Left hand - right hand?

In an earlier post I promised to post my second email to NXEA complaining about them letting connecting services piss off into the sunset leaving the poor sods wanting to catch those connections high and dry together with their reply.

This is my email:

Dear Mr Xxxxxxx,

  Thank you for your reply. I have read it carefully, and to be honest it raises more questions than it answers. In particular:

• Why was the Braintree train diverted onto the electric lines in the first place?
• Who made that decision and was any consideration at all given to the passengers that decision was likely to adversely affect?
• Why was the earlier Ipswich service not diverted onto the electric lines? It was well ahead of the Braintree train.
• If the Braintree train was scheduled to stop at Stratford would it have still been diverted and allowed to overtake the Ipswich service?
• Why was the Braintree service not held at Witham to await the Ipswich train which arrived no more than 2 minutes after the Braintree one departed?
• If it was obvious that passengers for Braintree arriving at Witham on both the scheduled connecting Clacton service and the nominally earlier Ipswich service, why were no buses  arranged as they had on previous occasions?
• Could you also please clarify the term "electric lines"?

I look forward to receiving your answers in due course.

Yours Sincerely,



And for what it's worth here's their reply:

Dear Mr Xxxxxxxxxx,

Thank you for your email and I'm sorry that you were unhappy with my

response.

I have asked the Control Manager for his further comments.

Where there was the ability to move trains onto tracks to let them proceed

we did. This would not have been the case for all trains as crossing points

from one set of tracks to another are not always going to be available.

There will have been services where there were no set of crossing points to

allow transfer to another set of tracks. As I'm sure you fully appreciate,

it's not like changing lanes in a car where you can do it at pretty much

any point. The decisions that were made were done so on the unique set of

circumstances that that disruption raised - insofar that each disruption is

unique with regards to the type and location of disruption, the time of day

and other such factors.

Where we were able and where it was safe to do so we moved trains onto

tracks so they could bypass the affected area. There were trains where this

was not possible. Sorry you are unhappy but this is what happened to your

service that evening.

Once again, thank you for contacting me.

Yours sincerely,

Customer Relations Advisor

National Express 

 

So basically they've told me to suck it up. Roll on February when we finally see the back of NXEA and their arrogant incompetence. 

 

  

Once bitten twice shy?

Following the balls-up on 23 March I wrote to NXEA complaining about them allowing the connection at Witham to leave without waiting.

I posted their reply here.

They've now written again and this is what they say:

Dear Mr Xxxxxxxxxxxxx,

Thank you for your email.

I apologise for the delay to the 18:06 from Stratford that evening. I have
asked the Manager of our Control Centre to investigate your comments. Owing
to the disruption on the down mainline, caused by a Network Rail emergency
speed restriction at Forest Gate, services were queuing. Where it was
possible and safe to do so trains were diverted onto the electric lines,
the Braintree service being one of these. It would not have been possible
to divert all of the trains on to the electric lines and this did mean that
some services overtook others.

Once again, I apologise for the delay to your service that evening and
thank you for contacting us.

Yours sincerely,


Customer Relations Advisor
National Express

OK fair enough, but no-one appears to have even had a single passing thought for the passengers being f*cked up when their connecting trains were diverted onto the "electric lines" whatever they are; all of NXEAs lines have overhead power so they're all "electric lines".

I have one or two more questions for them yet.

But it appears they may have learned something because the self same thing happened again tonight, Network Rail put in another bloody silly speed restriction and once again all the trains were backing up at Stratford. Yet again I got the 1806 Ipswich train, somewhat earlier than last time which probably made a difference, because the Braintree train, despite having again been allowed to overtake the earlier Ipswich train was still at Witham unlike last time.

Moreover, unlike last time it was also held to await the scheduled connecting Clacton service. This was also earlier than last time but was still almost 15 minutes late at Witham.

I'll post my questions and any reply from NXEA when I get round to it.

Does the left hand actually know what the right hand is doing?

I wrote earlier about a classic NXEA balls-up on 23 March; NXEA have replied and their reply makes interesting reading:

Dear Mr Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,

Thank you for contacting National Express East Anglia. We have received

your email dated 23/Mar/2011 and we aim to get back to you as soon as we

can. Our target is to answer 90% of our contacts within 6 working days.

I have asked for your comments to be investigated. I will be in touch again

once the investigation is complete...

Yours sincerely,

Customer Relations Advisor

National Express

Why do my comments need investigation? Did something occur that shouldn't have happened? Curious.

My cynical side can't help wondering whether they're actually investigating the passenger reaction at Witham.

More when I have it

Some thoughts on NXEA getting the sack

I cannot deny I am beyond overjoyed that NXEA are finally out on their collective arses.

NXEAs reaction to their sacking was illustrative of the whole mindset of the company:

 "...We are very disappointed not to have been shortlisted to bid for the Greater Anglia franchise.

"We believe we put forward a very positive and high quality submission building on the significant improvements delivered on National Express East Anglia.

"We are therefore seeking further clarification from the Department for Transport to explain this decision..."

Putting forward a "... positive and high quality submission..." ain't really going to do you any good if you're so shite at your job your own passengers will only give you the second lowest passenger satisfaction rating in the country. It seems the people who award the franchises have finally started looking to see how a company is actually performing before re-employing them; and NXEA have been shown to be not up to the job.

Just more proof if any were needed just how out of touch the management at National Express are.

They were always just in it just for the money they got from taxpayer subsidies. That much became obvious when  it became clear that the East Coast Mainline was a money pit and the bastards dropped it like a hot cake.

Hopefully, rail users in this country will have finally seen the back of this bunch of money grubbing chancers. They should stick to trying to run their buses on time. They could never make their trains run on time. Or at all on occasion.

There is a God

The use less f*ckers have been sacked!!!! Halleluja there is a God.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12853304

Now please let the Dutch get the franchise. I lived in the Netherlands for 3 years and their rail services were second to none.

Another NXEA F*ck up - 23 March 2011

The moronic incompetents running NXEA f*cked us up again tonight.

There was a speed restriction on the mainline again tonight for one stupid reason or another. Every bloody train apart from the ones going to f*cking Southend was being delayed from Stratford. Strangely, they never seem to have a problem. Everything else was backed up by at least 20 minutes.

I got the 1806 for Ipswich... at 1828.

This train leaves Liverpool St 3 minutes before the Braintree service and doesn't stop between Stratford and Witham. The Braintree train stops at Shenfield and Chelmsford so in the real world the Ipswich train should have been at Witham well before the Braintree train.

However, in the demented f*cked up world inhabited by the tossers at NXEA the Braintree train was pushed through on the fast line while the Ipswich train was pushed onto the slow line.

Even worse, the dickheads couldn't be arsed to hold the Braintree train at Witham so the passengers for Braintree on the Ipswich train could connect. They couldn't even be bothered ot hold it for the connecting train they TIMETABLED in December.

Wankers, the lot of 'em. The only high point all evening was watching the pricks at Witham station being berated by the people their bosses had screwed over. The anger was genuine and universal; the poor bastards were totally overwhelmed having been hung out to dry by the cretins running the railway.

Christ I really do hate these mindless f*ckers.

For all the good it'll do I sent yet another on-line complaint to NXEA. But the arrogant incompetent bastards won't give a flying f*ck as usual.

The usual crap - The week beginning 7 March 2011

Monday

Morning

Dep: Braintree 0812 (0812)
Arr: Stratford 0909 (0907)

Evening

Dep: Stratford 1555  Early finish today.
Arr: Braintree 1701

Tuesday

Morning

Dep: Braintree 0812 (0812)
Arr: Stratford 0911 (0907)

Evening

Dep: Stratford 1822 (1820)
Arr: Witham 1902 (1858)
Dep: Witham 1903 (1901)
Arr: Braintree 1918 (1919)

Wednesday

Morning

Dep: Braintree 0815 (0812)
Arr: Stratford  0909 (0907)

Evening

Dep: Stratford 1909 (1909) Late finish tonight to make up the time I lost on Monday.
Arr: Braintree 2008 (2008)

Thursday

Didn't travel today.

Friday

Morning

Dep: Braintree 0727 (0727)
Arr: Witham 0744 (0743)
Dep: Witham 0755 (0755)
Arr: Stratford 0831 (0829)

Evening

Dep: Stratford 1821 (1820) Another late finish to make up time.
Arr: Witham 1858 (1858) On time!
Dep: Witham 1900 (1901) Left early. Naughty.
Arr: Braintree 1918 (1919)