Trains to wembley

[S41NTS]

Did anyone miss the match yesterday due to the travel problems on the way up?

 

We were told that the 7:23 from Winchester was too full and therefore not letting anyone on and had to get a taxi to basingstoke and a train from there. I know a few people who binned the train altogether and got a taxi straight to Wembley.

 

We were warned via the club website that there were a limited number of trains but I think it could have been managed by SWT in a much better way by doing something like limiting tickets to pre-sales so that a fixed number could be purchased. What really annoyed me is that they were still selling tickets to people arriving at the station after they had made the announcement about the full train. At the very least this should have been stopped.

 

Regardless of the travel problems we got there in plenty of time ( we were queuing outside the globe prior to it opening at 10am ) and had a brilliant day. Finished off nicely by a chance meeting and a few pics with a certain Mr. Le God outside the ground.

[S-Clarke]

Was wondering this myself, couldn't get on the 6:55 from central as it was simply too packed.

 

Waited for the 7:55, which was equally as packed - standing up all the way.

 

Did see us go past eastleigh/Winchester etc with lots of saints fans just stood outside looking in. I hope they all managed to get there in the end.

[chrisobee]

TBH when I lived in Southampton the train was invariably the last resort, remember going to Brighton in the late 70's on a football "special". No lights, no ( working ) loos, a complete wreck of a train. Coach trips were always my preferred mode of travel though car/minibus was fine too. Cannot recall ever turning up late for a game.

[Smirking_Saint]

The 7.55 was too packed, as was the 8.37, but finally managed to get on a more or less empty train from eastleigh at 9.15. Luckily by that time the panic had started to spread and every one was busy finding alternative transport. I was sat playing cards in the carriage by 9.20 and at london at 11 o clock

[Andy_Porter]

SWT sold 16,000 train tickets to London for the Sunday!!!

 

Luckily I got on the 6.55 early doors and got a decent spot, saw a few people fainting and being sick because it had gotten a bit too hot for them which was a bit worrying, especially since the train wasn't stopping anywhere and going straight through.

 

Surely SWT should have put on extra trains when they realised they had sold 16,000 tickets?

[Smirking_Saint]

They had put on all the extra trains they possibly could.

 

Though i think it is a bit silly selling that amount of train tickets if they knew they could not support everyone ????

[Johnny Bognor]

When I got on at Arundel @ 09:14, there must have been 50+ saints fans on the platform.

 

50+ people in Arundel on a Sunday morning is probably unusual.

 

Luckily I managed to get a seat.

[SaintNick89]

We were on the 7:48 from Totton and we had people Standing in the toilets just to get on. As people then couldnt move down the train as was packed, people were ****ing in the Waste Bins in the carriages. We got to Waterloo on time at 10:06 but i felt so ill after getting there.

 

We were stood in the flexible conection between too carriages which was like being on a small boat in a storm for the 2 hours 20 to waterloo.

 

Would not like to imagine how bad it would have been if the train had needed to stop in an emergency.

 

SWT said send tickets back to request a refund if you feel their service wasnt as good as you would expect them to provide. They do however keep saying that it was Network Rail who wouldnt allow them to put on more trains. Apparently the engineering works up near woking were planned over 2 years ago so Network rail were not prepared to postpone.

[S41NTS]

We were on the 7:48 from Totton and we had people Standing in the toilets just to get on. As people then couldnt move down the train as was packed, people were ****ing in the Waste Bins in the carriages. We got to Waterloo on time at 10:06 but i felt so ill after getting there.

 

We were stood in the flexible conection between too carriages which was like being on a small boat in a storm for the 2 hours 20 to waterloo.

 

Would not like to imagine how bad it would have been if the train had needed to stop in an emergency.

 

SWT said send tickets back to request a refund if you feel their service wasnt as good as you would expect them to provide. They do however keep saying that it was Network Rail who wouldnt allow them to put on more trains. Apparently the engineering works up near woking were planned over 2 years ago so Network rail were not prepared to postpone.

 

Regardless of the lack of extra trains they should have made some effort to manage the situation rather than selling as many tickets as they could and relying on customers to ask for a refund. This is very greedy behaviour and I will definitely be asking for a refund for the train and the taxi.

[Andy_Porter]

Regardless of the lack of extra trains they should have made some effort to manage the situation rather than selling as many tickets as they could and relying on customers to ask for a refund. This is very greedy behaviour and I will definitely be asking for a refund for the train and the taxi.

 

I might do the same, bought £206 worth of tickets so it has got to be worth a go. AStill got the recipt so gonna send them an email.

[SaintNick89]

Regardless of the lack of extra trains they should have made some effort to manage the situation rather than selling as many tickets as they could and relying on customers to ask for a refund. This is very greedy behaviour and I will definitely be asking for a refund for the train and the taxi.

 

 

I totaly agree and that is what i made VERY clear to them. Should have stopped selling tickets a week ago or something after they had sold a certain amount, not just selling unlimited numbers

 

I think they should have also offered people from Basingstoke, Woking etc a bus replacement service as they had no chance of getting on trains, even though they had already bought tickets. SWT knew that the trains were full before Southampton Central and so no chance of anyone getting on after central.

[Jesus Reigned]

All week I was getting more and more concerned about not being able to get on the 6.55 from Central.

 

Got there at about 6.25 and there were already loads of people there; my group moved to the front of the platform where the crowds weren't so deep, bit of a bundle when the train turned up but we all got on and got seats.

 

By the time the train set off there were people stood in all the aisles and never any chance of anyone else getting on en route to Wembley.

 

I had mates who were wanting to get on at Parkway who got on the 7.55 from Central instead.

 

I knew it would be extremely busy so can't understand why people would have gone to Parkway or Eastleigh if they could have got to Central.

[The Worm]

was in the que at Central at 7:30am, got on the 8:20 one, and got a seat

[StuRomseySaint]

Did anyone miss the match yesterday due to the travel problems on the way up?

 

We were told that the 7:23 from Winchester was too full and therefore not letting anyone on and had to get a taxi to basingstoke and a train from there. I know a few people who binned the train altogether and got a taxi straight to Wembley.

 

We were warned via the club website that there were a limited number of trains but I think it could have been managed by SWT in a much better way by doing something like limiting tickets to pre-sales so that a fixed number could be purchased. What really annoyed me is that they were still selling tickets to people arriving at the station after they had made the announcement about the full train. At the very least this should have been stopped.

 

Regardless of the travel problems we got there in plenty of time ( we were queuing outside the globe prior to it opening at 10am ) and had a brilliant day. Finished off nicely by a chance meeting and a few pics with a certain Mr. Le God outside the ground.

 

With respect mate, it is nobodies fault but your own that you couldnt get on the train.

 

It doesnt take the brains of an archbishop to realise that all trains would be full on leaving Southampton Central.

 

I can't believe how naive some people are when it comes to things like this. Anyone who didn't get on a train only has themselves to blame.

[krissyboy31]

First GW Trains from Reading to Paddington were full(ish) but not packed. Maybe the answer would have been to get on the North bound Virgin or Cross-Country trains and change there.

[S41NTS]

With respect mate, it is nobodies fault but your own that you couldnt get on the train.

 

It doesnt take the brains of an archbishop to realise that all trains would be full on leaving Southampton Central.

 

I can't believe how naive some people are when it comes to things like this. Anyone who didn't get on a train only has themselves to blame.

 

We were sold tickets for the train leaving at 7:23 from Winchester. The tickets were specifically for this train. It was always a concern that we might not get on it but I'm putting the blame on SWT for poorly managing the situation. We were advised at the station by SWT staff that the services had been dramatically oversold.

 

How would you feel if you bought tickets for a saints match only to find on arrival at St Marys that it had been oversold and there was no room so you would have to come to the next one... which might also be full???

 

We always had the taxi to Basingstoke in mind as a backup plan, which even when combined with the train ticket was cheaper than getting a coach.

[Saint_clark]

Travelling up from Weymouth the train was packed when we reached Totton. When we got to central they could barely fit anymore in, with queues right out the station.

I wonder how people who had to go in the opposite direction felt about having to queue....

[Pat from Poole]

It was one of the few times that being a Saints fan living in Poole has its benefits. We were dead lucky that the 6.50 train from Poole started in, er, Poole. It was standing room only by the time it got to Totton. I think if it happened again and I lived in Southampton I would have a night out in Poole the night before, stay in one of our nice hotels, and then get the train from Poole in the morning.

 

Just so long as not too many of you do it, cheers........

[Saint_clark]

It was one of the few times that being a Saints fan living in Poole has its benefits. We were dead lucky that the 6.50 train from Poole started in, er, Poole. It was standing room only by the time it got to Totton. I think if it happened again and I lived in Southampton I would have a night out in Poole the night before, stay in one of our nice hotels, and then get the train from Poole in the morning.

 

Just so long as not too many of you do it, cheers........

 

Or a night out in Bournemouth? Makes more sense.

[S41NTS]

Or a night out in Bournemouth? Makes more sense.

 

Surely if you're gonna spend the night out somewhere and get a hotel then you may as well get on up to london town and enjoy a bit of a lie in..!

[Saint_clark]

Surely if you're gonna spend the night out somewhere and get a hotel then you may as well get on up to london town and enjoy a bit of a lie in..!

 

More expensive

[lambertsrightleg]

got the 0727 from Salisbury. Got seated easily enough but some people were standing, not over crowded though. Certainly beat going to Southampton Central which was the orginal plan

[oldskoolsi]

i got the 7.29 from Liss on the Portsmouth line. Absolutely no probs. Saw a couple of Saints fans. I don't know if more people got the later trains.

[equalizer]

was in the que at Central at 7:30am, got on the 8:20 one, and got a seat

 

I was in that queue too and got that train, got told by the cops that there was plenty of seats at the back so ended up in first class!

[warsash saint]

TBF sounds like a normal Monday morning to Waterloo

[RonManager]

I got the 0730 from Yeovil Junction. When we got to Basingstoke our train terminated and we were told to go to platform 1. Our own personal empty train was then brought from the sidings to take us to Waterloo.

 

How civilised.

[spyinthesky]

There was a lady on Radio Solent this morning who said her family caught the 8pm train back from Waterloo and didnt reach Wareham until gone 1 PM

 

Wonder what unsuspecting 'civilians' who fancied a day out in London made of the situation at Central.

 

Wasnt there a cruise ship in port on Sunday? Wonder if many of the passengers were hoping to get home via train in the morning?

[Kingsland Red]

Had friends who had to get a taxi from Winchester as they watched trains sail past.Five persons at £26 each (on top of the unused train fare)

We drove to Reading and got the 10.01 to Paddington, four stops and one change from Wembley Park and guarenteed seats all the way.

[latter day saint]

got the 6.55 from central & was packed in like sardines.was stood by the connecting tunnel bit with all & sundry squeezing by going to the bog.was worth a bit of discomfort for the buzz when we all bundled off the train at waterloo & everyone started singing "Red Army!"

[oldsarum]

got the 0727 from Salisbury. Got seated easily enough but some people were standing, not over crowded though. Certainly beat going to Southampton Central which was the orginal plan

 

Was standing room only from Andover and they didn't let any extra passengers on train at Basingstoke even though there were loads on the station.

 

Glad I had a seat from Salisbury as the airconditioning wasn't working and it was like a Sauna in my carraige.

 

Had littel trouble on 18.42 train going home however

[westmidlandsaint]

9.17am from leamington spa (calling at banbury & bicester north) was busier than expected and had to stand the whole way didn't mind too much and had a great chat on the way back at 17.45 with 6 people heading back to leamington (3 of them back to dublin this morning)

[Micky]

We were due to get on the 7.55 from Southampton Central but on Saturday night came up with a cunning plan. Caught a train from Netley to Fratton..!!! Strangely there weren't a lot of supporters queuing for the Fratton to Waterloo service - plently of seats for the entire journey, and time to gloat at the locals in Fratton too...!

[Scudamore]

Should have kept your nerve really...i got on the 8.15 at Totton and bagged a seat. They let people on at each station after that. Although i hear the BTP were restricting numbers onto the platform at Southampton Central. Plain sailing in and no problems on the tube. Allowed us to have a couple of beers before the game and still be in our seats half an hour before kick off to soak up the atmosphere.

[SaintNick89]

Should have kept your nerve really...i got on the 8.15 at Totton and bagged a seat. They let people on at each station after that. Although i hear the BTP were restricting numbers onto the platform at Southampton Central. Plain sailing in and no problems on the tube. Allowed us to have a couple of beers before the game and still be in our seats half an hour before kick off to soak up the atmosphere.

 

Seems we should have waited for the 8:15 then. The 7:48 was shocking

[prideofthesouth]

I am now thankful that I arrived at Central station at 5.45 now, had a lovely table right near the toilets perfect!

[JB]

Got the 08.18 from Totton, 6 seats together. Got off at Woking for a wee and got another (much less busy) train into Waterloo from there.

 

I think it would have been an idea for SWT to let people know there are trains every 15 minutes from Woking to Waterloo by way of an announcement.

[RedAndWhite91]

Got to Southampton Central at 5.30am, cracked open a can of Strongbow and all was well. We were the second group there. But then loads of people turned up, and we got on the 6.55 train and had one seat to rotate between 6 of us. It was packed, you couldn't move. Quite ridiculous!

[Tim Southampton Rover]

I was in that queue too and got that train, got told by the cops that there was plenty of seats at the back so ended up in first class!

 

We were in first class too on that train and had enough room to fit a couple of elephants in there despite the rest of the train being packed like sardines. Obviously we did the most sensible thing in that situation and play volley ball with some balloons across the first class carriage

[This Charming Man]

The tube at 9.45am from my mates in Hammersmith to Finchley Rd was empty. HTH.

[Pat from Poole]

There was a lady on Radio Solent this morning who said her family caught the 8pm train back from Waterloo and didnt reach Wareham until gone 1 PM

 

Wonder what unsuspecting 'civilians' who fancied a day out in London made of the situation at Central.

 

Wasnt there a cruise ship in port on Sunday? Wonder if many of the passengers were hoping to get home via train in the morning?

 

 

I think this was due to a problem at Bournemouth when the train divided in two. They couldn't get a driver to carry on from Bournemouth to West Dorset apparently.

 

I was on the 20.35 from Waterloo, which got in to Poole three and a half hours later. Painful.

[redandwhitebill]

Trains were a nightmare. We had decided to drive and took up 2 friends who couldnt get on their trains. Getting to and away from wembley much smoother than anticipated

[saint_neilo]

Was at Southampton Central at 6.10am got on to an already packed platform meeting up with some mates then had a bundle on to the train where we managed to get 8 seats between 12 of us but to be honest it was one of the best parts of the day drinking cjeering and generally having a great crack with all saints fans the only hard bit was trying to get to the loo for a leak took me about 10 mins to walk through 1 carrage to get to the loo and lets just say a lot of people weren't to chuffed with me trying to get through.

[Torres]

I got the 09.11 from North Sheen and got a seat easily.

[benjii]

Train up on Saturday for £1. Train back on Monday for £1.

 

Result.

[Bucks Saint]

First GW Trains from Reading to Paddington were full(ish) but not packed. Maybe the answer would have been to get on the North bound Virgin or Cross-Country trains and change there.

 

I got a train from Maidenhead with plenty of space at the leisurely time of 9.30. The two of us met two other Saints in the ticket office - a pleasant surprise. Got to the platform and found 5 Carlisle fans there!

 

Stopped at the Marlylebone Sports Bar and then got the overland train at 12.15. Despite the time this also had space and I was at the ground for 12.30. Afterwards, I took my time to enjoy the celebrations and did not rush back - but again found the train back to Marylebone was waiting there, with decent space left, so we headed off for more beers in a great mood. Well done Chiltern Trains - consistently a decent train Co. Obviously we were helped by not living in Southampton for once, but still well organised travel

Edited 30 March, 2010 by Bucks Saint

[Gordon Mockles]

Did anyone miss the match yesterday due to the travel problems on the way up?

 

We were told that the 7:23 from Winchester was too full and therefore not letting anyone on and had to get a taxi to basingstoke and a train from there. I know a few people who binned the train altogether and got a taxi straight to Wembley.

 

We were warned via the club website that there were a limited number of trains but I think it could have been managed by SWT in a much better way by doing something like limiting tickets to pre-sales so that a fixed number could be purchased. What really annoyed me is that they were still selling tickets to people arriving at the station after they had made the announcement about the full train. At the very least this should have been stopped.

 

Regardless of the travel problems we got there in plenty of time ( we were queuing outside the globe prior to it opening at 10am ) and had a brilliant day. Finished off nicely by a chance meeting and a few pics with a certain Mr. Le God outside the ground.

 

Don't get me started! The trains almost ruined my day to be honest. The day would have been absolutely amazing if we had managed to get there on time (I LOVE the build up) but it couldn't be helped of foreseen.

 

Only the next day and after the match did I begin to de-stress after such an arduous journey. To be fair, it was the slow Teddington train that took over an hour, kept breaking down and totally messed us up. I'd not have gone this way had I known but it's easy to say that in hindsight and we parked for free.

 

Because of the overloaded trains, we had planned to drive to Richmond and train from there. However, we'd just missed the last parking spaces when we arrived. So, off to Teddington, parking, waiting for the train and then the most frustrating journey ever. The doors kept jamming, waiting 10-15mins at some of the (what seemed like 30) many stops to Waterloo. By the time were at Waterloo it was almost 1 o'clock.

 

We then decided to go to Marylebone as it's a 9min transfer to Wembley stadium but (typical my luck) instead of staying on the Bakerloo Line (transferred from Jubilee Line last stop) to Wembley Park (which would have been better in hindsight). We must have just missed the Chiltern train from Marylebone as the next one was 1:35. We then sprinted back down along he underground and got on the tube to Wembley Central, not Park which was my mistake (despite having worked there!). Central is further and we had to sprint through Wembley, knackered and heard a loud roar (from Lambert's goal) as we ran around the now quiet perimeter of the stadium. Adding to the torment. We eventually got to our seats about half an hour in. If it wasn't for my mistake too, we may have been 10mins late but a disaster nevertheless.

 

Sunday bloody trains! a couple of Saints fans going to the game were also on that Teddington train. Aint doing that again! Think I may try Hillingdon next time (there will be a next time! ;o) as someone suggested.

 

Easy to say in hindsight but I was soooo upset to be late, especially after watching all the games, both legs to MK, etc. this season. Missed meeting everyone but, by some freak chance, bumped into all the main groups of friends in the concourse and outside. What are the chances of seeing 30 odd amongst 44,000?! Popped in the Green Man briefly before starting our long journey home. Great result and a real feel good factor around the city. Just a shame a 4.5hr journey resulted in what seemed like the quickest hour of football, then it was over. Then everyone was so p*ssed and disorganised it seemed too taxing to organise groups to meet in a pub, all chosing different venues and disappearing so we just left them and got our first, much needed, pint of the day! Phew!!! :drinkers:

[The9]

Did anyone miss the match yesterday due to the travel problems on the way up?

 

We were told that the 7:23 from Winchester was too full and therefore not letting anyone on and had to get a taxi to basingstoke and a train from there. I know a few people who binned the train altogether and got a taxi straight to Wembley.

 

We were warned via the club website that there were a limited number of trains but I think it could have been managed by SWT in a much better way by doing something like limiting tickets to pre-sales so that a fixed number could be purchased. What really annoyed me is that they were still selling tickets to people arriving at the station after they had made the announcement about the full train. At the very least this should have been stopped..

 

Given all the warnings beforehand I'm shocked anyone risked getting the train on the day unless they lived in Poole, and I'm almost as surprised that anyone thinks SWT wouldn't try and maximise sales at the expense of all decency - given that they will have had HUNDREDS of phone calls from people in the weeks leading up to the day about tickets/train times/engineering works etc.

 

I know of people who were told a week before that there were no Engineering Works planned (3 weeks after they were put on the SWT and Network Rail site, and after the OS had listings of them), and I asked about the groupsaver train tickets the day after we got to the final, to be told they were on sale until a week before (standard but stupid).

 

I was also reliably informed (from my bed in a Watford Hotel, 3 stops from Wembley) that the 06:23 train was standing room only from Totton, and the 6:55 was full by 06:30, but that was frankly bloody obvious.

[Gordon Mockles]

Given all the warnings beforehand I'm shocked anyone risked getting the train on the day unless they lived in Poole, and I'm almost as surprised that anyone thinks SWT wouldn't try and maximise sales at the expense of all decency - given that they will have had HUNDREDS of phone calls from people in the weeks leading up to the day about tickets/train times/engineering works etc.

 

I know of people who were told a week before that there were no Engineering Works planned (3 weeks after they were put on the SWT and Network Rail site, and after the OS had listings of them), and I asked about the groupsaver train tickets the day after we got to the final, to be told they were on sale until a week before (standard but stupid).

 

I was also reliably informed (from my bed in a Watford Hotel, 3 stops from Wembley) that the 06:23 train was standing room only from Totton, and the 6:55 was full by 06:30, but that was frankly bloody obvious.

 

We avoided the main trains from So'ton by driving to the outskirts for that very reason and look where it got us...bloody breaking down, round about rubbish Sunday service! Couldn't plan on break downs but just my luck!

[The9]

We avoided the main trains from So'ton by driving to the outskirts for that very reason and look where it got us...bloody breaking down, round about rubbish Sunday service! Couldn't plan on break downs but just my luck!

 

Yeah, you had some bad luck, anyone moaning that it was chaos getting a train in Southampton though... well DUH. Best bet for anyone in Southampton on Sunday morning was to get a train one or two stops west and get on there - admittedly this may not have been possible for the earliest trains.

 

Same story at Wembley, get on the quietest platform and get off after one stop in the wrong direction (or just use Wembley Central, where we had a platform to ourselves by 7pm).

[jam]

Yeah, you had some bad luck, anyone moaning that it was chaos getting a train in Southampton though... well DUH. Best bet for anyone in Southampton on Sunday morning was to get a train one or two stops west and get on there - admittedly this may not have been possible for the earliest trains.

 

Same story at Wembley, get on the quietest platform and get off after one stop in the wrong direction (or just use Wembley Central, where we had a platform to ourselves by 7pm).

 

We got the Met line from Wembley straight after the game without any trouble. Although we did have to wait for a while in order for the mongs to get to grips with instruction to use the relatively empty front carriage.