Children left on rail platform
Friday 26th June 2009, 12:13PM BST.
Children were left in tears after a packed train from Shropshire left them standing on the platform.
Passengers who managed to get onto the two-carriage Arriva Train Wales train from Shrewsbury to Barmouth on Wednesday said the carriages were so full the heat was unbearable. Many were left standing for the long journey.
At least six young children also had to sit on the floor of the train, while another group were left standing on the platform at Newtown as the train was too full for them to board.
ATW has apologised for the incident. Maggie Abbott, ATW spokeswoman, said the service will now use four carriages instead of two.
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No surprise really, Arriva in my experience are useless can’t run buses or trains to save their lives, tried to e-mail them once, no reply
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Sounds like the part of the plot for a remake of “The Railway Children”. The children’s father would be arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for taking them train spotting, meanwhile the genial porter would be sacked when he was found not to have undergone an enhanced CRB check.
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The trains used by Arriva were built in 1990-91 and were due a refit some time ago. The air-conditioning is known to be not up to the task in high summer and when the train is full, thats why you sometime see the windows open.
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Arriva Trains Wales must be the worst rail operator in the country, it`s about time they were booted out and another capable operator given the task of running a decent train service for Salop. The service goes from bad to worse each time you travel nobody cares about us the fare paying passengers, as the service is so bad perhaps ATW should allow free travel on its trains until improvements are made?
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Re lanexams.
Had it not have been for the support, politically and financially that ATW receive from the Welsh Assembly, they almost certainly would have lost the franchise long ago.
As a company, Arriva had previously been awarded franchises on Merseyside and in Yorkshire.
They were removed from both before the end of their terms, yet still get awarded others!!
Their class 158 units are a disgrace, when compared to 158′s used by other operators.
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I used to travel from Shrewsbury to Wellington every morning, Yet I would rather travel on the London Midlands service and arrive at Wellington 30 minutes earlier!!!
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