Stansted Gate Train to Nowhere
Mar 30, 2015, 11:32 am
#16
Join Date: May 2004
Programs: BA blue, LH Senator, KQ (FB) gold
Posts: 8,215
Mar 31, 2015, 12:35 am
#17
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,307
Mar 31, 2015, 2:25 am
#18
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Edinburgh
Programs: Still a lowly Blue with BA but inching towards Bronze. Managed to get to KLM Silver!
Posts: 4,308
Regardless of the signage, I still don’t agree with the OP taking a random guess at which of the 4 possible departure points - Gates 1-19, 20-39, 40-51 and the ’Domestic Gates’ 81-88 (non-UK flights do depart from here) - his flight may have been departing from and then blaming STN when he was wrong.
When the Exec Lounge at Gates 1-19 was open they had a process in place to move people from there to the other terminals by car. A complete faff by all accounts and probably why it closed down.
When the Exec Lounge at Gates 1-19 was open they had a process in place to move people from there to the other terminals by car. A complete faff by all accounts and probably why it closed down.
Mar 31, 2015, 2:28 pm
#19
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 7,560
Signs or no signs?
The assumption that there are no signs is based on posts from about half a dozen people... and none of them have said that there are definitely NO signs.
It's a couple of years since I last departed from STN, but I have a feeling, somewhere at the back of my mind, that I may in fact have seen signs warning people about the one-way trains. I may be entirely wrong, I may be misremembering things... but I don't think we should assume there are no signs just because none of that half-dozen people remember seeing them.
It's a couple of years since I last departed from STN, but I have a feeling, somewhere at the back of my mind, that I may in fact have seen signs warning people about the one-way trains. I may be entirely wrong, I may be misremembering things... but I don't think we should assume there are no signs just because none of that half-dozen people remember seeing them.
Mar 31, 2015, 2:44 pm
#20
Join Date: May 2004
Programs: BA blue, LH Senator, KQ (FB) gold
Posts: 8,215
The assumption that there are no signs is based on posts from about half a dozen people... and none of them have said that there are definitely NO signs.
It's a couple of years since I last departed from STN, but I have a feeling, somewhere at the back of my mind, that I may in fact have seen signs warning people about the one-way trains. I may be entirely wrong, I may be misremembering things... but I don't think we should assume there are no signs just because none of that half-dozen people remember seeing them.
It's a couple of years since I last departed from STN, but I have a feeling, somewhere at the back of my mind, that I may in fact have seen signs warning people about the one-way trains. I may be entirely wrong, I may be misremembering things... but I don't think we should assume there are no signs just because none of that half-dozen people remember seeing them.
Apr 3, 2015, 6:41 am
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 66
I think it is reasonable to make an argument that such signs should exist. I am not saying they don't, just that they should exist. if they do, no harm done, if they don't, there is the slight possibility that someone will recognize the error and correct it.
Apr 4, 2015, 10:19 am
#22
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: The electrified part of North Carolina
Programs: UA GM, AA GM, DL GM
Posts: 4,157
It's not a "gate train to nowhere". It's a "gate train for people who know that they're departing from that departure point". You chose to take that train, and then you blame others for your failure to pay attention to simple instructions.
Last edited by UA1K_no_more; Apr 4, 2015 at 10:47 am
Apr 6, 2015, 10:32 am
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 66
Considering that you failed to understand the signs telling you to wait in the main terminal until your gate had been announced, what makes you think that you would have seen and understood a "this is a one-way train" sign?
It's not a "gate train to nowhere". It's a "gate train for people who know that they're departing from that departure point". You chose to take that train, and then you blame others for your failure to pay attention to simple instructions.
It's not a "gate train to nowhere". It's a "gate train for people who know that they're departing from that departure point". You chose to take that train, and then you blame others for your failure to pay attention to simple instructions.
I dont blame anyone for this. Its just enormously rude to treat travelers that way. Ive been through so many airports on my travels and never experienced that kind of shameful attitude towards passengers before. I dont know if there are airport grades but this one definitely deserves an F.
Apr 6, 2015, 12:06 pm
#24
Join Date: May 2004
Programs: BA blue, LH Senator, KQ (FB) gold
Posts: 8,215
I saw that sign. I chose to ignore it, not wanting to behave like the rest of the "sheep" milling about staring at a stupid monitor and coughing germs on each other. But that sign obviously didn't threaten to cause me to miss my flight. The absence of the warning sign about taking the train did threaten this and I wouldn't have taken the train if there had been such..
I dont blame anyone for this. Its just enormously rude to treat travelers that way. Ive been through so many airports on my travels and never experienced that kind of shameful attitude towards passengers before. I dont know if there are airport grades but this one definitely deserves an F.
Apr 6, 2015, 1:59 pm
#25
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 7,560
You chose to disobey signs. They went out of their way and bent over backwards to get you to your gate on time, despite the fact that the situation you were in was entirely your fault.
What's rude and shameful about that???
What's rude and shameful about that???
Apr 7, 2015, 9:33 am
#26
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: CBG
Programs: QR Platinum, ITA Executive, HH Silver, IHG Silver
Posts: 236
Is there any particular reason why you chose gates 20-39? From my knowledge of STN, most (80%?) of Ryanair flights depart from gates 40-59. For those gates, you don't need to take the train either.
Sure, you might have never been to STN and not know about this, but I'm pretty sure a quick glance at the departure board would show that 40-59 is essentially Ryanairland.
However, on the rare occasions that I had to take the train, I found it problematic. Can't remember exactly, but I think I had to go to gates 20-39, and the train PA system said something like "This train is for gates 1-19 only". I got off the train before it left the main terminal, only to find out that it did indeed go to 20-39.
Sure, you might have never been to STN and not know about this, but I'm pretty sure a quick glance at the departure board would show that 40-59 is essentially Ryanairland.
However, on the rare occasions that I had to take the train, I found it problematic. Can't remember exactly, but I think I had to go to gates 20-39, and the train PA system said something like "This train is for gates 1-19 only". I got off the train before it left the main terminal, only to find out that it did indeed go to 20-39.
Apr 7, 2015, 2:57 pm
#27
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Edinburgh
Programs: Still a lowly Blue with BA but inching towards Bronze. Managed to get to KLM Silver!
Posts: 4,308
However, on the rare occasions that I had to take the train, I found it problematic. Can't remember exactly, but I think I had to go to gates 20-39, and the train PA system said something like "This train is for gates 1-19 only". I got off the train before it left the main terminal, only to find out that it did indeed go to 20-39.
Apr 7, 2015, 3:07 pm
#28
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Edinburgh
Programs: Still a lowly Blue with BA but inching towards Bronze. Managed to get to KLM Silver!
Posts: 4,308
I saw that sign. I chose to ignore it, not wanting to behave like the rest of the "sheep" milling about staring at a stupid monitor and coughing germs on each other. But that sign obviously didn't threaten to cause me to miss my flight. The absence of the warning sign about taking the train did threaten this and I wouldn't have taken the train if there had been such.
I dont blame anyone for this. Its just enormously rude to treat travelers that way. Ive been through so many airports on my travels and never experienced that kind of shameful attitude towards passengers before. I dont know if there are airport grades but this one definitely deserves an F.
I dont blame anyone for this. Its just enormously rude to treat travelers that way. Ive been through so many airports on my travels and never experienced that kind of shameful attitude towards passengers before. I dont know if there are airport grades but this one definitely deserves an F.
Please explain why the germs that your fellow passengers were coughing on each other in the massive space that is the STN terminal suddenly stopped once they were onboard a long thin tube that recycles air?
It is clear that you are not going to accept culpability here and that your 1 in 4 gamble was entirely wrong.
Apr 7, 2015, 4:17 pm
#29
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 7,560
Apr 8, 2015, 12:00 am
#30
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 66
The larger issue is why this airport is not run in a passenger friendly manner like every other airport Ive been to in the rest of the world. Why not assign the gate well in advance so people can relax before their flight? I don't even understand how anybody makes flight connections with a one way train. Its totally bizarre.
Last edited by Moderator2; Apr 8, 2015 at 7:27 am Reason: Many for better ways to make a point, without being insensitive