Stress free travel ...what a joke (C2C Rail)

Name: forrest

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Product:	C2C Rail
Date:	18/07/01 (208 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gets you into the city, Gets you to Southend (not sure bout that)

Disadvantages: Hot, Delays, Cramped

I have been using the C2C service for over a year now since I moved jobs to London. I travel from Barking to Fenchurch Street and can get almost all of the trains that run the line, I can get all of them if I want to try out train surfing as it passes at 50mph.

But all there seems to be is delays.

The last couple of months have seen industrial action that only affects the C2C service, so what do they do, stop any trains stopping at Barking, Upminster, West Ham and Limehouse during peak hours. What do I have to do, try the underground....but there are signal problems at Barking and they get too crowded, or drive to a station on a different line and pay to park my car. What is their problem? Talks have broken down and I am still none the wiser as to what they are arguing about and why they haven't resolved it like other train networks.

In addition to this are the new trains. A majority of the trains on this line are the old ones, with the manual throw them open doors. I admit that these are a hazard for people trying to get on and off when the train is moving, potentially knocking someone out on the platform with the door. They do not have air coinditioning, but do have heating. This is a nightmare in the summer (ha ha) when the trains are packed with people and they have forgotten to turn the heating off. But if you are near a window great.

The new trains have the automatic doors, air conditioning, moulded seats so you know how many people should be sitting there. They are smoother and quieter.

But I like the old trains!!!!! You are mad I hear people cry, but I have what I think is a good reason. Getting on at Barking there are only a couple of stops to Fenchurch Street where the train terminates and so most if not all the seats are taken and people are standing. The old trains have about 6 doors along the side of the carriage and so people can spread out more when standing. The new trains have two doors and where do
people satnd, in the area just inside them so that no other bugger can get on. There is plenty of room along the carriage, in the aisle, but people are worried that they will not be able to get out and so take two steps onto the train and stop. MOVE DOWN, people will let you off, but there is no room for people to get on. You stand on the platform in the morning with people pushing and squeezing into these spaces like contortionist. When the doors close it looks like people have been pickled in a jar, limbs everywhere, faces squashed against windows.

All this to get to the office, how stressful is that. I am lucky and work Flexi so I have let five trains go before and then was still slightly squashed.

So please, get more trains, more frequent comfortable trains so that you are not on your second shower of the day by the time you reach the office.


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(01/08/2001)
C2C are going full steam (maybe that would be quicker) towards the "We don't really know what we are doing award".

Over the last week a number of trains have been delayed some for over 15 minutes. C2C have also got into the habit of providing extra seating at terminating stations - how nice. They let you sit on the train for ten minutes before they decide that they are canceling it.

But the "I haven't got a clue award goes to one announcer".....The #.## has been cancelled due to lack of rolling stock. Ten minutes later, the #.## has been cancelled due to their being no train crew, another instance of 1 + 1 = No train.

Can they please get someone with a mere ounce of common sense and stop treating the public as if they were idiots.

Summary: