NR (or Non-TfL) Photo Quiz (New! 25/07)

[RichieG]

The story...

I was in Cheltenham and on the train back I had to change at Bristol Temple Meads. I had three times - the times printed off the National Rail website, the times from a timetable I picked up at Tiverton Parkway, and some other times that I cannot recall where I got them from. It's not important.

Although there was no real problem in the difference between times, I decided that I should make sure I knew what time the change was, so I decided to ring up the National Rail Enquiries line.

Indian NRE operator: "Hello, how can I help you?"
Me: "Yes, I'm travelling between Cheltenham and Tiverton. I'm leaving at about 9.30; I know I've got to change at Bristol, but I don't know what time the change is."
NRE: "So where are you travelling from?"
Me: didn't I just say that? (thuoght) "Cheltenham,"
NRE: "There's no station in Cheltenham."
Me: (rolling eyes) "Well, okay, it's called Cheltenham Spa,"
NRE: "OK. Where are you travelling to?"
Me: (having not learned my lesson from before) "Tiverton."
NRE: "There's no station in Tiverton."
Me: "Well, Tiverton Parkway then."
NRE: "OK, what time are you leaving?"
Me: "On the 9.27 train"
NRE: "Right, there's no through train - you'll have to change at Bristol."
I then managed to get the time of my change, the whole reason for phoning up in the first place. I then retold the story to my then girlfriend, Sarah.
Sarah: "But there's no station in Bristol..."

[Starkey7]

Tangy, perhaps you should write the British Rail station names out in full. This is for the benefit of us lesser mortals, who do not know what all the abbreviations mean, and would be nicer for newcomers to this forum, too.

...100% of people who guessed first time round (perkyperky and Starkey) errored there.

*erred

[al]

RichieG, the current batch of NRES (National Rail Enquiries Service) operatives seem to be totally incapable of deviating from their script of Where From/Where To/When, even if you try and tell them all of that info up front in order to ask a more detailed question (as in your instance). I have been infuriated many times in the past by this. They also seem to be under orders to always tell you departure time, arrival time and train destination - even when you are asking for a journey with multiple trains per hour and you just want to get a feel of the departure times past each hour and tell them this (such as Putney to Clapham Junction for instance, where all trains go to London Waterloo).

I don't know if it is a language problem, as the main call centre seems to be offshore now, or over enforcement of a set script with the intention of offering a standard service, or both or neither. I guess my infuriation stems from having worked for NRES years ago, so I know the job involved. Although we had a standard script to open and close the call (Good evening, National Rail Enquiries, xxx speaking, how my I help you? / Thank you for calling Connex South Central, goodbye) which was sometimes a challenge to complete before the caller hung up, we were deemed intelligent enough to deal with each call on its own merits. I think it was this that resulted in us constantly being in the top two NRE call centres in the country in the monthly independent survey that took place to monitor us.

Rant over. If you've reached this far, thank you for listening - goodbye!

[tangy]

Tangy, perhaps you should write the British Rail station names out in full. This is for the benefit of us lesser mortals, who do not know what all the abbreviations mean, and would be nicer for newcomers to this forum, too.

You can always request a copy of my excellent NR station codes document- which has virtaully all the NR three letter codes listed upon it (see thread in off topic section).

For those who did not understand my post, here is a key:
--TVP: Tiverton Parkway
--TAU: Taunton
--WSM: Weston-super-Mare (pretty common abbrev. anyway when refering to this town)
--CDF: Cardiff Central
--BTN: Brighton
--PMH: Pompey (sorry, Portsmouth) Harbour
--HAV: Havant
--SOU Southampton (or So'ton) Central

Easy!

[perkyperky]

I try to avoid NR helpline; I just use the text service on my phone. Just text start and finish points and dep. time to 84950 and I usually get a sensible answer texted straight back to me. Anybody else used this?

[palkanetoijala31]

i hope i can get this to come up this is my contribution to the page

[dudey]

None of you will believe me but I actually did know this, but just chose not/forgot to enter.

Being (until recently) a Pompey local, i immediately recognised the small hints of South West Trains livery to the station, and particuarly the design of the lift structure which has been added to many SWT stations in the last couple of years. What with the FGW train going through, and the fact that it looked quite like one of the ones that do the CDF-PMH run, I had it narrowed down. I've travelled this route a few times recently, and the only stops on the CDF-PMH route down there that have had the new lift installation are Fareham and Fratton. Fratton has been my local station for the last 3 years, and this view was certainly not one that can be seen there. I don't know Fareham station well, but I was pretty confident that would be the answer having narrowed it down to just there!

All of this is useless to all of you i suppose, because it's just all based on my own personal local knowledge

[tangy]

After some delays, here is my first quiz of the NR photo Quiz round. Stand back from the platform edge...

So where was I on this rather damp and dreary day? http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr25 ... dreary.jpg

I will give you a week to answer, so that will be the 12th july at 20:00 hours. Answers via PM only as usual.

[tangy]

My first NR photo quiz has now terminated... at Aylesbury Vale Parkway (AVP), which wasn't much fun in the pouring rain on a Saturday afternoon!

Someone has thankfully supllied me with the correct answer, and that someone is greatkingrat.

Others who had an attempt:
--Sam (Denham)
--Edgemaster (Rugby)
--starkey (Knockholt)

Back over to you Richie?

[RichieG]

So there I was, randomly driving around one day when I popped into a supermarket to buy something to eat - some bread rolls, some ham and some Dairylea cheese slices. While eating it, I accidentally photographed a steam locomotive, but where was I when I did this?

I shall give you until Tuesday 20 July at 2359 to send me your PMs

[Sam]

My first NR photo quiz has now terminated... at Aylesbury Vale Parkway (AVP), which wasn't much fun in the pouring rain on a Saturday afternoon!

Pah it looked like Denham.... damn stations all look the same. I've only been to AVP once and it was such a bad experience I do not want to go back

[RichieG]

So there I was, randomly driving around one day when I popped into a supermarket to buy something to eat - some bread rolls, some ham and some Dairylea cheese slices. While eating it, I accidentally photographed a steam locomotive, but where was I when I did this?

I shall give you until Tuesday 20 July at 2359 to send me your PMs

Okie dokey, due to lack of correct answers, it's time for some clues. (i) I don't work in the town this station serves, but there is a related etymology in the two towns. (ii) A certain HST driver in our membership may also have passed me while I was eating my tea, although I cannot say for certain! I'll give you until Thursday 22 July at 2359 for this one.

I'm also off on holiday for the next couple of weeks from Friday so might not be able to put a few more up; I shall leave it to the venerable Tangy and anybody else who might wish to join him. As an aside, does the single-thread method work, or would (subject to moderator approval!) separate threads for each picture be best? Or does this quiz even work in the first place?

[tubeguru]

A certain HST driver in our membership may also have passed me while I was eating my tea, although I cannot say for certain!

As soon as I saw this picture I thought of one station. Is the supermarket anywhere near it? Maybe I'll just PM you my answer.

[moley]

None of you will believe me but I actually did know this, but just chose not/forgot to enter.

Being (until recently) a Pompey local, i immediately recognised the small hints of South West Trains livery to the station, and particuarly the design of the lift structure which has been added to many SWT stations in the last couple of years. What with the FGW train going through, and the fact that it looked quite like one of the ones that do the CDF-PMH run, I had it narrowed down. I've travelled this route a few times recently, and the only stops on the CDF-PMH route down there that have had the new lift installation are Fareham and Fratton. Fratton has been my local station for the last 3 years, and this view was certainly not one that can be seen there. I don't know Fareham station well, but I was pretty confident that would be the answer having narrowed it down to just there!

All of this is useless to all of you i suppose, because it's just all based on my own personal local knowledge

This is where it all gets interesting. Fratton has a slightly lower bridge than most new SWT bridges as the station has a bi-directional avoiding line for non-passenger services. The clear give away was that the bridge is not obscured by an platform building such as at Fratton. It couldn't be Havant as that was not a new bridge - just two new lift towers attached to the existing bridge.

The SWT livery is very clear on the bridge which is a design unique to SWT stations I believe. The picture was taken from the carpark next to the Eastbound platform 3.

As most people know - Fratton is my local station, has been since brith (28 years almost) and I commute daily from it for the last 6 years + 2 years earlier. The new bridge is a bitch as it means they have closed the old bridge.

[dudey]

As most people know - Fratton is my local station, has been since brith (28 years almost) and I commute daily from it for the last 6 years + 2 years earlier. The new bridge is a bitch as it means they have closed the old bridge.

I know the closure of the old bridge entrances is a complete pain in the arse. At first i thought the reasoning for it was they were going to install ticket barriers in the ticket hall, but that hasn't happened, so people now alighting at Fratton (from anywhere other than PMS & PMH) have walk at least half the length of the platform, as well as another set of stairs if you're going back over the old bridge towards Southsea. I never bothered to enquire why they shut the old entrances, any ideas moley?