South Western Trains are selectively cancelling trains as a result of the ASLEF strike. On my line, the train departing at 9,53 has been cancelled meaning we have to buy tickets on the 9.23 to meet our schedule. This means buying a peak time ticket and not being able to use cards which cut in at 9.30 am.
This is going on all week.
It would be fair to offer travellers already inconvenienced , the fair for the train they would have travelled on but this is apparently not possible.
The 9.23 train I was to have travelled on has now been indefinitely delayed so I am left to try and get my fare back from the SWT refund scheme (the best functioning part of the operation – presumably as much used).
Now I am travelling using a taxi to get a train which I will be able to use an off-peak ticket on. That train is operated by GWR. How the non-connected public are supposed to make head or tail of the current chaos isn’t clear, but what is clear is that the more vulnerable you are, the less help you get.
I abhor SWT’s selective cancellation policy that puts profits before customers and makes us pay full fare because the discounted service has been pulled.
I abhor the need to use an online service to get refunds and require people to rearrange travel arrangements using multiple train operators.
Most of all I find the attitude of local, loyal SWT and GWT staff absolutely commendable as they have to deal with customers like me who are at our wits end, trying to go about our daily lives without a car!
The train was supposed to take the strain, now it gives us nothing but pain
