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Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 08 Feb 2008 12:51
by andel
Kevo00 wrote:Well I use National Express a lot, usually on London-Durham, London-Edinburgh or Edinburgh-Durham journeys and had used GNER a lot before that.
so, between London and Edinburgh then!
Usual story, there is not in reality much to be said for a change of name. It'll be interesting to see what its like in a year or so when the novelty wears off and National Express is normal. At the minute they are making a huge push on customer care so that everyone knows who is in charge - the WiFi is now free, but thats presumably because it doesn't seem to work very well and no one would pay for it. They also announce every single ticket restriction on each train which is a bit annoying, and seem to make announcements at every opportunity. Last night on the way back from Edinburgh there was slight delay at a crossing near Alnwick which made the train 5 minutes late. At every station the guy kept announcing how well the train was doing at making up the time, even when it was only 3 minutes late. So they have done a surprisingly comprehensive rebrand but of course its still the same old ECML.
They will push to look better than GNER. It was probably a PR Push by orders of Control. you check with the driver That you Can make up 5 or 10 minutes and the make it up along the route. Its an oldtrick that Virgin have used after operation princess failed and even FGW have used it... I just wish they would use trains and be on-time instead!
Enjoy NXEC- I has EA to deal with instead. Anyone want a rogue 360 to deal with?
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 08 Feb 2008 12:57
by mira666
just threaten it with a hammer, always worked with my PS2
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 08 Feb 2008 15:10
by Dave
The whole rebranding of the entire Network Express company is a good thing, but I think that it ends with the rebranding of Travel West Midlands.
I'm aware of the need for a singular corporate identity but bear in mind that the name has existed in some form or another (used to be West Midlands Travel) for over 30-odd years.
Who knows. I don't see how people are going to be all that bothered.
Then again, I don't see what was "non-NX" about the old liveries of the new buses. Exactly the same but with blue flashes across the side of the vehicle.
So what gives?
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 27 Feb 2008 20:15
by mira666
well its the big day tomorrow, will try and get some pics as well whilst I am travelling, wish me luck peeps
this also means that I won't be around for a week or so, so enjoy yourselves
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 27 Feb 2008 22:28
by Ameecher
Ha, nothing will have changed on 'one' Only a 360, 317 and Mk3 set are in the new colours, it'll be a while before any of the diesels see the new vinyls...
Edit: Oh yeah, some station signs have changed.
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 28 Feb 2008 02:29
by stupidestfool
Anyone seen the group "Don't like the look of you" on facebook? Worth checking out if you've ever had a bad experience with an ECML conductor/ticket inspector...
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 28 Feb 2008 08:20
by mira666
stupidestfool wrote:Anyone seen the group "Don't like the look of you" on facebook? Worth checking out if you've ever had a bad experience with an ECML conductor/ticket inspector...
i would agree with that, i don't think they like me, esp when i sit in first class (with a first class ticket mind) and have got a face full of piercings and eccentric clothes lol
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 01 Mar 2008 13:25
by andel
None of them like me, not since the incident at Newcastle when i was out on the trains... ohhhhh that didn't go down well.
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 01 Mar 2008 15:23
by Sacro
andel wrote:None of them like me, not since the incident at Newcastle when i was out on the trains... ohhhhh that didn't go down well.
...
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 01 Mar 2008 15:45
by andel
it does need to be said that I was in a very good mood that day....
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 01 Mar 2008 17:23
by JamieLei
andel wrote:None of them like me, not since the incident at Newcastle when i was out on the trains... ohhhhh that didn't go down well.
What happen?
PS I'm visiting Prague this easter and should find Andel station ^_^
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 02 Mar 2008 13:08
by andel
take a photo of Andel Station
tycoonez.com are czech, too...
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 04 Mar 2008 19:33
by JamieLei
Will do
I see you've also been there - with the pic on your blog
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 04 Mar 2008 23:04
by andel
they named it after me...
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 09 Mar 2008 19:14
by mira666
ok, i have returned.
Journey up was fine, complimentary food and drink all good
return journey not so good, rude staff on the trolley service who wouldn't accept even a £5 note, dodgy looks from the conducter and the whole carriage stunk of weed
oooer
I think natex will be getting a strongly worded letter of complaint
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 09 Mar 2008 20:27
by JamieLei
mira666 wrote:return journey not so good, rude staff .... wouldn't accept even a £5 note, dodgy looks from the conducter and the whole ... stunk of weed
Sounds just like
National Express West Midlands!
Oh wait - they're the same company.
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 13 Mar 2008 15:30
by orudge
I was on a National Express East Coast train last Saturday, from Edinburgh to Leuchars (so not a great distance). It was quite pleasant - I don't tend to go on HSTs very often, since most of my journeys are down the West Coast Main Line, so it was rather nice to be on a train that was nigh on silent (at least from my point of view). Also, it had a proper Armitage Shanks toilet (along with a "please don't flush at the station" sign
) - much nicer than the airplane-style things I find on Virgin and ScotRail's trains (and, I guess, most other modern trains).
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 13 Mar 2008 18:02
by Ameecher
orudge wrote:Also, it had a proper Armitage Shanks toilet (along with a "please don't flush at the station" sign
)
All it needed was to have a Bidet and you would have been sorted.
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 06 Apr 2008 19:34
by dasy2k1
as far as i can tell NXEC is virtually the same as GNER...
but they have made the cardinal mistake of painting trains white....
(then again so have stagecoach EMT stagecoach blue like the sheffield trams woudl have been better)
Re: National Express East Coast
Posted: 06 Apr 2008 20:19
by JamieLei
I think Stagecoach White looks really nice - both the 222s and 444s look really good in a white basecoat.
The blue is nice but I'd prefer white for intercity - I think it works better.