I hate going anywhere by train, even more so after what happened today.

I'd booked tickets to go to Maidstone and back, and cos I finished work earlier than I thought, I looked to see if I could get an earlier train back. There was no mention of any restrictions on the national rail site, and the only thing on my ticket said I couldn't use was Southeastern Highspeed.

Happy with this, I got on a 'normal' Southeast train back to London. When we pulled out of one of the stations (Gravesend I think), a voice comes over the tannoy saying the train had now upgraded to a Highspeed service, therefore people would need to upgrade their ticket. Absolutely feck all mention of this at any point in the journey prior to this.

Then the ticket gadgie started coming round, so I hid and got off at the next stop (Ebbsfleet) so I wouldn't get stung. I've seen people have to pay stupid amounts for 'upgrades' before. Like 40 and 50 bar.

I asked gadgie at Ebbsfleet if I could use the ticket I had, and he said I should get a train back about 4 stops to Strood and get the slow train from there. Instead I got the next train from Ebbsfleet 10 minutes later and hid in the bogs, and got out at St Pancras penalty-free.

I'd like to say what an absolute bunch of cuunnts the people are who make millions from operating our railways, especially with what is essentially a scam like this. I'd have been happy to get the slow train from Strood in the first place, but the feckers obviously bank on fooling people into having to pay for 'upgrades'.

Should have just refused to pay.

Thye made the announcement after you got on and the train departed?

Can't come soon enough. Last year booked tickets online from Northallerton to Liverpool. Was supposed to get 10.26 from Northallerton, but when we got to Northallerton the 9.26 was on the platform. Now normally I would take a chance and just jump on earlier train and get to my destination earlier , but given that the Trans Pennine Service from Northallerton to Liverpool usually consists of only 3 or 4 carriages , that are usually packed, I decided to abide by the law and get the train I had booked up on.

No sooner had the 9.26 left , then a message came over the tannoy saying the 1026 was cancelled, FFS! they must of know this when the 9.26 was still standing at the platform. So went to the ticket office, and the girl in there, said just jump on the 11.00 to Manchester and change for Liverpool from there, it doesn't matter if your tickets were pre booked for the 10.26 to Liverpool Well actually it does matter !

Anyway we caught the 11.00 to Manchester , luckily met no jobsworth ticket collector on the train, but obviously we were running late and had to catch another train to Liverpool from Manchester. At Manchester on the Arriva train to Liverpool ,the ticket collector, said our tickets weren't valid for travel on that train and we should have to pay the extra, even though it wasn't our fault as the original Trans Pennine Train had never turned up. As he explained , we were now travelling on a different companies train. Luckily for us the ticket collector used his discretion , clipped our tickets and turned a blind eye, but it could of been so different had we met a Mr Mackay off Porridge type of ticket collector.

It is an absolute disgrace.

Yep. Complete cuunnts trick.

It's difficult to refuse to pay, there will be some bullshit small print terms and conditions on the Trainline website which I won't have read. Bang to rights technically, but not morally.

Comical, we pay the private companies more in subsidies than British Rail ever received. They're not there to provide a service, they're there for the profit.
Don't forget the companies owned by European Rail comanies who provide better and cheaper services on their national services.
A nationalised railway system could work with a competent management team and investment. Look at the local trains we've used for years around here, adapted bus bodies base on the Leyland National bus of the seventies and still squealing and rattling around the system.

Lemonade service, champagne fares.

One of Corbyns policies I like a lot.

Missed the London to Darlo train last year, and there was the Grand Central standing on the next platform, and I couldn't get on the frickin thing, absolute madness. Under nationalisation , you paid say for a return to Bristol, travel down on a Saturday, using a variety of trains/routes, stopping off en route, sleep in a sleeper in the sidings on a Saturday night somewhere on the way back, and carry on with your journey on the Sunday, no questions asked , because there were no questions to ask. You paid, a reasonable flat fare, no need to book up months in advance in order to be able to afford it, you had a week or month to return, it was all BR trains and staff, simplistic and common sense

They can nationalise British Airways while they're at it. Was supposed to be in Hamburg last weekend but the 9 a.m. flight from Newcastle to Heathrow on Friday was delayed 3 1/2 hours. As I was already in Departures I couldn't check whether I could get on a later flight to Hamburg because there was only 1 computer terminal and already about 50 people queueing to check their own flight connections.

As I didn't fancy spending the day in Heathrow I gave up and went home. The cancellation wasn't due to a computer failure or baggage dispute (their last few weeks' tales of woe) just a conked out plane.

Well done BA, budget airline service but no budget prices or reliability! What a laughing stock our 'national carrier' has become.

And regulate the buses. 2 bus companies have the route between Sunderland and Hartlepool, therefore you have to choose which company you wish to use before your journey. So if you get a return ticket or day ticket on Go North East, you cant use the Arriva services and vice versa. I think its only because of recent events, that the majority of people have finally realised what a fook up this country has become over the last 30 years , affecting even more so, the North East and places like East Durham and Hartlepool

I'm not for or against but be careful what you wish for, British Rail wasn't that great.

Or buy an explorer ticket which you can use on any bus service between Whitby and Northumberland


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doesnt mean it cant be now though. Not very much was good in the 70's.

Just watching a documentary from 1977 and it seems bad beyond belief.

Buses to anywhere in Co. Durham have always been a bit random though haven't they,
Back in the day there was United, Northern, TMS, Sunderland District (the dark blue ones), Gillet Bros, none of whom accepted the others' tickets.

United Northern was the same company wasn't it? Granted TMS was different company, but in them days you just paid on the bus , single or return, it was before day tickets etc, they only came in after de-regulation, that created competition and initially high prices for the customers. In terms of high prices that has probably bottomed out with the range of tickets now available, but what you may save on price is offset by the problems you with all the different companies on the same route. For example if I decided to use GoNE X5 and missed it by 5 minutes, I would have to wait 25 mins for next one, by in which time 3 Arriva buses travelling the same route have passed me, that I cant use.

I often use the explorer ticket, they are great value, but not if you are only going into Hartlepool for a swim, 5 pound return as opposed to explorer that is 10 pound

Return tickets were where things screwed up. I once got stuck with a TMS ticket and only GB ran on a Sunday. I was on about £5 a week at the time and every penny counted.

Single fares were okay when they were cheap, has to be a return for me now, 3.60 single 5 quid return, its a no brainer.

Anyway thought there was a Stagecoach up to Trimdon area in the 70s? and I mean a Stagecoach, not a bus

Explorer tickets are ok if you use the bus all the time, but as a casual user the extortionate fares are an incentive to keep using the car.
Stagecoach aren't cheap and run a service that suits the company. As for British Rail being bad, it was a knocking block. It was underfunded and convenient for it to be bad on the road to privatisation. You can't privatise a sccessful company . The present private companies get subsidies BR could only dream of. If they're private and so successful, why do they need their massive subsidies?
Pre privatisation of buses there were three choices of bus route to Middlesbrough by differing companies. Now Stagecoach has the monopoly. So much for competition that was supposed to make things better..... didn't realise they meant the shareholders.

Try using the trains in Austria and Holland, they're nationalised and well invested, it's like flying first class.

Rail travel has came a long way since the days of the Intercity 125, our country just hasn't kept up due to the way the tenders work and race to the bottom for contracts.

Not to mention the race to the top for executive salaries and shareholder dividends.

Ah the old shareholder dividend problem.

A major cause of the problems in this country.

How often do you hear about profit warnings for big businesses, like Tesco etc.

All hell breaks loose because they are only going to make 1.2billion profit instead of the £2billion forecast.

So the shareholders dont make us much money. So what happens?

They shut stores, and make loads of people redundant.

Note they didnt lose money. Just didnt make enough to keep greedy fucking shareholders happy.

Happens in all PLC's, and its a culture that needs to change, but wont whilst the tories run the country.

Wouldnt it better to reduce profit forecasts and invest in their people?

BuT NO, There is no profit for profiteers in doing that.

The people come a long way second to the City.

If you buy tickets for any approved route rather than grand central only or virgin east coast only you can get on any train on the route. More expensive admittently but less risk than buying the cheapest ticket.

I'm on the Grand Central to that there London this Friday and returning Monday....got a great deal....thanks Fetish Bob!!!!

All of this ticket nonsense should be done away with and one standard fare charged. It's all there to confuse and screw you, what other possible reason can there be for these practices? They just aren't justified. Roll on the day this farce of swapping route ownership followed by a quick rebranding of the same old companies is ended.
Have we got a better train service than we had in the 70's.....?

I once wrote a letter of complaint to Northern Rail , about why there are only 2 or 3 carriages on the Hexham train on a Saturday. It is always packed on a Saturday, sometimes you have the usual Metro Centre/ Newcastle shoppers joined by stag/hen groups, people going to Hexham races, Newcastle home game, Tynedale beer festival all on the same day , so you can imagine the carnage that awaits if you are lucky enough to get on the train in the first place. I once stopped off at Wylam for a few pints before Hexham races, but couldn't physically get on the train at Wylam to Hexham, due to people packed in like Sardines, so had to ring a bloody taxi to get there in time for the first race, 25 fookin quid.

Got a reply from one of the most senior people at Northern Rail, it was several pages long and was written in an open and honest manner, the bloke sounded like he wasn't far from topping himself , due to the frustrations of his job. He told me they were short on rolling stock, hence the 2/3 carriages on a Saturday. He said he himself had complained to his bosses about this on numerous occasions with no joy.His whole demeanour came across as one of " I know how you feel, I agree, I feel the same, but my hands are tied , what can I do ?" He then went on to say, they were expecting to acquire some more rolling stock in the near future , when Manchester got their new trains , and their old stock was then to be given to the second class citizens of the North East , WTF !

Yet on a Sunday , when I'm out walking along the bank tops at Blackhall on a Sunday, the trains , almost bereft of passengers, trundle past 4 carriages long, obviously due to the limited Sunday services they must have carriages going spare, you couldn't make it up.

I've got access to their scheduling tool, at any given time they have a quarter of their trains laid up in either Newton Heath in Manchester yet the north east trains are all out and fully formed. They just don't care about the north east.

If England was the human body, the North East would be the ar*e

...and Northern care for Hartlepool even less. The new 'Northern Connect' Middlesbrough to Newcastle service with the new rolling stock is going via Stockton then the Stillington line!!

Even Peterlee and Billinghma have an all day hourly express service to Newcastle, we've got a service to Sunderland marketed as an express that takes an hour and a half...... or you can go to Durham. That's it.
Sorry there's Middlesbrough via Port Clarence which results in an industrial medical condition or the dreaded 36.... a convoluted journey so long the buses tax disc expires and you get off with a beard, and that's just the women!
Public transport in Hartlepool is shit.

And about to get worse


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Really ......?

I am getting 6 taxis a week from 23 and have done now for 10 weeks.

It's not cheap either.

But I take solace that I have never had to use a yellow cab. So I have actually saved a fortune.

That Middlesbrough/Billingham - Newcastle service is only run to serve the Universities of Teesside and Newcastle/ Northumbria. Students are a cash cow these days, hence nearly every kid is more or less press ganged into going to Uni these days, what with the loans , and the money they put into Wetherspoons, Starbucks, Costa and Greggs you can see the method in their madness.

20 years ago, you could get a direct bus to Newcastle, Bishop Auckland, Washington and Chester le Street and a train to Darlington, not now.

If Middlesbrough ever got a direct link to London, which apparently is going to happen soon, then I fear we could lose our Grand Central service as well, watch this space on that one.


PS. On the bright side, there is a new Saturdays only service from Hartlepool - Newcastle X55 details below

https://tiscon-maps-stagecoachbus.s3.am ... 017May.pdf

I fear this too.......the demise of the grand central service in favour of it going to Middlesbrough.

Not sure of the logistics, but is there a direct trainline that can go from Sunderland to Middlesbrough?

The Mddlesbrough grand central thing is definitely happening though.

Could go from Sunderland to Hartlepool then onto Middlesbrough? Extending the 3 hours to 3 and a half?

For clarity, is there a route from Sunderland that can bypass Hartlepool?

If not then the sunderland train should survive.

I know that Grand Central dont have any franchise rights ti use the East coast main line, until York. And even then they are not allowed to stop on route to Kings cross.

Virgin threatened to withdraw if Grand Central were given higher status.

Anyone from Sunderland in their right mind has always gone via Newcastle to get to London by train.
We on the other hand had to change at Thorn Abbey to do the same from Darlo.

The proposal is to start the Sunderland service from Sunderland, but go on to Newcastle then down to London. The Middlesbrough service would obviously start from Middlesbrough and gobble up most of the Grand Central business
Middlesbroughs problem is it's on a line to nowhere, so they've had the genius idea of making themselves the centre of the world.
I understand it's Virgin behind the idea.
Now we've been suckered into The Glorious Tees Valley they'll be campaigning for the Middlesbrough service. Meanwhile we get the dubious privelige of campaigning to flush our London service down the pan so the borers can have one. Oh dear.

Virgin already run a service from kings cross to Sunderland via Newcastle

The middlesbrough service I am on about is grand central

I am unsure whether it's possible tto get to Sunderland via middlebrough missing hartlepool without going on the east coast main line.

i am looking forward to the return of steam.....choo choo!
Casey Jones etc

If when driving from Hartlepool To Bradbury you cross a railway line that doesn't go through Ferryhill, the answer may be yes.
But unless they've built a new line since I was a trainspotter in the 1960s, I doubt you will.

We used to have so many train services that if you got the train back after a booze-up in Stockton and fell asleep, you could end up in Edinburgh (I know someone who did).
I used to go out with mates in Sunderland and get the train back with time to spare.
Hell you even used to be able to get a train to the Headland, although to be fair that was before my time.

It wasn't before your time was it?

I watched the documentary about a group of people tendering for a fail franchise, the majority of current franchisees are part owned by the German or French governments.
I would renationalise all the utilities, might be impossible financially though.Thatcher sold them off to her mates and they are now screwing us.

And another strike is announced.

Eventually the paying public will find alternatives...................

Its not possible. Only line between coastal route and east coast mainline is Stillington line, that goes from Stockton /Eaglescliffe to Ferryhill onto east coast line to Durham and Newcastle, that is freight only, except in emergencies.

That's Leamside line Chip, Ferryhill to Washington to Wardley, Jarrow Staithes ( back in the day )

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leamside_line

Forget about Grand Central working well, this is the Wonderful world of 'competition'.... It's all about the money.
The new service as far as I recall is proposed by Virgin/ Stagecoach
The proposals to run another service from Sunderland and Middlesbroigh have been public for a while with a projected date of 2020 for the commencement of services and electrification of the line to Middlesbrough.

Is there a cheap way of getting the train to Liverpool?

I'm going in August but looking at £75 per person which is mental, i'd rather just drive.

This thread reminds me of the time I went to watch a Tuesday night Sunderland game. Easy enough to get there by bus but absolutely no way of getting home even though I left the game early. Think it was a bus to Peterlee and taxi from there. It's almost like they don't want you to leave Hartlepool...

On the plus side I saw a badger in Peterlee. Not often you see a live one.