Ridiculous train situation

[The saint 3]

Did east midlands trains not think that maybe 2 carriage trains may not be able to cope considering the amount of fans travelling.

Had trains booked for .9.57 train but told we were not going to get on.

Only just got on 10.57 train,heard stories of fans getting cabs to peterboro cause trains let them down.

Got the impression they just sold the train tickets without working out how they could accomodate everyone!

Shocking way to run a business!

[Yobocop 1,095]

was there not a special train for today?

[AJ 1,218]

Not sure how they could not let you on the train, you should have just clambered on. Sadly travelling by train these days actually means ''travelling in a sardine can on wheels''. Welcome to "Greater Anglia" :D

[Kathy 733]

Appalling organisation today. Heard lots of horror stories. And they want us to ditch our cars and use public transport? You''re having a laugh.

[Guest]

Now I read somewhere that there was supposed to be 2 special trains running? Take it this turned out to be a myth, even got a mention on the news last night(Fri).

[TIL 1010 4,721]

The 8.57am,9.57am and the 10.57am were all only two carriage trains.An official at the station said that they had sold over 1300 tickets for travel today to Peterborough but only 150 for the ''special'' leaving at 11.30am. The first question you may well ask is why sell over 1,000 tickets for 3 service trains totalling 6 carriages ? I spoke to somebody who had reserved seating for the 8.57am in coach A seats 62 onwards for his group of friends only to find there was no coach A on that service only C & D !!!!!!

Strangely enough they had conveniently got buses on hand to take anyone who wished to travel by road. This indicates that they never had any intention of increasing the size of the service trains from day one.Had anyone amongst the hundreds who were greatly inconvenienced by this shambolic organisation so desired to travel the dreadful A47 i am sure they would not have purchased rail tickets well in advance of this game.

The return journey was just as bad.

Now call me old fashioned but should not the arrangement for a ''special'' train been announced before the match tickets went on sale so maybe the club could have sold them as a package for those so wishing instead of some two weeks after all tickets had been sold and 1,000 or so had bought normal service train tickets ?

[TheRock 153]

I agree. I was on the two-carridge train and we were packed like sardines.This was not thought through well at all from the rail company. Could not organise a piss-up in a brewery today

[mel0 0]

[quote user="TIL 1010"]

The 8.57am,9.57am and the 10.57am were all only two carriage trains.An official at the station said that they had sold over 1300 tickets for travel today to Peterborough but only 150 for the ''special'' leaving at 11.30am. The first question you may well ask is why sell over 1,000 tickets for 3 service trains totalling 6 carriages ? I spoke to somebody who had reserved seating for the 8.57am in coach A seats 62 onwards for his group of friends only to find there was no coach A on that service only C & D !!!!!!

Strangely enough they had conveniently got buses on hand to take anyone who wished to travel by road. This indicates that they never had any intention of increasing the size of the service trains from day one.Had anyone amongst the hundreds who were greatly inconvenienced by this shambolic organisation so desired to travel the dreadful A47 i am sure they would not have purchased rail tickets well in advance of this game.

The return journey was just as bad.

Now call me old fashioned but should not the arrangement for a ''special'' train been announced before the match tickets went on sale so maybe the club could have sold them as a package for those so wishing instead of some two weeks after all tickets had been sold and 1,000 or so had bought normal service train tickets ?

[/quote]

150 might have pre booked but the special was chocker too.

didnt even have to buy a ticket - no one came round.

[ur just a man in a jacket 0]

Should have drove like me, plenty of space for four of us and in and out of posh no probs, best of all I ain''t got a hang over today although my mates will!!

[Green shorts 0]

It was a joke, couldnt get on 10.57, the told us to get on football special, firs the tickets not transferable, then we were told it was dry train, then it wasnt, then it took a full 2 hours to snake through the Norfolk countryside and they opened the bar! the return was even more disorganised when at 17.39 the east mids train pulled up and it was just one massive crowd pushing to sqeeze through the doors, not too much of a problem if you are an adult but for the kids and lees able it was very poor.....shame on greater anglia and east mids for being so off the mark and cocking up both ends of the journey, they should get football fans involved in thier planning sessions!!!

[im spartacus canary 0]

i was crammed onto the 10:57 and then a guard came along and said plenty of seats on the special so we walked across the platform and got a seat no one checked tickets... as there was abot 3000 litres of lager on the special they abandoned the dry rule and stated selling stella and becks to those of us who hadn''t organised there alcohol properly...i thought they handled the situation well on the outward journey coming back was a shambles but  we squeezed onto the 17:39 , i think a lot of the  problem was the me me me attitude of some fans, they would have needed riot  police on the platform to control things properly... otbc

[TIL 1010 4,721]

I have no sympathy whatsoever for East Midlands or Greater Anglia with the complaints and grief they are going to get over this. They took good money off customers well before the event for a service they could not provide or organise.

[Blofield Canary 11]

It was aways going to be a shambles. Most Norwich fans wanted to be in Peterborough before the special was even planned to leave Norwich. It wasn''t difficult to predict the need for the extra carrages would be the on the 8:57 and 9:57. Hence packed trains apart from the Special which appears to have been used by passengers who couldnt get the train they had booked. If the Special had left Norwich around 9.30 everything would have been a hell of a lot easier.

Peterborough pubs were full of city fans while the special still sat in Norwich. 

[Matt Juler 148]

One of the problems is the disjointed privatised railway; people buy tickets from Norwich station from Greater Anglia for a service operated by East Midland Trains.  There''s also no cap on the number of day returns that can be sold, there''s only a cap on the cheaper advance purchase tickets.  But the biggest reason is that there is simply no spare stock these days for lots of trains to be strengthened to 4, 6 or 8 coaches, coupled with many platforms at intermediate stations now being too short to handle trains longer than 4 coaches in length.The people I feel most sorry for are the non football fans who needed to use the service and turned up at Norwich at 10:50 for the 10:57 service.

[RvWs 4 year contract 0]

We *had* planned to go by train (the 8:57 am service) but by the time we tried to get on the train at around 8:50 it was completely packed.There was only one carriage though... stupid decision!

[spudgfsh 0]

I assume that the trains are still the norwich/liverpool service. When I used to take the train to/from derby and preston the trains were notorious for overfilling (especially near nottingham and sheffield). The problem for the train companies with just adding a couple of carriages to the trains is that they have to go all the way to liverpool and back before they could be disconnected. while the line will be busy during the week, on a saturday it would not be very busy once you got past peterborough. it wouldn''t make financial sense for them to add the extra.

not that I''m defending the train companies mind. I decided to learn to drive following a 6 hour disaster between derby and norwich.

[Buncey 1]

Feel sorry for the people who had to go through this. Regularly happens on trains back to London when there is (always) engineering works. Unfortunately, nothing will change as this has been the status quo for some five years.

[shefcanary 2,383]

[quote user="spudgfsh"]I assume that the trains are still the norwich/liverpool service. When I used to take the train to/from derby and preston the trains were notorious for overfilling (especially near nottingham and sheffield). The problem for the train companies with just adding a couple of carriages to the trains is that they have to go all the way to liverpool and back before they could be disconnected. while the line will be busy during the week, on a saturday it would not be very busy once you got past peterborough. it wouldn''t make financial sense for them to add the extra. not that I''m defending the train companies mind. I decided to learn to drive following a 6 hour disaster between derby and norwich.[/quote]

 

Yep this is the problem, this TOC just doesn''t have the rolling stock to add extra carriages, so the options were probably extremely limited if they were going to operate profitably.  As someone who regularly catches the train from Sheffield to Manchester / Liverpool and back, if you catch the peak hour trains you always have to stand, more often than not people at Stockport can''t get on.  Its commuter hell!  At least you guys got to see a great win.  Last time I used this service to watch football all I got to see was a 5-1 loss at the Etihad. 

[Barclay hero 0]

Part of the problem is that people that SHOULD have got the GA train at Peterborough got on the EMT instead, thus overcrowding itA lot of Away fans dont do research or just use a site like the trainline to work out the best way to get to grounds - its usually worth spending an hour or so the day before looking at various travel options and routes just in case one route went wrong. 

[Tangible Fixed Assets anyone? 0]

I trust people read the terms and conditions when they bought their rail tickets.

[TIL 1010 4,721]

[quote user="Tangible Fixed Assets anyone"]I trust people read the terms and conditions when they bought their rail tickets.[/quote]

My contract was with Greater Anglia to travel with 5 friends(Group 3 x 2 railcard) on the 9.57am returning on the 6.44pm but due to being refused admission onto the platform by station staff due to overcrowding GA have breached the contract that they entered into with me at the time of purchase so compensation is due and will be sought.I was aware of the terms and conditions thanks to previous experiences on the Norwich to London line on more than one occassion but i hope your post may be of interest to others Tangible who do not pay attention to terms and conditions even though they are available to read.

[shefcanary 2,383]

Tilly, I''m sure EMT should be used to this. People must claim regularly against them if they try and board at Stockport as I''ve said above. Keep us up to date on how you get on.

[spencer 1970 207]

is this the same train company that doesn''t move its last train going back to London on midweek game nights, so you either have to drive, or leave the game 10/15 mins before the end?

[Matt Juler 148]

[quote user="spencer 1970"]is this the same train company that doesn''t move its last train going back to London on midweek game nights, so you either have to drive, or leave the game 10/15 mins before the end?[/quote]No, that''s Greater Anglia.  EMT (East Midland Trains) are the main issue this time.

[......and Smith must score. 1,334]

[quote user="Tangible Fixed Assets anyone"]I trust people read the terms and conditions when they bought their rail tickets.[/quote]What you mean like people do when they buy a season ticket in Block K of the Jarrold ? [:D]

[Martin Bryant 0]

i always imagine its something as simple as the train planner doesnt follow football and buries his head in the sand... i remember something similar happening where i live with my job and around the 80minute mark of a big game reality hit that there would be thousands of people on the streets soon trying to get home so maybe we should do something... in conclusion- people are silly :)

[Mungo Bumpkin 0]

On the plus side for transport, it ws a spectacularly easy drive with tons of parking near the ground. Back in the Fine City by 6.45. Clear message is - don''t let the train take the strain.

[Lord Horn 0]

[quote user="Mungo Bumpkin"]On the plus side for transport, it ws a spectacularly easy drive with tons of parking near the ground. Back in the Fine City by 6.45. Clear message is - don''t let the train take the strain.[/quote]

Though I hate to admit it Mungo I went on ''Club Cabbage'' but got us there before 1pm and home just after 7.15pm (despite someone having to tell the driver the way out of Peterborough!!!) - plenty of drinking time before game and no hassle getting there or home!

[percy varco 196]

This is the story of the railways in the east in general. I went to Wembly towatch the rugby final by train. No teams from this area, standing only on the train.

Complain to the train company.. Got a reply of apologies and bull.

No doubt some herbert from train co on tv tonight with we will learn from this blah blah. Trust me nothing will change.

We have a 3rd world railway

[4th floor 4]

All the train services in East Anglia are bad. The train from Norwich to London used to be 1hr 40m 10 years ago, now it''s about 2 hrs ie about the same as it takes to get from London to York.I''d highly recommend National Express. Norwich to Peterborough can be had for under £11 with a journey time of 2.5 hours. For around £20 you can be in central London in about 3 hours.It''s a bit slower than the train, but there''s no problem with leaves on the road or with the dreaded overhead cabling at Marks Tey, plus satnavs mean that delays due to accidents are usually avoided. Perhaps most important is that there aren''t kids running up and down the aisle screaming their bl00dy heads off!