It's reassuring isn't it. You won't hear me say this very often, but a great deal of credit is due to South Eastern for their conduct throughout the pandemic.
Whilst global economies crumble, thousands of people lose their jobs, health services struggle to cope and everyone else argues amongst themselves, South Eastern Trains have defiantly stepped up and said "we were utterly useless before Coronavirus and we're going to keep being useless throughout this pandemic. No matter what challenges we are faced with, no matter how hard this virus hits us, our customers will always be able to turn up at their local station, pay way over the odds for their ticket and then wait an absolute age for their train to turn up whilst listening to a selection of far-fetched, half-hearted excuses.
The list of upcoming 'improvements' - apart from the last item, pretty unclear what each of them is, (though no doubt future delays will be blamed on these 'improvements'). A copy and paste by the author I think;
"The improvements included:
Providing turnback capability at Hither Green, Grove Park and Lee – this means that more trains can run when there are unplanned delays or engineering works
Signalling control of the area will be transferred to the to the Three Bridges route control centre, helping to recover the service more quickly when there is an incident.
Track circuits – the train detection system, replaced with 254 more reliable axle counters.
92 new signal heads, 58 new signals and nine new, easier maintained signal gantries built.
24km of new power cable and 19km of new fibre cable installed.
86 sets of points, enhanced to improving reliability of junctions.
Power supply upgraded and made more resilient.
Better signalling at Grove Park station to allow 12-car trains to stop at platform three during unplanned disruption – making it easier to keep passengers moving
Deep cleaning, painting, platform and canopy repairs at Chislehurst, Elmstead Woods, Grove Park, Sundridge Park, Bromley North, Lee, Mottingham and New Eltham stations."
"Yes mate, I'd love to meet you for a drink in Peckham. That's really easy for me, a mere 8 minutes on the train".
"6.45's perfect, my train gets in at 6.40."
"Sorry mate, there's a problem with the signalling system, gonna about 5 minutes late, nope 6 minutes late.....nope 7 minutes late.....nope 8 minutes late. Yep, I'm gonna be late, see you eventually, probably just after last orders knowing these incompetent skid marks."
I thought that was it, but I've actually managed to get on the wrong train, as the platform board was showing the wrong info, and I wasn't paying attention properly. Now on a train to London Bridge, although the display on the train says the next stop is Petts Wood.
Earlier this morning, part of the track near Dartford was found to be damaged.
The damage is quite extensive which means that the rail needs to be replaced. Network Rail will need to close the line in order to do this and it's estimated to remain closed until 08:00.
Response staff are on site and have started work to fix the rail.
Trains cannot run between Dartford and Slade Green or between Dartford and Barnehurst in either direction. Due to the position of the issue, this will cause significant disruption across our metro routes.
There will be alterations to all services from Dartford with trains being diverted via Sidcup or cancelled.
You can use your ticket on London Buses between Dartford and London Bridge via reasonable routes and you can also use your ticket on London Underground between our terminals to help complete your journey.
Tickets are also being accepted on the DLR between Lewisham, Greenwich and Woolwich Arsenal.
Throw in a disruption to Thameslink's Rainham-Luton line, and signalling issues to Lewisham, and its a very frustrating morning.
It's almost as if all of the signalling upgrade work that they were boasting about a few months ago has had zero impact and they've effectively pissed away a significant chunk of their revenue on doing a load of work that has achieved literally nothing. This is so unexpected and out of character. C%$ts.
Throw in a disruption to Thameslink's Rainham-Luton line, and signalling issues to Lewisham, and its a very frustrating morning.
It's almost as if all of the signalling upgrade work that they were boasting about a few months ago has had zero impact and they've effectively pissed away a significant chunk of their revenue on doing a load of work that has achieved literally nothing. This is so unexpected and out of character. C%$ts.
They haven't finished yet, there is another line closure over Christmas for more work.
Yep, all Network Rail responsibility. If the damage is substantial its not just a broken rail. Perhaps a freight train ruined the track in the night?. Perhaps some lowlife has nicked some copper cables, hence no signals. Off course they will work on the lines over Christmas. How and when do you expect them to carry out necessary repairs or upgrades. Virtually no one travels to work over Christmas, in fact most people are working frome home anyway.
I feel @MrLargo needs to repurpose that twee little image with the loudspeaker and a text callout on a Twitter account. Imagine the snark and abuse that could go into a daily tweet with that as a background image...
Ideally I'd "repurpose" it violently and repeatedly up the rectum of Grant Shapps, and then the same again to CEO Alan Statham, the chocolate teapot of CEOs.
Today's "Shortage of station staff at London Bridge" is a pretty weak excuse. It's like part one of the excuse. To be a valid excuse there needs to be a part 2. For example, "shortage of station staff due to an outbreak of syphilis."
Without a part 2, we can only speculate as to the reasons for the shortage of staff. I'm guessing it's the usual "yeah sorry, bit cold today, we're just gonna hide in the guard's office and drink tea all day.
Apparently they are all self-isolating due to Covid-19 exposure, according to Twitter response to someone complaining!
Predictable. To be fair, I was expecting that one to crop up in a daily basis after the pandemic started.
So does that mean no trains from platform 1 at London Bridge for the next 14 days, or do they only self isolate when there aren't any other available excuses?
Apparently they are all self-isolating due to Covid-19 exposure, according to Twitter response to someone complaining!
Predictable. To be fair, I was expecting that one to crop up in a daily basis after the pandemic started.
So does that mean no trains from platform 1 at London Bridge for the next 14 days, or do they only self isolate when there aren't any other available excuses?
Only during the week as less trains run to/from Cannon Street at weekends so they can manage fine then.
Apparently they are all self-isolating due to Covid-19 exposure, according to Twitter response to someone complaining!
Might not have happened if the staff at London Bridge were wearing masks rather than visors worn too high on their head so that their nose and mouth are left exposed.
(To be fair to Southeastern the station staff at London Bridge are mainly provided by Network Rail.)
Wow!! Okay, let's give them the benefit of the doubt and accept that it's genuinely because staff are self-isolating due to Covid and there's absolutely nothing they can do about it. (even though I'm sure there's a simple solution that anyone with a brain the size of ant's todger could come up with).
On that basis, why THE F*#K are they announcing it on a day by day basis?! They know how long their staff need to isolate for, so they know how long this problem's going to last. Here's a crazy thought - why not announce, all in one go so people can make alternative plans, how many days the disruption will last for?! Instead of putting out a tweet literally 2 minutes before the first train on that list is due to depart!
Word of advice for anyone who plans to get on one of those trains at London Bridge between now and the end of next week - you probably won't be able to. South Eastern will confirm this on Twitter at 4.30 everyday.
Apparently they are all self-isolating due to Covid-19 exposure, according to Twitter response to someone complaining!
Predictable. To be fair, I was expecting that one to crop up in a daily basis after the pandemic started.
So does that mean no trains from platform 1 at London Bridge for the next 14 days, or do they only self isolate when there aren't any other available excuses?
Only during the week as less trains run to/from Cannon Street at weekends so they can manage fine then.
and they get anti-social hours increment on all their weekend wages
southeastern hoping that the cost of the few poor sods who fill in a delay repay form is lower than the overtime they're saving by allowing the bone idle sponging mask dodging layabouts to have a load of time off 'sick'
I applaud Southeastern for consistently coming up with the same excuse.
No need to flannel around with other excuses which, in itself, would mean changing the wording on their cute little loud hailer notice board, and putting admin to unnecessary time wastage and considerable expense.
Comments
It's reassuring isn't it. You won't hear me say this very often, but a great deal of credit is due to South Eastern for their conduct throughout the pandemic.
Whilst global economies crumble, thousands of people lose their jobs, health services struggle to cope and everyone else argues amongst themselves, South Eastern Trains have defiantly stepped up and said "we were utterly useless before Coronavirus and we're going to keep being useless throughout this pandemic. No matter what challenges we are faced with, no matter how hard this virus hits us, our customers will always be able to turn up at their local station, pay way over the odds for their ticket and then wait an absolute age for their train to turn up whilst listening to a selection of far-fetched, half-hearted excuses.
Regarding, this morning's "fault with the signalling system", makes this sound like it might have been a total waste of time and money - https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/two-years-of-work-set-to-make-rail-journeys-in-south-east-london-more-reliable/
"The improvements included:
"6.45's perfect, my train gets in at 6.40."
"Sorry mate, there's a problem with the signalling system, gonna about 5 minutes late, nope 6 minutes late.....nope 7 minutes late.....nope 8 minutes late. Yep, I'm gonna be late, see you eventually, probably just after last orders knowing these incompetent skid marks."
I thought that was it, but I've actually managed to get on the wrong train, as the platform board was showing the wrong info, and I wasn't paying attention properly. Now on a train to London Bridge, although the display on the train says the next stop is Petts Wood.
I f#cking loathe these useless tossers.
Earlier this morning, part of the track near Dartford was found to be damaged.
The damage is quite extensive which means that the rail needs to be replaced. Network Rail will need to close the line in order to do this and it's estimated to remain closed until 08:00.
Response staff are on site and have started work to fix the rail.
Trains cannot run between Dartford and Slade Green or between Dartford and Barnehurst in either direction. Due to the position of the issue, this will cause significant disruption across our metro routes.
There will be alterations to all services from Dartford with trains being diverted via Sidcup or cancelled.
You can use your ticket on London Buses between Dartford and London Bridge via reasonable routes and you can also use your ticket on London Underground between our terminals to help complete your journey.
Tickets are also being accepted on the DLR between Lewisham, Greenwich and Woolwich Arsenal.
Please allow more time to reach your destination.
https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/travel-information/live-travel-information/service-disruption?uq=637390279464580000#INCEA2611E6F1F74F1083B8B3EEED806774
https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/lewisham-rail-upgrades-continue-over-christmas-and-new-year
Off course they will work on the lines over Christmas. How and when do you expect them to carry out necessary repairs or upgrades. Virtually no one travels to work over Christmas, in fact most people are working frome home anyway.
Ideally I'd "repurpose" it violently and repeatedly up the rectum of Grant Shapps, and then the same again to CEO Alan Statham, the chocolate teapot of CEOs.
Today's "Shortage of station staff at London Bridge" is a pretty weak excuse. It's like part one of the excuse. To be a valid excuse there needs to be a part 2. For example, "shortage of station staff due to an outbreak of syphilis."
Without a part 2, we can only speculate as to the reasons for the shortage of staff. I'm guessing it's the usual "yeah sorry, bit cold today, we're just gonna hide in the guard's office and drink tea all day.
So does that mean no trains from platform 1 at London Bridge for the next 14 days, or do they only self isolate when there aren't any other available excuses?
(To be fair to Southeastern the station staff at London Bridge are mainly provided by Network Rail.)
On that basis, why THE F*#K are they announcing it on a day by day basis?! They know how long their staff need to isolate for, so they know how long this problem's going to last. Here's a crazy thought - why not announce, all in one go so people can make alternative plans, how many days the disruption will last for?! Instead of putting out a tweet literally 2 minutes before the first train on that list is due to depart!
Word of advice for anyone who plans to get on one of those trains at London Bridge between now and the end of next week - you probably won't be able to. South Eastern will confirm this on Twitter at 4.30 everyday.
Utter cretins.
Look forward to hearing from you again tomorrow afternoon!
southeastern hoping that the cost of the few poor sods who fill in a delay repay form is lower than the overtime they're saving by allowing the bone idle sponging mask dodging layabouts to have a load of time off 'sick'
No need to flannel around with other excuses which, in itself, would mean changing the wording on their cute little loud hailer notice board, and putting admin to unnecessary time wastage and considerable expense.
Well done and congratulations.