It's Official - London Midland ARE the worse Train Operating Company
MK Rail Users receive many e-mails via our Contact Us form, but non throws into sharp focus better the distress that London Midland's apparent inability to run a basic train service, than this e-mail received from a commuter from Milton Keynes Central to King's Langley.
Alex's Tale
Theoretically this is Alex's journey to work, a tortuous route by any stretch of the imagination.
Outward
0821 Milton Keynes to Bletchley
0832 Bletchley to Berkhamsted
0900 Berkhamsted to Kings Langley
0911 Arrival at Kings Langley
Return
1735 Kings Langley to Hemel Hempstead
1751 Hemel Hempstead to Milton Keynes Central
1820 Arrival at Milton Keynes Central
Let Alex take up the story....
"Before London Midland took over from Silverlink my journey used to consist of one train each way that took 40 minutes, which was one of the main reasons I moved from South Buckinghamshire to Milton Keynes. Although London Midland advise changing at Tring or Hemel Hempstead for connecting trains to the South, neither of these stations offer any platform indoor waiting area or facilities. Contrary to belief, there is actually no difference in the frequency of connecting services whether passengers change at Tring, Hemel Hempstead or Berkhamsted at peak times in the morning.
London Midland has specifically stated in the local press that they are not suffering from staff shortages and yet they continue to cancel many Tring termination trains a day due to "unavailability of train staff" and other excuses. As there are no direct trains to the local stations, the consequence of this is that commuters are delayed by a minimum of 30 minutes since London Midland refuse to hold connecting trains for passengers traveling to local stations."
Finally Alex has had enough and continues...
"Monday 16th February 2009
I receive notification from National Rail Txt service advising me that one of the trains on my route has been cancelled. London Midland's website states that in addition to one of the trains on my route being cancelled, the 0930 from Berkhamsted has also been cancelled.
It transpires that the two cancelled trains are the 0832 from Bletchley to Berkhamsted and the 0930 from Berkhamsted to Kings Langley. The consequence of these two cancellations means that I will not only miss my 0900 connection from Berkhamsted to Kings Langley due to the 0832 not running, but I will also be unable to catch the connection thirty minutes later because it has also been cancelled.
After spending 10 minutes at Bletchley station discussing this situation with a member of staff he confirms that the "website information is more up-to-date than London Midlands system's here" and that he can not offer any means of getting to Kings Langley before 1011 despite having left Milton Keynes at 0821. In fact the suggestion he gives me is to go to Watford and come back to Kings Langley, which would be fantastic if my season ticket was for travel between Milton Keynes Central and Watford which it is not.
In all honestly the staff at Bletchley are really helpful but it is clear they have also not been given the information from London Midland about the cancellations at their station which is unhelpful to say the least given that they are the ones representing London Midland to the public.
In these circumstances I am unwilling to travel to Berkhamsted knowing that I will miss the 0900 connection and that the 0930 connection has also been cancelled. I therefore have no option but to return to Milton Keynes to seek out the London Midland station manager to acquire documented proof that I will not be using my ticket today due to not being able to reach my destination within the necessary time.
Tuesday 17th February 2009
I receive notification from National Rail Txt service advising me that one of the trains on my route has been cancelled. Errr…isn't there a film with Bill Murray in it that starts like this...?
As suspected upon reaching Bletchley it becomes frustratingly obvious that the 0832 from Bletchley has *again* been cancelled except this time there are no announcements, no information on the screens and the cancellation is also news to the London Midland staff at Bletchley, despite the fact that there is an empty space at the platform where the train should be. At this point you can openly see the despair on people's faces as they realise that yet again their train has been cancelled.
After spending 10 minutes at Bletchley station discussing the situation with a member of staff…seriously I am not making this up….he confirms that the "website information is more up-to-date then London Midlands systems here" and that although it appears that the 0832 has been cancelled they have not been notified of such a cancellation.
Finally I manage to convince the staff member to phone someone who then confirms the train has been cancelled - something I have been aware of since 8 o'clock this morning. He again offers his sincerest apologies and at this point I take the opportunity to exclaim very loudly in the ticket office that th services bein run be London Midland since 14 December 200 have been absolutely diabolical and that I have been delayed on almost every journey (either traveling to or from work and on some days on both parts of my journey) or unable to travel at all.
Wednesday 18th February 2009
I receive notification from National Rail Txt service advising me that one of the trains on my route has been delayed…this really is my own Groundhog Day hell.
After checking National Rail Enquiries I am advised that the 0821 is running 22 minutes late. This means that I will be unable to make my 0832 connection from Bletchley to Berkhamsted and consequently unable to make my 0900 connection from Berkhamsted to Kings Langley. Instead I am forced to catch the 0848 from Milton Keynes to Berkhamsted. Unsurprisingly I am notified by the screens and announcements at Berkhamsted that the 0930 is delayed by 18 minutes due to a train fault. Amusingly I also hear over the announcement system that the 0941 Tring termination service from Berkhamsted to Tring has been cancelled due to “unavailability of train staff” and in addition, the next train to Birmingham New Street is also running 22 minutes late. What a sham.
Finally I reach my destination of Kings Langley, 47 minutes late. What delays, cancellations and excuses will I be subjected to tomorrow I wonder…
The unilateral response from London Midland staff is that commuters should complete a compensation claim. Last Friday I completed three delay repay compensation forms. The week before last I completed two. This morning I have completed a further three forms and it is only Wednesday!
I don't want compensation on my season ticket I just want the train services that London Midland purport to offer, to run on time without cancellations. If cancellations are necessary then why does London Midland not include additional stops on the trains that are running? This would seem the sensible thing to do. Indeed I have been advised by the station manager at Milton Keynes that London Midland recognises that it should include additional stops when trains are cancelled, but I have only experienced this once when there was a fatality on the line. Presumably another promise or mission statement from London Midland that they have yet to fulfill.
Furthermore in trying mitigate the situation as best as I can I have also signed up with National Rail Enquiry’s Train Alerts Txt service because it seems to provide far more up-to-date information than London Midland is able to provide. However this service is costing me approximately £5.00 a month on my mobile phone bill in circumstances where this information should be readily available on London Midland’s website and free!
How much longer will London Midland's appalling services go unchecked and how much longer can they possibly operate as a business when they are refunding me and (hopefully) hundreds of other customers, almost every day for cancelled trains, failed connections and unacceptable delays?
I am now looking into getting an earlier train (which I don't need to) because the potential for something going wrong with a three-train journey is just proving too high now.
After texting my wife for the third day in a row about delays and cancellations, she even suggested that we discuss moving somewhere else now because things are continuing to get worse and worse with no sign of improvement, which is really sad because we love Milton Keynes and certainly don't want to move.
My wife also works in London and experiences frequent problems getting to and from work. She has been stranded at Euston many times with me having to pick her up from Luton due to London Midland suspending trains with no alternative transport being put in place.
The revelation that she could no longer catch a virgin train in rush hour was also quite devastating for her working routine as you can imagine. She is frequently unable to reach her workplace in time for client meetings."
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Alex's Tale
