The Ticket Collector

Strike update: Midland Mainline 1st November

Midland Mainline are still proceeding with the strike this Thursday. This meens that services again will be severly reduced and some stations will not recive any MML services.

The following trains are scheduled to be the only services to run.

Southbound

• 06:34 Derby to London St. Pancras, due 08:36
• 07:34 Derby to London St. Pancras, due 09:36
• 13:34 Derby to London St. Pancras, due 15:36
• 14:34 Derby to London St. Pancras, due 16:36
• 15:34 Derby to London St. Pancras, due 17:36

These services will call at Long Eaton, Loughborough, Leicester, Market Harborough, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton Airport Parkway and London St. Pancras.

Northbound

• 09:00 London St. Pancras to Derby, due 11:03
• 10:00 London St. Pancras to Derby, due 12:03
• 16:00 London St. Pancras to Derby, due 18:09
• 17:00 London St. Pancras to Derby, due 19:04
• 18:00 London St. Pancras to Derby, due 20:09

These services will call at Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford, Wellingborough, Kettering, Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, Long Eaton and Derby.

No Midland Mainline services will be running to / from Leeds, Wakefield Westgate, Sheffield, Chesterfield, Nottingham, Beeston and Luton on Thursday 1^st November.Further industrial action is planned for 8 November. Details of the service disruption will be issued when available.

Silverlink to Strike on Friday 26th October 2007

Due to Silverlink train drivers taking industrial action on Friday 26th October 2007 there will be a very limited train service running on Friday 26th October.

Silverlink amended timetable http://www.silverlink-trains.com/upload/Timetables/Metro%20Industrial%20Action%20Timetable.pdf

Silverlink County:
Tring, Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead, Apsley, Kings Langley, Watford Junction, Harrow & Wealdstone and London Euston
A limited half-hourly service will operate between Tring and London Euston, calling at the above named stations only.
The first service on this route will depart from Tring at 0726 until the last service of the day departs from London Euston at 1734

Northampton, Wolverton, Milton Keynes, Bletchley, Leighton Buzzard & Cheddington
There are no Silverlink train services operating to/from these stations all day on Friday 26th October.

Bletchley - Bedford & Watford Junction – St Albans Abbey lines
There are no Silverlink train services operating on these routes all day on Friday 26th October.

Silverlink Metro:
Watford Junction, Harrow & Wealdstone, Willesden Junction, Kensington Olympia and Clapham Junction
A limited Silverlink Metro service will operate between Watford Junction and Clapham Junction, approximately on an hourly basis. It is expected that there will be no Silverlink train services operating on this route during the middle part of the day, and services will end earlier then normal.
Gospel Oak to Barking
There will be an extremely limited Silverlink Metro service operating with gaps of over an hour between trains which will only run during the morning and afternoon peaks to cater for the commuter market.

Watford Junction to London Euston (local services)
There will be no Silverlink Metro services operating.

Richmond to Stratford
There will be no Silverlink Metro services operating on this route all day on Friday 26th October.

No ticket? False details given?

If you travel on the Railway without the correct ticket and dont have a vaild reason or excuse, several things could now happen to you.

If you are stopped at your final destination you could be Penalty Fared twice the single fare or £20 whichever the greater, for your complete journey.

It is an offence to provide false details, or to refuse to provide details. The maximum penalty after conviction is up to 51 weeks prison. Regulation of Railways Act 1889 as amended by Criminal Justice Act 2003

You have the right of appeal on all Penalty Fare notices, You can do this by writing to the address on the Penalty Fare notice within 21 days and stating your reasons for appeal.

You could be recommended for prosecution, a statement may be taken by the Inspector and you will be contacted by the Fraud department of the Railway Company. Maximum fine is £1,000 plus costs. Regulation of Railways Act 1889. However if you swear or are abusive to the Inspector this could increase your fine. Public Order Act

Again it is an offence to provide false details, or to refuse to provide details. The maximum penalty after conviction is up to 51 weeks prison. Regulation of Railways Act 1889 as amended by Criminal Justice Act 2003.

It is your responsiblity to purchase a ticket for the whole of your journey before you get on the train. If there is a long queue at the ticket office/ticket machine, this does not allow you to get on the train without a ticket, it is still your responsibility to allow yourself sufficient time to buy a ticket before travelling.

At stations where there is only one self-service ticket machine there is a further automatic machine called a Permit to Travel machine. This is normally located near the station entrance / exit or beside other self-service machines. You should insert the maximum number of coins you have with you into the Permit to Travel machine, up to the value of your journey. Press the button and you will be issued with a Permit to Travel. Failure to insert the maximum number of coins may lead to you being issued with a Penalty Fare or recommended for prosecution for Permit Abuse.

If their is a genuine reason for you traveling without a ticket (such as ticket machine broken or ticket office closed) then you may not be recommended for prosecution or charged a Penalty Fare, but if there is another method of payment available then you may be issued with a Penalty Fare or recommended for prosecution.

The above information is intended as a guide only and should not be regarded as a complete or authoritative statement of the law or regulations. TheTicketCollector.co.uk cannot give advice on any Penalty Fares issued and cannot help in any Penalty Fare Appeals.

Here comes the rain again - Updated Monday 23rd

People are advised to check the relevent railway companies websites before traveling, if they are traveling in the next few days.

Currently problems are happening on Central Trains, Chiltern Railways, First Great Western and Virgin Trains

More information can be found at the very slow loading National Rail website.

Central Trains:
The Birmingham New Street to Cardiff Central route is now open and a normal service is expected to operate.
The route between Birmingham New Street and Hereford will operate only between Birmingham and stations to Great Malvern due to flooding at Ledbury. Replacement road transport is not available due to poor road conditions.

Chiltern Railways:
Damage caused by flooding will affect services between Amersham and Aylesbury. It is expected that a near normal service will operate on other lines.

First Great Western:
The route between Gloucester, Worcester and Hereford will remain closed. A limited service is expected to run between Gloucester and Worcester.
Due to rising water levels in the River Thames in the Oxford area, it is expected that the route between Didcot and Oxford will close in the early hours of Monday morning and not reopen until at least 12:00. Replacement road transport will not be available.

A near normal service is expected on all other routes, subject to short notice alterations and cancellations.

Virgin Trains:
The route between Birmingham New Street and Gloucester has now reopened.
The route between Reading and Oxford has been closed and is not expected to reopen before Thursday 26 July.

Silverlink - three days of strike action. SUSPENDED

A new deal has been offered and we are awaiting confirmation of the suspension.
Guards, Retail and Revenue staff have voted seven to one to take action against Silverlink and parent company National Express after an insulting pay increase of 3.6 percent was offered.

Strike dates are currently set as July 30th, August 13 and 27th. August 27th is also the second day of the Notting Hill Carnival.

MORE THAN 350 members of Britain’s biggest rail union at Silverlink are to take three days of strike action in a dispute over the company’s below-inflation pay offer.
Guards and retail and revenue staff voted by more than seven to one to take action after the company tabled a 3.6 per cent pay offer - way below the industry norm and considerably less than offers made to other grades at the company.
Three separate 24-hour strikes have been set for shifts that commence between 00:01 and 23:59 on July 30 and August 13 and 27.
“Our members have made it clear to Silverlink with a massive vote for strike action that they are not prepared to accept what amounts to a pay cut,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.
“This isn’t just the worst pay offer in the industry this year, it is also way below the offers they have made to other members of their own workforce.
“If Silverlink’s parent, National Express, can afford to pay out £50 million in dividends to its shareholders on the back of £104 million in profits, they can afford to offer their workforce a reasonable pay deal.
“If Silverlink want to avoid strike action they should acknowledge our members’ anger, get real and sit down with us to negotiate a sensible pay deal,” Bob Crow said.

No Smoking on ANY UK station.

Smoking Ban finally arrives.

So its finally arrived, the national smoking ban. All of the railway companies have decided to make all of their premises and property completely smoke free areas.

If you are caught lighting up in a enclosed public area or on a railway station you will face a fine of £50. Railway stations are covered by existing bye-laws and belive it or not were smoke free before the new national smoking ban even came into force.

Also dont drop your fag ends on the floor as this will result in a fine of £80. There are lots of Enforcement officers just waiting around the corner to fine you.

FCC is the worst Operator - National Passenger Survey

The National Passenger Survey was released yesterday and it comes up with some bad reading for many of the Train Companies mentioned.

The latest survey compared the passengers satisfaction levels for individual train operating companies with the survey carried out in Spring 2006. Since 2006 four Train Companies satisfaction levels have declined significantly (First Great Western, First ScotRail, First Capital Connect and Northern Rail), and three have significantly improved (Midland Mainline, Arriva Trains Wales and Heathrow Express). Fourteen have had no statistically significant changes in their overall satisfaction results compared with Spring 2006.

• The lowest ratings for overall satisfaction were given to First Capital Connect [First Group] (71%), First Great Western [First Group] (72%), One [National Express Group] (72%), Southeastern (74%), and Silverlink [National Express Group](76%).

• The highest ratings for overall satisfaction were achieved by Heathrow Express (94%), Gatwick Express [National Express Group] (92%), Chiltern Railways (90%), Midland Mainline [National Express Group] (90%), c2c [National Express Group] (89%), and TransPennine Express [First Group] (89%).