Sunday Bloody Sunday

28th October 2007

First Crapital must love a Sunday.

Let the contractors loose 'mending' the network, rent a few buses and then bugger off to the pub for the day.

This Sunday was no exception.

1. King's Cross Train terminated at Finsbury Park on the way down - about 6 minutes before it arrrived at, you guessed it, Finsbury Park staion. No staff to help direct when we got there although, true to form, they managed to get a pair of Revenue Controllers on the bloody train. Got to make us pay for this crap service, haven't they! Bastards.

2. Upon my return, I checked the website before leaving work for signal problems. Everything seemed fine. King's Cross to Royston leaving at 16.03. Less than an hour. Sorted.

Arrived at Kings Cross to be greeted by this:

No reasons given. Probably all too busy in the pub.

Bastards.

Eventually made it to Finsbury Park. To be greeted by this:

The bloke in the doorway knew slightly less about what was going on than we did. Bastard.

3. Finally, finally got to Royston. To find this - check the terror in the eyes!

Platform 1 was mobbed by confused people - crammed and crushed in the rain on a platform that was too small to cope with the volume. Health and saftey eat your hearts out. There was some staff around. They did a lot of shouting but not much helping.

Bastards. Bastards. Bastards.

It's bad enough travelling by train during the week. Sunday is a bloody nightmare.

The 7.15 from Kings Cross

Other people's empties.

Cheers, First Crapital Connect. Bastards.

So late, they get you a cab!

Monday 24th September

For some unexplained reason they had to send anyone who wanted to go beyond Cambridge by complementary taxi. Even to Kings Lynn!

On the one hand, they should be congratulated for not herding us onto buses - their usual trick - and forking out for cabs. Very proactive, I thought.

However, I have since found out that some people had been made nearly 2 hours late which incurs serious regulatory fines so cabs had to be used as no buses could be rustled up. Presumably, the owner of 'Crap-Buses-That-Only-Mugs-Who-Use-The-Train-Have-To-Endure-R-Us' was having a night off.

They should also be congratulated for having staff around - usually when there's trouble they all vanish to the staff room and hide under their desks.

Sadly the ones who were there didn't really know what they were doing - which, as you can see, is that little bit extra confusing and annoying at 9pm at night.

Last thought - just imagine how much these cabs all cost? Now imagine who's going to ultimately be paying for it? Clue: It won't be their shareholders or their management.

Bastards.

21st Century Travel - First Capital Connect Style

Bastards.

Early morning chaos at Cambridge Station: August '07

Why this exists

Someone has to out this bunch of cowboys.

Despite all their marketing about it being 'our train service', their business is quite simply exploitation - taking advantage of people who have no other realistic way of getting to and from work.

As a season ticket holder and daily sufferer, I have seen prices go up and up while the service itself has got worse and worse - especially during peak times.

Late-ness and over-crowding are normal. The trains are invariably untidy. The toilets are a horror show.

Ring their customer 'care' line and you'll get stone-walled with platitudes and apologies but NOTHING changes. They once even sent me a £10 travel voucher by way of apology for some cock up I can't quite recall now - do they think I want to go on their trains more?!!

Their latest insult - which prompted me to do one of these blog things - came the other day. My Cambridge-bound train was terminated at Hitchin at about 11 o'clock at night...

No bus was waiting (it turned up 35 minutes later driven by a sweaty bloke wearing a torn jumper)

An elderly passenger with bags - who was clearly bewildered by having to navigate a strange station late at night - had to be helped by fellow passengers because no staff were on hand.

On speaking to the 'care' line the next day, I was told that staff at Hitchin knock off at 9pm. 'No policy or plan is in place to extend their workers' hours at time of disruption'. Brilliant.

This is the perfect example of their 'sod the customer' attitude. They wouldn't want upset their workers as they unleash merry hell on their punters.

Interestingly, the one area they seem to be investing is in the 'revenue recovery' department. Travel between Cambridge and London Kings Cross and you'll get asked for your ticket so many times you may as well as stick it your forehead.

Bastards.

Maybe they'll struggle to ignore this blog as easily as they ignore calls to the careline?