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Train fire 1st October - Nick Hancock (2nd Oct 2009 - 20:20:44) Is there anyone out there who was caught behind the train fire at Guildford station on the evening of 1st Oct? I was (understandably) diverted to Fratton - bad enough by itself, but when eventually trains did materialise to bring us back up the line they were mysteriously all fast trains stopping only at Petersfield and Haslemere. I don't mind when SWT appear to be doing their best to sort out a difficult situation (= diversion to Fratton) but to me the failure to run a stopping service falls far short of this mark. Is it time we campaigned for a better deal?

Re: Train fire 1st October - Art Woodhouse (5th Oct 2009 - 09:38:10) Sadly with SWT there has always to be a contingency plan. Mine was to jump on a Alton train to get to Farnham and beg the missus to pick me up. The concept of providing a service to the long suffering commuter is something alien to SWT.

Re: Train fire 1st October - Neil (5th Oct 2009 - 10:32:45) Yes on the train behind it, I also jump on the Alton trian but a little tip jump off at Bently, closer to home and also a lot less traffic.

Re: Train fire 1st October - Art Woodhouse (5th Oct 2009 - 13:28:29) What a brilliant thought. You are so right thank you. The traffic at Farnham was horrendous.

Re: Train fire 1st October - Kevin Feeney (5th Oct 2009 - 15:51:19) Nick, I was lucky, coming in from Gatwick to meet the 6.51 from Guildford to Liphook, got terminated at Shalford (not too pleasant) with 200 odd commuters mostly going to Reading; I popped into The Parrot for a pint and the kindly Mrs Feeney collected me!!

Re: Train fire 1st October - Chris S (7th Oct 2009 - 12:39:15) I was on the 5pm train out of Waterloo and got through to Liphook fine however my wife was on the 6:15 and so got caught up in this. I ended up driving to Woking to pick her up and the traffic was horrendous between Guildford and Woking with commuters wandering along the roads like a scene from Lost. Quite how a small train fire causes such utter chaos is beyond me.

Re: Train fire 1st October - Nick Hancock (8th Oct 2009 - 21:34:38) Sounds like you're all much more used to this sort of thing than I am (not a regular London trudger, me). Unfortunately Mrs H was also in London, on a train after mine, so would not have been in a position to pick me up from Alton, Bentley or anywhere else. My job that evening was actually to get home early for the children! My gripe is with the recovery plan which does nothing for passengers heading for the "slow" stations until (in this case two) fast trains have been up the line. The best way for SWT to look after the greatest number of its weary passengers would be to put on a slow train first. If SWT is concerned that a slow train would block the fast trains behind it then it could wait to be overtaken at Haslemere or Guildford - something which already happens many times a day under the present timetable. I think the real reason for SWT's policy is that its service standards penalise it for every late running train and take no account of how long passengers on trains which are already late have been delayed. It therefore pays it to get as many trains back into place as fast as possible, in this case by running them fast back to Waterloo, so that they can then leave on time. The resulting increased delay to passengers who are already late costs it nothing. What is wrong is SWT's policy and the regime which underlies it. I wouldn't mind if this was a one-off, but many of us have waited in frustration at Liphook on a morning when services are disrupted, watching fast trains speed by without stopping. This will continue as long as SWT maintains its policy of giving priority to fast trains - and effectively treating us as second class citizens.

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