Very enjoyable trip report. Interesting how passengers are discouraged! Thank you

Thanks, they don't want to run the service and if they can show that no one uses it then closing it isn't a difficult thing to do. If it became popular they'd have more difficulty justifying closing it, I suspect there'll be little complaint about the proposal to close it.

I may have some more pictures on my camera but I'm moving at the moment and I'll have to dig out the battery charger when I can to have a look.

I might get round to doing the afternoon one again with a camera at some point in which case I'll add that trip report to this one.

Have you written to Southern customer relations informing them that the displays were incorrectly indicating one of their services didn't stop at the station and nearly caused you to miss your train? Surely they'd then have to reply to you justifying their actions and I doubt they'd say they're doing it in order to discourage its use.

Surely telling people not to board the train should make this count as not a public service.

Erm I hadn't but now you mention it, I'm tempted ;). It is true that my friend Jenbel did almost get left on the platform when the doors shut prematurely and she'd travelled a long way to do this train journey. She also might not have known to get on that train if I hadn't been there.....I feel an email might need writing as I'm now dying to hear their response.

I don't think I understood it but I enjoyed the report, how very British :D

Indeed they do, the trains where it says "niet instappen" (do not board) are usally trains that have broken down (happens frequently) or are waiting to be moved to a depot.

Aah but in this case it is a scheduled passenger service that is in the timetable and the train company are just trying to avoid carrying passengers on. However in Belgium it sounds like these are genuinely "out of service" trains that wouldn't normally carry passengers.

True, but if the NMBS would do such a thing, there'd be an outrage all over the country (the NMBS is still state-owned, so it is 100% financed with taxpayers money. Even if they cut trains, there is usually an outrage (partly because the trains that are cut are usually quite popular ones).

I'm planning on the PM run from Wandsworth Road back to Kensington (Olympia) on Friday 19 Oct. Hopefully we'll see you (and perhaps more FT'ers) there!

Just happened to come across this on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18644343

I'm guessing this is somewhat similar to the train you guys took?

Yes that's exactly what we took (although a different train) and they are a real quirk of the British railway system. Our particular one is going to be stopped in December hence the need to do the trip sooner rather than later.

Indeed......quirky but nice trip report. ^

Had to laugh at the bit Jenbel nearly got left behind on the platform.....what a shame. Would have been a hoot though had she not got on. :D

It actually runs from Clapham High Street (CLP)at 16:11 in the afternoon and then goes through Wandsworth Road, and if you want the full experience you need to start there. If I'm free I'll try and make it but no guarantees.

We were laughing very hard when she eventually got on, might not have been doing so if she hadn't. I was seriously going to use the "talk to the driver" function and the emergency button if there was no response.

Really? I didn't see that in the schedule. But then again, I'm not terribly familiar with British Rail schedules. :p

So the routing is Clapham High Street - Wandsworth Road - Kensington (Olympia)?

Is the fare still the same?