LUFCTALK

Well we will be doing our ' first class journey ' tomorrow I'll report on it after

NottinghamWhite wrote:Well we will be doing our ' first class journey ' tomorrow I'll report on it after

Enjoy !

rigger wrote:

NottinghamWhite wrote:Well we will be doing our ' first class journey ' tomorrow I'll report on it after

Enjoy !

Nice part of the world is Taunton (so Mrs SW insists), enjoy

Well despite the cost we really enjoyed our experience from the first class lounge to the actual journey. Both journeys were really good not a lot of noise & at no time was it packed. Spotlessly clean as well, the staff were excellent & nothing was too much trouble

Just had a night in York & 2 in Scarbados, after our last trip we decided to go first class again. We boarded the train at Beeston where an attendant offered us drinks, as the journey was such a short one we declined. Crossing over the platform we boarded our train for York. We found we were sharing with a York based businessman & a American who designed board games, all good. The first class attendant came to us giving us a menu we chose the bacon roll & coffee. Sorry I have no hot food left & no hot water, remember the train was terminating in Edinburgh. The York businessman demanded a cup of coffee & eventually the girl managed to produce a luke warm liquid which resembled coffee, just.
Our return journey we boarded the train at Scarbados & the guard asked a couple for their tickets to which they claimed to have put their card in the ticket machine but it hadn't given the cards or a receipt, he asked them to pay but they said they already had & remained in first class. As we approached York the guard again asked for their fare & again the ticket Dodgers gave the same excuse. At York they simply walked off into the sunset. The next leg was fine till we arrived at Chesterfield when 2 men walked into the carriage & it was plain to see they were very drunk. They were asked for their tickets & again we heard the story of how the machine wasn't working. The guard asked 3 times for their fare & then walked to the back of the carriage when 2 burly BT police officers appeared & the situation calmed down but the men refused to budge until we pulled into Derby where again the walked order should I say staggered away, Scott free.
We boarded our final train headed for home & a couple entered the carriage clearly in the middle of domestic & their language was appalling. They said when approached by an elderly gentleman that they could sit where they wanted & if he knew what was good for him he would remain stum. At no point did the guard do a ticket check this these 2 remained in the carriage hurling out their abuse.
All in all an awful journey & we wonder why fares are so high when so many appear to abuse the system & will continue to as no action is taken against them. Here in Nottingham we have a tram system where if you don't have a ticket you receive an instant fine & your photograph is put in a newspaper add naming & shaming you. I think we'll take the car the next time.

Blimey

I don't think you can blame the guard - and I'm not saying you were, btw - because he's on his own and he's probably on a very average salary. He did the right thing in the station where there were police in support, but if it's just him I guess the only thing he should do is call ahead and have the offending dodgers met at the next major station where support is again available. He won't risk his neck for a tenner an hour, will he ?

The problem is societal in that people think it's acceptable to behave in the ways you describe.

The moral of the story is, if you want to get a free ride, take in First Class because you'll have an easier time getting away with it and you'll enjoy a superior trip ..

If I were you, I'd write to the railway company running the route you were on and ask for their thoughts on the above, especially noting the differences in Nottingham.

rigger wrote:If I were you, I'd write to the railway company running the route you were on and ask for their thoughts on the above, especially noting the differences in Nottingham.

I've done a 2 part complaint to cross country I will post their answers on here but at the moment they are dealing with an unprecedented amount of correspondence. The guard did tell us the catering issue was an internal problem & unless people complain it won't be resolved

Think you should also consider writing to the national press about your experience as I believe they would be more than happy to give stick to the railways.
I also believe bad publicity is the best way to get a improvements, it's embarrassing for them.

Let me set the record straight I'm not blaming the guards I think they do a great job & more often than not retain their sense of humour. The guard on the York to Derby train told me incidents like the one we had witnessed were rare. Well we must have been very unlucky yesterday but the first incident despite the fare Dodgers were allowed to remain in first class. Why weren't they put off at Malton ? Even when the 2 men were confronted by BT police they still refused to move until the approach to Derby where as I said earlier they just sauntered off the train without a care in the world. The whole journey left us wondering why we bothered at all with an upgrade given that standard class were getting hot food & drink & we weren't