VIRGIN TRAINS OVERCROWDING Wednesday 21st July 2010 08:23 from Rugby to Euston Having embarked at Rugby at 08:25 (2mins late; left station at 08:33) I wriggled through the already packed train from coach D to the train manger, Noormohammad, in first-class (coach J). 1st CONTACT ME: Are you going to deregulate the trains?  There are no seats in Standard and lots of people standing in the vestibules.  There’s a health and safety issue. NOORMOHAMMAD: I will take a look but first-class is very busy too. ME: first-class is half empty – I’ve just been through it. NOORMOHAMMAD: I’ll look into it.  [walks away to make announcement] ANOUNCEMENT: Train from...to...If you have baggage on your seat, please remove it to make room for other passengers. At this point I spoke with a couple of fellow passengers, also in the vestibule.  They stated that other services had been cancelled due to overhead-cables having been stolen.  I made the point that the train operators should, therefore, have been able to anticipate overcrowding and should have taken appropriate action, like instructing staff to deregulate first-class. 2nd CONTACT ME: So you’re not going to deregulate?  There are no seats in Standard. NOORMOHAMMAD: I’ll take a look. ME: well I’m going to go through the train and count how many ...

VIRGIN TRAINS OVERCROWDING Wednesday 5th May 2010 08:23 from Rugby to Euston Train arrived at 08:45 (22mins late). I ran from coach A (the last coach) down the train looking for vestibules not already crowded with people.  The first clear one was at coach H (second coach from the front) – a first-class coach. Very good announcement from train manager: apologies for overcrowding; reason given (cancellations of other services); remedy (deregulation of 1st-class). Very atypical but exactly as it should be.

VIRGIN TRAINS OVERCROWDING Tuesday 16th March 2010 07:23 from Rugby to Euston I embarked on the 07:23 pendolino non-stop service from Rugby to Euston. Due, perhaps, to an earlier train cancellation, or delay, the train was unusually busy. This resulted in ALL the seats in standard class being taken, forcing 30-40 people to stand and perch in the corridors, links, and vestibules. Some people, including myself, moved to seats in first-class. First class had plenty of spare seats and, as the train would be making no further stops, these seats would remain unoccupied. Just prior to arriving in Euston the train manager (Mohammad) asked to see my ticket, which was for standard class. He then charged me the excess to upgrade my ticket to first-class (note: I did not take any of the food/drink offered as part of first-class). I questioned him regarding his reasons, arguing that the train was overcrowded and unsafe. He stated that there were seats and that there were only around five people stood in the aisles. This was such a palpable lie (I’d negotiated all the carriages to get to first-class) that I was roused enough to ask him (calmly, politely, reasonably) to define when a train was deemed ...

DOCUMENTS & OTHER GUIDANCE It is interesting to note that passenger safety is given a nod in the Virgin Passenger Charter and the National Rail Conditions of Carriage but never defined explicitly.  So, no mention of overcrowding or how this might be defined and responded to.  However, there is, of course, plenty of attention given to defining and dealing with passengers who travel first-class on standard-class tickets.  Clearly a more important issue than passenger safety and defining the obligations due to the passenger by the operator.  Both documents are badly weighted in favour of the operators and against the passengers. THE VIRGIN PASSENGER CHARTER 2007 (yes this is the most up-to-date version) states: 1.1 '...our commitment to give you the safe [my bold], high quality service you have the right to expect.' '...clean and safe trains...' 1.2 '...make every reasonable effort to deal effectively with customer problems on the spot.' 2.3 ‘We will make every effort to match seats to demand...’ 5.0 ‘...[Virgin] will do their best to ensure that the service meets and, we hope, surpasses expectations and Passenger’s Charter standards.’ ‘...most importantly we promise always to treat all our customers with care and respect.’ NATIONAL RAIL CONDITIONS OF CARRIAGE 2009 (p.16) 39. Travelling in first class accommodation with a standard class ticket ...

Overcrowding is unpleasant for everyone.  The actions of the train manager can either alleviate, or worsen, the experience.  Unfortunately, although overcrowding does not happen very often, when it does the manner with which it is dealt with (on Virgin Trains) is almost always shabby. Apart from the unpleasant experience, there are also genuine safety issues but nowhere can I find any guidance (see below) with regard to defining overcrowding (let alone how the definition is arrived at); ensuring overcrowding doesn’t become a danger; monitoring passenger volumes.  It is most likely that train managers are responsible for managing the passenger volume on their trains but nowhere is this made explicit.  Moreover, when I did ask a train manager about this (see related blog entry) he refused to answer me. I struggle to imagine a train manager risking their job over the chance that someone will get hurt on their train through overcrowding.  So, whilst a train manager may, or may not, have the power to stop more passengers getting onto his train, clearly, the pressure on them from the train operator would make such an event highly unlikely.  What is infuriating, and worrying, is the reluctance of train managers to deregulate first-class and ...

It is that part of ourselves that began, and remains, animal that dominates most of us on a day-to-day basis.  The stomach and the groin are our greatest influences – from whence all our desires and fears (the carrots and sticks of motivation) originate.  The sublimation of these animal motivations happens only rarely in most people, but these occasions are glimpses of the other half of our nature – that which is greater than, and master of, our animal selves – our ‘divine’ selves.  When Sartre said that ‘hell is other people’ ("L'enfer, c'est les autres") he was only half right, as heaven is other people too.

[I shall be using the terms ‘soul’ and ‘divine’, which have a lot of baggage that I’d like to disown.  However, as words they are too convenient to avoid] Capitalism is only one of many viable systems of human organisation.  These systems arise and evolve for many reasons, but the most fundamental factor within each is human nature – common to all. Capitalism’s dominance of the world is a testament to its success.  Its success derives from its "laissez faire, laissez aller, laissez passer," (let do, let go, let pass) doctrine, which allows far greater freedom for human nature than previous, more idealistically oriented systems e.g. socialist, democratic, religious, etc.  In allowing greater freedom from self-imposed and artificial restraints, capitalism has enabled people to exploit those characteristics foremost in their nature.  Capitalism is, therefore, a mirror reflecting the soul of humanity.  Predictably, not everything we see is pleasant. The prime reason for this is that we are a dichotomy – our souls are divided between the divine and the bestial.  Currently the mirror (capitalism) shows us that the bestial-self is dominant.  This manifests itself in our behaviour: most people, most of the time, being concerned wholly with themselves; being reactive (motivated by immediate ...

Ideals e.g. Communism, Christianity, Islam, etc all fail due to one common factor – the nature of man.  Like other ideals, Democracy was born strong and beautiful, it had a glorious start but, like other ideals, has become dilute and corrupt with age.  Like other ideals, democracy now exists only as a dream, a memory, a fantasy for the naive to aspire to and defend; for the aware to lament. Today ‘democracy’ is a designer-label used as a sop to the masses – a beautiful illusion used to beguile people into quiescence.  Behind this label, the truth is that the democratic vote is dead because we no longer live in a democracy (more accurately, the blend of democracy has become very diluted).  We live in a capitalist society where influence over the course and nature of society is directly proportional to the resources one has.  This, however, is no cause for despair, quite the opposite. No system is perfect.  Moreover, no system can remain static.  Democracy has simply evolved.  The four-yearly vote for a limited choice of dubious and duplicitous candidates has been replaced by the dollar vote.  In a society governed by consumption HOW one consumes affects one’s society.  Therefore, every ...

Letter originally written to an MP’s aide as part of a longer correspondence. I don't believe that the 'democratic vote' means much anymore.  Blair, in particular, but leading politicians of every hue, do what they like irrespective of pledges and public opinion, thereby undermining any notion of democracy.  Also, as government power seeps increasingly into the hands of non-elected business, the relevance of government declines.  Thus, the value of the 'democratic vote' diminishes in direct inverse-proportion to the increasing value of the 'capitalist vote' i.e. the currency in one's pocket - each pound spent is a real and immediate and daily (rather than once every four years!) vote for the provision of more of that product, or service. In a society such as ours, that is only nominally democratic, the ability of the consumer to influence is greater than the ability of the 'voter' to influence.  Naturally, this does mean that the wealthier you are the more influence you have, but this, in truth, is the way it has always been under any system throughout history.  However, whereas the 'swinish multitude' were always at the mercy of the well-organised and motivated elite, they are now better educated and can pool their resources/co-ordinate/motivate ...

...AND THE SMALL PRINT TAKETH AWAY (a Tom Waits lyric). This was originally written on Sunday the 6th of February, 2005, after watching Peter Madelson, then Britain's European Commissioner, being interviewed on the ‘Politics Programme’ on BBC1. He was asked when the EU would fulfil its commitment to remove agricultural subsidies (see my related post written at the same time).  His bullshit answer, and the fact that the interviewer allowed him to get away with it, angered me and inspired the following. How does Peter Madelson, and his kind, get away with subterfuge on a daily basis? My train of thought ran thus: He (Peter Madelson) is a professional politician. His position gives him access to knowledge and lends authority. He is taking advantage of our ignorance and trust. Both allow him to lie (manipulate the truth) to us and get away with it. He lies because he knows we would not allow him to do what he is doing if we knew the truth. We would not like what he is doing because it does not favour us, either in the short-term or the long-term. So who does it favour? Preserving the status quo makes his life easier, but also ensures that patterns and conditions of trade remain in the favour ...