CHINGFORD: Train services reopened after fire (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

Nice to see things haven't changed with the new Abellio 'Greater Anglia' franchise, where the customer is meant to be king!
My train was sat at Clapton Junction for 50 minutes this morning, and then another 15 minutes at Bethnal Green, did we hear any explanation from the driver - no, the silence was deafening. A bit like the lack of response to my email to Abellio about men openly urinating on the Walthamstow Central platform at 08.50 opposite morning commuters! Looks like Abellio have gone to the same customer relations school as Connex and SouthEastern and are treating us an inconvenience.

I was also on that train which stopped for around 45 minutes outside Clapton. In my carriage, I could hear the driver maintaining regular contact with the passengers via the intercom (even though he appeared to have some initial difficulties contacting the signalman). He told us that we were waiting for the similarly stalled train on the other line to pass, then informed us that apparently due to cable theft and the train on the other line having passed its signal we were unable to move until that train had moved on. When we finally arrived at Bethnal Green, and after the driver had attempted and failed to contact the passengers via the train's intercom, we were finally told by Liverpool Street control that the overhead damage was responsible for the loss of the train's intercom facility, that the overhead fire meant trains would not be able to enter Liverpool Street station and that we should disembark and walk to Bethnal Green underground station if we wished to continue to Liverpool Street station. Again, I'm not sure that Greater Anglia can reasonably be blamed for an overhead line fire only a few days after taking over the franchise.

However, this still doesn't excuse those in charge for their actions (or inactions) during the fiasco at Clapton station last Friday night at around 6.15pm when the northbound train was held for twenty minutes whilst the driver told us that, first, a train ahead was blocking the track, then that there was track damage and finally - and after twenty minutes spent sitting on a stalled train - that the signals were frozen to Cambridge and that the train would consequently have to be diverted to Tottenham Hale.

Apart from spreading misinformation and wasting everybody's time (surely it doesn't take a genius to ascertain at an early stage what is at fault instead of repeatedly fobbing passengers off with false information), the cold weather that was predicted days in advance should have ensured that those responsible took proactive measures by ensuring the points did not freeze and consequently disrupt the service and seriously inconvenience their paying customers.

I was also stuck on the Chingford train yesterday morning.

It left Chingford at 8:44am and arrived at Liverpool Street at 10:38am. Meanwhile I was sitting on an unmoving train needing to wee but because none of these companies invest their money properly I wasn't on a train that provides those kind of facilities.

NXEA and GreaterAnglia are a complete farce and never has their 'service' been value for (rapidly increasing) money.