Merseytravel.....I guesss you can't be all bad...but I still can't love you

I've had a turbulant relationship with Merseytravel this past six months. For those of you who don't know who Merseytravel is (I have heard that my blog is read as far away as Formby), it is our local travel operator who seem to be boss of trains, buses and ferries. I'll start with some background info, I gave up my car about 6 months ago, and ever since have had to become life dependant on all that Merseyrail does. To be honest, I was never really familliar with public transport before then, so it was all a little new to me, but I was sure it couldn't be that complicated. Well it wouldn't be if the organisation had some sort of consistency. My first major encounter resulted in me being fined ten pounds, and told I was a liar. The story goes thus; I got to to my local train station and there was a long queue of angry customers and no sign of rail staff, and whilst queueing the train pulled in so, I decided to get on the train, in order to pay at my destination. I thought this was reasonable, but apparently not. When I reached my destination, I freely approached the unattentive guard and offered to pay full fare, I didn't even try to blag that I had got on at a closer station, I'm an honest guy. I was told that because I had boarded without a ticket I was liable to pay a ten pound fine. So it's my fault they don't employ enough staff at my local station to keep the queue's down. It's my fault that they haven't invested in ticket machines is it? Ofcourse it is! It's certainly my fault for being honest when I could have just walked past yet another Merseytravel employee who wasn't doing their job properly, and have never been seen again. But I had to go and be good. But ofcourse I'm not honest am I, I'm a cheat that bunks trains, and furthermore when I honestly tell them my address for them to bill me, I get told I'm dishonest, infact I'm virtually called a lier. Because this little hitler who wishes to fine me, actualy wants to try to do his job properly, and rather than phoning my local station to confirm my queue story, chooses to ring his colleague to confirm my address using the voters role, only the dim Merseyfuckwit at the other end of the phone line is incapable of doing his job properly, and tells hitler that I am lieng about my address. WHAT?! 'Maybe it's only seven years I've lived there then, not eight' I concede. So he checks again, and naturally that proves I do actually live in my house, but by this time, I may as well have waited for the next train at my station and stayed in the queue. And to add to my embarassment one of my work colleagues has turned up with a ticket. Great! I look like a a tight arsed train bunking twat. I did appeal, but I lost. Then this week, they only go and try to save themselves. Me and a friend of mine went to get the train from Liverpool central station. We paid for our tickets, and went to the usual platform. It was late, we were tired, and it was the last train. We read the digital information board, which explained there was going to be a rail replacement bus service for part of our journey due to engineering work. I can accept that, these things happen. So we patiently counted down the number of minutes the board informed us till our train was to depart...5 mins...4 mins...3 mins...2 mins...1 mins (that's actually what the board said)...then...a blank board..no train in sight, and no more info! We were understandably puzzled, and then it dawned on us, today, the train decided it was going to use a different platform. How nice of Merseytravel to inform us! And just to re-iterate, it was the last train. So I went to speak to a guard, who just kept telling me the train had left and there were no more trains, and it had gone from platform 2. I know this now, don't keep telling me over and over again, why didn't you tell me before?! I soon realised I was speaking to a robot, and being the competent consumer that I am, I asked to speak to the station manager. He sent me over and I explained my situation to the manager. His response was, to phone someone (they like that) to confirm that the train had actually passed through the station. I knew the answer to that, I had told him that I knew that, why don't these people listen? Then he told me there was engineering work, I also knew that. Then he told me I should check the boards on each platform. Really? Why should I, the train appeared to be coming to the same platform it had come to for the last six months 75 times a day. Should I trek about checking all the platform notice boards to check for platform changes every 30 seconds, or maybe the train will come earlier at another platform one day, or maybe even travel along a different line? Obviously the onus is on me to expect these likelihoods and phone evry station frequently when wanting to go home. Or maybe a simple tannoy announcement would have sufficed, or a simple updating of the electronic notice board from whoever it is that sits in their cushy office playing with the computer that operates it, or maybe they are too busy using the phone. Anyway I was complaining to the station manager who was in no way whatsever goign to accept responsibility, and so that was it..we were off, we were going to walk the 10 mile walk in the freezing cold dark. When suddenly from nowhere, like a shining light, the manager told his colleague "I'll get them a taxi". I was absolutley gobsmacked, this person, Peter Robinson, was going to get Merseyrail to pay for our taxi home. For a moment, all was forgiven. Amazing, inconsistent, and customer saving.
Bless Peter Robinson.