Rail user's 'hellish' daily commute (From The Argus)
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Rail user's 'hellish' daily commute
3:40pm Thursday 25th October 2012 in News By Ben James
Graffiti on First Capital Connect trains serving Sussex
A disgruntled rail user has said he is considering moving out of Sussex to avoid his hellish daily commute.
IT worker Garth Walters, who lives in Haywards Heath, pays £4,888- a-year to travel to London for work.
A year ago he moved out of Brighton hoping that the Mid Sussex town would ease his commuting woes.
But after 12 months of what he describes as late services, graffiti-covered carriages, packed peak-hour trains and broken seats, the 41-year-old is planning to move again.
He said: “The service has got worse since First Capital Connect took over. All they have really done is painted the carriages a different colour.
“I despise them so much that I’m thinking of moving out again.”
Mr Walters described how his daily commute begins any time between 7.30am and 9am – depending on what time he is due at work.
He steps on to the already packed train and shuffles to a comfortable position for the journey to the capital.
He added: “The trains are so old that in the winter the doors sometimes freeze shut. It’s ridiculous.
“They will very rarely be on time and I can end up changing two or more times to avoid certain services.
“Then there’s the graffiti, it’s everywhere and looks awful.”
Frustration
He describes his journey home as frustratingly similar.
He added: “First Capital Connect still seem to run a number of four-car trains in peak times when most platforms can at least accommodate eight car trains.
“I think it’s ridiculous, I pay £94 a week. They just seem happy to take our money and then forget about everything else.”
A spokesman for First Capital Connect said that the company shared passengers’ frustration about graffiti adding that a recent surge in attacks has been costing them £10,000 a week to remove.
He added: “Most of our trains are indeed old and many parts in our toilets are obsolete which makes finding replacement parts another challenge, which is why the picture shows a toilet out of order for so long.
“We have added over 12,000 seats a day to the Thameslink route by increasing the number of trains in our fleet by 47% during our franchise.
“Obviously many of these are the old style but 26 trains are new air-conditioned Electrostars.
“We have also more than halved the number of four-carriage trains we run in the rush hour.
“The standards of our cleaning contractor is being looked at closely but trains that are nearly 30 years old will never look as fresh as more modern stock.”
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Comments(33)
BiggerH
says...
4:20pm Thu 25 Oct 12
Nathan_Adler
says...
4:26pm Thu 25 Oct 12
2. Why is it the only people who moan about trains being packed at peak times are those who repeatedly use trains at peak times?? That's life or ask your boss to do a 11-7 day.
3. You "despise" a company so much you want to move? I hate with a passion the Greens but I will not move because of them. Get real!
4. YOU CHOSE to work in London because that is where the bucks are. £94 a week to get to London and home again 5 times a week sounds like good value. Yes, you don't get a seat, but do you know what? You don't get a seat if you walk either!!
What a moaning old silly sausage this man sounds like,
DC Brighton
says...
4:46pm Thu 25 Oct 12
I am in full support of this gentleman's aim of highlighting the disgraceful state of the Thameslink service. Indeed, I merely avoid it which is unlikely to ever get it improved.
That said, what was he doing moving to Haywards Heath and then taking a Thameslink train which, as a commuter, he knows starts in Brighton and would be getting full by the time it reached him anyway? He was always going to be worse off unless he took a different train. Strange.....
DC Brighton
says...
4:46pm Thu 25 Oct 12
I am in full support of this gentleman's aim of highlighting the disgraceful state of the Thameslink service. Indeed, I merely avoid it which is unlikely to ever get it improved.
That said, what was he doing moving to Haywards Heath and then taking a Thameslink train which, as a commuter, he knows starts in Brighton and would be getting full by the time it reached him anyway? He was always going to be worse off unless he took a different train. Strange.....
longman
says...
5:02pm Thu 25 Oct 12
longman
says...
5:02pm Thu 25 Oct 12
leobrighton
says...
5:06pm Thu 25 Oct 12
Hoarder12345444
says...
5:19pm Thu 25 Oct 12
Nathan_Adler wrote:No not at all, why should you pay that much and get such as pathetic service? Yes one chooses to work in London for the money factor of course.
1. In the last 12 months it has not been cold enough for the doors to freeze shut. We had a very mild winter. Methinks you are listening to tales.
2. Why is it the only people who moan about trains being packed at peak times are those who repeatedly use trains at peak times?? That's life or ask your boss to do a 11-7 day.
3. You "despise" a company so much you want to move? I hate with a passion the Greens but I will not move because of them. Get real!
4. YOU CHOSE to work in London because that is where the bucks are. £94 a week to get to London and home again 5 times a week sounds like good value. Yes, you don't get a seat, but do you know what? You don't get a seat if you walk either!!
What a moaning old silly sausage this man sounds like,
But if you choose to work anywhere, London or whatever why should the service be so poor when the prices are so high? Why should people put up with it, good on him for speaking up because most people dont complain and it never gets better.
eastbourne andy
says...
5:36pm Thu 25 Oct 12
Gary Manilow
says...
5:41pm Thu 25 Oct 12
Regardless of anything, for £94 a week (basically the same cost as rent for most people) you should get a better service and not have to ride in trains that were around when ET was on at the cinema.
DC Brighton
says...
5:51pm Thu 25 Oct 12
eastbourne andy wrote:Yeah....because, there's just so many jobs near home aren't there?
dear oh dear.. Have you thought of taking a £5000 a year pay cut and getting a job closer to home? This is a typical 'commuter moan' that I have been hearing for over twenty years. So he moves from lovely Brighton by the Sea to Haywards Heath, a mere 22 mins up the line to make his commute to his 'job' more manageable! At this rate he'll be moving to London. At least when he makes his next rant to his local paper about the 'high cost of living in London' thankfully the Argus readers won't be subjected to it!
Have you read the job pages recently?
Like this man I choose to work in London (it's the only place with jobs which fit my experience) and commute. It's my choice. But that's not the point here.
The point is that the service is extremely poor. You'll see from my previous post that there are alternatives but I'm afraid your "well get a job nearer to home" argument is comfortably as old as that of the commuter. And is completely naive.
nocando
says...
6:01pm Thu 25 Oct 12
John Steed
says...
6:27pm Thu 25 Oct 12
John Steed
says...
6:30pm Thu 25 Oct 12
btnboi
says...
7:26pm Thu 25 Oct 12
leobrighton wrote:what utter rubbish, the 26 new ones they have belong to southern and are on loan to fcc. yes the dft choose the stock but the train companies buy/lease it
New trains are soon to be ordered by the Department of Transport for this route. It is they who truly run the railways. Companies such as FCC merely running the trains for them
eastbourne andy
says...
7:28pm Thu 25 Oct 12
John Steed wrote:Exactly!!
what the problem with graffiti on the outside, you ride on the inside, stop moaning you choose to commute, you choose to travel by train at the peak time. you chose to to move up the line knowing full wellseats are harder to find. the world doesnt owe you a living.
btnboi
says...
7:34pm Thu 25 Oct 12
Hoarder12345444 wrote:well drive then! that £10 a day congestion charge, £20 a day parking and £10 a day fuel.
Nathan_Adler wrote:No not at all, why should you pay that much and get such as pathetic service? Yes one chooses to work in London for the money factor of course.
1. In the last 12 months it has not been cold enough for the doors to freeze shut. We had a very mild winter. Methinks you are listening to tales.
2. Why is it the only people who moan about trains being packed at peak times are those who repeatedly use trains at peak times?? That's life or ask your boss to do a 11-7 day.
3. You "despise" a company so much you want to move? I hate with a passion the Greens but I will not move because of them. Get real!
4. YOU CHOSE to work in London because that is where the bucks are. £94 a week to get to London and home again 5 times a week sounds like good value. Yes, you don't get a seat, but do you know what? You don't get a seat if you walk either!!
What a moaning old silly sausage this man sounds like,
But if you choose to work anywhere, London or whatever why should the service be so poor when the prices are so high? Why should people put up with it, good on him for speaking up because most people dont complain and it never gets better.
a snip at £200 a week but at least u get a seat stuck in the traffic. yes it seems a lot of money but when you break it down it cost £18.80 over 5 days and you get weekend travel free...can you do it in a taxi or bus cheaper? No. Im happy with the money im spending.
Dr.Draconian
says...
8:23pm Thu 25 Oct 12
leobrighton
says...
8:39pm Thu 25 Oct 12
btnboi wrote:I'm talking about trains that have yet to be built can't you read
leobrighton wrote:what utter rubbish, the 26 new ones they have belong to southern and are on loan to fcc. yes the dft choose the stock but the train companies buy/lease it
New trains are soon to be ordered by the Department of Transport for this route. It is they who truly run the railways. Companies such as FCC merely running the trains for them
HJarrs
says...
9:14pm Thu 25 Oct 12
longman wrote:Sounds like it is you that should get another job. Which job do you do that you have no alternative! This is not the middle ages!
Totally agree with Mr Adler. You are lucky enough to have a job, have transportation (albeit a bit uncomfortable) and a roof over your head. If it is that bad, dont work in London! My job is horrible, but I have to do it. I have an injury from it. Instead of moaning, I get on with it, grateful for the fact that I actually have a job! I am watching a programme where a mother hasnt seen her children for 3 years because she had to leave them with her parents because she didnt have enough to look after them. People like this woman are those who my hear bleeds for, not for moaning men who cant cope with the slight inconvenience of over-crowding and horrible trains. Use your brains and your feet, go to work via another train service!
I dislike the inverted snobbery of " I have it harder than you". It is this attitude that is contributing to the decline of the country as people compete to beat themselves up with a stick.
The Real Phil
says...
10:53pm Thu 25 Oct 12
A letter raising the issue with the company illicetted a standard "not our fault gov" reply. Historical steam attractions put on more effective trains than First. time for a new frachise perhaps.
kkj
says...
1:00am Fri 26 Oct 12
John Steed wrote:So, just because someone is worse off, everyone else has to put up with sub-standard service?
I forgot to mention I know people who barely earn a year what you spend on your ticket, they are gratefull to be working and struggle to get to work as well
nocando
says...
10:06am Fri 26 Oct 12
bluemonday
says...
11:23am Fri 26 Oct 12
Made In Sussex
says...
11:46am Fri 26 Oct 12
..really? If so then please illuminate us with some actual detail!
Also life
little boo
says...
12:08pm Fri 26 Oct 12
little boo
says...
12:08pm Fri 26 Oct 12
Tring
says...
12:24pm Fri 26 Oct 12
The worry is that First (aka Worst) group will get the new combined franchise, recently put on hold in the wake of the west coast debacle. We can then look forward to worse service and more fare rises, because there will be no competition on the route.
I wrote to my MP, Mike Weatherley, about this, and was told that my comments had been 'noted'. Deafening silence since. First Group are substantial donors to the Conservative party, I believe.
lydz25
says...
12:51pm Fri 26 Oct 12
Fairfax Sakes
says...
2:44pm Fri 26 Oct 12
1) Market forces to push fares up even higher. Economics dictates you raise prices untill demand matches supply (although the truth is demand IS matching supply, since people are still prepared to travel and there is room on the train).
2) Government intervention to induce further competition. Difficult due to natural monopoly enature of this product. Industry already regulated on profit margins, so no room for significant change there.
3) Nationalisation-this will inevitably involve greater tax payer subsidisation.
In brief, railways have no incentive or scope to provide better service beyond that of the regulated standards. The relative expense of rail travel is irrellevant, and there is a strong case for further price increases on peak fares. Put up, pay up or shut up!
Old Ladys Gin
says...
4:56pm Fri 26 Oct 12
To move so many times? To keep a job?
Why?
ShorehamBeachcomber
says...
7:10pm Fri 26 Oct 12
Crystal Ball says...
3:58pm Thu 25 Oct 12