The Commuter

CommuterRevenge

I am, like many others, a commuter into London.
My aim is to get a groundswell of opinion and even a movement, I do not feel there is enough of a voice for the average commuter.
Hopefully, a sub board for Commuters.
Put pressure on the Office of the Rail Regulator, which is a toothless and meek lamb int he face of the Train Operator.
And finally someone like Martin to look at some of the more bizarre decisions that affect our lives.
I travel from Kent, and after years of Connex, I felt things were beginning to improve, but basically things are returning to the bad old ways with the passenger an after thought.

My main gripes at the moment are:
1. SouthEastern decision to axe the 04.48 from Ramsgate to London Charing Cross.
Oestensibly in lieu of a the new High Speed service, the majority of stations do not have access to the High Speed service anyway.
The current service is very busy, and the next train has the incredibly uncomfortable high density seating and is a short formation train that is standing room only. There would be only 2 trains

2. The use of high density seating on journeys of longer than half an hour.
The coaches are incrdibly uncomrtable and are an excuse to use short formation trains. You cannot do any work on them such as with a laptop.

3. The refusal to allow upgrades to first class by the guard.
When there is only high density seating avaialbel, I used to be able to pay for an upgrade to first class, normally around £5 for my station. Now it si a minium £20 all the way, depsite paying £3,500 a year season ticket.
Only a Train Operating company woul refuse increased revenue.

To show that this will also be blanced, I do have to compliment the ticket inspectors and refreshment trolley staff nowadays, there are much more friendly and cheerful and much more professional.

Any more issues and gripes?

vikingaero

I very much doubt you'll get anywhere.

The decision to axe certain services is down to the desire to move commuters to the far more expensive High Speed Service.

inthe UK we have an inefficient, antiquated, highly unionised train service that will never improve above mediocre.

CommuterRevenge

vikingaero wrote: »

I very much doubt you'll get anywhere.

The decision to axe certain services is down to the desire to move commuters to the far more expensive High Speed Service.

inthe UK we have an inefficient, antiquated, highly unionised train service that will never improve above mediocre.

I do fear you are right, but this particular decision has pushed me to far!
So I am going to do everything I can. In the past I would have rolled over an accepted it, but one step to far for me.
If any site can garner the power, and champion the cause of a consumer it is this one!
In my case case, the vast majority of passengers get on well after Ashford(eg PAddock wood, Tonbridge and sevenoaks, So the High Speed Service is of no benefit for speed or less passenegers.
I would not mind if they connected the Medway Valley line to the High Speed service with an alternative fast train.
But many of us still have no choice.

Hintza

Do they really want people commuting that sort of distance in this day and age?

geordieracer

CommuterRevenge wrote: »

I am, like many others, a commuter into London.
My aim is to get a groundswell of opinion and even a movement, I do not feel there is enough of a voice for the average commuter.
Hopefully, a sub board for Commuters.
Put pressure on the Office of the Rail Regulator, which is a toothless and meek lamb int he face of the Train Operator.
And finally someone like Martin to look at some of the more bizarre decisions that affect our lives.
I travel from Kent, and after years of Connex, I felt things were beginning to improve, but basically things are returning to the bad old ways with the passenger an after thought.

My main gripes at the moment are:
1. SouthEastern decision to axe the 04.48 from Ramsgate to London Charing Cross.
Oestensibly in lieu of a the new High Speed service, the majority of stations do not have access to the High Speed service anyway.
The current service is very busy, and the next train has the incredibly uncomfortable high density seating and is a short formation train that is standing room only. There would be only 2 trains

2. The use of high density seating on journeys of longer than half an hour.
The coaches are incrdibly uncomrtable and are an excuse to use short formation trains. You cannot do any work on them such as with a laptop.

3. The refusal to allow upgrades to first class by the guard.
When there is only high density seating avaialbel, I used to be able to pay for an upgrade to first class, normally around £5 for my station. Now it si a minium £20 all the way, depsite paying £3,500 a year season ticket.
Only a Train Operating company woul refuse increased revenue.

To show that this will also be blanced, I do have to compliment the ticket inspectors and refreshment trolley staff nowadays, there are much more friendly and cheerful and much more professional.

Any more issues and gripes?

CommuterRevengeQuote:
Originally Posted by vikingaero
I very much doubt you'll get anywhere.

The decision to axe certain services is down to the desire to move commuters to the far more expensive High Speed Service.

inthe UK we have an inefficient, antiquated, highly unionised train service that will never improve above mediocre.

I do fear you are right, but this particular decision has pushed me to far!
So I am going to do everything I can. In the past I would have rolled over an accepted it, but one step to far for me.
If any site can garner the power, and champion the cause of a consumer it is this one!
In my case case, the vast majority of passengers get on well after Ashford(eg PAddock wood, Tonbridge and sevenoaks, So the High Speed Service is of no benefit for speed or less passenegers.
I would not mind if they connected the Medway Valley line to the High Speed service with an alternative fast train.
But many of us still have no choice.

For starters your spelling in the first post was terrible but I'll chalk that down to anger on your behalf because they have cancelled a train that you like getting..

There is already someone you can write too, to complain about the Southeastern services - its London Travel watch, but as one poster said I doubt you will get very far.. You live clsoe enough to london for the HS1 to be of no benefit to you and also would slow the service down - thats why you dont get it.

You mention high density seating being unsuitable - Your wrong. It's more than suitable for its job, which is to transport large amount of people to their destination, if you got the Electrostars that have the other layout with table seating that are in use on the ramsgate to victoria service - you would then get people moaning that they dont get a seat at all. Just because you want to use your laptop doesn't mean it should be at the detriment of others who would like to sit down does it?

Yeh, there's plenty that i believe (as someone who uses the service's also) that they could do better BUT and its a massive BUT(from someone who works for another TOC) They can only have trains a certain length and can only run a certain amount of peak trains so that they get you to your destination safely. Im not sure if you have looked out the window whilst on yoruo commute but theres no land to build extra lines or extend a lot of the stations so longer trains are a long way off.

By all means complain, but I doubt you will get far. A railway is a lot more complicated then you think it is.

FARE-COP

super sensible post Geordieracer.

robt_2

CommuterRevenge wrote: »

I am, like many others, a commuter into London.
My aim is to get a groundswell of opinion and even a movement, I do not feel there is enough of a voice for the average commuter.
Hopefully, a sub board for Commuters.
Put pressure on the Office of the Rail Regulator, which is a toothless and meek lamb int he face of the Train Operator.
And finally someone like Martin to look at some of the more bizarre decisions that affect our lives.
I travel from Kent, and after years of Connex, I felt things were beginning to improve, but basically things are returning to the bad old ways with the passenger an after thought.

My main gripes at the moment are:
1. SouthEastern decision to axe the 04.48 from Ramsgate to London Charing Cross.
Oestensibly in lieu of a the new High Speed service, the majority of stations do not have access to the High Speed service anyway.
The current service is very busy, and the next train has the incredibly uncomfortable high density seating and is a short formation train that is standing room only. There would be only 2 trains

2. The use of high density seating on journeys of longer than half an hour.
The coaches are incrdibly uncomrtable and are an excuse to use short formation trains. You cannot do any work on them such as with a laptop.

3. The refusal to allow upgrades to first class by the guard.
When there is only high density seating avaialbel, I used to be able to pay for an upgrade to first class, normally around £5 for my station. Now it si a minium £20 all the way, depsite paying £3,500 a year season ticket.
Only a Train Operating company woul refuse increased revenue.

To show that this will also be blanced, I do have to compliment the ticket inspectors and refreshment trolley staff nowadays, there are much more friendly and cheerful and much more professional.

Any more issues and gripes?

So you want a low density train provided on a service which is already over crowded?

Makes sense

sarah_elton

I'm a commuter too. We're a captive market. Our options are to get the train into London, or to change to a local job. Which we won't do because of the salary premium in the city.

I'm on the National Express East Anglia line so had to endure Bob Crow's round of strikes over the summer.

No-one cares. Had a nice letter from my MP when I complained but nothing happened. Local press don't really care. Hundreds of thousands of peoples' lives disrupted on those days and no-one cared.

Depressing, but the way it seems to be. I don't see it changing I'm afraid. As I said, we've got no choice. We can't vote with our feet and take our custom elsewhere.

dzug1

CommuterRevenge wrote: »

Put pressure on the Office of the Rail Regulator, which is a toothless and meek lamb int he face of the Train Operator.


My main gripes at the moment are:
1. SouthEastern decision to axe the 04.48 from Ramsgate to London Charing Cross.

Are you sure it wasn't the rail regulator who told SE to cancel that train? In other areas it's they who have decided what stock to use/what trains to run. The TOC has little choice.

BikerEd

Sorry, but I really don't have much sympathy with rail commuters.

If you want to sit in a less crowded carriage buy a first class ticket. I for one always travel first class on trains and resent those people from second class who think they can sit in there and pay a small upgrade charge just because the seats are empty. I pay for the extra space, so should you

If you don't like commuting by rail, which has been as bad for the past 25 years to my memory, then you have three choices: Move closer to work, get a job which means you don't need to commute, or find an alternative method of transport such as a motorcycle. I use the latter almost exclusively now and my journey times are a fraction of what they used to be by either car or rail.

CommuterRevenge

dzug1 wrote: »

Are you sure it wasn't the rail regulator who told SE to cancel that train? In other areas it's they who have decided what stock to use/what trains to run. The TOC has little choice.

I have to be honest, I am not certain whose decision it was, but find it hard to believe the Rail Regulator would not at least get some sort of data from the TOC.
The response from SE either indicates a suck it and see approach, or the Rail R, or the TOC (And/or the RR) want as many people to use the new service. I would, if I could.
THe response I recieved is below:


Dear Mr

Thank you for your website comment dated 29 October.


There is, understandably, a lot of concern about the new timetable, as virtually every train that exists today has been retimed. To clarify the position, the timetable is based upon the Integrated Kent Franchise (IKF) draft service specification, which we inherited as a contractual commitment that we had to deliver and I'm afraid that we won't be making any amendments to the timetable at this stage. However, in answer to your direct question, I'm happy to say that the carriages of the service you refer to should be formed of 2+2 seating.


Our Timetable Planning team is collecting all the feedback and gauging what issues are being raised by passengers, commuter groups and other stakeholders. We are aware that for certain stations along the route the service frequency is a lot less than what is offered today. So we are going to undertake an exercise to see if any improvement could be possible from the May 2010 timetable.

Thank you once more for contacting us.


Yours sincerely

D G
Customer Relations Officer
Southeastern

I have taken his name out, as a courtesy.