Unexpected Station Call

[westcoaster]

G'day everyone,

At the start of the summer my wife and I were traveling up to Derbyshire from St Pancras one Friday evening when the guard announced that the driver had agreed to stop at Luton to help a passenger. The guard said that it would only be a very brief stop and indeed within a few seconds we were accelerating hard out of Luton.

Nobody seemed to mind as the Meridians accelerate away very quickly but I'm curious to know how often this happens and indeed what the process is for unexpected / unplanned stops. Given that the train crew appeared to be doing the passenger a good turn I'm assuming here that no one would have got into trouble but I thought it wise not to mention it at the time.

Your thoughts / experiences would be most welcome.

Kind regards,

Richmond Commuter!

Happens a lot at Luton, it's where people get on the first stop Leicester train instead of the stopper.

 

[GatwickDepress]

The pre central locking stories here remind me of something which I'm pretty certain I read in the Croydon Advertiser 20 or more years ago. I'm sure that I not making it up.

A drunk was travelling from Victoria to Croydon one dark night. When the old slam door train got to East Croydon, except it hadn't quite, it was at a signal just north of the station and he was too plastered to tell the difference, he got out and fell on to the track. Amazingly unscathed, he somehow clambered back on board. Convinced that all that he'd done wrong was get out on the wrong side, he repeated the process...

I can't remember if he reboarded a second time and reached the station as if nothing had happened, or had to be carried away. If it made the local paper he must've needed assistance!

I've told this before, but a similar thing happened to my uncle shortly after the Marshlink line was singled in 1979. Alighting at Three Oaks following a night out on the lash drinking (The Lord Nelson, I believe), he opened the door on the left expecting solid ground but hit only air... and then cold hard ballast. He clambered back in and promptly alighted on the correct side.

 

[adc82140]

There were of course the slam door days when the inbound fast trains to Waterloo would stop alongside the platform at Vauxhall at the signals. Cue an exodus out onto the Victoria Line. It was not unknown for guards to perform full dispatch procedure before the train could move off again. Latterly many trains seemed to deliberately stop short of the platforms to stop this happening.

 

[Chrisgr31]

The pre central locking stories here remind me of something which I'm pretty certain I read in the Croydon Advertiser 20 or more years ago. I'm sure that I not making it up.

A drunk was travelling from Victoria to Croydon one dark night. When the old slam door train got to East Croydon, except it hadn't quite, it was at a signal just north of the station and he was too plastered to tell the difference, he got out and fell on to the track. Amazingly unscathed, he somehow clambered back on board. Convinced that all that he'd done wrong was get out on the wrong side, he repeated the process...

I can't remember if he reboarded a second time and reached the station as if nothing had happened, or had to be carried away. If it made the local paper he must've needed assistance!

I was on an Uckfield train where something similar came very close to happening probably two years ago. It was an evening service but not the last one, and I was stone cold sober, however the guy sitting next to me wasn't. I got some feeling that he wasnt well, and jumped out my seat at which point he threw up everywhere. The train then stopped, at which point he got up and opened the door, and had to be physically prevented from getting out as passengers pointed out there was no platform. Undaunted he staggered over to the other side of the train where we repeated the process of stopping him getting out.

 

[TDK]

I remember a driver stopping at a station by mistake that he was not booked to stop at and 5 people got off

 

[185143]

I was on a train that stopped at Belle Vue by mistake once. I was happy as it was a required shack and the train north was due shortly!

For the record, no one else bailed out!

 

[infobleep]

In around 2001 I was going to the world travel market show in Earls Court. The quickest way would to be alight at Clapham Junction but as I had to arrive around 8.30 to 9am, no fast trains from Guildford stopped at Clapham Junction. Thus I would head into Waterloo and then on the underground. This I possibly assumed being faster than getting the slow train to Clapham Junction and changing there. Whether that was the case I don't know. I also may not have wished to be on a train for 50-60 minutes without a loo.

Anyway these were slam door trains and one morning the train unusually stopped at Clapham Junction. A reasonable number of people the got off. No doubt all the passengers who would love to have actually been on a fast train that stopped at Clapham Junction during peak rush hour.

I hesitated thinking this isn't meant to happen. However I thought if others got off so can I. I got off guard blew whistle and train carried on. That day I got a quick journey to Earls Court.

Couldn't do such a thing now as the doors would remain closed.

I look forward to the day when these sorts of trains are scheduled to stop at Clapham Junction during rush hour. It will happen one day.

I use to hear announcements that fast First Great Western services would be stopping additionally at Shalford for passengers who were delayed. Not heard that in a long time though.

 

[backontrack]

Actually, having taken us off topic with a old story set in Croydon, I can bring us back on again with my own recent experience of politely forcing unscheduled stops on Scotrail.

I use Dunkeld & Birnam, which gets more HML calls than say Blair Atholl or Newtonmore, but doesn't quite get the full set like Pitlochry or Kingussie.

Until a few years ago, the only way to travel to Dunkeld from Glasgow in the early evening was to use the 1740ish from Queen Street to Aberdeen and change on to a similarly timed Edinburgh to Inverness train at Perth. If the Aberdeen train was delayed they would nearly always hold the connection, or at least plan something else.

Then in (I think) the 2012 timetable they extended the 1811 Queen Street-Perth through to Inverness. Excellent, a direct evening service. The problem was that, presumably with a slip of the pen, they made it skip the Dunkeld stop but no others. In theory this made no difference to me because I could continue with the previous arrangement. However, very quickly I discovered that they no longer held the connection at Perth meaning that I'd either have to wait two hours (er, no), they'd put me in a taxi (first two times it happened, £25 each) or they'd make a special stop just for me (for the rest of the year and until the new timetable).

Funnily enough the 1811 Glasgow-Inverness is scheduled to stop at Dunkeld now.

Nowadays, however, it doesn't call at Carrbridge.

 

[najaB]

I've known VTWC to have an additional stop at Lockerbie if the TPE has been cancelled - saves people having to go to Carlisle and back up.

 

[sarahj]

I had a similar incident one night on the way home from Victoria to Croydon, the train made an unadvertised stop at Selhurst, passenger got off, when challenged he threatened to report the train crew for making an unscheduled stop!

Most very late, and all the night trains make a staff stop at Selhurst. They are not advertised* as sometime due to works they might call at Norwood junction. An announcement is always made (or should be made). But there is sometimes the odd one or two who are not listening.
The first train down to Brighton sometimes has a stop at Redhill. But when people ask are we stopping, the answer should be 'possibly'. Over the years I've learnt not to say anything until the train crosses over into the platform track and sometimes the signaller will send you down the middle passing tracks. And sometimes you miss Redhill altogether and go down the quarry. Folks who expect it stop every time get miffed, but its NOT advertised.
I've even had a word with the odd driver who adds it to the PIS at Victoria. Dont advertise it until we are defiantly going there.

* if it was advertised and we did not stop, then a replacement bus would have to be sourced to take the punter there. Same with the Redhill stop.

 

[47271]

I've known VTWC to have an additional stop at Lockerbie if the TPE has been cancelled - saves people having to go to Carlisle and back up.

In BR days, and Lockerbie's service provided by occasional West Coast expresses stopping, there was often another reason for additional calls at Lockerbie - that the preceding train in the opposite direction had forgotten that it was supposed to be providing a service to the station!

I know at least two people who found themselves correctly getting up to alight at Lockerbie and instead tearing through at 100mph. There was nothing to do but continue to Carlisle, or worse still Glasgow, and make sure that they made a special stop for you to get back to your original destination.

 

[bunnahabhain]

G'day everyone,

At the start of the summer my wife and I were traveling up to Derbyshire from St Pancras one Friday evening when the guard announced that the driver had agreed to stop at Luton to help a passenger. The guard said that it would only be a very brief stop and indeed within a few seconds we were accelerating hard out of Luton.

Nobody seemed to mind as the Meridians accelerate away very quickly but I'm curious to know how often this happens and indeed what the process is for unexpected / unplanned stops. Given that the train crew appeared to be doing the passenger a good turn I'm assuming here that no one would have got into trouble but I thought it wise not to mention it at the time.

Your thoughts / experiences would be most welcome.

Kind regards,

Richmond Commuter!

I've arranged Special Stops for various shacks before, usually because a passenger is on the wrong train and it's just so much easier to get them off as quickly as possible. I've done it at Romiley, Marple, Hazel Grove, Chinley, Derby, Whittlesea and Hathersage before, and had many others arranged by stations or control. They're not always granted as it depends on how likely it'll delay the train.

 

[yorksrob]

I've told this before, but a similar thing happened to my uncle shortly after the Marshlink line was singled in 1979. Alighting at Three Oaks following a night out on the lash drinking (The Lord Nelson, I believe), he opened the door on the left expecting solid ground but hit only air... and then cold hard ballast. He clambered back in and promptly alighted on the correct side.

I bet they didn't put that in the safety case back in 1979

 

[infobleep]

In BR days, and Lockerbie's service provided by occasional West Coast expresses stopping, there was often another reason for additional calls at Lockerbie - that the preceding train in the opposite direction had forgotten that it was supposed to be providing a service to the station!

I know at least two people who found themselves correctly getting up to alight at Lockerbie and instead tearing through at 100mph. There was nothing to do but continue to Carlisle, or worse still Glasgow, and make sure that they made a special stop for you to get back to your original destination.

If only they hadn't closed all the intermediate stations.... I'm not seriously suggesting they remain open just for this purpose but they might have been useful.

 

[David Goddard]

Happens from time to time at Whittlesea- if a GA train from Ipswich has been turned back at Ely then the next EM or XC from Peterborough will call extra at Whittlesea to plug what would otherwise be a long wait.

I requested an additional stop at Berkswell a year or so back. It was a Sunday at Birmingham International and the Coventry stopper came in rammed. We could not get on and it was an hour until the next train in the freezing cold. There was another LM to Coventry (fast) in twenty minutes so I asked the platform staff if they could request a stop order on train (used my wife's recent hip operation as backup). They begrudgingly (because they were annoyed I knew what one was) asked control who agreed, and the next train called additionally at Hampden in Arden and Berkswell. The moral here is that if you don't ask you don't get!

 

[redbutton]

Most very late, and all the night trains make a staff stop at Selhurst. They are not advertised* as sometime due to works they might call at Norwood junction. An announcement is always made (or should be made). But there is sometimes the odd one or two who are not listening.
The first train down to Brighton sometimes has a stop at Redhill. But when people ask are we stopping, the answer should be 'possibly'. Over the years I've learnt not to say anything until the train crosses over into the platform track and sometimes the signaller will send you down the middle passing tracks. And sometimes you miss Redhill altogether and go down the quarry. Folks who expect it stop every time get miffed, but its NOT advertised.
I've even had a word with the odd driver who adds it to the PIS at Victoria. Dont advertise it until we are defiantly going there.

* if it was advertised and we did not stop, then a replacement bus would have to be sourced to take the punter there. Same with the Redhill stop.

Side note- it's not possible to add stations to the PIS, only to remove them. If it was announcing Redhill it's because RDH was included in the PIS code printed on the diagram.

 

[47271]

If only they hadn't closed all the intermediate stations.... I'm not seriously suggesting they remain open just for this purpose but they might have been useful.

http://www.beattockstationactiongroup.org.uk

Off at a bit of a tangent, but since you mention it, it's not totally impossible that we may see a service at Beattock village at some point in the future. The story pops up in the Scottish news every so often but going by this website they've still got a way to go with it. Realistically under present arrangements it'd just have to be another stop for TPE, but who knows by the time they get the project off the ground.

Good luck to them, it would be a great asset to the area.

 

[backontrack]

It's strange that Beattock was closed. It was the last of those stations (barring Lockerbie) to close and only did so in 1972, quite a long time after the others (Symington, Abington, Ecclefechan). It should definitely be reopened.

 

[Oliver]

Some years ago I was travelling from Cambridge to York. The train was delayed near Ely by a broken rail, and a lot of us missed connections. A couple with a baby were concerned as the next train stopping at Northallerton would mean a wait of almost two hours. I took them to the station office, explained their position, and the staff agreed to put in a special stop on the next train heading to Newcastle, in about 15 minutes. The couple were very surprised and quite grateful.

 

[tsr]

Side note- it's not possible to add stations to the PIS, only to remove them. If it was announcing Redhill it's because RDH was included in the PIS code printed on the diagram.

It often is, especially when using a PIS code with a destination of Three Bridges.

 

[misterredmist]

One time, whilst staying in Berwick-upon-Tweed , I went for a day out in Newcastle upon Tyne, and was shocked that the last train back to Berwick was at around 7.30 on this particular Saturday evening. Anyway, I chanced my arm and got on a GNER HST to Edinburgh and then asked the Guard if there was any chance of an unscheduled stop at Berwick...... expecting to be told "no way" and ending up at Waverley , the guard said " let me have a quick word with the driver".......

anyway, the upshot was, the train would not stop at Berwick but would slow down to 15mph, at which point, the guard would open the door and allow me to jump off , which I duly did , of course, this left me running quite fast down the platform.......however, as I was just slowing down, I got lifted off the platform again, by another guard , who dragged me back on the train and said " you're lucky to be gannin' to Edinburgh toneet , did nobody tell ya this train does ne stop at Berwick ?" ........

 

[455driver]

One time, whilst staying in Berwick-upon-Tweed , I went for a day out in Newcastle upon Tyne, and was shocked that the last train back to Berwick was at around 7.30 on this particular Saturday evening. Anyway, I chanced my arm and got on a GNER HST to Edinburgh and then asked the Guard if there was any chance of an unscheduled stop at Berwick...... expecting to be told "no way" and ending up at Waverley , the guard said " let me have a quick word with the driver".......

anyway, the upshot was, the train would not stop at Berwick but would slow down to 15mph, at which point, the guard would open the door and allow me to jump off , which I duly did , of course, this left me running quite fast down the platform.......however, as I was just slowing down, I got lifted off the platform again, by another guard , who dragged me back on the train and said " you're lucky to be gannin' to Edinburgh toneet , did nobody tell ya this train does ne stop at Berwick ?" ........

I thought it was during the week and 'this train don't stop Camborne Wednesdays'!e

 

[misterredmist]

I thought it was during the week and 'this train don't stop Camborne Wednesdays'!e

HA HA , universla gag then.... it is , believe it or not, hopeless on many weekends getting from Newcastle to Berwick ,particularly on a "match day" I would guess it is to do with deterring certain potential passengers.....

 

[Philip C]

Round about 1970 I travelled quite a lot between Levenshulme and Poynton. To catch the last Macclesfield train I'd take a Crewe train and change at Stockport. When, one evening, it became evident that the Crewe train was running very late, I popped down to the booking office (yes-Levenshulme ticket office was still open at close to 2300 in those days) and they contacted control. As a result not only was the Macclesfield train instructed to stop but the train was diverted onto the slow line to enable this to be done.

Whether it would be possible to get the appropriate strings pulled today I'm rather unsure.

 

[Cliveblackpool]

'This Train Don't Stop Camborne Wednesdays!' - Jethro Joke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_axHV2wx8RA

 

[HMS Ark Royal]

Back when I was aged six (so back in Regional Railways days...), my grandparents on my mother's side lived in the old station house at Stallingborough and the garden had a little gate only for them and their guests to use when coming back from the Grimsby/Cleethorpes direction. I have some find memories of being woken up in the middle of the night with all the HSTs and DMUs running past for fuelling and cleaning.

One day, during a visit, it poured it down whilst we were in Grimsby and, on arrival, the train had been either cancelled due to a fault or was running empty to Barton or Doncaster depot. The next train was well over an hour later and my mother, who was pregnant with my brother at the time, spoke to the station staff who had the next departure make a special stop at Stallingborough - a full sized HST! I remember it clearly because my mother said we could sit in the "posh seats" which, I assume was first class. Upon arrival at the station, the train slowed and the signalman (the gates at Stallingborough were manually operated at the time) met us off at the platform.

Sorry if it was a bit long, but I thought I would add my own little memory to the discussion

 

[Tim R-T-C]

I remember watching the old Slam door stock at Petts Wood where my Grandma lived in the 90s.

It was amusing when the ex-Hastings and South Coast expresses which were not scheduled to stop there, pulled up at a red signal and dozens of the city's finest would scramble to get on board rather than wait for the local train.

 

[infobleep]

http://www.beattockstationactiongroup.org.uk

Off at a bit of a tangent, but since you mention it, it's not totally impossible that we may see a service at Beattock village at some point in the future. The story pops up in the Scottish news every so often but going by this website they've still got a way to go with it. Realistically under present arrangements it'd just have to be another stop for TPE, but who knows by the time they get the project off the ground.

Good luck to them, it would be a great asset to the area.

Surprised they need to fund this themselves. I thought the Scottish government was pro rail and might fund it for them. After all Boarders rail was opened.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Surprised they need to fund this themselves. I thought the Scottish government was pro rail and might fund it for them. After all Boarders rail was opened.

They are not looking to fund the station, but fund a report into the viability and business case for the station to present to the Scottish Government.

£25k wouldn't buy you much station these days.

 

[najaB]

£25k wouldn't buy you much station these days.

Conan Bridge cost £600K and that is a 15m long single platform. At those prices £25K would get you about 40cm!