Connex still has a franchise?! (Connex)

Member Name: chinnyli

Product:	Connex
Date:	22/06/01 (249 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Generally OK during off-peak times, No first class cabins

Disadvantages: Frequently late or cancelled at peak times, Gets overcrowded, Infrequent service compared to underground

As a child, I used to love travelling by train when my route was still under the aegis of British Rail's Network SouthEast. As a teenager when Connex took over, I still enjoyed travelling into central London every weekend, despite the occasional Sunday engineering works that would disrupt my journey.

But oh how things changed once I began to commute to work properly, I now understand why commuters are so dissatisfied with Connex's service, because while the service might be 'fine' and endurable during off-peak hours, it can fall to pieces during rush hour, and I'm sorry, but commuters matter more because they spend more time travelling, they provide the bulk of Connex's revenues, yet they experience a significantly poorer service.

---- Off peak joys ----

If you travel during off-peak hours, you'll probably have to put up with an infrequent service if you live beyond zone 3 (two trains an hour to Charing X everyday, and another two to Victoria on weekdays and Saturdays from my local station Kidbrooke), but you will undoubtedly find a seat even if you have to move someone else's feet or bags off it first, and all going well, you shouldn't experience more than 10 minutes delay, and believe me, this is Connex running well.

Those that frequently use Connex, end up planning their time around the train timetables - underground users would be shocked, being used to waiting for the next tube arriving within the next 10 mins, and would get twitchy if they even had to wait that long!

---- Keeping time ----

Travel during rush hour and it's a different matter. If you manage to get a seat, you should be counting your blessings. Rush hour begins about 7am, but the earlier trains can be busy too – the first time I took a train at 6.13am, I was surprised at how busy the station was, and the train was almost full. Rush hour lasts until about 10am, even though the train companies seem t
o think differently and provide shorter trains earlier than they need to. In the afternoon, it's from about 4pm, until 7-8pm, and anyone getting on during these times with a pram, bike etc will often get evil looks from everyone else on the train!

The effect of having so many people travelling at the same time, is that once one train is delayed, it has a domino affect on the rest of the train system and in the worst case scenario, everything grinds to a halt.

I have frequently been delayed by problems varying from anything like driver shortages, fires, signal problems, landslides, to trivial things like a few leaves, rain, vandalised carriages, or problems with operating train doors!

I accept that some of these problems will happen unexpectedly and can't be helped, but I find it appalling that very often, Connex doesn't inform its own staff of what is happening, leaving not just passengers but platform and ticket staff frustrated.

For instance, once I arrived at Kidbrooke station expecting to catch the 6.13am train to London Bridge, to find that the previous train before it (5.38am) still hadn't arrived, and judging by the information screen, probably never would as the amount of time expected for it to arrive kept increasing with each minute that passed. The ticket office had only just opened, so the attendant there was completely disoriented (what a way to start your working day!) and annoyed too because not only did she not know what was going on, she was unable to find anyone that could explain what had happened. Even more worryingly, she finally found out that apparently no trains had left the depot in Dartford "within the last 15 minutes", so it looked as though no trains would be arriving at all despite the screens saying three trains would be arriving soon.

Another time in Lewisham, a platform guard looked as surprised as the rest of the waiting passengers when what we thought was our la
te running train to Sidcup sped straight past without stopping – obviously no-one had informed him our train was running even later than expected!

Quite frequently, trains are cancelled "due to vandalism". I'm curious to know what kind of vandalism would inflict so much damage as to put the train out of service completely.

Trains also often end up stuck just outside London Bridge station for long periods of time, due to the vast numbers of trains going through to either Cannon St or Charing X. But at least being stuck on a train with a view of the outside world (and the station in sight) is better than being stuck down in a deep, dark underground tunnel and not having a clue where you are!

---- But Connex can throw other irregularities into the great train experience ----

Like… the train driver might forget your station exists! On my way home, I once ended up at Eltham station with a dozen other perplexed people because the train we were on, which was supposed to stop at every station on the Bexleyheath line, didn't, but sped from Blackheath, straight past Kidbrooke to Eltham. And the driver didn't even bother to apologise for missing Kidbrooke (did he even realise?!). I wasted another half hour waiting for the next train back, fuming as four other trains arrived from the opposite direction.

And if there are signal problems, the trains are sometimes diverted to a different line, meaning half a trainload of people getting off at the next stop to wait for one that will take them back on their original route (this happened once when my train got diverted at Lewisham to the Sidcup line).

From Charing X late on a Sunday night, the driver was unable to get his key to work properly in whatever it is they have in their cabins, and so wasn't able to get the train operating.

A train to Charing X was delayed by several minutes at each station on the way there because the autom
ated sliding doors wouldn't shut properly every time. The driver would eventually get out of his cabin, walk to the suspect door to push it shut properly before walking back. The amusing side of this wore a bit thin after he was still struggling three stations after I got on.

All this doesn't make for a very good travelling experience, particularly as even without these problems, commuting is difficult enough. With these factors added in, and when trains are cancelled, passengers are often trying to cram themselves onto already full to bursting carriages when a train finally arrives, to no avail, and end up having to wait for the next train which will of course still be full.

---- Weekend engineering works ----

A necessary bane to make sure tracks are safe, but sometimes seem to happen too frequently. I've recently had four weekends of engineering works on my train route! These are usually arranged months in advance, and information about forthcoming works within the next month are displayed at most stations, and on the information screens.

Connex provides a rail replacement bus journey for the part of the journey affected by works, which has been somewhat more reliable than it used to be (buses either never arrived, or the driver would get lost en route, and miss a station etc), or if the works only affect the central London area, trains may go to Cannon St, Victoria or London Bridge instead, and then either provide a shuttle service or allow you to use the tube.

This just inconveniences me slightly, but must be a real pain for people travelling from further afield like Barnehurst or Dartford! They also have an annoying habit of diverting the Victoria via Bexleyheath train at the weekends to the Sidcup line, thus avoiding the need to provide extra rail replacement services along that route, very sneaky!

---- Interior designs ----

Generally no picnic to look at it must be admitted – a
lot of them are heavily graphitised on the outside (don't they have security at their depots?!) and will be littered with various discarded newspapers, beer cans, sticky drink stains, food wrappers etc, especially in the evening.

The trains don't provide tables, either solid ones or fold down ones, but this is just as well during rush hour as there is barely enough space for people let alone their various belongings. And on the Connex SouthEastern routes, the seats are arranged a bit strangely so that in one aisle three seats are facing opposite another three, and behind these are paired seats, and in the other aisle are two seats facing opposite another two, with again paired seats behind them. This means people end up squeezing past the three seaters. However, although the seats take up a lot of space, there seems to be significantly fewer seats than there used to be on the old slam door trains - and at least on those trains, commuters could squeeze into just about every available space, although they weren't very wheelchair, pram or bike friendly!

However, a new train was trialled on the Dartford to Victoria via Bexleyheath line recently, and although it was more spacious, half the seats had disappeared! I assume this was to make them more accessible for wheelchairs, as I noticed the toilets were also more spacious. But doesn't Connex realise that for the small fortune they pay for tickets, customers would rather have seats than to stand for the whole of their journey?! The new trains were also plushly laid down with a rich dark red carpet - I don't expect that to last.

But anyway, the current trains aren't well designed for wheelchairs, prams, large luggage etc, and anyone with these usually hover near the doorway. (Note: Do not under any circumstances leave your belongings unsupervised by the doorway, you never know who might walk off with it!)

The doors are electronically operated, either by the lar
ge buttons next to it when they light up, (so don't just stand there expecting it to open up automatically for you!) and are electronically closed by the driver in his cabin when the train is about to leave. These don't always work properly, and you may end up scrambling for the next door along to make sure you can get on/off.

The windows are pulled open at the top, but the opening isn't very large and doesn't open very far, I suspect this is to deter people from throwing cans etc out the window. The windows themselves are massive though, which means you'll get a great view if there's anything to look at, but you'll also bake during the summer, when the heat is magnified by the glass!

During rush hours, there aren't many handrails to hold onto, those that are tall enough can hang on to luggage rails, and the rest (ie shorties like me) bundle around the doorway or the few handrails available on the top of seat backs.

---- The graveyard shift ----

The last trains generally start their last journey by about 12am, BUT, the last train often has a habit of either being delayed or cancelled, so you should try to catch the second to last train. I once ended up waiting nearly half an hour at Blackheath for the last train home, I really should've just walked it home, it would've been quicker.

---- I want my money back! ----

A tricky one this - to get compensation, you have to complain, to complain, you fill in a form, and if you want compensation, you also have to include your train ticket. A bit difficult if you're using a travelcard with a good few months left on it!

However, Connex do offer an automatic compensation of 5% on monthly and yearly travelcards if their performance has been below target since the last month or year (which is most of the time), but this is only offered when you renew your travelcard.

For those that give up their tickets with their c
omplaint form, whatever kind of ticket it is, be it a single, day return, weekly or yearly ticket, make sure you photocopy your ticket first, just in case the ticket becomes "lost in transit".

Travelling isn't always bad on Connex, I still enjoy travelling during off-peak times, but as I rarely do so now, the bad experiences of commuting at the moment far outweigh the good ones.

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