South West Trains...

What the Southampton - Waterloo line needs is another operator to compete with SWT. No matter how far ahead you book, the ticket price is always the same (apart from the occasional offer in the summer hols).

 

But, if you want to go to Bournemouth, you can get some good prices because Virgin also operate on that route.

 

You can also get some really cheap deals on Southern Railways to Victoria (£10.00 return) but it takes over 2 hours each way.

What the Southampton - Waterloo line needs is another operator to compete with SWT. No matter how far ahead you book, the ticket price is always the same (apart from the occasional offer in the summer hols).

 

But, if you want to go to Bournemouth, you can get some good prices because Virgin also operate on that route.

 

You can also get some really cheap deals on Southern Railways to Victoria (£10.00 return) but it takes over 2 hours each way.

You can book in advance, just need to know how to do it. There is Megatrain for example.

Broken rail at Walton on Thames on the way back. Going to be a lot of delays based on this.

I spent a year commuting from Shawford to Waterloo at 6:49 every morning, getting the 5:39pm back. Problems were few and far between. It seems to me that the closer you get to London, the worse it gets. I eventually moved to London and used First Capital Connect to go from Wimbledon to Farringdon and it was atrocious.

 

South West Trains aren't nearly as bad as other companies, long story short. The worst thing about them is indeed the price, I had to pay £500 a month for the pleasure of commuting, money that amounted to the same as a month's rent to live a few miles from my office.

 

The worst thing, by a mile, are idiot passengers. I don't know when it became acceptable to eat on trains, but it needs to be stopped.

I f*cking hate them.

 

Once I was bullied by one of their jobsworth instructors into paying more when in fact my ticket was right, so i complained, and it turned out I was right. But instead of giving me my money back, they gave vouchers. It's just the principle of it, complete sh*te.

 

The other week I missed the last train back and had a day return. Got on the first train back in the morning at 6 something, pretty empty train. Hoped the instructor would let me off, he didn't, which I guess is fair enough although annoying. But instead of just making me pay the difference he made me pay a whole new ticket, and on top of that refused to let me use my railcard just to spite me further.

 

Then there's the fact they're an utter rip off. My dad pays an absolute extortionate amount for a season ticket to commute into London. Small journeys are a joke too, it cost my mate something like 25 quid the other day to get from Andover to Winchester.

And here I am *****ing about being late for work.

 

You've got every right to moan, you pay a shedload of money for a service that is poor, and if it keeps happening you could find yourself in the same boat!

 

Dellboypete, sorry to read that, never a good time for it to happen, 3 weeks before xmas is about the worst case scenario. Hope you find something soon.

Complete shambles of a company.

 

I used to get it everyday from Fleet to Basingstoke for college and work. They raised the prices again so it cost me best part of £7 to get a return to Basingstoke, a 20minute journey! Always late, and always overcrowded first thing in the morning. Never any information if they are delayed or cancelled.

 

However the quality of the trains are fairly decent, always clean and a fair amount of space.

What are other peoples opinions on them? I commute daily into Waterloo on the Surbiton mainline from Weybridge, and i cannot remember the last time I got on a train that arrived on time. Considering I have to pick up my daughter from nursery and it costs £25 every time I'm later I'm getting £100 of fines every month, all because SWT cannot provide a decent service, and one I pay £300 a month for.

 

I complained this morning via Twitter and they sent me a pamphlet of excuses, but no solutions for going forward.

 

What are our rights as customers of what is just a **** poor service?

 

We have no rights, there is no competition or alternative if you want to get a train. I got a train in to university every day in my first year (Fareham to St Denys/Southampton Central), getting there was fine 98% of the time but home was frequently delayed, if not cancelled. My ex-girlfriend lived in Havant, getting to and from there was usually horrendous (from Swaythling, moved in my second year), especially on a Sunday. Pretty sure I went on more buses than trains! As far as different operators go, Southern has the nicest trains, SWT are alright, FGW are horrible. But they are all as unreliable and expensive as each other.

 

If you want to see how a train service should run, go to Japan. Dirt cheap, always bang on time and spotless.

Broken rail at Walton on Thames on the way back. Going to be a lot of delays based on this.

 

My home town.

Your stop is Weybridge? Is the Hand and Spear by the station still there? Probably a twoty wine bar now. We learned to drink in there in the early 90s with special sixth form college IDs.

My home town.

Your stop is Weybridge? Is the Hand and Spear by the station still there? Probably a twoty wine bar now. We learned to drink in there in the early 90s with special sixth form college IDs.

 

It is still there - it's a Young pub so pretty much a wine bar since they decided to renovate all ther pubs to go gastro. Still good though, and do a decent quiz on a Tuesday.

You've got every right to moan, you pay a shedload of money for a service that is poor, and if it keeps happening you could find yourself in the same boat!

 

Dellboypete, sorry to read that, never a good time for it to happen, 3 weeks before xmas is about the worst case scenario. Hope you find something soon.

 

Thanks for the kind thoughts from everyone! Mucho appreciated

 

It's one of the risks of working for a small company backed by private equity investment funds, in a highly risky business (oil exploration in west africa). Basically, no success, no more money - which is fair enough as investors are looking for a relatively quick return, with relatively high multiples on investment. Anyone who has even a passing interest in the oil exploration industry will have noticed two things over the past six months (1) the oil price has cratered which means exploration becomes very unattractive, especially as it requires huge investments (the last well we drilled cost nearly us$200 million - we were only 10%) (2) there have been very few oil discoveries over the past year, anywhere in the world.

 

Combining (1) & (2) and the US unconventional oil production (which has essentially caused the oil price drop) which is now getting close to becoming uneconomic (lot of debate what is the base oil price threshold), will probably mean that in 12 to 18 months the oil price will start shooting up again, and exploration will become attractive again - so quids in for me if I can survive that long!

 

In the mean time, my SWT train arrived on time this morning and was lovely and warm!

What are other peoples opinions on them? I commute daily into Waterloo on the Surbiton mainline from Weybridge, and i cannot remember the last time I got on a train that arrived on time. Considering I have to pick up my daughter from nursery and it costs £25 every time I'm later I'm getting £100 of fines every month, all because SWT cannot provide a decent service, and one I pay £300 a month for.

 

I complained this morning via Twitter and they sent me a pamphlet of excuses, but no solutions for going forward.

 

What are our rights as customers of what is just a **** poor service?

 

You still get trains on South West Trains - they're always cancelled on Southern Railways - consider yourself lucky

You still get trains on South West Trains - they're always cancelled on Southern Railways - consider yourself lucky

 

Yep, very true. I can well remember dashing to get a train at Crystal Palace station only to have confirmation it had been cancelled a minute before it was due to arrive. The train had been terminated half an hour before but no one thought to update passengers.

 

Similar story with First Capital Connect. Waiting at Haydons Road, two minutes before its due in, cancelled. It then races past us and the boards are THEN updated.

 

By comparison, South West Trains although expensive, are brilliant...

We have no rights, there is no competition or alternative if you want to get a train. I got a train in to university every day in my first year (Fareham to St Denys/Southampton Central), getting there was fine 98% of the time but home was frequently delayed, if not cancelled. My ex-girlfriend lived in Havant, getting to and from there was usually horrendous (from Swaythling, moved in my second year), especially on a Sunday. Pretty sure I went on more buses than trains! As far as different operators go, Southern has the nicest trains, SWT are alright, FGW are horrible. But they are all as unreliable and expensive as each other.

 

If you want to see how a train service should run, go to Japan. Dirt cheap, always bang on time and spotless.

agree it should have stayed in the public sector has one company and had the same level of subsidy has private company s get now ,all that has happened is the massive subsidies go to private owners more than b transport ever got ever got,yet it takes longer to get to london than it then the 1970s.should have modernized the train service decades ago and reasonable prices which would have taken alot of traffic off the roads.its cheaper to fly than catch the train which shows what a joke its become.if the fast trains were updated you would have got to london in less than 30 minutes rather than this 3 rd world service we have now.

agree it should have stayed in the public sector has one company and had the same level of subsidy has private company s get now ,all that has happened is the massive subsidies go to private owners more than b transport ever got ever got,yet it takes longer to get to london than it then the 1970s.should have modernized the train service decades ago and reasonable prices which would have taken alot of traffic off the roads.its cheaper to fly than catch the train which shows what a joke its become.if the fast trains were updated you would have got to london in less than 30 minutes rather than this 3 rd world service we have now.

 

Good points about the cost of flying there. I frequently check road, rail and flights if going anywhere. As a single traveller, the train should always win. For London, it usually does. Air travel takes around the same amount of time, if not more. Cars are blooming useless. If you're not going to London, trains are usually a crap option.

 

The East Coast line has done far better in public hands than it ever managed under private ownership. It has been returned to profit, but rather than see it as an asset for the taxpayer, we'll just flog it off. Has no-one noticed that arguably our most celebrated public transportation system, the London Underground, has also remained in public hands throughout? They've done all the things that private firms have done in terms of streamlining, etc. An abundance of lines and other transport options means that a problem on one line doesn't usually hinder the traveller.

I use them to commute from Putney (zone 2) to Wloo. Used to be Wimbledon to Wloo. Delays aren't too much of a problem, as trains are every 3/4 mins. Only once in 18 months I've had to walk to east Putney tube station as the overground was screwed. The worst thing is over crowding. I get the 0714 from Putney, and you still struggle to get on. Any train past 0745 and you will have to wait 2 or 3 before you can get on. Pricing has gone up exponentially. My weekly ticket is £32, a few years back it was £25.

 

Its not just SWT trains though. Have similar issues on southern and greater Anglia!

Shambolic service: not many of the apologists go to SMS to and from Waterloo on weekends it seems. Years of engineering works later and a 1h 20m journey is still 2+hrs for considerable parts of the season. Come spring and if past experience is any guide, buses will be out in full force for what should be a routine bit of travel.

Shambolic service: not many of the apologists go to SMS to and from Waterloo on weekends it seems. Years of engineering works later and a 1h 20m journey is still 2+hrs for considerable parts of the season. Come spring and if past experience is any guide, buses will be out in full force for what should be a routine bit of travel.

I go from Waterloo to Southampton every home game, plus other occasions, found the service pretty good over the last few years. Why is it South West Trains fault if there are lengthy engineering works? And how else can effective engineering works take place on such a busy line of railway without disruptive works some weekends?

I go from Waterloo to Southampton every home game, plus other occasions, found the service pretty good over the last few years. Why is it South West Trains fault if there are lengthy engineering works? And how else can effective engineering works take place on such a busy line of railway without disruptive works some weekends?

 

 

You realise Network Rail pays a sum to SWT to compensate for maintenance work? In theory, that should flow down directly to the end consumer each time he or she is lumped with significantly lengthened journey times. In fact, that sum ends up forming part of SWT's profits. So while delays might be outside SWT's control (though note that SWT is more integrated with Network Rail than other operators), there are things that it can do but patently doesn't.

 

On a separate note, some routine maintenance work is unavoidable but I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes more frequent the longer underlying investment in the line is put off.

Edited 6 December, 2014 by shurlock

The railways are impossible to use at weekends because of the maintenance work.

agree it should have stayed in the public sector has one company and had the same level of subsidy has private company s get now ,all that has happened is the massive subsidies go to private owners more than b transport ever got ever got,yet it takes longer to get to london than it then the 1970s.should have modernized the train service decades ago and reasonable prices which would have taken alot of traffic off the roads.its cheaper to fly than catch the train which shows what a joke its become.if the fast trains were updated you would have got to london in less than 30 minutes rather than this 3 rd world service we have now.

 

It's cheaper to fly between swaythling and Havant? Who told you that?

The railways are impossible to use at weekends because of the maintenance work.

No they're not, they're an absolute piece of p**s to use, easy to use every single weekend.

It's cheaper to fly between swaythling and Havant? Who told you that?

It's hardly ever cheaper to fly than take the train, just a made up, lazy cliche. Edited 6 December, 2014 by Sour Mash

You realise Network Rail pays a sum to SWT to compensate for maintenance work? In theory, that should flow down directly to the end consumer each time he or she is lumped with significantly lengthened journey times. In fact, that sum ends up forming part of SWT's profits. So while delays might be outside SWT's control (though note that SWT is more integrated with Network Rail than other operators), there are things that it can do but patently doesn't.

 

On a separate note, some routine maintenance work is unavoidable but I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes more frequent the longer underlying investment in the line is put off.

Yes, I'm well aware of that thanks, but its largely to cover the provision of bus services and to cover lost revenue, not really much extra profit in it - given the choice the TOCs would opt for no disruptive work at all. And how exactly would a refund be administered back to the paying passenger? It should happen, but its not very practical.

 

Most of the major disruption to services isn't as a result of "some routine maintenance", it is large scale infrastructure investment on a heavily used bit of railway, if there was another way of doing it, believe me, they would.

I commute to Waterloo every day. I very rarely get a delay that impacts me (Over 10 mins) and they run constantly every half hour. I use them at weekends for London matches and never had any real problems. That said, weekends are used more for maintenance and engineering work, so I guess regular weekend travellers see that more.

 

Happy to join in with a whinge about costs, (And if I was commuting from Winchester, I would add the number of carriages) but Southampton to London and return, I think they do a very good job.

No they're not, they're an absolute piece of p**s to use, easy to use every single weekend.

 

They're difficult to use when they're closed.

Good points about the cost of flying there. I frequently check road, rail and flights if going anywhere. As a single traveller, the train should always win. For London, it usually does. Air travel takes around the same amount of time, if not more. Cars are blooming useless. If you're not going to London, trains are usually a crap option.

 

The East Coast line has done far better in public hands than it ever managed under private ownership. It has been returned to profit, but rather than see it as an asset for the taxpayer, we'll just flog it off. Has no-one noticed that arguably our most celebrated public transportation system, the London Underground, has also remained in public hands throughout? They've done all the things that private firms have done in terms of streamlining, etc. An abundance of lines and other transport options means that a problem on one line doesn't usually hinder the traveler.

no surprise to me and i believe the east coast line even refunded money back to the government but now virgin trains i believe won the franchise,i suppose richard branson will keep it all now.just can,t believe we put up with a train infrastructure system which so outdated and stuck in a time warp.

Now I live up in Durham I'm "lucky" enough to actually have some choice as to which train company I use (East Coast, Cross Country, TransPennine Express and Northern Rail depending on where I want to get to). You'd think there would be good competition on fares but in practice they're all much the same and seem pretty expensive for what you get. East Coast use ancient, filthy, unreliable trains whilst the others use modern, filthy, unreliable ones! I'm not certain where I stand on the EC reprivatisation but I'm utterly unconvinced that there will be a significant improvement. On the plus side most of the train and station staff are friendly and helpful but I think that's more of a Northern thing anyway...

 

My wife is German and can't believe how much we pay for such a shoddy "service" in this country. Take a Deutsche Bahn train and it will be clean, punctual and a fraction of the cost. What are they doing right that we can't?

 

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

My wife is German and can't believe how much we pay for such a shoddy "service" in this country. Take a Deutsche Bahn train and it will be clean, punctual and a fraction of the cost. What are they doing right that we can't?

 

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

Well, for a start, we are forced to live with a 200 year old railway. The Germans effectively built theirs from scratch after the second world war. It's not easy to update such an old system and run services on it at the same time.

I will be dead before we will ever get a modern train system and still see no signs of planning and investment being put in place apart from a cosmetic facelift to appease the easily pleased.

I will be dead before we will ever get a modern train system and still see no signs of planning and investment being put in place apart from a cosmetic facelift to appease the easily pleased.

what is your definition of a 'modern railway system'?

 

How long do you think it should take to implement something like the digital railway on one of the busiest rail networks in the world around Victorian infrastructure ?

Well, for a start, we are forced to live with a 200 year old railway. The Germans effectively built theirs from scratch after the second world war. It's not easy to update such an old system and run services on it at the same time.

 

Our loading gauge is too low so we can't run double-deckers.

What are they doing about sleeping drunks missing their stations? Happened so many times to me. Some sort of station klaxon should do it or a sprinkler system maybe.

What are they doing about sleeping drunks missing their stations? Happened so many times to me. Some sort of station klaxon should do it or a sprinkler system maybe.

 

Or not getting drunk?

 

After a staff lunch we once put a colleague on the train at Havant so that he could go home to Stoke for Christmas. Luckily he woke up just as the train pulled in to Waterloo. Unfortunately he was a few hours late, he had slept up to Waterloo, then down to Portsmouth, then back up to Waterloo again.

We did that once after a boozy Xmas lunch in P/field with a colleague - we put him on a train to Hilsea and somehow he managed to wake up in Wareham!

 

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

So this month SWT have managed to outdo themselves. Out of 17 journeys into work, they have been 5 minutes or more late 14 times. I started to put together a spreadsheet a week and a half ago to measure the issues ready for invoicing them for refund based on the season ticket price I pay.

 

Wish me luck.

So this month SWT have managed to outdo themselves. Out of 17 journeys into work, they have been 5 minutes or more late 14 times. I started to put together a spreadsheet a week and a half ago to measure the issues ready for invoicing them for refund based on the season ticket price I pay.

 

Wish me luck.

 

I would wish you luck, but with your fastidious approach I don't think you'll need it

So this month SWT have managed to outdo themselves. Out of 17 journeys into work, they have been 5 minutes or more late 14 times. I started to put together a spreadsheet a week and a half ago to measure the issues ready for invoicing them for refund based on the season ticket price I pay.

 

Wish me luck.

 

They've been atrocious this month, really really bad, even more so than normal. To top it all off, there are rail-replacement buses on Sundays to endure for travelling down for football, awesome.

 

I'm so glad I give them £7,330 a year for my season ticket and £1000 on parking.

 

Shocking! If only there was some competition ...

So this month SWT have managed to outdo themselves. Out of 17 journeys into work, they have been 5 minutes or more late 14 times. I started to put together a spreadsheet a week and a half ago to measure the issues ready for invoicing them for refund based on the season ticket price I pay.

 

Wish me luck.

 

I think we need to accept in this country that there are not timetables for public transport. There are merely guides, that give a rough estimation of when a train may arrive.

 

I know it is hideously clichéd, but when I was in Berlin last month I couldn't help notice how good the public transport was. If the timetable said a train was arriving at 12.31, it would arrive bang on time. We should throw a shedload of cash at some Germans who have a background in transport and get them to fix it all. It's that easy, right?

I'm so glad I give them £7,330 a year for my season ticket and £1000 on parking.

 

I assume you pay tax at 40%, in which case over £14,000pa of your gross earnings is going just to pay for your travel to work. Add in say £2,000pa gross of £2.50 coffees and the junk food commuting makes you buy. Then you have the 20 odd hours per week of unpaid travel time.

 

I did that sum for myself a few years ago and decided it wasnt worth it. Obviously everyone's situation is different but often the London premium doesnt actually provide a better quality of life.

Edited 28 January, 2015 by buctootim

So this month SWT have managed to outdo themselves. Out of 17 journeys into work, they have been 5 minutes or more late 14 times. I started to put together a spreadsheet a week and a half ago to measure the issues ready for invoicing them for refund based on the season ticket price I pay.

 

Wish me luck.

 

They have indeed been very poor this month. There seems to be much more incidents of train failures than usual, so perhaps points to an issue with their maintenance dept.

 

Time to re-nationalise I reckon....

They have indeed been very poor this month. There seems to be much more incidents of train failures than usual, so perhaps points to an issue with their maintenance dept.

 

Time to re-nationalise I reckon....

 

No excuse for SWT rolling stock. The 450s and 444s are only about 10 years old which is less than half way through expected operational life. Of course, the late running might be down to Network Rail and track and signalling issues rather than the trains.

Blimey, I'm in awe at some of your commutes. I don't think I'd last Southampton to Waterloo with an 8am start in the city for a week, even if you were paying me a million for it. Never mind 2 years. Respect.

No excuse for SWT rolling stock. The 450s and 444s are only about 10 years old which is less than half way through expected operational life. Of course, the late running might be down to Network Rail and track and signalling issues rather than the trains.

 

My observation was based on the announcements from guards etc this month. There seems to be more announcements about 'broken down trains' than 'track or signalling' issues in recent weeks.

So this month SWT have managed to outdo themselves. Out of 17 journeys into work, they have been 5 minutes or more late 14 times. I started to put together a spreadsheet a week and a half ago to measure the issues ready for invoicing them for refund based on the season ticket price I pay.

 

Wish me luck.

 

recenttraintimes.co.uk - no need to bother with your spreadsheet, its all there for you.

 

As others are said, just be glad Govia don't run the SWT franchise like they do with Thameslink/Southern. I've commuted into London on both SWT and Southern for extended periods now on SWT wins hands down over Southern for reliability, which probably says more about the Govia operator than Stagecoach's reliability

My observation was based on the announcements from guards etc this month. There seems to be more announcements about 'broken down trains' than 'track or signalling' issues in recent weeks.

 

You get announcements?? I think I seem to have the silent (lazy) guard every morning - no ticket check, no announcements, nothing.

This is what happens when "public" transport is run on behalf of, and for the benefit of, the shareholder.

So lets see, this thread is about commuter arrival/departure times, infrastructure investment and the cost of tickets

 

or it could be about traffic hold ups, road rebuilding and the cost of fuel or tickets ,

 

one commuter has access to compensation , the other has to sit and wait

 

trains / buses -coaches are practical if you have one place of work, however if you have traveling appointments then the car is necessary,

 

so sorry I don't get the whole I want compensating for delay culture, if you choose to work far away from home or travel to pursue a pastime then that's your free choice and it carries its own risk and that risk is the investment of YOUR TIME

So lets see, this thread is about commuter arrival/departure times, infrastructure investment and the cost of tickets

 

or it could be about traffic hold ups, road rebuilding and the cost of fuel or tickets ,

 

one commuter has access to compensation , the other has to sit and wait

 

trains / buses -coaches are practical if you have one place of work, however if you have traveling appointments then the car is necessary,

 

so sorry I don't get the whole I want compensating for delay culture, if you choose to work far away from home or travel to pursue a pastime then that's your free choice and it carries its own risk and that risk is the investment of YOUR TIME

 

The issue is paying for a service, and a basic quality of service that is not being met. That is what the compensation should be for.

This is what happens when "public" transport is run on behalf of, and for the benefit of, the shareholder.

Most of the delays listed are a result of errors by a publicly owned organisation.