I have had many horrendous experiences travelling by train over the years, but nothing to surpass last night’s journey from hell while returning home from reporting on Sheffield United against Middlesbrough.
Let the train take the strain has always been my mantra when covering the Blades whose city centre ground is a pain to access by road.
Between 35 and 40 minutes from Stockport to Sheffield and door-to-door from my home to Bramall Lane often inside an hour is far less stressful and less time consuming than sat behind the wheel negotiating the hairpin bends of Woodhead Pass or Snake Pass on winter’s nights.
The one worry is the return journey and the fear the last train, the 23.28 from Sheffield to Manchester Piccadilly, will be cancelled and I am stranded.
Due diligence, therefore, is essential if only for my peace of mind. That entailed a check online late afternoon before leaving home and then making my purchase from the ticket office at Stockport.
Both confirmed the service was running on time, though there was an issue with engineering works which entailed part of the return journey being on a rail replacement bus.
Nothing to worry about the ticket office attendant assured me as he printed out the details.
Alight at Chinley station at 12.08am and the rail replacement bus would leave at 12.15am, arriving at Stockport at 12.47am.
The train’s destination remained Manchester Piccadilly via a different route which meant it would not call at all stations between Chinley, a village on the fringe of the Peak District, and Stockport.
As I was the only passenger to alight at Chinley, the thought crossed my mind that I might have my own personal bus.
However, leaving the station there was no sign of the transport by the sign ‘rail replacement bus from here’ and the first pangs of anxiety struck.
As it is a village station, it is unmanned and therefore nobody to speak to.
The street beyond me was deserted and it quickly became obvious no rail replacement bus would be coming into view.
Plan ‘B’ was to find alternative means off transport as I frantically began to google for taxi firm numbers.
But in a village and its rural surrounds, that is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. I located several around Chapel-en-le-Frith which again is barely more than a village.
Trying to get a phone signal in this hilly area was challenging as numbers either rang out or it was impossible to get a connection.
With my phone battery dwindling, I desperately attempted to contact a family member but by this time it was around 12.45am and her phone was switched off. I also sent a text which, by some fluke, she heard the message ping, and she drove to my rescue.
The journey home took almost three hours, but it was conceivable I could have been stuck in Chinley until morning – quite worrying when it is a winter’s night with temperatures barely above freezing.
There was little or no shelter at the station which plunged into total darkness about 12.30am when the lights were switched off.
I lodged an official complaint with the Northern rail franchise today which they are investigating.
Happily, it ended far better than it might have been.
Can you imagine the scenario had it been a blizzard – they get them in the hills at this time of year – and to be stuck out in that weather.
What if I had been a frail 80-year-old or a women with a young child in similar circumstances as several people have pointed out they could easily prove life threatening at this time of year
Northern has a duty of care to its passengers and last night it failed totally and it needs to be accountable for its failings.
Ironically this morning – and before I lodged my complaint – I received a survey from Northern asking me whether I would recommend their service to my friends.
I had to score their service between zero and 10 – no guesses for what number I wrote and the written response to explain why.