Synonomous words: Delays and GNER
And so I made my return to Edinburgh via an approx. 7 hour flight from Boston to Manchester and then a supposed 3 hour 15 minute ride from Doncaster to Edinburgh with GNER. It turned into a 4 hour and 40 minute journey! First of all it was around 10 minutes late arriving at a different platform to the one advertised. This was attributed to the daily signalling problems at Kings Cross (where the train starts its journey to Edinburgh Waverley).
Then just before reaching Alnmouth station we were stood for around 1 hour. After half an hour of the man on the microphone saying he didn’t know how long we would be waiting or why we were waiting, he finally stated the cause as faulty overhead powerlines. Apparently we now had to use just a single track for trains in both directions and we were third in the queue. So instead of arriving in Edinburgh for 2021 it was more like 2150 ish!
I can accept that delays do happen, but it seems more often that not they happen with GNER on this route. It seems to me that they advertise a service they rarely provide, and regardless of where the fault occurs, as part of the ‘contract’ I enter into with GNER they have stated their intent to provide a service to the published times. This rarely happens. Anyway I got another claim form to send my tickets in, and will see how much I’m refunded. The ticket was £15.50, bought in advance. But price isn’t the point: I had plans for those 85 minutes I was delayed for! :-(
On a brighter note the weather is nice, fresh and sunny in Edinburgh today. Perfect weather for a day off work, before my return tomorrow…
