How To Handle Complaints
I reported the ticketing problems, I had on Wednesday to National Express East Anglia by e-mail to the company yesterday morning. I received a reply late in the afternoon, which was in my view pretty quick, as they needed a bit more information. At ten o’clock last night, after an exchange of e-mails, the issue reached a conclusion, which was very satisfactory for me. I hope it was satisfactory for the company too, as it wasn’t anything serious and more of a computer or handbook glitch.
It just shows how companies can handle problems quickly if they put the right systems in place, with the right people manning them.
Other companies should take note!
The Get You Home Ticket
This is very much a London problem, although there may be other places in the UK, where the problem occurs.
If I want to go to the football at Ipswich on a Tuesday night, I have three choices.
1. Go early before the rush hour restrictions apply. I can use a cheap day ticket and come back on any train after the match. The problem of this, is that I have over two hours to wait in the town and there is nothing there, that I want to visit. I can’t even have a meal, as there is no gluten-free restaurant in the town centre.
2. Book a seat on a rush hour train and pay more. I can though book a cheap return, if I nominate the train I want to return on. but this method can’t be used, if there might be extra time in a cup match. It also restricts me from having a drink or a snack after the match with friends.
3. Book a rush hour ticket and buy an off peak single for the return before I travel, as they are not available in Ipswich. It’s all due to the old Network south East regulations I’m told. Some London fans deliberately split the journey and use two tickets to get better prices.
It’s not just a football probem. Suppose you live and work in London and a relative in Ipswich is ill in hospital. Or perhaps you want to visit the town to have dinner with friends. In many cases you won’t know when you want to return, so you won’t be able to book a cheap return, if you have to travel in the rush hour.
Many will drive for an evening visit, but then there are also many like me who either can’t drive or don’t have a car.
As an example, I shall be going to Ipswich for the Northampton match on the 9th August. Prices are as follows.
Travelling up during the rush hour, second with a railcard will cost £19.80 or £26.95, if I want to go on the comfortable Norwich train with a seat reservation. Coming back after about 22:00, if I advance book it’s £5.30 on a specfic train or £22.30 if I don’t book a train.
I could of course travel up before the rush hour and use an off-peak return. But the problem here is that the last train is 22:43. There is a later one you can book on-line, but it gets into London at 05:55, so you wouldn’t use it anyway.
I think unless the mastch goes to penalties and there is a floodlight failure 22:43 is OK. I should add, that when Ipswich played Leicester in the snow, it appeared that National Express East Anglia put on a soecial train to mop up the stragglers because of the weather.
I think the solution might be an evening return with a get you home option! So if you needed to go to Ipswich for the evening in the rush hour, you would pay the current price for the journey out and you would pay an appropriate price for the return. A price of half the off-peak return, might be sensible. There might be some restriction, such as the return path was only valid after 21:30.
But whatever is offered is better than the cost of £22.30 that is currently the cheapest flexible fare. It would of course be a walk-up fare at the ticket office.
It may have marketing advantages, as no-one would book say a walk-up ticket to Ipswich returning that day for travel in the rush hour. But a ticket which was affordable on a spur-of-the-moment basis, might attract travellers.
I acknowledge that train companies aren’t charities, but I’m not asking for any discount on the outward rush hour journey and they might actually have more passengers on the rather empty late night trains.
Hyperion Gets a Few Friends
Newmarket has a lot of statues to horses. One of the most famous is the one of Hyperion by John Skeaping outside the Jockey Club Rooms.
Hyperion by John Skeaping
When I was driven through the town yesterday, I noticed that he had a few multi-coloured friends scattered around him. Here’s one outside of the Post Office.
A Multi-Coloured Horse Outside Newmarket Post Office
One of my earliest memories is my father changimg a puncture in probably his Y-Type MG saloon, outside this Post Office or the Jockey Club Rooms. I also remember driving through the town from Felixstowe to Liverpool in the mid-1960s to get to University.
Is Frankel the Best?
They have been discussing Frankel after his win in the Sussex Stakes yesterday on BBC Radio 5. I sent in my views on great racehorses, I’ve seen.
Sir Henry’s horse, is undoubtedly a good horse. But I think it is true that a really good one comes along every ten or so years. The first great horse, I saw was Brigadier Gerrard and remember he was beaten just once in about nineteen races. I have also seen Pebbles and actually met both Mill Reef and Dancing Brave. All have claims to be truly great and wouldn’t life be boring in all fields, if someone or something good didn’t come along from time to time.
Frankel may be the best of a good group, but what makes it all so special is how Sir Henry was virtually down and out and finished in lots of ways.
Life can be very miserable, but it’s those like Sir Henry and Frankel who make life magnificent.
I like this quote from the 93-year-old, Peter O’Sullevan after the race, when he said. “It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to stay on and see a horse like that!”
What We’re Good At!
I was very pleased when I read the third leader in The Times today, entitled Capital Idea.
This was the first paragraph.
After the on-time and underbudget Olympic Stadium, yesterday brought the opening of the Hindhead Tunnel on the A3, on the main route between London and Portsmouth, on time, on budget and garlanded with awards for its safety record. Britain is in danger of getting a reputation for being good at large infrastructure projects.
I could add another couple of projects like the London Overground, where the engineers delivered quality at a price well under the budget.
Is The National Trust Boring?
No! See this.
The Dark At The End of the Tunnel
After the walk, we were taken into the original entrance of the Thames Tunnel.
This large chamber is one of the original caissons that were sunk so that the tunnel could be excavated. Note the remains of the staircase and the soot from steam trains on the walls. You could also hear the London Overground rumbling beneath your feet.
The Brunel Museum will be improving the access to this chamber, which until recently hadn’t been open for about a 150 years
Bonkers Conkers
I took this picture in Bermondsey yesterday on the walk.
Conkers in July
I’ve never seen conkers on the trees this early.
Walking Along The Thames
On Tuesday night I took a guided walk along the Thames from Bermondsey station to the Brunel Museum at Rotherhithe. The walk is described here.
These pictures were taken as we walked along the river.
The guide was excellent and the trip was well worth the eight pounds it cost.
New Platforms at Cambridge
I said in an earlier post, that I will use the Tottenham Hale route more to get to Cambridge, as it is only slightly slower and the trains are better and have wi-fi.
I think though I’ll give myself a bit of time for journeys, as new platforms are under construction at Cambridge and I was delayed slightly getting into the station.
New Platforms at Cambridge
Hopefiully, when the platforms are completed before the end of the year, it will make things a lot easier. Although, there are rumours that the lifts to get to the two new platforms won’t take bikes, so getting across might not be the smooth up and down it should be.
The Anonymous Widower 