Jubilee weekend rail travel - some concerns raised

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

Shocked commuters heading to the office today were outraged to find that they couldn't get on the train as popular operator Chiltern Railways badly underestimated the number of travellers from Birmingham this morning.  One commuter, complaining about being fleeced, was forced to barge pensioners aside with his brolly to ensure he got a seat, whilst commenting that there were no first class carriages for him to relax in and he couldn't even light up his pipe onboard.  Another was forced onto a comfortable, refurbished FGW^▸ (First Great Western) service at Banbury, but was pleased to find plenty of room and a nice First Class compartment to indulge himself in.* 

*Hyperbolic lies based on the truth:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-18313891

Just a bit of fun for Btline - but on a serious note, I wonder if other TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) have been caught out by passengers travelling into London?  FGW appear to have strengthened virtually all their local services into Paddington up to 5-car Turbos, but would that be enough?

[ChrisB]

The 0857 ex-BAN was SRO^▸ (Standing Room Only) by Bicester North & sardines by the time we left HWY....truly not looking forward to the return later this evening.

Might upgrade via Oxford later & get XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) north from there. A Sunday during bank holidays ought to be quite quiet on XC

[Timmer]

I wonder if other TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) have been caught out by passengers travelling into London?  FGW^▸ (First Great Western) appear to have strengthened virtually all their local services into Paddington up to 5-car Turbos, but would that be enough?

FGW ran two extra Bristol to London services this morning at 9.15 and 10.10 but will not run the 16.00 and 17.00 Bristol to London services this afternoon being a bank holiday weekend as there won't be the usual Sunday afternoon rush back to London.

[Worcester_Passenger]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) appear to have strengthened virtually all their local services into Paddington up to 5-car Turbos, but would that be enough?

Evidently not : JourneyCheck is reporting

11:20 Reading to London Paddington due 12:18
This train has been delayed at Reading and is now 24 minutes late.
This is due to an unusually large passenger flow.
Message Received :03/06/2012 12:04

11:45 Reading to London Paddington due 12:29
This train has been delayed at Reading by 12 minutes and is being further delayed at Slough and is now 14 minutes late.
This is due to an unusually large passenger flow.
Message Received :03/06/2012 12:16

12:00 Reading to London Paddington due 12:58
This train will be delayed at Reading.
This is due to an unusually large passenger flow.
Message Received :03/06/2012 11:45

[IndustryInsider]

I wonder if other TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) have been caught out by passengers travelling into London?  FGW^▸ (First Great Western) appear to have strengthened virtually all their local services into Paddington up to 5-car Turbos, but would that be enough?

FGW ran two extra Bristol to London services this morning at 9.15 and 10.10 but will not run the 16.00 and 17.00 Bristol to London services this afternoon being a bank holiday weekend as there won't be the usual Sunday afternoon rush back to London.

Looks like the 10:10 was cancelled!

[ChrisB]

And if you run 2 extra up in the morning, why canx two back later? Those pax still have to be got home....

[Southern Stag]

They're not two back, they're two Bristol-London services. Presumably the sets for those trains were used in the morning instead because there would be a greater demand for morning services today.

[Southern Stag]

Bit of a strange one on FGW^▸ (First Great Western), bound to upset Btline I'm afraid.
11:15 Great Malvern to London Paddington called additionally at West Drayton because the service before left passengers behind there. Was booked to run relief lines today anyway.

[ChrisB]

They're not two back, they're two Bristol-London services. Presumably the sets for those trains were used in the morning instead because there would be a greater demand for morning services today.

so please explain what prevents thdm from running as return services?

[Btline]

Apparently there have been scenes of chaos around the country, with worst reports on SWT^▸ (South West Trains), FCC^▸ (First Capital Connect) and SE.

Commuters have been angered at the lack of Jubilee trains. Frustrated Jubilee revellers turned on rail operators for failing to provide enough trains to get spectators into London comfortably.

Services into the capital were packed, with many passengers, including tearful children, unable to board overcrowded carriages.

Many took to Twitter to complain that a normal Sunday service appeared to be operating despite the fact that hundreds of thousands of people were planning to travel into London to watch the Thames Pageant.

Source: itv.com/news

[EBrown]

Telegraph

Diamond Jubilee: Train network overwhelmed by revellers

Platforms were swamped and trains were delayed for up to 25 minutes as the train operators struggled to cope with tens of thousands of people flooding to the capital.
The problems were exacerbated by operators failing to lay on enough trains to deal with the crowds despite laying on some extra services.

London Bridge station, less than five minutes walk from the River Thames, was worst hit after what was First Capital Connect, one of the operators into the station, described as an ^unusually large passenger flow^.

The delays worsened as the day progressed and crowds built up in the run up to the long-awaited river pageant.

Problems were also reported on South West Trains, which also appeared to have underestimated the number of passengers it was likely to carry.

The chaos on what has been seen as a dry run for the Olympics later in the year will cause alarm over what lies ahead in the summer.

In Staines, Surrey only one ticket office was open despite the anticipated spike in demand. "How could they not have planned better for one of the biggest public events of the year?" asked one passenger.

"It's been absolute chaos on what should be a proud day for Brits when scores of us want to be part of the fun and excitement of the pageant,^ another passenger complained.

"There were queues stretching back forever and they didn't have a second window at the ticket office open until 10am.

At Twickenham, south west London, trains were so full that passengers were turned away for safety reasons.

Many turned to the social networking site, Twitter, to voice their frustration. "In Putney. Got off train. Too mobbed. Going to walk along River," tweeted Adrian Luscombe
Stephen Bolton added: "Currently stuck at Putney on a train cram packed with people going to the celebrations."

Others said children were crying because they feared that they would miss the event because of the problems on the trains.

Transport for London also came under fire for failing to run a full service. Chaos was reported at Vauxhall, with packed trains ^disgorging passengers^ onto packed platforms, according to Iain Martin, a Daily Telegraph writer.

A spokesman for Network Rail said there had been ^capacity issues^, but these were the responsibility of train operators.

A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: "Train companies have been running extra services today and adding carriages at the busiest times of the day to get people to and from the celebrations as quickly and easily as possible.

"But of course we apologise in instances where trains have been very busy and passengers haven't got the service that they expect."

A spokesman for First Capital Connect sought to play down the problems. ^It is always going to be difficult bringing a large number of people into London.
^We do plan for this sort of thing, but this was an exceptional event and there is only so much we can do.^

[Chris from Nailsea]

This is part of an on-going discussion on the forum, so I've merged a couple of topics here - pending a decision as to where and how it's best to split the 'Jubilee' topic off into its own thread. 

[EBrown]

From BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page).

Is this appropriate to merge with Chiltern? The delays are across many more operators? Perhaps splitting this earlier at the start of delay talk would be better? [Just a thought]

Diamond Jubilee: Passengers pack trains to London

Many stations have seen higher passenger levels than a normal Sunday.
Trains into London have been affected by overcrowding, with some people heading to the Jubilee pageant left on platforms because carriages were full.

Chiltern's first Birmingham service to Marylebone was full and at least 50 people were left on platforms at Dorridge, Warwick and Leamington Spa.

Power supply problems on London Overground led to trains being cancelled from Richmond to Barking.

Travellers are being warned to allow extra time for their journeys.

Twitter complaints
Mike Ormerod, of travel news service Inrix, said: "The main problem isn't engineering, it's just been the amount of people.

"We've had a lot of services full from Birmingham and Rugby and on east coast services coming through Peterborough.

"It's a normal Sunday service, and a lot of people are trying to get into the capital for the pageant."

First Capital Connect's first Peterborough to London was not scheduled until 0846 and then was delayed by over-running engineering works.

BBC political reporter Sian Grzeszczyk reported: "Lots of disappointed people who can't get on packed trains to the capital. I'm on the first train to leave Birmingham this morning, there's been at least 50+ people left on each of the platforms at Dorridge, Warwick, and Leamington Spa.

"Some very unhappy people wearing red white and blue left behind hoping they'll be able to get on the next train. Should more trains have been put on today?"

Chiltern said extra trains would be made available for return journeys, terminating at Banbury and Bicester in Oxfordshire, and returning passengers would be told at Marylebone which train they should catch.

Other passengers took to Twitter to voice their complaints, especially over the fact rail companies were operating a Sunday service

Emma Bradley tweeted: "SW Trains really should have thought this through. Children literally crying cos can't get on the train at Norbiton, New Malden etc."

Kris Temple tweeted: "A Jubilee mare from @SW-Trains - normal Sunday service, standing room only."

Jeremy Bellamy, a Conservative councillor from Canterbury, said: "Amazed that South Eastern trains seem to have been taken by surprise by the Jubilee weekend."

Evening rush

A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: "Train companies have been running extra services today and adding carriages at the busiest times of the day to get people to and from the celebrations as quickly and easily as possible.

"But of course we apologise in instances where trains have been very busy and passengers haven't got the service that they expect."

London's Tube network has been running normally, apart from some minor delays on the District line. Delays are expected around interchanges such as Euston and London Bridge.

London Overground services have been suspended because of power supply problems.

The southern exit on the newly reopened Blackfriars station has been closed and blocked due to safety issues, and is not expected to open before the end of the afternoon.

Mr Ormerod said the trains had fewer carriages than on a weekday due to the Sunday service, and that may have contributed to the problems.

Trains are also expected to be full this evening, as day trippers return home.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks, EBrown: as you point out, this clearly deserves a whole topic of its own - so it now has one! 

[grahame]

They're not two back, they're two Bristol-London services. Presumably the sets for those trains were used in the morning instead because there would be a greater demand for morning services today.

so please explain what prevents thdm from running as return services?

Nothing ... but that'll be two extra very sparsely used London -> Bristol services late in the morning, and two services mid / late afternoon from Bristol -> London which were also predicted to be very much lighter loaded this sunday than other Sundays, so (provided that prediction turns out to have been correct), it's a sensible rescheduling.