Picking Up Rail Tickets Bought On-Line
Sometimes this can be difficult, as you have to have the right card and type in an eight character code. I usually text my phone, so I’ve got the full details in an easy to read form.
Today, though, I picked up my tickets for Ipswich tomorrow as I was passing through Euston and a card was all I needed. It was much easier!
Pinky and Perky in Front of the Olympic Stadium
I took this picture yesterday as the train slowed to pass the Olympic Stadium.
The Sewage Pumping Station at the Olympic Park
Note the two pink cylinders, nicknamed Pinky and Perky, in the pumping station, at the right of the picture. If you enlarge the picture you’ll see that the right cylinder is partly obscured by a graffiti covered signalling cable box. I hope that graffiti isn’t goig to be a problem on the Olympic site!
I Was Overcharged at Liverpool Street Yesterday
Getting the right ticket to go and see Ipswich from London is quite a problem, even at weekends, when everything is Off Peak. As I have a Freedom Pass, I only need to buy a return from the Zone 6 Boundary (Harold Wood) to Ipswich. I usually upgrade to First for the outward journey. The trouble with doing a full upgrade is that often the first and quickest return train is a slow one and I get off these at Stratford and then take the London Overground to Dalston Kingsland.
This type of ticket is not really complicated, but you can’t buy it on-line, so I had to go to the ticket office at Liverpool Street first.
Yesterday the ticket office at Liverpool Street was very crowded and because Ipswich is a gluten-free desert, I wanted to have lunch in Spitalfields first, so I didn’t have much time available.
I asked for the return from the Zone 6 boundary and the outward First upgrade, but felt that it was a bit expensive. I checked with the clerk and she said that was what I’d got. But as they don’t give you your tickets until you’ve paid, I couldn’t check. It was only when I checked outside the ticket office that she’d sold me an unwanted First Class upgrade for the return journey.
after my lunch, I did think of queuing again, but the ticket offce was still busy, as was the one at Ipswich. I’ve now written to National Express East Anglia. Here’s the main part of what I said.
I have a Freedom Pass and a season ticket at Ipswich Town, so when I go to matches, I use the train, as I have had a stroke. I generally travel buy a Standard Class return ticket from the Zone 6 Boundary (Harold Wood) to Ipswich. On a Saturday, I upgrade to First Class outward, as this means I can lay the paper out properly. Coming back, I usually return to Stratford and then take the Overground home to Dalston Kingsland, as if the train is crowded or it is raining it is quicker and more convenient.
Yesterday, the ticket office was very crowded, so after a long queue, I asked for the Standard return and the outward First Class upgrade. Only when I walked away in a bit of a hurry, as I wanted to have lunch before catching the train, did I realise that I had been sold return First Class upgrade, which I hadn’t asked for. I had queried the price, but the girl in the office had said it was right, but as I didn’t get the tickets until after I had paid, there was no way I could check.
So basically, I was overcharged £7.
I did try to complain at the time, but this would have meant going through the long queue again, which would have meant missing my train.
At Ipswich, the ticket office was very busy too.
How do I claim my seven pounds back?
Incidentally, the train I came back on from Ipswich to Stratford didn’t appear to have any First Class accomodation anyway.
I would prefer to be able to buy these tickets on line, but I don’t think I can. So I suppose the only way to get the right ticket is to make a special visit to Liverpool Street earlier in the week.
It will be interesting what the reply is.
Crazy Ticketing
Next week, I’m going to an evening match at Portman Road on Tuesday and the following week it’s the Norwich match on the Thursday.
Unless I want to spend forever in Ipswich before the match because of ticketing restrictions, I can’t use a cheap ticket on any train out of London after 16:30. Which means that I end up in a town with no decent gluten-free restaurant, with nothing to do until kick-off time. There are some nice things to do in Ipswich, but I’ve done them all.
It was suggested to me by the ticket staff at Liverpool Street, that as I indicated I could profitably travel to Cambridge or Bury St. Edmunds, that I could save money by taking a return to Bury St. Edmunds and then breaking my journey on the way back.
How many fans will see the crazy midweek prices and not go by train at all?
Does Public Transport Combat Racism?
I wonder about this, but the masses of different races and nationalities, that use public transport have to get on.
When you swipe your card by the driver on a bus say, you often wave and say thank you and if the bus isn’t busy you’ll often get a cherry reply, whatever the race of the driver. And let’s face it, is there a race not represented amongst London bus drivers.
Often too, you’ll strike up a conversation with the person next to you, about something trivial. Sometimes this will be caused by my apologising for being clumsy because of the stroke and I can’t remember receiving a rude response.
One incident stands out. I was needing to get by a black man of my own age, as I’d rather hidden myself away on a corner seat, at the back of the bus. So I apologised before I hit him with my rucksack. He said not too bother, as he was very happy and after five years as a widower he was going to propse to his girlfriend that day. I said I was a widower too and he said that it’ll all work out. He waved me goodbye as I left the bus. Good luck to him and I hope the lady accepted his proposal.
So when you throw people together and they all get mixed up, does it take the racial tension out of living?
I think the only thing we need to ensure is that when we travel on a bus or train, that we treat everybody in the way we would like to be treated ourselves.
Pedestrian Flows Around Dalston Junction Station
Getting into and out of Dalston Junction Station is a very dangerous exercise for pedestrians.
I live to the south east of the station and usually cross the busy Kingsland Road at the pedestrian lights about a hundred metres short of the junction with Dalston Lane and the Balls Pond Road. I then walk past the still closed southern entrance to the station and walk up the rather narrow pavement on the eastern side of the road, round the corner and into the north entrance to the station. I have to walk perhaps another fifty metres and due to various works outside the shops there, it always seems that I have to walk in the main road.
One other thing on this route is the number of unofficial pavement obstructions.
Unofficial Pavement Obstructions
Six months ago, they would have caused me a real problem, but with the sun and the improvement in my eyesight, they’re almost good practice for me. And certainly, they’re not as intrusive as the obstacles in Athens.
Coming home, I reverse the process and it is usually a tiny bit easier, as I suspect it’s usually later in the day and there are less pedestrians about. Until a couple of weeks ago, if I was feeling rather lazy, I would often catch a convenient bus for a couple of stops along the Balls Pond Road to save walking.
Closed Pavement at Dalston Junction Station
But this second method is no longer available as due to road works and no pavement, the bus stop has been moved two hundred metres back on Dalston Lane. Incidentally, it is impossible to walk to the stop from the station, due to barriers being in place. To do so, you have to cross Dalston Lane twice and there are no safe crossing points.
The problem was illustrated yesterday in a very graphic manner. I had shown a friend around Victoria Park and we had taken a bus back from there to Dalston Junction station so that they e could take the East London Line south to where her car was parked at Canary Wharf, by changing at Shadwell to the DLR. We ended up walking inside the anti-pedestrian barriers as it was the only way to get to the station. There were several women and couples with children in buggies and at one point one couple virtually had to walk in the middle of Dalston Lane to get past the obstructions. I did think about doing the double crossing of Dalston Lane, but that is easier said than done.
At the entrance to the station, there is a notice saying that the pavement to the east of Dalston Junction station will be closed for 16 weeks from March 14th.
Last night, as I returned from Canary Wharf, there was a passenger with a heavy case completely bemused about where to go as she left the north entrance to Dalston Junction station. So she was young and fit, but she was yet another pedestrian ready to join the queue of those who will get knocked over in this dangerous area.
I hate to say this but someone will get seriously hurt or even killed, unless something is done to rectify the various problems in this busy area for pedestrians.
The Closed Southern Entrance to Dalston Junction Station
One solution would be to open the southern entrance to the station now. This would have major benefits, even if pedestrians were channelled through temporary barriers.
1. People like me, who need to walk to and from the station from the south and south-west would be completely removed from the congested streets. As it is, if I want to go south on the East London Line and the weather is good, I often cut across to Haggerston station.
2. If you needed to take a bus north from Dalston Junction, then you could cross the Kingsland Road at the pedestrian lights and then use any of a number of buses going north.
3. Those going west on a bus would find it easier to get to the stop on the Balls Pond Road, as after crossing at the pedestrian lights, they’d be able to walk up the relatively uncluttered western side of the Kingsland Road.
So would opening the southern entrance be feasible. I suspect yes, but Transport for London are waiting for everything to be finished. The lights all seem to be working and the station entrance appers to be finished.
So why isn’t this entrance open?
It would relieve the pressure at the northern entrance, but that won’t be completely safe until they reopen the pavement along Dalston Lane.
If nothing is done, there is going to be a serious pedestrian accident here.
The Biggest Hole in London!
The pictures show the hole being created for the new Crossrail station at Canary Wharf.
Is it the UK’s first underwater station?
Pendolino Sway
I felt a bit queasy going back and had difficulty walking down the train to the toilet.
But I’m OK this morning, so I guess I was just a bit tired and it was all due to the tilting and swaying of the Pendolino.
Welcome to Burnley
I arrived at Manchester Road station in the town at 10:30 and the station is in effect an unmanned halt with shelters, like say Newmarket or Dullingham, which I used to use quite a bit in Suffolk.
However it differs from the two Suffolk stations in a couple of important ways. There are no information screens giving details of arriving trains and there is no local maps. Those in Suffolk, actually carry advertising for things like local hotels and taxi companies.
There were a couple of police in the station car park, but as they were from Manchester and not local, and were probably there to observe any stray carrots going to Blackburn. So they weren’t much use on directions.
I knew that Towneley Park, my intended destination, was close to the Turf Moor and after walking down the hill, I found a sign to Burnley FC, so I walked in that direction. This picture shows just how dangerous it was, as I needed to cross two dual-carriageways without even a rudimentary form of crossing.
Pedestrian Unfriendly Burnley
I know I’m just one old man, who’s had a stroke, but I’m still reasonably nimble and usually not in a hurry, so I can wait for a gap in the traffic. But so often, roundabouts and dual-carriageways are real barriers to pedestrians and judging by the flowers you occasionally see on railings, others have not been so lucky.
But the pedestrian access to Manchester Road station is a disgrace and there is a definite need for a light-controlled crossing or an underpass to get across the main road at the station. I think that it might be possible to put an underpass in alongside the railway.
To be fair to Burnley Council, they are thinking about improving accessibility in the town, as this page shows.
I did finally reach the bus station, where I found a bus map, which gave details of where I needed to go to get to Towneley Park.
The Anonymous Widower 