Paladin - York
New Member
- Location
- York
Thursday 21st April 2011.
Pitlochry Station, Perthshire.
0923, Inverness - King's Cross.
Announcement on station that this train was running 10 minutes late. It only started a few miles up the track in Inverness.
I was prebooked in coach M & the bike in coach A. Bike was tagged with ticket. Train duly arrived and as I attempted to load bike into coach A I was told, for whatever reason, that I was now to load bike into coach F and stand with it until Perth. I attached bike to a grab handle with my bungeee (I always carry one of these specifically for train purposes) in an area where left luggage is not allowed. I stood around for 30 minutes until we arrived in Perth. No train staff appeared to advise me where bike was to be re-stored. Train set off again. Decided to sit on floor but coach F hardly doubled up as first class accommodation that I had booked in coach M. Still no-one appeared, but as I examined my ticket I saw a telephone number for comments/complaints to East Coast Customer Relations which I duly called. I explained that I was making a complaint, "in progress", and that the train resembled the "Marie Celeste" with no train staff visible to sort out my reserved seat & bike storage situation. I was offered sympathy and told to put my complaint in writing - fine, I'll see to that.
After leaving Gleneagles the ticket inspector finally showed up and told me that I couldn't leave my bike where I had "bungeed" it as it was in an "non luggage" area. This was the same person who had barred me from entering coach A in the first place and told me to use coach F instead. I was told to try coach A again when the train stopped at Stirling. OK - are you still with me? Stirling came, I trundled my bike down to coach A, the door was locked and I couldn't get in. Was the train about to set off and leave me on the platform? Just then the ticket inspector rushed down the platform, hastily unlocked the door and said I hadn't got time to secure my bike because the train was running late. Hardly my fault. There was no room to secure the bike properly anyway as there was no space either side. I did an unsatisfactory bungee job around a securing point. The bike was left swaying by its front wheel.
This is not the first time this happened to me (East Coast again) and I guess some of you have had similar problems. I thought the whole point of booking a bike on board was to prevent this kind of thing happening in the first place. On reflection it appears that a bike(s) had been allowed to board - WITHOUT BOOKING - or the bike storage area had been used for some other purpose?
I eventually got my complimentary newspaper, cake & numerous cups of coffee. The bike? Someone had rehung the bike by the time I reached my destination, with no visible signs of being knocked about. Taking a bike on an East Coast Train is a lottery.
Pitlochry Station, Perthshire.
0923, Inverness - King's Cross.
Announcement on station that this train was running 10 minutes late. It only started a few miles up the track in Inverness.
I was prebooked in coach M & the bike in coach A. Bike was tagged with ticket. Train duly arrived and as I attempted to load bike into coach A I was told, for whatever reason, that I was now to load bike into coach F and stand with it until Perth. I attached bike to a grab handle with my bungeee (I always carry one of these specifically for train purposes) in an area where left luggage is not allowed. I stood around for 30 minutes until we arrived in Perth. No train staff appeared to advise me where bike was to be re-stored. Train set off again. Decided to sit on floor but coach F hardly doubled up as first class accommodation that I had booked in coach M. Still no-one appeared, but as I examined my ticket I saw a telephone number for comments/complaints to East Coast Customer Relations which I duly called. I explained that I was making a complaint, "in progress", and that the train resembled the "Marie Celeste" with no train staff visible to sort out my reserved seat & bike storage situation. I was offered sympathy and told to put my complaint in writing - fine, I'll see to that.
After leaving Gleneagles the ticket inspector finally showed up and told me that I couldn't leave my bike where I had "bungeed" it as it was in an "non luggage" area. This was the same person who had barred me from entering coach A in the first place and told me to use coach F instead. I was told to try coach A again when the train stopped at Stirling. OK - are you still with me? Stirling came, I trundled my bike down to coach A, the door was locked and I couldn't get in. Was the train about to set off and leave me on the platform? Just then the ticket inspector rushed down the platform, hastily unlocked the door and said I hadn't got time to secure my bike because the train was running late. Hardly my fault. There was no room to secure the bike properly anyway as there was no space either side. I did an unsatisfactory bungee job around a securing point. The bike was left swaying by its front wheel.
This is not the first time this happened to me (East Coast again) and I guess some of you have had similar problems. I thought the whole point of booking a bike on board was to prevent this kind of thing happening in the first place. On reflection it appears that a bike(s) had been allowed to board - WITHOUT BOOKING - or the bike storage area had been used for some other purpose?
I eventually got my complimentary newspaper, cake & numerous cups of coffee. The bike? Someone had rehung the bike by the time I reached my destination, with no visible signs of being knocked about. Taking a bike on an East Coast Train is a lottery.
