Great Western Coffee Shop

No staff at Melksham. Help point not working (even the "Information" button now fails to connect / I have not tried the emergency button)

Problem was reported to GWR Station Manager on 5th December ... hadn't been fixed when I was at the station at 08:45 this morning (10th December).

Perhaps the suggestion of "use the help point" is a suggestion that frustrated passengers should take out their anger on it ...

I'm getting to my wit's end ... and realistic ideas of advise to customers turning there this evening to catch trains that are cancelled would be appreciated!

Give them a call? I think they're open. Disseminate the info.

But the weather situation in Worcester/Malverns is such that if the stock to form those journeys goes anywhere near there today, it may not materialise at later destinations.

I certainly wouldn't expect a quick fix on the helpline equipment, especially if they've failed to pay the mobile connection bill (!). Any fault fixing is undoubtedly contracted-out and therefore subject to a completion time allowance.

You make it sound like you're a special case unfortunately...better get used to the limitations of the railways.....join the club & chill :-)

Btw, journeycheck is still saying that your ticket machine is out of order! Now that is something I'd expect to be repaired by now! Maybe its fault is related to the comms problem with the helpoint?

Awaiting an answer on Twitter ...


Ticket machine is working.  Can't believe everything you read.  Shortage is said to be due to lack of train crew rather than trains stuck in the Malverns.


Trying to avoid sounding "special case".  Happy to share our grief with other unstaffed stations with over 50k annual passengers who have their last trains cancelled and are told to use the help point but it's out of order!

Real issue is poor information / advise.  Telling people to do the impossible ... unless of course the help point is being fixed for sure during today  ;D ;D

Maybe report ticket machine working but bo helppoint working via twitter too? They can sure get mis-report altered, and help point reported

Here's the Twitter advi[c/s]e


So that's suggesting people leave at 17:44 rather than 20:19 is they're southbound, and 18:54 rather than 19:57 if they're northbound.

Think this makes "never rely on the last train" into GWR policy!

Hmmm. I thought running last trains was sacrosanct - such that other transport *had* to be laid on (so bus/taxis) if the last train was cancelled?!

In fact, I'm sure I'm right, unless sonething changed recently? That needs checking. Possibly with Transport Focus.

And 'advice' is the noun, 'advise' is a verb. Easy to remember. You are given advice, by someone that advises you

Other transport or overnight accommodation has to be offered.

What rule or regulation does one quote if refused?

I wonder if telling people they should have turned up two and a half hours earlier and caught the previous train constitutes an offer of other transport?   Even supposing they can get in touch to be told ...

And in any case they've just cancelled the previous one that they were suggesting ... so the last Swindon to Westbury of the day has already left!

This from the National Rail Conditions of Carriage:

’If disruption caused by circumstances within the control of a Train Company or a Rail Service Company leaves you stranded before you have reached your destination printed on or stored on your ticket, and the Train Company whose trains you are entitled to use is unable to get you to that destination by other means, any Train Company which is in a position to help will, if it reasonably can, either arrange to get you to that destination, or provide overnight accommodation for you.’

If they cite the snow there is a get out clause there.

Yep ... "staff can't get to work because of severe weather" ... the line seems perfectly useable and indeed the 19:57 is still said to be running northbound.  Of course, to quote the words of an old friend from the past that could be to do with the OPERATIONAL CONVENIENCE of not cancelling that one  ;D . Ah Dennis, where are you now that the SWT franchise has turned into SWR?

I'd hoped he might have been AXED.

Paul

I have. Or rather, my son pressed it (twice, I think, once at Redland, once at Montpellier!) and once it was answered promptly by someone who didn't seem either annoyed or surprised when I explained what had happened. The other time IIRC it wasn't answered at all; possibly they could see via CCTV that there was no emergency? Or perhaps there was no connection. Anyway, I should think it just connects to the same people the info button goes to, only with (at least theoretically) more emergency. So it is *probably* cheeky rather than having the level of seriousness that frivolously dialling 999 would have.

I walked past the point at bodmin parkway and a lady was asking through it which emergency service was required.
I assumed someone must have recently pressed emergency.

The 17.18 has just left Swindon for Westbury, so perhaps staff made it to work after all!

Still showing "cancelled" on Journey check.   Next round trip re-instated but final northbound lost ... perhaps we need a probability indicator ...

I do appreciate the battle it must be to keep trains running through what looks like harsh weather; no settling snow here, but I have see the white elsewhere!

The National Rail Conditions of Travel. And if there's a refusal to help then you pay for transport/accommodation out if your own pocket and then complain. When the complaint is not upheld/ignored you then sue for breach of contract. When the TOC then fails to turn up in court you get a default judgement. When the TOC doesn't pay, you send bailiffs to their head office. There's a recent precedent.

Oh, and not forgetting the Consumer Act 2015 allows you to seek damages as well as your claim and costs.

Is it this one (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-42283561?SThisFB)?

Yes, it is - the case discussed previously on the Coffee Shop forum, at http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=19097.0  :)