Friday, January 21, 2011

82.04% Are they having a laugh.

So now it is the 21st day in January and the closest I have had to getting into a station on time is 3 minutes late. Last night the train I rushed to the station to get was 15 minutes late into the station.
Luckily I couldn't be arsed to stroll far up the platform because the train that turned up was only 4 carriages long not the usual 12. So it was a little cramped on the train. It finally strolled into Ashford like a teenager being taken to the shops by his mum, 28 minutes late.
So how did they come up with the 82.04% figure for trains on time. Last year was appalling as it had the snow in February and the snow in December. which basically made those two months were a no go so how did they manage to get the rest of the year on time?

One of the little tricks they have used is to implement the emergency timetable. This means that the figures for all the trains that would have been cancelled on a normal timetable are not counted.
The other is that they fast link is used even though it's on its own track and is brand new.
There is no accountability for anything when running a rail franchise. They get the government subsidy even if they do nothing they get that. They could change all the trains with those handle push trains and make us pump our arms into work put the price up and still get a subsidy.
There should be some kind of accountability, train later that 30 minutes you can get a refund. 15 minutes late you can get a free ride on the fast train.

I am also pissed off with the complete bullshit explanations' that are sprouted as the train is only 8 carriages due to there being 4 carriages short. WTF thats not an excuse that is stating the f%*king obvious.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Start as you mean to go on.

So this morning was my first day back at work after a nice relaxing Christmas/New Year break.
The first shock I had was the cost of my ticket. I have to put up with a 13% increase. So the service will be at least 13% better wont it. Hahaha.

Then the fun started. My train the 6:57 was delayed by 7 minutes according to the mechanical woman announcement the next train into London was the 7:22 and that was cancelled. a couple of other trains appeared on the board then my train just disappeared from the list. WTF were my words. I strolled off up the platform to find a hi vis wearing womble to find out what was going on. They are hard to find when anything goes wrong they scurry off to their hole very quickly. "Where is my train?" response "Err not sure we seem to have lost it, I think that one there might be it" How the F$*k can you loose a  train. I put it down over there and it seems to have fallen down the back of the sofa..... Good to see that the communication that they were talking about on the news is working. Finally a train pulled in. It was my train, that surprised not just me but the guards running the platforms as well. It finally got into London 28 minutes late. Then on the way home I was delayed another 20 minutes. I dont think they are 82% on time in my book so far this year for me its been 100% delayed, Fail!!!!!

I wrote a complaint on the contact us thing at southeastern shysters web site I doubt I will get a response but I am going to fill one out each time I am delayed and reference each complaint I have filled out.
One thing I would like is to get hold of  Charles Horton's mobile number. I would ring him every time his trains were delayed and ask him if I have pissed him off as much as he pisses me off every day.

Nick