Richmond service, last night

Points failure as you said, which locked up several signals. Closed P4 at Richmond for a while. Why didnt Mrs Castlebar use local buses? Much cheaper than £18. I suppose she was just desperate to get to her destination asap?

Woman on her own, late at night, unfamilar area, no buses to be seen (only the E3 and N11 actually pass the station, both are about as much use as a stuffed giraffe as a means of getting to Richmond), and having been actually advised to get a taxi, that's what she did.

As it happens the only bus in the area that goes to Richmond is the 391 on the High Road no immediately obvious on leaving the station - last bus 00:12. Had she been better advised or forewarned, she could have bailed out at Hammersmith and got a 190.

When I used it regularly it was very evident that LU only reluctantly let their trains out of sight onto NR metals, and would suspend the service at the drop of a hat, leaving the "other railway's" (BR) staff at Gunnersbury, Kew Gardens and Richmond to deal with the passengers. I had thought that LU had lost its cavalier attitude to the Richmond branch, but sadly not it would seem.

Of course, being on Oyster, she didn't actually pay for a journey to Richmond - by touching out at Turnham Green she would have only paid for Z1,2 instead of Z1-4. Unfortunately, with Oyster, you effectively pay on exit, so LU do not have any contractual obligation to get you to your destination as they would if you had paid up front for a point to point ticket. But no, she shouldn't have had to pay for a taxi.


What's that got to do with it? That still leaves four termoinal platforms free, including all three (platforms 5 to 7) normally used by the District. (The Overground uses 3 and 4, SWT use through platforms 1 and 2)

What time was this? I was also returning from central London last night, (about 11pm) and several of my companions opted for the District/65 route (instead of Waterloo) as they have freedom passes, and it's a shorter walk at the other end.

I may be doing Mrs CB an injustice, but I am often surprised by how little the rest of my own family know how to get about by public transport, and wonder if this is typical - maybe living in a household with a resident "transport geek" (if I may so describe CB and myself!) makes people less independant in that regard. A recent attempt by my best-beloved to get from Waterloo to South Kensington by changing at Embankment, despite having passed a huge banner every morning for several weeks suggesting this is not currently a good idea, is fairly typical I'm afraid!

Think it's more widespread than that. The amount of people that try to use the Waterloo and City line, when every service update says it is closed; the amount of people asking "Does this bus go to <place on destination blind at front>?"; etc etc!

........and seems remarkably silly given that the only other trains using that route are now operated by TfL as well!

Reversing LO (or LU) trains at Gunnersbury is surely possible if Richmond can't take them all. If the problem is the points at Gunnersbury, a 5/10 minute walk from Chiswick Park to Gunnersbury to pick up an LO train would surely be a better option than hunting down the elusive 391 - and I doubt that a 3tph single decker could cope with all the District Line refugees anyway.

Thank you Colin

I look forward to reading your findings

Thank you Colin

Mrs C doesn't feel that de-training then showing everyone that there is a taxi rank outside, was the best solution. Mrs C isn't at all familiar with Turnham Green, and if buses run direct from there to Richmond (a journey for which she and others had paid), more guidance could/should have been given, especially given the lateness of the hour and a few people had NR connections to get from Richmond.

@ norbiton

It seems you are spot on yet again

Mrs C and others thought the taxis had been laid on by LU as they had already paid for their journey (I wonder how many didn't check out at T G and end up paying the full single fare), but as you say, I think the taxis were there not because of LU but because of the taxi drivers' grapevine

There is a bit of a presumption that the Train drivers know all the local bus routes, or that the service controllers do and can tell the drivers who can then remember this detailed information and tell all the passengers. The reality is simply obtaining this information and conveying it onwards is something of a marathon anyway and everyone concerned has a lot of other things to be doing at moments of service disruption, so its very hit and miss. The reality is that if the train was showing Turnham Green, the driver had no idea if the train would go to Ealing or Richmond. Trains can't reverse at Turnham Green, so one would only show that if one had no idea where beyond that point the train would go. The station staff were probably doing their best, if they even know what local buses do (there can be no presumption the staff live locally), by suggesting taxis, as the usual position is that onward travel due to service disruption is down to the customer to find an alternative route. I must say it wouldn't have occurred to me that LU were suggesting they would pay for a taxi. Such a circumstance would be very rare indeed. Rail buses are only called upon when no reasonable alternative can be found and where they can be sourced in time to be worthwhile, generally they come from Purfleet, so would take two hours to get to Turnham Green. The generally held view at TfL is that the bus network is sufficient as an alternative means of travel even if a direct bus is not available, (ie. by making changes). Mobility impaired passengers may have a taxi ordered where no single bus operates from the step free access station to the closed step free access station. taxis would have to be from the LU contractor, not local taxies/mini-cabs.

I agree it is a bit daunting to be dumped in unfamiliar territory, not good service, even if that's the way it has always been... the future will probably be different ... there will be no station staff to make suggestions, be that taxi or anything else!

When I tackled SWT over the lack of staff knowledge about local buses after an instant surprise shutdown, their response was amazement that I thought they should be "promoting" the services of their "rivals", Integrated transport?
They are of course all too ready to suggest you use buses if their own services let you down, but actually helping you find one? Don't be silly!

Or even just which direction you should you go from the station to find a bus at all.


pedant point, but in British English the correct word in this context is "alternative" - the word "alternate" has a specific meaning of switching back and forth between two things (as in alternating current). Thus you can say that District Line trains' destinations supposedly alternate between Richmond and Ealing but that, if there is no Richmond train, Chiswick Park is an alternative for Gunnersbury passengers.