Just found...

A kindred spirit.

I am not alone!

Reading about the hell that simply travelling to and from Southend  has become has caused me to re-evaluate my attitude to the users of the service.

It still rankles slightly that their service is far more frequent than the half-arsed one we have to endure to Braintree.

But since it's as crap as the one we get then they deserve sympathy,

Another shambles....

They can't run trains in the cold, and now the useless wankers at NXEA can't run trains when the temperature gets a bit toastie.

The temperature today went over 30 degrees Celsius so characteristically the whole f*cking network ground to a halt because the overhead wires are so bloody clapped out they're f*cked when it gets warm. Not good during a typical summer here in the UK.

Trains cancelled, trains delayed, trains not completing their scheduled journeys, you name it, we had it.

I thought I'd leave a few minutes early and get the 1806 from Stratford simply because that service uses Class 360 rolling stock which is air-conditioned. The 1809 uses ancient, clapped out Class 321s which have no air-con. In the weather we've had today they're like ovens and absolute hell to travel on.

As it turned out everything was so f*cked up that it was 20-past-6 before I was able to catch a Clacton train running 40 minutes late. I eventually got to Witham around 7pm. There was a Braintree shuttle waiting there -- as ever NXEA cancelled all through trains and from Braintree as soon as things even looked like going pear-shaped.

Thirty minutes later we finally left having waited for 2 very delayed connecting services.

They've promised us that f*ck-ups like tonight will no longer occur once they've replaced the crap overhead wires... in 2014. You couldn't make it up.

They're forecasting thunderstorms for tonight and tomorrow. I wonder how that will affect the trains. Because it will.

It's amazing...

...that whenever a train breaks down because of NXEAs crap maintenance it always seems to be a Braintree service.

Another cancellation this morning after the poor sods who use the 0812 drew today's short straw.

NXEA really have stopped giving a shiny sh*t about their paying passengers since they discovered they were being slung out on their arses.

Chucked off at Witham...

I, and everyone else on the 1901 from Witham to Braintree, have just been slung off at Witham because some berk, driving, according to varying accounts, a bus or HGV has hit a bridge somewhere on the Braintree branch line.

The muppets at Witham have apparently requested buses but they haven't pitched up yet and typically Kermit and Co haven't a bloody clue when they will...

Marvellous

Another day, another f*ck-up

It's currently 23 minutes past eight in the morning and the 0805 from Liverpool St to Braintree has just arrived.

Signal failure apparently.

Tuesday

Didn't travel on Monday - not much point so I worked from home.

I did travel on Tuesday.  

Morning: No direct services between Braintree and Liverpool St. So I got the 0812 shuttle (late) to Witham.

First train out of Witham (late) didn't stop at Stratford so I was obliged to wait for the next one (late) which did. For once I can't actually complain, the train had seats available, and went pretty much to schedule. It was just the timing, after 0850, meant I was late to work.

Evening: No direct service from Stratford to Braintree, then again there aren't on a normal day. Caught the 1820 Clacton service (late), because the 1806 Ipswich train was chock full with no space, standing or sitting.

The Clacton train had seats available, but there was what the driver described as a "minor" fault on the rolling stock. This meant a 10 minute delay at Stratford while he tried to resolve it. Then after setting off, the train was forced to stop again at Seven Kings for another 20 minutes while an engineer tried unsuccessfully to fix it.

All of this meant the connecting service and the one following it at Witham came and went well before we arrived. As it happened the Braintree shuttle arrived at the same time so I was able to board immediately. However, yet again, we were forced to wait more than 10 minutes for a connecting service to arrive (late).

Oddly, the one time the connecting service I was on last week was late, the connection at Witham was allowed to go and I had a cold 40-odd minutes to wait for the next train.

A New "Improved" Timetable? Hell No!

For months now National Express East Anglia have been touting their new "improved" timetable. They've been promising new trains, more seating, you name it.

However as ever with this useless bunch if incompetents, nothing is what they claim.

In the 4 days since the timetable was introduced I have yet to travel on one of their trains and arrive on time; every single train I've travelled on, from Braintree to Stratford and the return has either been late, delayed, or missed it's connection.

So far:

Monday

Morning: The 0812 from Braintree - late.
Evening:  Delays, I managed to catch the 1806 Ipswich service from Stratford - at 1815! And was able to make the connection to the 1800 Liverpool Street to Braintree at Witham - this service doesn't currently stop at Stratford though we're promised it will when platform 10A has been lengthened.

Tuesday

Didn't travel.

Wednesday

Morning: 0812 from Braintree cancelled.  0900 was over half-an-hour late (2 claims).
Evening:  1820 late, overcrowded and slow-running meaning the connection with the 1800 Braintree service   at Witham was missed. (Another claim)

Thursday

Morning: God be praised! The 0812 ran - late.
Evening: The Jubilee Line had signal problems (claimed for) so I couldn't make the 1820. Instead, I caught the Walton-on-the-Naze train (late) and changed at Witham.

And let's not forget the only compensation available from NXEA is a voucher that can only be used to purchase tickets from themselves.

I'll now use this blog to maintain a log of the services as they are now constituted.