The LNER Twitter admin is at their wits end after a long day and is handing out some much needed harsh truths.

by NevilleLurcher

11 comments

  1. The last time I travelled on an LNER train, a couple of months ago, not one, not two, but *three* people claimed their had a reservation for my seat. And to be fair, that is indeed what it said on their tickets (as fair as I could make out)

    Unfortunately for them, it also said it on mine, and I’d made good and fucking sure I got to it first. And I’m too heavy to easily lift.

  2. I was in Paddington waiting to get a GWR train home last week and they were advising people not to travel. Because the rails were flooded and they weren’t bothering with bus replacement service.

    And I thought “It’s a bit fucking late chaps, unless you’re getting me a hotel room for the night.”

    The track near Swindon has been flooding 2 or 3 times a year for about the last 20 years. What have they done to fix it? Apparently fuck all.

    (Last week’s flooding was further south. And yes it was rainy. But it wasn’t biblical disaster levels of rain.)

    Between the strikes and the general inability to run a rail service, it feels like it’s time to give up and tarmac the rails into A roads.

  3. I’ve seen photos of the damaged overhead lines. Totally ripped down. One photo shows the cables wrapped around a mangled pantograph. It’s pretty serious damage which means nothing could run through that area until it’s sorted.

    Also ain’t LNER’s fault. Infrastructure falls under Network Rail who have to contend with government meddling and maintenance budget cuts.

  4. Unfortunately everyone is at their wits end with the railway. Tensions run high on both sides. The railway appears to operate when it feels like it to some people. The running figures are heavily manipulated to make it seem much better than it is (eg, cancel all your trains before 2200 the day before and you’ll show as running 100% on time that day). In the other side though, some passengers just take the mick and travel anyway because they feel they have a right.

    There’s a legal obligation for the railway to get you home. The do not travel messages would never ever ever stand up in court should they be accused of stranding passengers but of course the railway is cleverer than that, it ignores its obligations and then mops up afterwards by paying out a few compensation claims for people who threaten legal action. It’s a well tested method. Very much a Dead Horse lottery.

  6. One thing I have learned from working in social media marketing and giving announcements of any kind, be it in games industry or traveling or food related, people don’t read, and when something goes wrong they will 110% let you know about it even if you told them not to do said thing. Also don’t get me started on when you make announcements about question and they just ask you same question when the answer right in front of them.

    If you like being broken record player on repeat this jobs for you.

  8. The problem is that sometimes you need get somewhere and if you don’t drive what other option do you have for any kind of distance.

    I get a no travel notice and not travelling on strike days but sometimes there isn’t another option.

  10. 1. Them saying not to travel doesn’t remove my need to travel.

    2. Them saying not to travel doesn’t mean that they’ve got that message to me early enough to make alternative arrangements. I’m not in the habit of checking the lner website or even local news (or personally even national news) in Peterborough before setting off. First I’d have heard of this would have been on arriving at the station.

    3. Saying you aren’t running your service does not mean that people aren’t going to get upset that you arent running your service.

    3. Things like this do happen and should be excusable, but a few years of the trains running less often than they’re disrupted means that people are less patient and accommodating.

    4. The combination of the above puts the frontline services in a position of having to deal with people who are frustrated but need help and have legitimate frustrations. Your warning doesn’t make them less frustrated or those frustrations illegitimate. Those frontline services can add to that frustration or pile on to it by being unhelpful.

  11. If they were that concerned they would stop taking the money.

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