Worst experiences after taking the wrong train

[GTR fail]

There was a thread for this that closed a while ago, but I enjoy hearing the misfortunate stories of taking the wrong train, so I am starting a new one.
I’ll give one of my worse experiences:
I was travelling from Kings Cross to Oakleigh Park in the evening peak, and my usual direct train was cancelled so I boarded a train that I thought was stopping at Finsbury Park in order to change to a train that originated at Moorgate. However as soon as the doors shut I realised I was on one of GN’s peak services that goes first stop Welwyn North! It got worse...
Just before Alexandra Palace the driver announced that we were to be diverted via Hertford due to overhead power issues and as such we would not be calling at Welwyn North or Knebworth - first stop Hitchin, and of course the train arrived 25 or 30 mins late due to the diversion!
After dodging the barriers at Hitchin (by using the lifts) the next train southbound to Potters Bar where I could change for a stopping service was to be terminated at Welwyn GC due to these overhead wire issues. I knew that there were ticket barriers at Welwyn GC and I didn’t fancy my chances of getting past those ones like I did at Hitchin, so I had to take the next train down to Finsbury Park (Which was a 10 minute wait) and then go northbound again. That was not the end of the issues however! The train from Finsbury Park to Oakleigh Park skipped New Southgate and Oakleigh Park due to these overhead wire problems, so I had to double back at New Barnet. I think I eventually got back home around 3 hours later than I imagined!

So share some of your worst experiences due to taking the wrong train...

 

[uvarvu]

I remember being on a GW train from Paddington to Plymouth a few years ago when some passengers boarded the train at Reading intending to get off at Newbury. That particular train was non stop to Taunton!
As for myself the only time I messed up was at Liverpool Street, I thought I boarded a train to Stratford but the first stop was actually Shenfield doh.

 

[xotGD]

I had a near miss when traveling from Birmingham to Wolverhampton. Fortunately there was a barely audible announcement that the train was first stop Preston prior to departure and I was able to get off in time.

 

[Jamesrob637]

A train I thought was going from Berlin Charlottenburg to Potsdam Hbf back in 2003 with a small sixth grade class.
It actually went via Potsdam-Rehbrücke however we got off one station after that and fortunately there was a train going back towards Berlin a few minutes later so we jumped off that at Rehbrücke and took the tram into Potsdam. I believe all track we covered was valid on our tickets so all we wasted was time.

 

[bramling]

There was a thread for this that closed a while ago, but I enjoy hearing the misfortunate stories of taking the wrong train, so I am starting a new one.
I’ll give one of my worse experiences:
I was travelling from Kings Cross to Oakleigh Park in the evening peak, and my usual direct train was cancelled so I boarded a train that I thought was stopping at Finsbury Park in order to change to a train that originated at Moorgate. However as soon as the doors shut I realised I was on one of GN’s peak services that goes first stop Welwyn North! It got worse...
Just before Alexandra Palace the driver announced that we were to be diverted via Hertford due to overhead power issues and as such we would not be calling at Welwyn North or Knebworth - first stop Hitchin, and of course the train arrived 25 or 30 mins late due to the diversion!
After dodging the barriers at Hitchin (by using the lifts) the next train southbound to Potters Bar where I could change for a stopping service was to be terminated at Welwyn GC due to these overhead wire issues. I knew that there were ticket barriers at Welwyn GC and I didn’t fancy my chances of getting past those ones like I did at Hitchin, so I had to take the next train down to Finsbury Park (Which was a 10 minute wait) and then go northbound again. That was not the end of the issues however! The train from Finsbury Park to Oakleigh Park skipped New Southgate and Oakleigh Park due to these overhead wire problems, so I had to double back at New Barnet. I think I eventually got back home around 3 hours later than I imagined!

So share some of your worst experiences due to taking the wrong train...

I do remember jumping on a Networker at Waterloo East with the intention of going to London Bridge, only to go sailing through London Bridge with it turning out to be a peak-hour service fast to New Eltham. Wouldn’t have been such a massive problem if it wasn’t for the fact that the train was pretty heavily loaded, and I quickly found I needed to take a leak. Needless to say the train then got delayed somewhat due to signal problems. Lesson well and truly learned!

 

[Oscar46016]

Back in 1981 I was on a northbound overnight service out of Kings Cross on a Class 46 - I woke up pulling out of stonenaven with a duff on the from that had replaced the peak at Doncaster ( not a happy bunny )

 

[Techniquest]

The worst I ever had that immediately springs to mind was boarding a 185 at Brough in 2007, on a Freedom of the North East rover. That weekend there was diversions via Hambleton West Curve on London-Leeds trains, and I had originally been due to get to Hull on the HST from London. I needed to be on a Northern service to Doncaster though, and due to delays from trespassers on the ECML I had bailed at Brough to avoid missing it.

So a 185 had rolled in, and I recall these were unusual on the Hull services at the time. Something to do with their weight on the Selby-Hull section maybe? So I was excited and jumped on, not remembering until it was too late that Transpennine services do not call at Doncaster...

Off the train at Selby, after a chat with the guard, and I jumped on a 158 out of the bay to York. In order to still do that track, I needed to get to Doncaster, then a Leeds train and finally back to York. On arrival in York, as I had not yet checked into my accommodation for the night, I went to do that instead and decided against doing the track after all.

I never did go and get that track, and I probably never will! That rover I recall was also not used very well, most of the validity was not used and due to work constraints at the time I could only use a day and a half of it. What a waste!

The only other journey I did on the wrong train was much more recent, last year I think. I was on an early morning red pen fest in the Stratford area, and I joined a 321 out of Liverpool Street after running over for it. I glanced up at the board, with just enough time to get on and saw something that looked like Stratford.

I had expected a call at Stratford anyway, so imagine my shock when we didn't call. 'Oh, maybe it said Shenfield' I remember thinking. No stop there either, and by now I was a bit worried. Turned out it was first stop Wickford!

Thankfully the lass in the ticket office got me a bit of paper explaining the situation with a station stamp on it, in case I needed it for the way back. Which I didn't as it turned out, but from that point on I've checked much more carefully where the train calls!

 

[alxndr]

A friend and I weren’t paying attention to the final destination of a u-bahn train and remained on it at Ostbahnhof. Somehow we didn’t notice everyone else leaving. It was only when it departed and we stopped a few hundred meters away with no station in sight that we realised something was amiss.

My friend headed off up the train to check it really was empty, and I was left with the sudden realisation that we probably weren’t supposed to be there, we had no idea how long it was going to be out of service, and my German is non-existant. Thankfully we were only there as long as it took them to change ends, and the driver had a path to walk down the outside of the train rather than through it, so we never had to explain ourselves and there was no harm done.

 

[Taunton]

Not me, but back in the 1970s on the Edinburgh-Glasgow Class 27 nonstop push-pull, it left from the opposite side of the platform at Edinburgh Waverley from the stopping dmu to Stirling that followed it.

Chap boarded the Glasgow train one evening, sat further up the coach. Approaching Linlithgow at 90mph he strangely got up, put his coat on, collected his briefcase and was looking out. Linlithgow passed at speed, was apparent that was where he was going. Guard came through a few minutes later, in a discussion it was not really practical to come back from Glasgow on the Falkirk stopper and change there, quicker to stay in the train and go back with it, nonstop through Linlithgow again, all the way back to Edinburgh, and start again.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Once boarded a TPE train from Platform 4 at Haymarket en route to Preston (Lancs) and was accompanied by a young couple of lassies who it transpired should have boarded the Edinburgh -> Glasgow stopping service following immediately behind.

Next stop on the TPE service was Lockerbie!

As for me, I'll admit to having got on a southbound Manchester Metrolink tram on its merry way to Eccles when I should have been on an Altrincham bound service. Bit embarrassing as I'd pre-booked a taxi to pick me up from my destination tram stop on the Altrincham line and I was 25 minutes late for it.

 

[DarloRich]

a simple Euston > MK journey by Virgin turned into Euston > Warrington > Milton Keynes. That took some explaining when i got back to the office.

 

[ABB125]

I was at Barcelona Sants last summer, having arrived at the station with nowhere near enough time to spare (about one minute!), especially when the only other time I'd been in the station before was that morning when I arrived. I needed the train to Tortosa (I think), so as I was running towards the correct part of the station I glanced at the departure board and saw something that looked like Tortosa. I therefore headed for the designated platform, which was very close to the one I'd arrived on on the train in the morning. It was only as I was about to head down the stairs to the platform that I checked the departure board again and noticed that the train I was heading for was actually going to somewhere else with a very similar name (I forget where)! Luckily the train I wanted was departing from the next platform along, which I double checked and then got on with literally seconds to spare. The journey was somewhat less relaxing than I was hoping, however, as the train was full and standing and I was next to a man who was, without intending to be offensive, mentally deranged and kept muttering to himself and other passengers for the duration.
Given that my Spanish is limited to educated guesses and things like numbers and months of the year, I was rather glad to have not gotten on the wrong train, especially as I didn't have a ticket for it!

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Fell asleep on a Kent Coast bound train in the 1970s and woke up in the depot!

 

[37078xotTE]

Living in Shrewsbury in the early 80's many a day trip was had out to Crewe and sometimes onward to North Wales for 40's along the coast. After one such (very long) day 3 friends and I were planning to catch our last train home from Crewe back to Shrewsbury (Sadly a DMU not our usual class 33 traction) from the bay platforms. After taking our seats in the warm and starting to reminisce about our days "cops" and taking out our red pens we did not pay much attention to the unit next to ours leaving the station at what was our proposed departure time..................... yep you guessed it , we were sat on the wrong unit which became evident when we "turned left" out of Crewe!!
Rushing to find the guard we discovered we were on the "Stoke" train and so with no alternative as it was the last train of the day we bailed at the first stop of Alsager which much to our dismay contained one bench shelter, one station light and not much else. (I presume it is better equipped nowadays, though I have not been back since that fateful night)
After much fretting as to what to do and realising we only had about £1 between us all (nowhere near enough for a taxi back to Shrewsbury) some apologetic phone calls to parents were made, luckily we had enough 2p's for the red phone box just outside the station, the first, to my father was answered (By now it was nearly midnight) as he was still up having only just returned from "Darts night".
After explaining the situation and our error (My father could never understand how the group of us who regularly planned trips all over the country could miss our train home!!) he agreed to come and collect us though he had no idea where Alsager was let alone the station (remember this was pre Sat-Nav) and just over 1 hour later he duly collected us from the station shelter where we had taken up residence from the cold.
I remember the journey back to Shrewsbury was done in mainly silence except for directions to my friends houses to drop them off (finally arriving back home around 2.30am!!) and I spent the following weeks mowing the lawn and washing my parents car for no pocket money to "pay" for Dad's taxi ride.

 

[trebor79]

Not me but I was on a Norwich to London service. The one service each day that calls at Manningtree but not Colchester. Lots of announcements at Ipswich and Manningtree that the train was non stop to Liverpool Street.
Few minutes later young lad in school uniform suddenly looks panicked and asks me if the train stops in Colchester. "But I've got my A Level exams today!". Poor lad.

I once (1998) missed the last train home from Newcastle after getting a stitch running from a concert. Arrived at Central to see the train pulling out with my mate looking through the door at me.
Persuaded a taxi driver to take me home to just south of Durham for a fiver!

 

[Stormaggeddon]

None of these were really bad, just amusing:

Just before starting a job in Stevenage it was suggested I popped down a few weeks before starting to meet people. Frist job out of university and all paid for, so I agreed. came down from where I was living in Leicester no problem. Got on the wrong train from Kings Cross and ended up in St Neots. Arrived at my evening introduction meeting 10 minutes after it ended. Still in contact with people who were there, still living it down (this was in 2000, so long memories).

Late evening after working in Leeds all day for a client. Got a TPE train which I thought was going to Newcastle. Woke up in Hull. Still haven’t told anyone.

Not really the wrong train, but left London after a client Christmas party back in 2004 intending to go back to my then flat in Reading. Fell asleep. Normally this wouldn’t be too bad as I’m originally from Plymouth and have family there. Unfortunately this service was going through to Cornwall.... I was woken up in Penzance by the Guard and I was in a “moderately confused” state. To his credit he saw the funny side and pointed me in the direction of some paracetamol and I made my escape eastwards a few hours later. Had to get my brother to drop off supplies as the service passed through Plymouth though.

Off topic, as not by train but in a similar vein; started a job in Ilford in 2002. I lived in Rotherhithe. On my first day I drove the wrong way round the North Circular and turned up 3 hours late to a meeting I had organised. I had to improvise by semi-chairing the thing over a hands free unit in the car. Upon arrival I was gifted an AtoZ of London that one of the attendees had popped out to buy. Still have it in the car now.

 

[MotCO]

My only (to date!) mistake was at Victoria, trying to get to Clapham Junction. I went to the correct platform, but caught the 'nearest to the barrier' train instead of 'furthest from the barrier'. My train turned out to be the Victoria to London Bridge train, so I bailed out at the first stop and returned to Victoria. And this was a Friday when I wanted to get home early....

 

[mmh]

I do remember jumping on a Networker at Waterloo East with the intention of going to London Bridge, only to go sailing through London Bridge with it turning out to be a peak-hour service fast to New Eltham. Wouldn’t have been such a massive problem if it wasn’t for the fact that the train was pretty heavily loaded, and I quickly found I needed to take a leak. Needless to say the train then got delayed somewhat due to signal problems. Lesson well and truly learned!

Years ago I did almost exactly the same, just from Cannon Street rather than Waterloo East. Entered a compartment as it slowed on the approach to London Bridge, started to open the door and was pulled back by a passenger. "It doesn't stop here!" Whoops. Ended up in Rochester and had to explain my way through a ticket check crossing the platforms to go back.

I was very late meeting people in the pub that night.

 

[causton]

Got caught out on C2C's odd calling patterns, hoping to go from West Ham to Barking or Upminster but ended up in Laindon! I think it was Laindon, there were about seven of us that made the same mistake and had to beg at the barriers to be let across the other side to a train back into London...

 

[mmh]

Ah, memories. I've woken up on the right train in the wrong place more often than I've been on the wrong train. A taxi home from Caterham, night buses and most of the night getting home from Strawberry Hill depot (depot, not station - whoops!) and home on an ECS train from Holyhead with a very understanding and nice guard!

 

[Ostrich]

Talking of near-misses at Birmingham New Street, I used to regularly travel down to Coventry on a Sunday to watch rugby league at the Butts Arena. So, down the stairs to my usual platform, quickly hop on-board the waiting Pendolino, settle down in the seat and casually glance up at the scrolling display. Suddenly realised I was staring at "...., calling at Gloucester,....."! It was no Pendolino, it was a Voyager bound for Paignton.

I don't think I've ever vacated a train so fast

 

[Huntergreed]

Hopped on a 390 at Preston intending to head to Warrington. Train was running late and there were no announcements, nipped to the loo at the wrong time. Ended up a trip from Preston to Warrington Bank Quay via London Euston, of course by the time I arrived in Warrington I had missed the planned event and it was time to simply head home, what a shame!

 

[MotCO]

In a slightly different vain, my son had a non-refundable ticket for a Grand Central train to Sunderland, but woke up late in Catford. He had 20 minutes to get to Kings Cross, and somehow made it!

 

[Ianigsy]

When Steamtown at Carnforth was open, my dad and I went one day from home in Birkenhead. I suspect we probably took the morning Liverpool/Manchester-Glasgow/Edinburgh as far as Lancaster, where we changed. Two DMUs in the northbound bays with no indication of where they were going, but one had the engine running and we scrambled on.

Shortly afterwards we disembarked at Morecambe. Not a completely wasted trip as the BR Exhibition Train was there so we had some time to look around that before returning to Lancaster.

 

[bramling]

Ah, memories. I've woken up on the right train in the wrong place more often than I've been on the wrong train. A taxi home from Caterham, night buses and most of the night getting home from Strawberry Hill depot (depot, not station - whoops!) and home on an ECS train from Holyhead with a very understanding and nice guard!

The time I mentioned is about the only time I’ve actually ended up on the wrong train, although a couple of times I’ve found myself going up the wrong branch on the Northern Line forgetting where the car is parked on the day!

I’ve had a few close shaves going off booked inward workings at King’s Cross over the years, particularly when the 365s did the fast Cambridge trains as well as everything else, as this could go wrong if a unit swap had taken place, especially if there was a quick turnaround and no announcement done by the driver prior to departing. This is an occupational hazard though, so perhaps wouldn’t could as a “mistake” in the true sense!

 

[Trainfan344]

Only ever caught the wrong train once, delayed coming into Euston trying to make a Norwich service out of Liverpool Street, Ran down to the platform at Euston Square and onto a Tube, When the announcement came the next station was Baker Street I realised my mistake, a quick connection and legging it up through the concourse at Liverpool Street saw me onto the Norwich train via the nearest door just as it slammed shut and the train departed!

 

[rg177]

I've just about managed to avoid calamity in the UK, other than being woken up at my destination a couple of times by an amused driver or guard.

However I remember when in Madrid, jumping on the Metro and misreading the map. I ended up getting off and going back to where I'd come from, thinking I was going the wrong way. I then realised my error and once again headed in the correct direction, now somewhat more panicked as I was cutting it rather fine for my train to Valencia!

On the way back, ironically, I was somewhat merry (having been plied with very nice Rioja on the AVE) and I made it back to my hotel in record time.

 

[BayPaul]

Mine is very ridiculous. Got on a Thameslink train at Luton Parkway, having carefully saved 10p by buying a single to Gatwick rather than the day return I almost went for, as my flight back wasn't for a few days. Sitting comfortably on the train passing through St Pancras, I realised that I didn't know whether my easyJet flight was from North or South terminal - at that time they used both. I studied my boarding pass in increasing confusion, trying to find the terminal, before realising the flight was actually from Luton!

A moment of disbelief, followed by a hurried disembarking at Farringdon, over the bridge via the ticket machine to buy a new ticket, whilst kicking myself for noticing my near error with the day return, and back onto a northbound train, getting back to Luton just in time to make my flight!

 

[SM Chobham Int]

Back in the 80’s a permanent early turner that lived in Farnboro’ & regularly fell asleep on the way home...... told the story of how as usual he fell asleep and missed his stop - woke up at Hook in a daze, jumped off just as a train was coming in on the other side in the other direction. Quickly over the steps and jumped on that one he said to himself ok not so bad, no hanging around and straight back to my home station.........

5 minutes later he pulls into Basingstoke !!!! The train he had jumped off was a Basing terminater - he remained asleep and was actually on his way back to where he wanted to go when he got off !! That must mess with your sleepy mind

 

[mervyn72]

Not me but witnessed in Dorridge a few years back a train in the bay which was heading to Tyseley Depot. A chap was walking through the train checking it was empty from back to front closing the doors on each carriage at a time. Behind his back a woman ran down the platform and jumped on the as the last doors were closing. The guy jumped in the cab and off he went. I reported it but never found out what happened. Is there a procedure for this????