That’s nice then. You wait in Moorfields for the 5:36 to West Kirby, and it doesn’t turn up. No announcement, just a big space where the train should be standing at the platform.
The ‘Information Board’ was totally cocked-up, changing every minute or so with what appeared to be a random selection of train destinations and times. There was an announcement that the the Chester/Ellesmere Port trains were in a mess, but that was all. My Brother and I were left wondering (like a few others, I suspect) whether we had somehow missed the 5:36 to West Kirby perhaps.
But no, it was indeed late, as I found out when it finally arrived in Moorfields at about ten to six. The ‘Information Board’ said that there was another one immediately behind it, but bearing in mind that the board had been changing like a fruit machine display, I decided to board the first train that was hopefully going my way – along with anyone also going to Chester as well, as the announcement told them to do.
Imagine the looks on my fellow passengers faces when the cattle truck- like train pulled into Conway Park and the guard announced that because the train was late it was now cancelled, and we were all to get off and stand on the platform to await the next one !
It is absolutely no wonder that people don’t believe in the Merseyrail PPM figures – I overheard a chap next to me saying that he believed they cancelled the train to avoid it being counted as late, and it is hard to argue with him. Why the bloody hell else would you piss people off like that – passengers who have paid for a journey that is already late, the delay has not been explained to them, and then you turf them off the train “because it’s late”?
Until I see a categoric explanation of how the PPM figures are calculated – I’ve searched the internet and can’t find an authoritative answer to this – I’m inclined to the popular belief that they are rigged. From a passengers perspective, it’s an almost unavoidable conclusion. And I’m not the only one who shares it.
UPDATE:
In an effort to get to the bottom of the question about the PPM figures, I have written to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) as follows:
Good evening,
I am writing to ask if someone from your office can explain to me, in non-technical terms that a layman can understand, how the Public Performance Measure (PPM) figures for a rail operator are calculated.
My specific interest is in an explanation of under what circumstances (if indeed there are any) a train does not count toward the operators PPM calculation, or if there is a circumstance(s) for which an operator can claim an exclusion for a particular train journey.
I have tried to find the answer to this question myself, and can only find conflicting explanations.
Your help with this request would be greatly appreciated.
Best Regards
I will post thier response when I receive it, and I can then hopefully either confirm or disprove the common belief that the figures aren’t worth the posters that they’re printed on.
