The Ticket Collector

So just what is “on time” when it comes to the Railway?

The term ‘on time’ normally means that a train arrives at the correct time publicised in a timetable - correct?
No, not on the railway its not.

When it comes to punctually - the figures which the Railway Companies print huge A1 posters and show off and say “hey look at us we have 98% punctually, blah blah” and which also determines your season ticket discount . You’d expect that when they say they have 98% that 98% of trains arrived at the destination at the timetabled time.
Wrong! The trains only have to arrive within 5 minutes of the timetabled time.

So the train arrives 5 minutes late and it is still on time! Even better is that long distance ‘intercity’ services have an extra 5 minutes allowance. So now the train can be up to 10 minutes and be still on time!

Now what the Railway Companies are getting wise to is that they can add extra minutes into the timetable here and there as ‘recovery time’. So if they are regularly failing the 10 minutes time the can always add extra minutes into the working timetable to compensate. Now what the Train Company would say is this ‘recovery time’ is to compensate for engineering works and speed restrictions.

When it comes to compensation for the trains running late, you have to be delayed by 30 minutes before you even get to start to get compensation. But what with the extra minutes being added here and there just how late is it in real terms?

New Timetable on FCC

A new timetable offically came into effect today, but not a lot of it was implemented due to the fact there was engineering works happening on most of the GN route.

Tommorrow (Monday) will be interesting as a lot of trains will be leaving slightly eariler and most people will still arrive at the stations at the same time as usual and then start moaning at the staff because they didnt bother to check that the trains might have changed!
GNER also have a a new timetable out, this has the extra London to Leeds services implemented in it.
The full timetable for FCC can be found online here.

Engineering work between Huntingdon and Peterborough for the next few weekends.

There will be Engineering work between Huntingdon and Peterborough:
From 17:00 on Saturday 18th November until 09:00 on Sunday 19th November,
from 17:00 on Saturday 25th November until 09:00 on Sunday 26th November, and
from 17:00 on Saturday 2nd December until 09:00 on Sunday 3rd December.

Services towards London Kings Cross from Peterborough.
GNER services to London Kings Cross will terminate at Peterbourgh for a replacement coach to Huntingdon. First Capital Connect services will then run to London Kings Cross ‘as booked’.

First Capital Connect services will start and terminate at Huntingdon

Hull Trains will be diverted via Ely and Cambridge.

Services from London Kings Cross towards Peterborough.
A reduced number of GNER services from 18.00 will operate direct from London Kings Cross. First Capital Connect services will start and terminate at Huntingdon for a replacement coach to Peterborough.

Hull Trains will be diverted via Cambridge and Ely.

Links to amended Timetables:

• http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/uploads/engineering/Sat%2018Nov%20Hun.pdf - Saturday
• http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/uploads/engineering/Sun%2019Nov%20Hun.pdf - Sunday

Kings Cross - Major Emergency

Kings Cross was today evacuated due to a major fire close to the station. This has resulted in NO TRAINS AT ALL from or calling at Kings Cross Mainline Station. This has also resulted in the Kings Cross signaling Centre being Evacuated and there is currently no estimate for a return to ‘normal’ service.

There are a lot of FCC employees which are misplaced around the network and of course there are trains in the wrong places as well.

I suggest you take the day off tomorrow or call in sick or somthing as theres going to be more people trying to cram themselves on the already crowded trains. Crowd control is going to be hetic and I guarentee you wont get a seat after Cambridge.
GNER’s website says:
“A line side fire near Kings Cross has closed the main signalling centre, which controls the route between London and just north of Stevenage. The route is likely to remain closed until Tuesday afternoon at the earliest. In the meantime GNER services will start and terminate at Peterborough. Passengers should NOT travel today or tomorrow morning unless their journey is essential. Tickets dated for today/tomorrow will be valid for two days from the resumption of normal services. Virgin West Coast will convey passengers for Glasgow via London Euston.”

GNER Emergency Timetable

FCC website states:
“Due to a major fire close to King’s Cross Station, all First Capital Connect’s Great Northern route services have been cancelled. Please travel home as soon as you can and be prepared for delay. We strongly advise that customers do not travel at this time. First Capital Connect’s services between Bedford and Brighton on the Thameslink route are running as normal, however customers may experience overcrowding and therefore we are asking customers to travel early. First Capital Connect is working hard with the fire service and will update customers as soon as we can. First Capital Connect tickets are accepted by all other public transport providers. Evening Peak ticket restrictions have been lifted. There is likely to be disruption tomorrow morning, so please check our website and listen to your local radio station. We will do everything we can to keep customers up to date and get the services back to normal as soon as possible.First Capital Connect Great Northern Services
On the hour from Peterborough to Stevenage, and on the hour return, operated by 8 car trains, calling at all stations.
On the half hour Sandy to Peterborough and on the half hour return, operated by 4 car trains, calling at all stations.
The Cambridge to King’s Lynn services will be operating as per our published timetable between these two locations, calling at the normal stations.
For alternative travel information, please click on the PDF below.
Alternative travel information.pdf

New Timetable tomorrow

Yep it’s that time of the year when your local Train Company slightly alters the timetable so you miss your train by a couple of minutes. Don’t take it out on the staff, remember these new timetables have been out for a while now!

Here is a link to the current timetables and the ones which start tomorrow, make sure you read them beacuse there are a few small changes to some services.
http://www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk/pages/timetables/print-download/default.aspx