then were diverted via Bescot, so an hour late in to Euston. I think there was a last train back they might have caught. Must have taken some explaining when they got home around midnight.
Any similar stories?
That' is fantastic. I would say it probably taught them a valuable lesson but no doubt they'd still be as away with the fairies the next time too.
 

talltim

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Not a huge distance, but when I was 15 I and a friend mistakenly caught the non-stop Harpenden-Kings Cross service one morning on the way to school in St Albans. We had GCSE mock exams that day and somehow managed to get to school in time for the exam start, although I did do it in the wrong room.
 

Haywain

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A personal one was while on a Scottish rover back in about 1980, when I boarded the Inverness to London sleeper at Larbert heading for Carlisle, but failed to wake up and ended up at Crewe with a couple of hours to wait for a northbound train. I've several examples of missing my home station and ending up at Bedford - in the sidings a couple of times - but about 20 years ago I fell asleep on the way home after an early turn so took the opportunity to do some shopping and got a train back, but fell asleep and missed my stop a second time. At the third attempt I managed to wake up just before arrival at the right station!
 

tommy2215

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A couple of years ago I was on a Norwich train from Chesterfield and me and a few others tried to get off at Alfreton but the buttons on the class 158 failed to open the door we were at! Had to go all the way to Nottingham and then back up to Alfreton because of it. (there was no notice that the door wasn't in use) Though this is far from the worst instance on this thread thankfully...
 

Stampy

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Been on the last train out of Norwich, heading back towards Peterborough when 2 "suitably refreshed" gentlemen staggered along the train and were asking "What time does this train get to Stratford?"

Trouble was, we'd JUST left March station...


I know of a friend who fell asleep on a Thameslink train heading back home to Peterborough, after a "few sherbets" in London.... And woke up at East Croydon - heading towards Horsham
 

High Dyke

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A former colleague got on the wrong train at Euston and instead of Milton Keynes ended up in... Warrington.
I'm not sure whether that's a blessing or not.

Had a couple myself. On a Network South East day, all those years ago. (1) I was doing Gatwick - Victoria expresses. Somehow I fell asleep - it had been a long day. Woke up with a panic passing through Clapham Junction, in the wrong direction. Bailed out at East Croydon to head back into London. Made it to King's Cross for the last service to Huntingdon. (2) Not content with already nodding off once, I did it again near Sandy. Woke up as we approached Peterborough. It was an embarrassed phone call to parents, in the small hours, to come and pick me up and take me to Huntingdon to pick up my car.
 

Beebman

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I've remembered an occasion from maybe 10-15 years ago on my evening commute back to Twyford from Paddington. Due to disruption my usual Turbo service departed from one of the HEx platforms 6 or 7. Kind of inevitably as we arrived at the first stop Slough, a couple asked someone "Is this train not going to Heathrow?"
 

jfollows

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I've had someone wanting to go Stockport-Macclesfield sitting next to me on the 07:00 Manchester-Euston, he ended up being taken to London, he should have caught the following service for Macclesfield.

My partner went to Leicester from Stockport on the Project Rio service back a while ago, he was relatively new to the UK at the time and meant to be catching a train back to Manchester, goodness knows how he ended up catching a service going the wrong way, his American accent meant that he didn't end up having to pay anything for his extended return trip to Leicester.
 

AM9

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No mention of the 18:03 Penzance and the 17:15 Swansea trains from Paddington that are billed as pick-up only at Reading. Surely somebody must have been on a train that didn't stop at Reading at all, travelling non-stop from Paddington to Taunton or Swindon respectively, thereby catching out commuters who habitually ignore the set down restrictions on those service knowing that they normally stop at Reading to pick up passengers. Maybe those RUK members remembering seeing such events were caught out themselves.
 

d9009alycidon

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Back in the early 1970s me and a group of friends went on a days spotting around the Glasgow area, we had started at Coatbridge Central and headed to Carstairs, next leg was the "Midland Scot" (Birmingham to Glasgow & Edinburgh) into Glasgow and we boarded the train at the back of the rear coach of the Glasgow Portion, just as we left Carstairs two young ladies appeared in the vestibule having taken an ill timed trip to the Buffet Car (in the Glasgow Portion) and were horrified to see that the coach that they had been travelling in was no longer there and their luggage, coats etc were by now heading in the opposite direction to Edinburgh. A quick chat with the guard eventually secured their luggage and he directed them to Queen Street for a train to Edinburgh!
 

scotrail158713

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I had a friend who was at a Cowdenbeath football game a few years ago, and after the game they were getting the train back to Edinburgh.
They fell asleep though and only woke up a few hours later as the train arrived in Perth on its next service.
 

father_jack

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A "main man" Peak (class 45/46) basher type once got on the "down midnight" (PADDINGTON NEWQUAY SLEEPER) one friday night after a lot of holy water behind a class 50 to go home to Reading. Waking up at Luxulyan bank and then going for breakfast in a work whistle capped off an overdoss of legendary proportions.
 

Old Yard Dog

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In the late 1970's, I overslept on the 0035 St Pancras to Harpenden, the last train of the day, and woke up in Luton. The crew kindly allowed me to travel back to Harpenden with them on the ECS working.

I was once on a Piccadilly to Chester via Northwich working, about 9 pm on a Saturday night, when a young lady said to me "This train is going to Huddersfield, isn't it?". She took a lot of persuading that it wasn't and that she should alight as soon as possible and get a train back to Manchester if she wanted to get home. Eventually we pulled into somewhere, either Northwich or Knutsford with a unit on the opposite platform. I remember sticking my fist out of a door and hammering on the window of the train opposite to get the guard to wait until she crossed the footbridge, which he duly did.
 

Ianno87

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Not a huge distance, but when I was 15 I and a friend mistakenly caught the non-stop Harpenden-Kings Cross service one morning on the way to school in St Albans. We had GCSE mock exams that day and somehow managed to get to school in time for the exam start, although I did do it in the wrong room.

During the May 2018 timetable disruption, at least one instance of school kids travelling from Cambridge to Meldreth etc, not listening to announcements about stops being removed to recover late running, and ending up at King's Cross.

Also, before May 2018, passengers at Cambridge aiming to get the King's Lynn portion of trains accidentally getting on the portion returning to King's Cross (and vice-versa). Once boarded an arrival at King's Cross with a group of girls who had intended to go to Downham Market.
 

Spartacus

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Just been reminded of one which used to be a 'popular' one, Glasgow - Scarborough, often booked some 'exotic' traction for the area, was booked 'fast' between Darlington and Scarborough and back, being booked to run round on the middle roads at York. 9 times out of 10 it did it in a platform, but there were regularly people caught out when it didn't, who ended up with an unexpected trip to the seaside or Darlington!
 

tbwbear

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Some years ago, I was kidnapped by South Eastern......

I ran up from the Victoria line to the barrier at platform 5 at Victoria and just made it onto an evening rush hour train bound for Ashford via Maidstone on my way to Otford. The doors closed and the train left. I was surprised to find the train quite empty and I got a seat. Just after I sat down the guard came on and said "so, just to repeat: due to a short formed train and one coach out of use, we have had to offload all intermediate passengers to prevent overcrowding. This train will be now be fast to Maidstone East. Next station stop is Maidstone East."

We arrived about 20 minutes early at Maidstone and I alighted expecting to be the only idiot to have to go over to the up platform; in the end it turned out there were about 25 of us waiting for the next up service. One lady (whose native language was not English) was still wondering what was happening and was heading all the way back to Bromley South ! The guard on our London-bound service was very apologetic and understanding !

I complained to South Eastern and got an decent apology (expressing regret at the lack of information at the barrier and no earlier announcement just ahead of the doors closing) and a full refund for my return ticket.
 

Greetlander

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Back in student days - around 1995 - spent the day at a house party in London and got on a lateish evening train from Euston back to Bham New Street. Woken up by a remarkably kind conductor at Preston.
 

Merle Haggard

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Two stories from long ago.
The first was a young junior manager at LM HQ, Euston House who used to enjoy an evening drink. He lived at Rugby, and made for the 21.25 Perth. One morning he came in to work looking far from fresh. He'd slept soundly until sometime after Carlisle but, by amazing luck, he'd been able to make a quick cross platform change at Motherwell onto a delayed up service, which rolled into Euston about 08.40 - just in time to start work again!.
The other tale was told to me, so I can't vouch for its authenticity, and wasn't of actual over-carrying. There was an organisation at GM Paddington where the head of section was far from popular with his staff. Nevertheless, the all went out for an office drink one Christmas Eve. The HoS became tired and asked one of his staff to help him board the right train at Paddington for his journey home to Reading. Perhaps emboldened by alcohol, the clerk concerned persuaded him to board a train that was first stop in the West (Exeter, at least). The clerk had time to think about things over Christmas, and was not looking forward to his boss's reaction when he returned to work. However, the reaction was congratulations not criticism. Amazingly, by coincidence the train had had a special stop order at Reading for some reason, and the clerk was congratulated for arranging for him to reach Reading so quickly!
 

Mcr Warrior

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A couple of observations; does jumping on a random train travelling in completely the wrong direction count as "overcarrying", and does anyone ever get chinged for the excess fare (an inadvertent peak hours trip from the North West to/from London Euston could well prove to be eye-wateringly expensive!)
 

Bigman

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A work colleague of mine once got the last train home from Leeds to Halifax after a night out and got woken up by the guard in the bay platform at Man Vic. It cost him £75 in a taxi to get home as he was on early duty the following morning. And he was daft enough to tell us about it!!
 

DarloRich

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A couple of observations; does jumping on a random train travelling in completely the wrong direction count as "overcarrying", and does anyone ever get chinged for the excess fare (an inadvertent peak hours trip from the North West to/from London Euston could well prove to be eye-wateringly expensive!)


Speaking purely hypothetically about an imagined person ( rather than myself) i would not expect them to be charged having given the guard and much of the carriage a good laugh as the train sped through Milton Keynes non stop. Also I would expect the guard on the first southbound train to find it very funny and let them travel for nothing. All hypothetical you understand. I wouldn't make any such mistakes.
 

Wolfie

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When l was a student in Birmingham (mid 80s) a friend of mine, who left city centre drinks early, got on the wrong train at New Street and ended up at Liverpool Lime Street....

My own worst experience, after a rail sail day trip to Calais and drinks in Villiers Street next to Charing Cross, was falling asleep on the last train to Nunhead and waking up at Orpington. A £25 minicab ride followed....
 
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Lemmy99uk

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My first year on the railway I treated myself to a 7 day Priv Scottish rover (£9.50 I think).
On the Tuesday evening I picked up a southbound sleeper at Perth intending to change at Carlisle for the Stranraer sleeper.
Unfortunately, I found an empty, warm, MK1 compartment to lie down in. I woke up in the daylight, and after consulting my SK Baker rail atlas, realised I was 15 minurmtes away from Euston.
I had to wait for a Birmingham service worked by a New Street guard to get me back north.
 

mike57

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Not so much carried over but boarding the wrong train at Seamer, the display on the platform was showing Liverpool Lime Street, and this was being announced as well, but the Liverpool train was late leaving Scarborough, and the train arriving in to the platform was the Bridlington - Hull service. It was summer, and there were a number of people with suitcases and holiday stuff who were not familar with the station or services. A number of people got on it who wanted the Liverpool train, I discouraged an elderly couple from boarding. Its more about time in this case, it was in the days of the irregular 2 hourly ish service on the Scarborough - Hull route, they would be waiting nearly an hour for the next service back to Seamer, which just missed the Liverpool connection, so a further 50 min wait. The Hull train was busy so by the time the guard found them we were between Hunmanby and Bempton. The guard did try to see if they would be quicker carrying on to Hull, and but either way they were looking at being 2-3 hours delayed and in the end he suggested they get off at Bridlington and head back from there as at least there are facilities at Bridlington.

Raises a point, if the passenger display and announcements on the platform directs you to the wrong train can you claim delay compensation
 

Wolfie

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I've almost been on the end of something very similar. After the infamous Cardiff - Leeds FA Cup match a few years ago all us Leeds fans were being marched back to the station by the local police, very WWII prison march style, to be put on a special back to Leeds. Trouble is I lived near Birmingham at the time and had drove down! We managed to slip our guard near where we'd parked but it was worrying for a while!

I've managed a few beer induced doss overs myself, managing to fall asleep at Mirfield to be jolted awake by Micklefield Jn while wanting Dewsbury. Luckily the TPE terminated in platform 7 at York and went straight back.
I've over-dossed in the opposite direction, just long enough to see the doors close and have to get off in Ravensthorpe. Pretty unspectacular apart from that I had an early flight to Ireland in the morning and I left my train tickets on the seat!
Furthest I've done is returning home from Darlington, made the mistake of deciding to get a KX service as far as York. Fell asleep before Northallerton and was woken by the guard before Doncaster. Next stop KX! Guard was understanding though and arranged for me to come back North on the next service.

I've know there's been plenty who've got on 1E01 from Newcastle wanting York or other stations when it's fast to KX.

One unusual one was someone who'd got on a GTR service somewhere through London who wanted Gatwick and ended up heading North through Bedfordshire when they were discovered! I think there was a slim chance they could have made their flight, but given the number of bags they had......
As a London-based Wolves fan l have had, on several occasions, to dodge police attempts after away fixtures to force me on to a train to Wolverhampton.... South Yorks police are particularly bad for that.
 
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Drogba11CFC

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Back in 2011 I was doing a course in Basingstoke. First day, I jumped on the train at Winchester...next stop Woking.

Similarly, a colleague of mine, after a work do, fell asleep on the train back to Totton and woke up in time to get off at Christchurch. My brother went several better; after a party in London he fell asleep on the train back to Winchester and ended up in Weymouth.
 

Wilts Wanderer

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A customer for Welwyn Garden City getting on the Kings Cross-Inverness HST, first stop York.
 

Tracked

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Haven't been down to London in the last couple of years, but most of the times I came back I'd be on the Grand Central £10 ticket non-stop from KGX-DON. Last 3 or 4 times I did this the guard would announce a few times that the next stop was DON or that the service was non-stop to DON, and when they came down to do the ticket checks there would always be a couple of people for Stevenage/Peterborough in the same carriage as me.

Furthest I've been is either;
- Bentley to Doncaster; coming back from a beer festival in Leeds, can remember Sandall and Agbrigg and next thing the train's in Doncaster
- Bentley to Adwick; Doors didn't work on a 331
- Could possibly add getting off the train earlier than expected (beer involved), nodded off after leaving Sheffield and didn't recognise the new Rotherham Central station, thought I'd gone past Doncaster! (I'd had a BYK-CHD season ticket for a while at that point, but didn't usually catch a train through Rotherham on the way to/from work).

I know someone who went to the Wakefield beer festival a few years ago, then went round a couple of pubs in Wakefield. He got on the train back to Doncaster, fell asleep and ended up at Peterborugh. Then, on the way back he fell asleep again and only just woke up in time for Doncaster!
 
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