Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Greater Anglia

  • Greater Anglia : Norwich to London Liverpool Street

    Greater Anglia : Norwich to London Liverpool Street

    I’ve taken this journey from Norwich railway station to London Liverpool Street railway station many tens of times before, but this is the first time that I’ve had a ticket on my phone to show, rather than a simple paper ticket. I was hoping that it might be as advanced as the ones used by Deutsche Bahn, albeit theirs was hardly reliable, but instead it’s just a QR code. Functional, but not exciting.

    I got 10% off this journey as part of a promotion offered by Greater Anglia, with first class being just a few pounds more than standard.

    Travelling at 11:30 in the morning has the advantage of meaning the carriage was relatively empty. The train is comprised of something like eight standard class carriages and two first class carriages. However, due to the forthcoming replacement of these carriages, they’ve been using first class carriages in standard class, but have declassified so anyone can use them. Fortunately the crew made an announcement that customers in declassified first carriages might want to move to actual first class carriages.

    The crew members were all polite and helpful, with the train being clean and tidy. Other than the windows that is, these needed cleaning so that customers could actually see out of them. The wi-fi was broken on the train, although I don’t use it, but the power points were functioning and this was more important to me.

    First class means free drinks and snacks from the buffet car, with the snacks being very lovely, although the coffee was not exactly packed with flavour. Well, it was packed with a bland and bitter flavour, but not much else. Greater Anglia also apparently don’t stock sparkling water any more, so it’s just still water which is available. Greater Anglia need to do more here, especially since they don’t give them out any more at weekends as apparently customers abused them. By abused them, I suspect they meant that they asked for them. I’m not sure how much Greater Anglia really lost on biscuits, but there we are….

    The train left on time and arrived into London around four minutes late, due to some congestion near to London Liverpool Street. The fare for this journey was around £18, which I thought was entirely reasonable given the free snacks and drinks. It won’t be long before the new carriages are being used on the mainline, at which point the journey might become even more comfortable.

  • Norwich to Gatwick Airport by Overnight Train

    Norwich to Gatwick Airport by Overnight Train

    The train from Norwich to London Liverpool Street wasn’t very busy, around a handful of passengers in each carriage. Although, slightly irritatingly, I had to change carriage after getting all comfortable as I discovered the power didn’t work in the one that I had chosen. The conductor was a friendly and affable man, with the train being spotlessly clean since the cleaners spent around thirty minutes on it, cleaning it both inside and out.

    Safely at London Liverpool Street, arriving on time. I noticed customers in two carriages couldn’t get out, an unfortunate side effect of these slam shut doors. I, being ever helpful, opened one door when walking by, whilst the others managed to unfree themselves from their trap.

    Although I had a ticket to use public transport from London Liverpool Street to London Blackfriars, the underground was just shutting down and the times suggested by GWR didn’t seem to actually correspond to any underground trains. So, since I like walking, I went for the option of the 25-minute walk across the city.

    I’ve never seen the above church, which is St Ethelburga’s at Bishopgate, near to Liverpool Street station, which just goes to show how unobservant that I can be… It’s one of the few surviving medieval churches in the city centre and there were once two shops at the front of the building, but these have since been removed. It was also one of the churches which allowed divorcees to remarry, which wasn’t quite within the rules of the time. Although the building has mostly survived, even through the London Blitz, it didn’t entirely make it through an IRA bomb placed outside in 1993, which destroyed 70% of the building.

    The Bank of England.

    St. Paul’s Cathedral.

    Safely at Blackfriars station, where I promptly went up the wrong escalator and reached the platform for trains to Luton Airport. Hopefully no-one noticed me going up one escalator and then straight back down the one next to it.

    This was awkward, I’d reached the correct platform, which was Platform 1, and noticed there was a train ready and waiting to depart to Three Bridges. This is also the train to Gatwick Airport and the passenger in front of me ran for the train, where as I thought I’d have a little meander around as I was hardly in a rush. And then I heard the station staff call out that they’d hold the train for me, so I do a slightly fast walk to get a train that I didn’t really need to get.

    I thought I looked quite smooth and nonplussed in walking towards the train, although I might have actually rushed and been less lackadaisical if it was a train I was actually trying to get.

    On board the Thameslink service from London Blackfriars to Gatwick Airport.

    The train arrived on time at Gatwick Airport.

    Inside the terminal, one of the few times that the ticket machines are so underused. Incidentally, my railway ticket failed to open the barriers and I noted that Gatwick Airport had employed a member of barrier staff who didn’t burden himself in using his customer service skills. But, since he was standing there at 01:00 in the morning, perhaps it’s not entirely fair to expect him to be anything other than fed up.

    And here we are at Gatwick Airport arrivals at South Terminal, arriving around 30 minutes earlier than expected as I accidentally caught a train I hadn’t intended to get at London Blackfriars. The ticket cost just over £20, which I think is reasonable given the distance travelled and the comfort provided. It just now means I have to faff about for my flight, but I like the adventure really….

     

  • Hull to Norwich by Train – Northern, LNER, Cross Country and Greater Anglia

    Hull to Norwich by Train – Northern, LNER, Cross Country and Greater Anglia

    My time in Hull had come to an end, so it was time to get the train back from to Norwich. In theory, this would have involved a Northern train from Hull to Doncaster, an LNER train from Doncaster to Peterborough and a EMR train from Peterborough to Norwich.

    Here it is, the pride of the north, a Northern Rail Pacer train (144019) which they were phasing out by July 2019. As can be seen here, since it’s October 2019, that timetable hasn’t been met and there’s another year of them.

    These really aren’t the best of trains, they probably do need to be sent to the dustbin of railway history.

    Anyway, I was meant to get the 19:27 train from Hull on the Northern service. There was flooding along the line, outside of where I was going, but it was impacting on the Northern train service. Being a responsible passenger, I approached the TransPennine ticket desk as this was the only one I could readily find and they’re the company who operate Hull Paragon Interchange railway station. On this, I wish they’d just call it Hull, as it’s a bizarre name for the city’s main railway station. The staff member there was helpful, but he reassured me that the 19:27 was running, but that there was a service at 19:12 if there was a cancellation of my service. But, if at 19:12 the 19:27 service was showing, I had to wait for that, which is what I did.

    There was a member of First staff at the railway station, which is logical because they operate the very interesting Hull Trains open access service to London from Hull. He was offering customer service advice as the 19:27 service was changed to start from Sheffield, not from further down the line. And, by the time I spoke to him, the 19:27 service wasn’t operating on time. This is relevant, in what is otherwise a winding and endless story, of mine because I could technically now no longer get home. He said that the rail policy was to get as far along my journey as possible, which made sense to me. He also explained that there were some tests of the brakes going on as the train had gone through the flooding earlier on during the day.

    So, on the 19:27 service I get. I say 19:27, but the doors didn’t open until 19:40 and it didn’t set off until nearly 19:50. It then made extra stops, so my train from Doncaster to Peterborough had long gone when I arrived into Doncaster.

    I thought I’d go and ask LNER staff at Doncaster what the rail policy was, because I’m interesting in knowing what happens when the rail network goes a bit wrong and people need to get home. Some of what they told me I knew, other parts I didn’t. But, in short, I was told that the rail network preferred to get taxis home for anyone who missed their final connection, as this is the set-up that different rail operating companies have with each other.

    I was also told that rail companies might pay for a hotel, but this would usually have to be at least semi-authorised by the rail company would end up paying for it. So, it would be hard for a member of LNER or Greater Anglia staff to authorise a hotel and then get Northern to pay for it, whereas taxis were always paid. LNER apparently frequently shuttle passengers by taxi from Doncaster to London and from Doncaster to Newcastle, but rarely pay for hotels. But, equally, I was told that rail staff have been told to be pragmatic, so if someone is stranded hours away from home, with no other passengers to share a taxi with, the rail company might just pay for a hotel and endorse the ticket for use on the next day.

    I had also become aware by now that I had what they called “an illegal connection” which was possible. So, not a connection that wasn’t allowable, but just one that passengers couldn’t be expected to get as there wasn’t enough time to change trains. Which is like conformance times at airports, although they can enforce those cut-off points. In my case, I could connect from the Doncaster to Peterborough train onto the Peterborough to Ely train, but there was only four minutes to do so. The LNER staff told me that I was under no obligation to rush for this, nor was I expected to even know about it. Rail policy was I should present myself to rail staff at Peterborough and they’d advise me. It was clear here that if I wanted a free taxi from Peterborough to Norwich, I could probably get one by faffing about when disembarking. However, I prefer trains and don’t really like taxis, and it would have also been a waste of the rail company’s money, in this case, Northern Rail.

    At this point, I boarded the LNER Azuma train at Doncaster, which is in the above photo when it pulled into the railway station.

    I commented on these before when I got the train up, but these are really clear to understand. There was also plenty of seating on the train.

    And I got my table seat, with wi-fi and power that all worked well. An LNER member of staff came by and I asked him about my connection at Peterborough. He said the same as the customer service staff had at the station, which was that I shouldn’t worry, I should just get off at Peterborough and ask a member of platform staff what to do.

    I was slightly disappointed to get off, as a staff member had just come into the carriage to check tickets. The customer behind me only had a reference number for his ticket, not the actual ticket. I was humoured by the staff member when she said “what do you want me to do with a reference number?” and the customer replied “accept I’m telling the truth?”. Which is quaint and rather innocent. She replied “it doesn’t work like that, how it works is you give me £130 and then I give you a ticket and not just a reference number”. I’m not sure what journey he was making, as that seems a lot of money, but he wasn’t happy. They were just getting into quite an argument, albeit a polite one, and I was really disappointed that the train pulled up into Peterborough and I didn’t hear how that ended. I love a drama….

    And the good news is that I got in Peterborough six minutes early, so an impressive performance from LNER on a really decent train. Above is the photo of the train as it departed from Peterborough towards London.

    Which then meant that I’d get the Cross Country train to Ely, which turned up on time. I got another table seat and the train was comfortable, but not particularly clean.

    Let’s just say, it was clear that there wouldn’t be a fight for space when boarding the train. This is Ely railway station and it’s a shame Dylan and Leon weren’t there, we could have gone under the tunnel at least 20 times in the time I had to wait. The Greater Anglia service was on time and the staff member was enthusiastic and helpful, something which is common with their staff, which is why I still like them a lot as an operating company.

    And smoothly into Norwich railway station, on time and the Stadler train (the one on the left) journey was seamless and comfortable. The train fare cost £19.80 and I got in 57 minutes late, so I’ve put in a delay repay request to Northern Railways for £9.90. I’m not sure how this will work out as they don’t seem to think they operate a 19:27 service, as it didn’t come up on the on-line form. We shall see, but all told, the rail network did come together nicely and there was not one single moment where I was doubting whether I’d get home somehow, even if it was a taxi.

  • Great Yarmouth – Sand Sculpture

    The sand sculpture at Great Yarmouth railway station of the new Stadler trains which are being introduced onto the company’s network of routes. It was created by Richard Spence and Jamie Wardley and I’m partly surprised no local ‘wit’ has fiddled with the sand sculpture.

    The leaping hare, which is the new brand image of Greater Anglia. I thought the whole thing was a nice little innovation, something a little different in the railway station. Hopefully the innovation next year will be a nice Greggs opening up.

  • Greater Anglia – Stadler Trains

    ** And an update on the below, a few months on and many more journeys into using these trains. I must admit that I like seeing them on the network, primarily as it means that there’s more space on them so I can get a seat. I also like their multi-level structure, it adds some character. I’m still not sure I like the single power point between two seats though, and the heater on the floor is a minor obstruction and can be quite hot. Having seen the Azuma trains operated by LNER, they seem to be better designed in terms of at-seat customer comfort, something I’d hoped that these trains would be as well. So, I’m growing to like these trains, but I’m still not entirely sold on them. But I keep doing my best to like Greater Anglia as so often they can be brilliant. And at other times, perhaps they’re not quite as good as I’d like. If it was a choice of reversing the huge price rises on Anglia Plus Rover tickets and having the old trains, or paying the extra and having these new trains, I’d rather return to how things were.

    I hadn’t expected a Stadler train to appear at Wymondham railway station, hence my not very impressive photo. Anyway, this is my first time on board one of Greater Anglia’s Stadler trains, running from Norwich to Cambridge.

    And, I declare a slight bias that Greater Anglia were one of my favourite companies. But this train is nothing like what was promised to me a few years ago by staff. There were going to be no price rises, there was going to be excellent wi-fi, plugs at every seat and more tables.

    On the plugs at every seat, there’s one wi-fi and one normal plug socket. That’s not ideal and isn’t what I’ve seen on other trains across the European Union.

    I got a table, but there don’t seem to be any more on board than before. I suppose technically there will on average be more carriages, so by default more tables, but it’s not quite what I was led to believe.

    The seat heads are cheap and have already become stained.

    I do like this though, very clear.

    The seats are worse than the previous ones, the armrest has been shrunk in size and there’s a plug socket behind my knee on one side and a large air conditioning / heating block by my other knee. It seems a really clunky design, a beautiful train technically let down by some really cheap interior fitting quality.

    I will though credit Greater Anglia with the investment, as technically these seem to be decent units and so punctuality will improve. That is an appealing thought, as the delays were becoming too frequent across the Greater Anglia network.

    The train at the station. I will also say that I think disabled access has been hugely improved, which is a big advantage for many people. The current trains were quite difficult to manoeuvre around, so the accessibility improvements are notable.

    Technically, the train’s wi-fi isn’t functional and I can’t see any improvement in phone signal, which the meshed window is meant to deliver. I do though note that the tickets I buy have gone up 24% in price since last year and I’m unsure what extra benefit I’m getting from that. I’m a little disappointed in Jamie Burles if I’m being honest about a whole host of things about Greater Anglia, a company which seems in decline from my experience as a passenger.