Just seen the Panorama on Britains railways. As a commuter I experience the service provided between Wolverhampton and Telford (At the weekend as well as Monday to Friday, damn shift hours...) at first hand and I find it ludicrous that a documentary on this subject, whilst nailing Network Rail for over spending, failed to make a passing mention of the train operating companies. The level of service provided by the two companies on the Wolves - Telford route, Arriva Trains Wales and London Midland, is a fucking disgrace. (There used to be a third company, but Wrexham and Shropshire went bust last year, meaning that Shropshire is the only county in England without a direct link to London)
Arriva Trains Wales: Almost all of their rolling stock is ex-British Rail shit with crappy seats that would be uncomfortable on a short bus ride, let alone a potential Birmingham to Holyhead trip. The train between Wolves and Telford is supposed to be 4 carriages long, but is more often than not made up of just 2 carriages: You can imagine how much fun that is at 16:53 (Although I have got the train home at 11:53 and it has 4 sparsely populated cariages) The companies record on liability also leaves much to be desired, mainly because almost all of their rolling stock is ex-British Rail shit. Many times I have been on the train destined for Birmingham that has terminated at Wolverhampton due to running late (Paradoxically, the company is fined less for a cancellation than a severe delay)
London Midland: In their defence, the rolling stock is modern and pleasant to use at 11:08 when it has 3 or 4 virtually empty carriages, however at 17:08 when it has arrived before the delayed ATW 16:53 and has only 2 carriages, well you can guess. Apparantly 6 carriages into 2 will go! Funny how standing at top flight football is banned as it is unsafe, yet standing on each other's feet on a train doing 60 through a set of points is perfectly fine.
It also isn't Network Rail's fault that a commuter town like Telford has just 2 trains in each direction during the week (When Wrexham & Shropshire folded, their services were not picked up) and the horrendous overcrowding is not their fault either. It is completely ludicrous that the railway is privatised: If I was disatisfied with Morrisons, I would go to ASDA or Sainsburys (Tesco can fuck off mind...) yet if I am disatisifed with the train company, there is no alternative
Arriva Trains Wales: Almost all of their rolling stock is ex-British Rail shit with crappy seats that would be uncomfortable on a short bus ride, let alone a potential Birmingham to Holyhead trip. The train between Wolves and Telford is supposed to be 4 carriages long, but is more often than not made up of just 2 carriages: You can imagine how much fun that is at 16:53 (Although I have got the train home at 11:53 and it has 4 sparsely populated cariages) The companies record on liability also leaves much to be desired, mainly because almost all of their rolling stock is ex-British Rail shit. Many times I have been on the train destined for Birmingham that has terminated at Wolverhampton due to running late (Paradoxically, the company is fined less for a cancellation than a severe delay)
London Midland: In their defence, the rolling stock is modern and pleasant to use at 11:08 when it has 3 or 4 virtually empty carriages, however at 17:08 when it has arrived before the delayed ATW 16:53 and has only 2 carriages, well you can guess. Apparantly 6 carriages into 2 will go! Funny how standing at top flight football is banned as it is unsafe, yet standing on each other's feet on a train doing 60 through a set of points is perfectly fine.
It also isn't Network Rail's fault that a commuter town like Telford has just 2 trains in each direction during the week (When Wrexham & Shropshire folded, their services were not picked up) and the horrendous overcrowding is not their fault either. It is completely ludicrous that the railway is privatised: If I was disatisfied with Morrisons, I would go to ASDA or Sainsburys (Tesco can fuck off mind...) yet if I am disatisifed with the train company, there is no alternative
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