South Eastern Trains

[ianrauk]

Well what a nightmare for some poor commuters on South Eastern Trains this morning.

I thought it best that I leave my bike at work last night and get the train home, bleedin' good thing I did as it was nasty last night with the sleet/snow, far too dangerous.

Anyway, had to get the train in this morning from Orpington. Got to the station to see a sign saying that due to adverse conditions South Eastern were running a Saturday service. Which was ok as my train was due to leave in a few minutes direct to Lewisham. So a Saturday service means only 4 carriages rather then the usual 10, on one of South Easterns busiest commuter routes into town. The train was sardined as soon as it left Orpington. At stations down the line we had the inevitable shouting, pushing and shoving to get on. At one stop a fight broke out as a chap tried to barge his way on shouting he had been waiting 45 minutes. He just stood in the door not letting them close until he was on, but there was no way anyone could move I could see that much. In the end there was a bit of handbags as another chap pushed him back off. The driver then said that due to the crowding the train would miss the rest of the stops and continue direct to London Bridge. Seeing the poor commuters on the station watch helplessly as their train went through without stopping I had to feel for the poor blighters. Makes me all the more happier knowing I don't commute every day by train... it is so very depressing.

 

[hackbike 666]

Yeah glad that I don't have to commute by train.

 

[Steve Austin]

I use South Eastern every day, and i'm so glad to be off work at the moment as the shambolic way the service runs can only make you laugh.

There is no snow in East Kent, yet its a Saturday service for all!!!

 

[upsidedown]

Yep it's not good. Last 2 days the Chilterns and LM services through Birmingham have been disrupted by broken down trains. This morning was a broken down freight train. Thankfully a lot of people have already finished so probably a bit quieter than it would be.

 

[hackbike 666]

I use South Eastern every day, and i'm so glad to be off work at the moment as the shambolic way the service runs can only make you laugh.

There is no snow in East Kent, yet its a Saturday service for all!!!

Yeah,can you do any better Mr Hotshot?

 

[Twenty Inch]

Complete clusterfukk on Southeastern yesterday getting back from London. Cannon St., London Bridge, and Charing Cross were all closed with all trains cancelled. Victoria services cancelled too. Luckily I was eventually able to get on the High Speed from St. Pancras as I live in Medway, but that's no good to all those in Maidstone, Orpington etc.

Southeastern used to be the Labour government's transport policy dirty little secret. It was formed as a non-profit after Connex lost their franchise, and as such was able to concentrate on moving passengers instead of adding shareholder value. As a result it had better indicators and levels of satisfaction than any other train operating company. This of course was highly emabarrasing to a Govt wedded to the notion that private sector discipline was needed in public utilities (actually that's just the figleaf for "we need to develop guaranteed one-way-bet investment opportunities for our finance buddies, or we're out") That all started to slip about 2.5 years ago as the Govt. were trying to sell the franchise again and therefore the company started cutting costs, and now that they've sunk all this money into the High Speed, it seems their levels of service and reliablility have slipped to the overall grim country-wide average.

 

[ChrisKH]

I am so glad I don't travel on that line. The Fenchurch Street line may have its faults but it's rarely as bad as that.

 

[gaz]

i did the same as you, and left my bike at work. I go from East Croydon to Victoria on the Southern service. luckily for me it wasn't as busy, but it's a different story if you train stops more.

 

[hackbike 666]

I don't know a lot about how South Eastern runs or neither about their routes or trains.

I know SWT has been well buggered up for the last two days though.I had to take a train from Clapham Yard to Waterloo.Then when I had got it to the exit of Clapham Yard the Signaller rang me up and told me to take it back into the yard as they had plenty of trains at Waterloo but no drivers.

 

[Molecule Man]

I'm glad I decided to cycle home last night! The main roads were mostly clear all the way (thanks motorists!), though I bottled out of the last half mile where there looked to be lots of black ice.

 

[hackbike 666]

^That seems sensible to me.Is it worth falling off?

 

[Brains]

I too took to South Eastern last night.

Got to the station to see a sea of red 'delayed' indicators

I eventually got home by a mixture of the Northern line, the Julbliee line and after finding no busses at all at N.Greenwich did a 30 min walk home in the snow in city shoes.
Got home at 9.20pm - normallly a 30 min cycle ride

Today I am suitably dressed in jeans and rigger boots, saw the situation on South Eastern again this morning and took a bus to the river and came in on the Thames Clipper.
Luxury, I was served coffie whilst reading the paper in my reclining seat.
Door to Door in about 45 mins which is the same as the train. And they take Oyster card as well ! (Which the trains do not yet, hence does anyone want to buy a return to Greenwich valid for last night ?)

Going home by boat tonight.
It's fast
It's reliable
It's comfortable
It runs every 15 mins
You get a seat
It takes bikes ! Even in the rush hour !

 

[ianrauk]

Our office is in Greenwich and when we cant be arsed to get the train into or back out of town for meetings we sometimes get the Thames Clipper. An excellent service.

 

[Lizban]

How much does Thames Clipper cost now?

(PS Agree it's a great service trouble is it is really damaging the banks of the thames due to the wash it creates)

 

[Brains]

I think it's £3.80 with an Oyster, which about the same as the train

As for the wash, it's a cat, so it's pretty minimal, certainly a lot less than any steam powered cargo ship than used to cover the Thames bank to bank from the 1880's to the 1960's

I have canoed down the Thames from the source to the Thames Barrier at Woolwich. Most of the bank damage is caused by power boats in the upper river above Teddington and the Mitten crabs in the tidal Thames. There is very little wash damage below Teddington