The Trains are Shocking

I feel another rant coming on. I have blogged many times about the trains in the UK being shocking, but it is time for a recap.

Last weekend, me and my lovely wife, Helen, travelled to London for a few days to see ABBA Voyage for her birthday. It was fantastic, and I will write about that soon. Anyway, late on the Friday night I received an email from Trainline to say that our train the following day had been cancelled, and that it was okay for us to either jump on the one immediately before or immediately after the one we were supposed to catch. Not too much of a problem as we made it to Euston in plenty of time to catch the train an hour earlier. We even managed to find a pair of unreserved seats facing forwards. The email from Trainline also mentioned that we were due a refund via delay repay.

In theory, delay repay should be easy. I have never found this to be the case, especially as I always buy train tickets through Trainline. I do this because there are three different train companies who use Lancaster Station, and I want to be able to have a better choice of price or times.

First thing I did was find the Avanti West Coast Train website, which I registered for. Once I had found where the delay repay was hidden and followed the link, I was told that I had to re-register, as the process for delay repay was different. Eventually, I managed to submit our tickets for the refund. Within an hour, one of them had been deemed unsuccessful. The short booking reference was the same for both tickets, which I’d had to input on the form. I have appealed. Hopefully, within 30 days I will have a £55 refund.

This process feels deliberately difficult, almost as if the train companies don’t want people to claim refunds that they are due. Northern Rail always used to send vouchers, which were incredibly difficult to use, no matter how often I requested a cheque to a direct payment into my bank account.

Historical rant.

I used to have to travel to Manchester one day a week with work. In the first six weeks, my train was delayed every single time, which was annoying. However, what was more annoying was the different train companies. The cheapest ticket, at the time, would be from Northern Rail at approx. £16 for a return. TransPennine would be approx. £26, and an anytime return over £30. However, there were only two trains an hour, one run by Northern and the other by TP. If one was delayed or cancelled, you are not allowed on the next train if it was run by the other company. Why can’t we have just one train company in the UK?

Also, the trains in the UK are the most expensive in Europe, even though they are heavily subsidized. Where does the money go? It goes to the shareholders of the privatized rail companies and isn’t ploughed back into the services. Some of the rail companies are co-owned by the French and German national railways, meaning that our rail fares are being used to subsidize the French and German railways. If that annoys you, I would suggest you don’t look at the water industry.

HS2

Was anyone surprised when HS2 was cancelled? Over the years, each section was scaled back, until only the London to Manchester section remained, which has now become just the London to Birmingham section. If the construction work had begun in Manchester, would the London section have been cancelled? Of course not.

The latest news is that the new HS2 trains will be used beyond Birmingham, all the way to Manchester. This will actually reduce capacity and speed. Let me explain. The current line is used by trains that can tilt. HS2 trains can’t and the maximum speed will be less than current trains.

Each HS2 train has a capacity of 550 seats, but these were going to be run as two units. However, these are too long for the existing platforms and will have to run as a single unit, which has far less capacity than the current trains.

This is nothing less than a kick in the teeth for people travelling from Birmingham to Manchester. Slower trains with fewer seats at a higher price. This doesn’t sound like progress to me. Once again the north is hung out to dry.

Rant over.

Ravenglass and Eskdale Miniature Railway

After our mammoth run/walk a couple of days earlier (read about it here) we took the Sunday off, but, the Ravenglass and Eskdale Miniature Steam Railway beckoned on the Monday morning, including a dog ticket for Nelly.

Quite possibly the best photo of Nelly ever

Nelly was looking smart in her little coat as we were expecting more rain and we intended to walk back. Most of the people getting on the train looked like they were going for a good walk and many were probably also planning on walking back to Ravenglass.

The train was a little rickety as we made our way through the Eskdale valley, an area I had cycled many years ago when I wanted to tackle Hardknott pass. After a very enjoyable 40 minute journey we alighted at our destination, and as Helen took a few photos of the train I bumped into a couple with their own pointer. I mentioned how they aren’t the most popular of breeds, probably because of how unruly they are when they are young, to which the woman added that their pointer was still unruly.

We set off from the small Dalegarth station in the ‘wrong’ direction. I didn’t want to walk back along the road and from looking at the map I knew that there was a footpath next to the River Esk. Due to the rain over the last few days, the stepping stones to cross the river were underwater. Fortunately there was a bridge a little way upstream. We then followed the path through Milkingstead Wood and into Thwaite Wood, although it was impossible to look at the map as it was raining so hard, hence why there are no more photos.

We joined an old logging track which forms a cycle path, although in places it would be tough going on a bike. With the low cloud there wasn’t much of a view, but the track was nice and flat and easy to walk along. We stopped for lunch next to the Eskdale Golf course, before encountering a nasty sting in the tail. The footpath took us up and over Muncaster Fell, climbing up into the clouds. On a clear day I’m sure you would be able to see the Isle of Man.

Dropping down we joined the main road back into Ravenglass, passing the entrance to the Muncaster Estate. The last mile and a bit on the pavement was a little hard on our feet, but even in the rain we had thoroughly enjoyed our 8 mile walk.

Like many people, me and Helen have never really visited the coast from Millom up to Silloth, opting to remain in the Lake District, but hopefully we will visit again in the future.

The only negative of the day was driving on the dangerous coast road, with lorries right up behind us or cars overtaking when there was no way they could see if anything was coming.

Bikes on Trains…. again

I’ve blogged about the problems I’ve had with taking my bike on a train before (here), and once again I’m the victim of the vagaries of Virgin Trains.

Last week I tried to catch the 17:38 train from Wigan to Lancaster, with my bike. I had a bike reservation, so no problem. I would never try to take a bike on a train without a reservation, unless the company don’t do them (here). The train was a little delayed, but not enough for a refund. The platform staff were all ready to unlock the bicycle storage compartment, when the train manager said ‘no more bikes’. Both myself and the platform staff mentioned that I had a reservation, but the moron on the train wasn’t having any of it. He’d let a load of people on with bikes who didn’t have reservations.

If that happens it’s quite simple. One of the people without a bike reservation gets off the train and I get on. I’ve seen it happen in the morning at Preston, where someone without a reservation had to make way for four bikes, who had reservations.

The unsympathetic train manager suggested that I get the next train. Great idea, except I don’t have a reservation for that train, and I’ll have to wait another 45 minutes. I wasn’t happy. The platform staff told the train manager that he was in the wrong, but there was nothing more they could do. As I watched the train roll out of the station without me, one of the platform staff got on the radio to get me a reservation for the next train. He also told me that he wouldn’t let the train leave the station without me on it. They couldn’t have been more helpful. Complete opposite of the tosser on the train.

At Wigan today, the platform staff asked me it I’d complained. I had, but hadn’t had more than an automated response, so he told me to complain again. Not a good system, although to be fair to Virgin, they do appear to be the best of a bad lot.

Train Refunds

Did you know that if your train is delayed you can claim a refund? I had been taking a train almost every day for a few months before I found out about this. How much refund depends on how late the train is, with a full refund only available if the train is over two hours late. I probably missed out on £20-30 of refunds in three months.

Some train companies give refunds if the train is 15 minutes late, including some Virgin services, but not the one I use.

The first time that I applied for a refund was at the end of January. I Googled Virgin Train refunds, found the correct website, filled in my details and uploaded a photo of my tickets. A day later I received an email telling me that I’d not provided the correct information, and that I needed to supply proof. Seeing as I had given them a photo of my ticket, along with details of my booking number from Trainline, I asked what I had missed. No reply was forthcoming, but a week later I received a cheque for £8.25. The second time, I supplied the same information as before, and received a cheque for £4.13 a week later.

The cynic in me would suggest that the first time that you apply for a refund, Virgin automatically send an email saying that you’ve not supplied the correct details, hoping that most people will be put off.

Although, it’s cliched to be cynical about Virgin Trains.

Bikes on Trains

Taking your bike on a train, it sucks, doesn’t it. Not in mainland Europe, obviously, but in the UK. I have the misfortune to have to take my bike on a train every week, and the experience is nothing like the photo below, which is from Germany.

It’s a pain booking your bike onto the train, as it can’t be done online, and you have to already have a ticket for your journey. If you’re unlucky you could buy a ticket and then find that there’s no space for your bike, and hope that you can then swap your ticket. Of course some trains can’t be booked onto, so you have to take your chance, and if it’s busy you might be left on the platform.

You might not be able to get off the train either. The Virgin East Coast trains which I use, someone else has to open the door. It’s the duty of the train manager to ensure that you get off the train. Most times they leave it to the platform staff.

What if they forget. Don’t laugh, it happened to me. By the time that I realised that no-one was going to open the door, it was too late, and I was off to Warrington. The train manager was very apologetic and gave me a free coffee (wow!), but Virgin didn’t give me a refund. At Warrington I caught the next train back to Wigan. Since then I have made a point of seeing the train manager, making sure he knows that I’m on the train. As a back-up, I have a route plotted in my Garmin to direct me from Warrington to Leigh. I don’t want to go to Warrington again, although it could be worse if I couldn’t get off in Lancaster on my way home.

Talking with the train manager isn’t always enough, as only a couple of weeks ago I had to dash through the train, pushing my way paste people who had just got on, and then wave to a member of staff to get them to open the door for my bike. Very stressful for a little Beardy.

And, don’t get me started on trying to get a refund. I’ll save that for another post, and I will try to be a little lest ranty.