The power of communication - a minor #southeastern train drama and a great driver

minilink: http://is.gd/GrGeMP

Today I spent two and a half hours on a train that didn't really go much beyond Deptford. I'd made an effort to get on a much earlier train to get in for a meeting so the irony of not getting in at all wasn't lost on me.

It seems that shortly after passing through Deptford (the first time) the train lost any ability to pick up electrical power from the tracks and consequently we couldn't go anywhere. This was a bit annoying but I didn't think it would be much of a problem and wasn't too bothered about it, it's happened before and usually after 'rebooting' the train all is well. While waiting I sent out a few tweets every now and again.

The nice thing was - and I appreciate it's a bit unusual for me to be sending much praise to #SouthEastern - was the quality and frequency of the train driver's communications to us about what was going on and who was involved in trying to fix things.

Note that this is the train company whose abysmal efforts during the snow earlier in the year resulted in questions in Parliament about their pathetic efforts and questions from bloggers about their fitness to run their franchise. No-one's too surprised that trains struggle on slippery icy tracks or that they physically can't get out of their ' housings' or that the drivers can't turn up because they're snowed in or that there are signalling problems. The difficulty was that none of these problems was communicated across the network, either via the display boards or via their website. As always people tweeting updates on the #southeastern hashtag is how anyone found anything out.

But today was different, at least for those of us on the stuck train. The driver was in touch with us many times throughout the two and a half hours to let us know what the problem seemed to be, what she might have to try to do to fix it and then when that didn't work she kept us updated on other rail staff walking up the track to look at the train. She told us about the 'shoe gear' which is something that connects with the live rail and completes the electrical circuit - she thought it might have fallen off or been damaged and a fitter was going to come and have a look. We also had a Field Marshall and someone whose job title is Manager of Movements (snigger) visit us at one point. People walked up and down the outside of the train and then inside the train for good measure.

When we lost power completely the risk was that the main doors, being no longer under power, became unlocked and were liable to open if leaned on - she explained this to everyone and asked that people stand away from them. I don't think people had to be asked twice.

I'd quite happily have heard more about how trains work from her although I think she was chatting to the signal people every bit as much as us and probably didn't have too much time to ruminate on train engineering.

Then things got a bit more dramatic when she announced that they'd tried everything and the train was absolutely stuck - the next plan was to manoeuvre a second train onto the track alongside us and presumably we'd all make a sideways jump into the new train. I was relieved that no-one was asking me to get on the tracks but I wondered how some of the older or more anxious passengers might be feeling. To be honest my parents wouldn't have liked this much, and I'd have hoped that someone would have given them a seat if they were standing. But for me, it was quite exciting and I carried on tweeting friends and emailed colleagues to let them know where I was / wasn't.

Eventually the decision was made to roll the train backwards to Deptford as apparently the viaduct we were stuck on is uphill of the station and gravity could lend a hand (it really didn't look very hilly though) - we knew this would still take a long time because there were several trains backed up behind us. The train immediately behind us was going to travel back to Greenwich so that we could take up the space in Deptford. While the train behind us had power and could travel at any speed it wanted, because it was making an unscheduled backwards journey it had to go at 5mph for safety.

At some point the previous train must have done this successfully as our driver announced that we were now going to try and go backwards. We lurched off and then stopped fairly suddenly. I wondered if this meant we were stuck but somehow at that point we seemed to recover a bit of power (the things that normally scroll information about the final destination and intermediate stops said "Electrostar" again, which it had managed to say earlier on before power died) and we even picked up a little bit of speed, but not much. Eventually we were deposited at Depftord where it took a good 20 minutes to get everyone out of the station and onto whatever their "onward journey" was. For me this was home as the network was by now a bit seriously disordered and I wasn't keen to get back on another train for a bit.

As I left I managed to say thanks to the driver - I hope her employers appreciate her efforts. We certainly did on Twitter and on the carriage I was on. Her announcements were regular, as comprehensive as they could be given the limited information available and she even told us about some of the technical stuff - at one point she mentioned that the engineers could remotely download some information from the train to pinpoint where the fault might be (early on it wasn't sure if it was the track or the train but it turned out to be the train). She was brilliant and in a situation that could have become a bit claustrophobic and panicky she did a really good job of preventing that.

Of course it was up to us to communicate her updates to us to everyone else on Twitter because they were stuck at various points across the network and I don't know how much information they were getting from SouthEastern. A couple of tweets indicated that one driver had announced that he had no information and was requesting that his passengers let him know of any that came in via Twitter. Ha!

If that's the worst thing that worries me this week then I'm really not doing too badly - one mustn't lose one's perspective in these things! But I wanted to record my gratitude to the driver and to say how impressed I was with her professionalism and efforts in keeping us informed, and calm... and safely on the train until it was time to alight.

My new policy: never get on a train without something to drink or something to eat. Go to the loo when you get a chance. Bring a book.

A fail for #Southeastern and a micro win for Twitter

A couple of days ago I was at Charlton station hoping to get the 8.59am train into Charing Cross. Just ahead of that would be the 8.50 to Cannon Street. Neither train showed up and people began moving from the front of the platform towards the exit which is where the indicator signage is, in search of explanations. I can't be the first person to suggest that a second indicator sign further up the platform might be a help (they manage it at London Bridge and Charing Cross but perhaps don't bother with smaller stations... fair enough but then why not have it nearer the middle).

Anyone languishing at the top of the platform can sometimes hear a tinny distant voice that might be trying to tell us something interesting about a train. I've had the pleasure of listening to the results of a live recording of an Edison phonograph (at Dorkbot) and the quality of sound was better than the tannoy system at the top end of Charlton station. It's a lonely place to be, when no trains are appearing and no information is forthcoming so it's not too surprising that passengers were migrating to the station exit in the hope of seeing something. All we got from the indicator board was that the trains were DELAYED, but if you squinted your eyes at it it seemed as if one might be along in a bit.

On platform 2 a train came towards us (in the wrong direction, heading up to London as opposed to down to Dartford) and quite a few people looked like they might dash over to the other platform. The train sat there for a while and nothing much happened. The tannoy system by the exit is actually pretty good and we heard apologetic information telling us that there was a temporary signalling problem. After I tweeted that Southeastern's information sharing skills weren't up to much there seemed to be a sharp increase in the numbers of messages though I expect it was just coincidence. The messages were largely irrelevant though: it's illegal and dangerous to cycle on the platform, icy weather might make the platforms slippery and we should be mindful of our personal belongings.

At this point I'd sent messages to my boss and colleagues letting them know that we were settling into the comfortable Southeastern familiarity of uninformed immobility. I also posted a tweet or two in case anyone else was at the happy stage where they could cut their losses and try something different (like the 486 bus outside Charlton to North Greenwich, Jubilee to Stratford and the overland trains to Camden town, which is where I work).

Then someone tweeted that they'd been stuck at the level crossing just outside Charlton station on the up (London) line for the last 45 minutes. Given that the train that had come in on platform 2 had entered the station from the wrong direction this certainly made sense. I was about to tell some of the passengers standing next to me what I'd heard when I noticed a man talking to one of those on-platform Help points. It was a bit comical as the person at the other end wasn't familiar with Charlton and needed it spelled out just to be sure. Eventually he came back, on 'speakerphone', to tell those nearby that there was indeed a problem at the level crossing, but that it should be fixed within half an hour.

I've been to that level crossing, it's actually really rather beautiful with a lovely arch - you can get great shots from standing on the track area but best to get out of the way when the bells ring to indicate the gates are to shut for a train! It's just next to Maryon Park.

Shortly after the call finished the stuck train on platform 2 headed off in the correct direction, and a train appeared on platform 1. It added an hour to my journey and I think it's significant that the only information that anyone found out about (me by Twitter, fellow commuter by the Help point) occurred because commuters tried to find something out themselves.

Here's my complaint. I think everyone accepts, even if grudgingly, that sometimes trains break down and signals don't behave as they should. Stuff happens and it slows the system down for everyone with knock-on effects etc. etc. But it's pretty poor that no information is VOLUNTEERED to passengers. There's an electronic indicator sign and a tannoy system. Surely someone somewhere has a way of communicating with some sort of central office, and surely the driver of the stuck train or the person in charge of the level crossing was able to communicate this to that central office.

Why was the information we were given so irrelevant? Although it might come in handy if I see anyone cycling on the platform on an icy day.

Surely Southeastern staff must understand that they can gain a fair bit of good will by explaining clearly what the problem is and whether or not it's the sort of thing that has previously taken ages or over within the hour (or an unknown quantity). Even the person that the commuter called via the Help point didn't seem to have the relevant information to hand.

From other local blogs it seems that Southeastern have been strongly criticised - and not just by commuters I think Newsnight had a pop and the boss was summoned to Westminster - for both a poor service and worse communication. I can almost forgive a poor service - I wouldn't have wanted to run trains in during the snow either, but why not admit that nothing much was going to run and be done with it? Having cold annoyed passengers standing on platforms without any guidance is no way to go about things. V. poor, could do better, see me later.

In short, Twitter has so far been a very reliable indicator of what is going on with Southeastern trains and the same cannot be said of their website or other communication channels.