Colin Wilson wrote:

Now about my "lost" train (which went to Kennsington Olympia) how
often does that happen?

Not very often, I should think, but some comments on your original
description may be of interest:


The last time I travelled on Euro Star the train from Paris to London
managed to get lost "somewhere in Southern England". We came back
into London via Brixton

Not sure what you mean by "managed to get lost". The normal Eurostar
route is via Brixton.

and then went to Kensington (Olympia)!

That suggests a problem between Brixton and Waterloo. Olympia is the
usual alternative terminus if Waterloo can't be reached.

Some people decided that they wanted to get off there as it would
have been convenient for them but the train doors remained locked
shut. The Tannoy said that this was because there was no customs
facilities at Olympia.

I think that customs staff will go to Olympia if they get enough notice
of a diversion.

Why this would have mattered heaven only knows as we had gone thru
all the formalities for both French and English customs in Paris.

No, you went through French and British immigration controls at Gare du
Nord, then had the opportunity to buy things in the departure lounge
which British Customs might conceivably be interested in. I assume
that's one reason why the Customs check is at Waterloo, though it's
always an extremely nominal affair.

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

Richard J. wrote:
No, you went through French and British immigration controls at Gare du
Nord, then had the opportunity to buy things in the departure lounge
which British Customs might conceivably be interested in. I assume
that's one reason why the Customs check is at Waterloo, though it's
always an extremely nominal affair.

I guess it's *possible* to carry over 3,200 cigarettes, 90 litres of
wine and 10 litres of spirits onto the train with you, but I'd suggest
this doesn't happen very often...

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

"John B" wrote in message
oups.com...
Richard J. wrote:
No, you went through French and British immigration controls at Gare du
Nord, then had the opportunity to buy things in the departure lounge
which British Customs might conceivably be interested in. I assume
that's one reason why the Customs check is at Waterloo, though it's
always an extremely nominal affair.

I guess it's *possible* to carry over 3,200 cigarettes, 90 litres of
wine and 10 litres of spirits onto the train with you, but I'd suggest
this doesn't happen very often...

you don't have to exceed all of them, only one.

Exceeding 16 cartons of ciggies and still being able to
carry it, is going to be easy.

tim

John B wrote:

I guess it's *possible* to carry over 3,200 cigarettes, 90 litres of
wine and 10 litres of spirits onto the train with you, but I'd suggest
this doesn't happen very often...

You might not be able to get away with that much as it well exceeds your
"luggage" allowance. That is one of the reasons why Eurostar don't offer
much cheaper returns from London (or Ashford) to Calais or Lille as they
simply don't want to get into the business of those simply out on cheap
booze runs to France for the day.


--
Phil Richards
London, UK
Home Page: http://www.philrichards1.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

It is still too difficult to plan international rail trips on the
basis of price rather than departure time. The idea that passengers
might be willing to wait an hour and pay half the price, rather than
see the full price and then trawl the web to book a plane instead, is
only just getting through.

Hmmm... the way they really get you is if you turn up on spec as I did
at the Gare du Nord recently for the last train back to London. I had a
hour - but there was only one desk open for standard class and people
buying tickets not for that train. With 10 mins to go it was obvious I
wasn't going to get on so I was forced (along with several others) to
buy a business class fare (320 euros one way) to get home. Lots of staff
naturally milling around the business class positions but no
communication whatsoever with the irate queue.

Can't fault the on-board staff or the dinner. And yes, the train did
break down (for 15 mins).

E.

eastender wrote:

Hmmm... the way they really get you is if you turn up on spec as I did
at the Gare du Nord recently for the last train back to London. I had a
hour - but there was only one desk open for standard class and people
buying tickets not for that train. With 10 mins to go it was obvious I
wasn't going to get on so I was forced (along with several others) to
buy a business class fare (320 euros one way) to get home.

What's to stop you asking for a Standard class ticket at supposedly a First
Class Only position? The same computer system will knock out either ticket
just as easily....

--
Phil Richards
London, UK
Home Page: http://www.philrichards1.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

Phil Richards wrote:
I guess it's *possible* to carry over 3,200 cigarettes, 90 litres of
wine and 10 litres of spirits onto the train with you, but I'd suggest
this doesn't happen very often...

You might not be able to get away with that much as it well exceeds your
"luggage" allowance. That is one of the reasons why Eurostar don't offer
much cheaper returns from London (or Ashford) to Calais or Lille as they
simply don't want to get into the business of those simply out on cheap
booze runs to France for the day.


Why not, if it fills up otherwise-empty space? If they're worried about
lairy chavvery, they could put the cheap tickets' compulsory reserved
seats all in the same coach, segregated from wealthier pax...

I'd suggest the reason they don't offer much cheaper returns is related
to the reason it took them 10 years to become the default means of
London - Paris/Brussels travel - although E* has some superb kit and
decent reliability, the management don't understand how to attract
passengers or make money.

E* is a route which would be ideally suited to a more adventurous fares
policy, like Virgin's. At the moment, peak tickets are too cheap and
off-peak tickets too expensive either to serve any useful social goal
or to maximise profits...

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

Phil Richards wrote:
John B wrote:

I guess it's *possible* to carry over 3,200 cigarettes, 90 litres of
wine and 10 litres of spirits onto the train with you, but I'd suggest
this doesn't happen very often...

You might not be able to get away with that much as it well exceeds your
"luggage" allowance. That is one of the reasons why Eurostar don't offer
much cheaper returns from London (or Ashford) to Calais or Lille as they
simply don't want to get into the business of those simply out on cheap
booze runs to France for the day.

Anyone who travels from Ashford to Calais/Lille only takes up a seat
that might later be wanted by a London-Paris/Brussels passenger. If the
ticket prices are the same, then it's no problem - Eurostar get the same
revenues either way. However, if the shorter journeys are cheaper, then
there's a very real possibility that someone will buy a cheap ticket to
hop across the Channel, resulting in someone abandoning their plan to
buy a cheap (but not *as* cheap) ticket from London to Paris because the
seats aren't available. I think that's the main reason Eurostar don't
want more Channel-hop passengers, rather than some institutional
snobbiness - after all, they are there to make profits for their
shareholders, and if cheap channel-hop fares got them more revenues
overall, they'd go for it.

The way to get around the seat occupation problem is to sell super-cheap
"standby" tickets at Ashford for seats on trains that have already
departed London (or are about to, with no chance of selling any more
tickets for that train). You might lose some revenue because people who
would have been prepared to pay the current ~£59 fare would instead just
wait at Ashford in the hope of getting a cheaper standby fare - but as
long as that loss in revenue were balanced by a gain from selling
standby tickets to people who wouldn't have otherwise bothered
travelling, then you're quids-in. In fact, I wonder why they don't do
that already - they must have looked at it.

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London