York woman Janet Mawer relates her own tale of rail misery

I RETURNED from a holiday in Italy on Saturday, travelling back from Gatwick to York by train. My Saturday evening journey from Kings Cross to York took no less than six hours!

To begin with, we were initially told the 6pm train would be delayed by 15 minutes so it could be cleaned - it had been late in reaching Kings Cross.

After sitting on the train for about a quarter of a hour we were then told that there were power lines down at Stevenage and that until they had been inspected we would not move.

We eventually set off at 7.45pm, with no guard on board. We were due to pick one up at a station along the track, which would only require a two-minute stop. It took 25 minutes.

There were youths on the train consuming large amounts of alcoholic drinks, the transport police evidently got on at Peterborough after a warning about drinking and an assault on one man, but only came down to our end of the train nearer York and disregarded the cans/bottles on one table. The toilets by this time were not working. We were not offered any free drinks or food as I think we should have been on a long delay.

After a few more stops and starts we finally arrived in York just before midnight. People who had missed connections were sent off in taxis or put up for the night in York by GNER. I had to wait 20 minutes for a taxi home. On outward and inward journeys nobody even checked my ticket.

On the folder with my tickets in it says "GNER has set the foundations for a new golden age of travel, by setting higher standards of comfort and speed - and a service centred upon you, the customer".

A quality statement indeed! I will be sending a copy of this to GNER.