NORTHERN FAIL SINK TO NEW LOW WITH DISASTROUS TEMPORARY TIMETABLE

So much has been made on Northern Rail creating a temporary timetable with only 165 services per day cancelled (only?)  With this in mind I was sure that there would be the minimum disruption to my daily commute from Bamber Bridge to Accrington, after all, the last thing that the senior, well-paid, executives at Northern Rail would want to do is look like utter idiots in the way that G4S did at the Olympics.

This was my journey...

6:25 am -  Get up check I have a train at 7.07 from Bamber Bridge to Accrington.  I do and it's on time.

6:50 am - leave house

7:04 am - arrive at train stop

7:05 am - train late by 15 minutes

7:49 am - arrive approx 15 mins late.

Check throughout the day for the train times.  There's a coach at 17.01pm that will arrive in Bamber Bridge 50 mins later than my train would have, but hey, at least Northern are doing their best and putting replacement coaches on, and that's the main thing.

16:35 pm - leave work

16:42 pm - arrive at train station and wait for coach.

17.01 pm - no coach.

17:10 pm - still no coach

17:12 pm - coach going to Colne comes and goes in opposite direction but our coach to Bamber Bridge ...No sign. 

17:15 pm - passengers look puzzled at their phones as the coach is nowhere to be seen 

17:17 pm - angry customer rings Northern for details of where the coach is.  She is advised that the good news is that the 17.41pm is on time.  She says she isn't ringing about the 17.41pm she is ringing about the 17.01pm.

17:20 pm - Still no coach, still no answers on the phone

17:30 pm - Still no coach and no sign of the angry customer on the phone getting to speak to the relevant person.  Hope fades for the 17.01 but hey, at least the  17.41 will be on time, right?  After all they said on the phone to the angry customer that it WAS on time ...right?

17:41 pm - No coach.  No 17.01 and no 17.41.

17:42 pm - angry customer still on hold

17:50 pm - angry customer finally speaking to Northern Rail Customer Service and explains how bad things are and how she's feeling.

17:51 pm "DON'T YOU LAUGH AT ME!"  Yes, Northern Rail customer service are now laughing at customers who are explaining how utterly angry and desperate and fed-up they are.  Each day when we reach a new low they limbo right underneath it.

17:52 pm - "What do you mean it's delayed?  I know it's delayed, how long will it be?"

17:53 pm - "What do you mean you're having trouble getting the coaches here?  We've already seen them going to Colne".

17:54 pm - "Just tell me straight, have you bothered putting coaches on?"

17:55 pm - "No, that's not what I asked just tell me straight, have you bothered putting coaches on from Accrington to Preston?"

17:56 pm - "You haven't put coaches on.  Okay".

19:22pm - eventually arrive back home two hours later than the usual train service.

Yes, Northern Rail let people coming home from work wait over an hour for a service that was never ever going to turn up and this, they cannot blame on Network Rail.  For all the talk that the exec did in interviews about the unacceptability of the service what today has revealed is that they really don't care.  This is a company with a culture of incompetence and apathy (from hearing the other side of the customer's conversation).

Clearly there are (at least) a couple of areas that need to be looked at.

1)  Customer Service - The staff need retraining to a)  Not lie to customers and b) not laugh at distressed customers.

2)  Control - clearly management at Northern Rail lack even the basic knowledge of how routes work and how to actually book a coach.  Perhaps a training session is required here as well.

In fact the only people who have given straight answers and have been exemplary are the customer facing staff, the guards, you know, the very people Northern Fail are looking at getting rid of.

Today shows every single customer of Northern Rail how valued they are and how understanding to the plight customer services are and sadly the answer is, not very.

I've still been Mr Chatable.

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(picture not necessarily taken on today's journey - disclaimer)