I notice that the branch line aka siding from Hayward’s Heath to Ardingly has been newly relaid with rails, sleepers and ballast.

Rail firms are using loopholes to cancel thousands of services after customers have paid

Tuesday 6 Dec 2022 12:01 am

Rail firms are using loopholes to axe thousands of services without officially recording them – after selling travellers tickets for the cancelled ‘ghost trains’.

A record 314,000 were dropped in the year to October 15, the Office of Road and Rail has admitted – but that figure does not include those hit by strikes, lost in ‘amended’ timetables or cancelled before 10pm the night before.

Veteran rail expert Christian Wolmar revealed the ruse, explaining: ‘I had a ticket for an 8am King’s Cross train – I looked on the station noticeboard and it wasn’t there. The man said there is no 8am train and I said I have a ticket for it. It was always on the timetable but it had become a phantom train.’

He said of the official figure – 3.8 per cent of services across the country: ‘I can’t remember such a high figure but it’s irrelevant because it only represents cancellations on the day.’

Avanti West Coast was savaged by prime minister Rishi Sunak last week as it emerged it had the worst official record with 7.7 per cent cancelled. In the 12 weeks to mid-October, it timetabled 60 per cent of the trains it operated a year earlier.

Govia Thameslink is second worst with 6.4 per cent, while TransPennine Express – owned by the same company as Avanti – cancelled 5.3 per cent.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham called the hidden figures ‘outrageous’, adding: ‘There’s no other word. People have lost trust in trains.’

The government extended Avanti West Coast’s contract last month but said it would lose it in April unless it ‘drastically improves’.

Reports are that some unscrupulous traincos are deliberately selling tickets for non-existent trains. How widespread is this? And what happens if someone purchases tickets from a JourneyPlanner site only to turn up to travel and finds that the train didn’t actually exist? This all sounds very underhand, and a tag illegal.

https://metro.co.uk/2022/12/06/rail-firms-revealed-to-have-axed-thousands-of-trips-through-loop-holes-17883539/amp/

AND where is the defibrillator? Well hidden away. Why do staff who know how to use it, &/or have 1st Aid training, not have arm bands so as to identify themselves? And why cannot the defibrillator be used for folks say at local bus stops. Last year we had a heart attack incident at the bus stop just outside the entrance. The attitude of the station staff was ‘no we cannot help we are not allowed to.’ Disgraceful.

Despite being opened to Crossrail trains at varying frequencies this Station is still not fully opened yet.

There’s no coffee bar or shop outlet on the concourse. The old foyer is well blocked off.

The toilets are hidden away in a corner of platform 4; the disabled toilet cannot be opened with a RADAR key.

The steps from the ticket office down into Station Approach blocks the pedestrian underpass under Station Road. This tunnel is used by drug dealers and is unsafe for all, esp. women at night.

The disgraceful spat with Ballymore owners of High Point Village STILL means there’s no drop off / pick up area in Station Approach. This directly affects intending disabled passengers.

Access to the platforms for wheelchair users is convoluted and unfriendly.

Taxis are still not allowed into Station Approach.

The Station has been ‘blacked’ by black cab drivers from Heathrow.

The pedestrian route from platforms 4 & 5 direct into Station Approach has been blocked off.

The access for everyone into / out of the Station is convoluted and frankly very poorly designed.

AND now with Crossrail trains coming through from Central London and Abbeywood heading for Reading (and maybe to Heathrow) are ALWAYS LATE.

But we only want the direct service TLink service sans any diversion esp. not using Gatwick Express. Yet the ticketing sites are refusing that route. I did try Farringdon Thameslink to Blackfriars via City Thameslink and was told this route does not exist. But it’s been there for years. I wonder if MTR have interfered and are insisting that TfL^» (Transport for London - about) always route tickets using the Elizabeth Line?

Not good indeed - the fares quoted usually include Gatwick Express for some reason. Thameslink only aka direct offer the cheapest fares which is what we need. The fares seem to be available from ticket machines.

We also tried JourneyCheck.com but got the message ‘You are forbidden to use this link’

Here’s an option from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway):

Farringdon - Brighton
Thu 22 Dec 2022 1 passenger

Changes: 2

Elizabeth Line
*       09:02 Farringdon 08m
*       09:05 Tottenham Court Road (Elizabeth line)
*       09:07 Bond Street (Elizabeth line)
*       09:10 London Paddington
Connection time: 15m

Undrrground
*       09:25 London Paddington 17m Journey time
*       09:42 London Victoria
Connection time: 17m

Gatwick Express
*       09:59 London Victoria 58m
*       10:31 Gatwick Airport
*       10:43 Haywards Heath
*       10:57 Brighton

====

The dates we were looking at were the actual dates required: Dec 22 2022

Typically here’s the Thameslink routing:

Route:
Farringdon to Whitechapel (Elizabeth Line)
Whitechapel to Victoria (Underground)
Victoria to Brighton (Gatwick Exp.)

It does not offer a direct routing.

The other companies sites offer equally weird routes such as via the Bakerloo Line, and London Bridge to Victoria for the Gatwick Express.

Trying to purchase tickets online is more than an anomaly it’s downright impossible. I need to purchase these for when a friend is visiting. We wish to travel on Thameslink from Farringdon to / from Brighton. But the route - whilst actually direct - is impossible to book tickets for. Quite simply none of the booking systems recognise this as a valid route.

I have tried booking with Trainline, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), SWT^▸ (South West Trains), and Thameslink itself.

The result is always a convoluted route of anything up to 4 changes.

The definitive response from Southern is 28 Oct at 11:41
 
Dear Chris
 
Thank you for getting in touch regarding your recent journey from Brighton to London Victoria.

I'm sorry to hear that the train came to an abrupt holt and you were delayed for such a long time, I can imagine how frustrating this must have been.

I would like to help you with your complaint, however, in order to do this I require further information therefore please could you reply to my email with the departure time of this service so that I can locate the exact train.

Once I have this information I will be able to assist you further.

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you again soon. 
 
Kind regards
Tara
Customer Relations Advisor

Sorry about that. But why were we not allowed to detrain at the platform since the current was switched off? And two hours to get a body off the tracks seems a very long time. Being electrocuted implies he / she was running all over the tracks for some reason.

‘The flood of cancellations’ was due to the sole trespasser that caused our train to shudder to a halt just before the platform. All the other surrounding tracks had trains already parked at platforms, but the current to all of the tracks was switched off. Hence the ‘flood’ of cancellations - presumably all were departures. It seems that we were the only arrival directly affected. Quite why we could not have detrained from the front onto the nearest platform is a moot point, especially after the current had been switched off. One thing was the first announcement from the driver did not mention a ‘one under’ only a ‘trespasser.’ Apparently said ‘trespasser’ had either been hit by our train, or he was running around all over the tracks with the ‘emergency services’ in hot pursuit. From what the driver announced I got the impression that the ‘trespasser’ was deemed to be one of those eco loons.