On Fri, 28 Apr 2006 19:12:26 +0100, Edward Cowling London UK
wrote:

The service now ? Well so far I've never been diverted to Kings Cross by
these guys, or turfed off at Finsbury Park..... so it's already a
massive improvement.

Well I stupidly decided to get from Finsbury Park to Crews Hill
yesterday. There was already one fatality at Waterbeach but trains
appeared to be running OK at the London end. A replacement bus service
was apparently provided over the disrupted section of line. However the
audible recorded announcements were woeful with gaps when someone had
obviously failed to type in the correct words.

The 12.41 to Peterborough arrived and a surprising amount of people got
off which struck me as odd. However there was no message provided as to
why - the timing is important though. I then stupidly (as it turned out)
got the 12.44 Hertford North. We were then unceremoniously shunted into
the sidings at Gordon Hill and told to get the next train. No apology,
no staff at the station, no announcements - absolutely nothing. A
southbound local train was also summarily cancelled.

What then happened was that an endless flow of fast FCC, GNER and Hull
Trains were routed via the Hertford Loop. It later transpired that there
had been a fatality at Hatfield which caused this diversion. The
National Rail website says this happened at 12.45 but the fact that the
FCC 12.41 train driver had obviously advised many of his passengers that
he was not taking the normal route suggests that FCC and NR knew before
my train left Finsbury Park. I'd like to understand why there was no
announcement to advise people that they were likely to be delayed or
have their journey curtailed. The following train turned up late at
Gordon Hill thus turning a simple 20 minute journey into one that took
nearly an hour. I had to cut short my trip and opted to get the last bus
at 14.05 (!) from Crews Hill rather be marooned waiting for a train that
might arrive in an hour.

I find the lack of staff and information objectionable. I also find the
cavalier attitude towards local passengers unacceptable. I don't see why
people on GNER or fast FCC services are of apparently greater value than
those of us on the local service. However it was obviously decided that
mucking up local journeys was far more preferable that possibly slowing
down a few people on an Inter City train. WAGN must have been hopeless
if the above is "an improvement".

I'm sure that the "old hands" who use NR all the time will shrug their
shoulders at all of the above. I accept that FCC and NR can't prevent
fatalities - they happen and they cause chaos. They can do something
though to look after *all* of the customers. I rarely use NR services
these days because on the rare occasions I do it always goes wrong.

--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!