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“Pretty much forced to use these trains”

written by adamcoombes on 09/12/2015

I am a college student, and I need to take the trains from Caerphilly, to Cardiff Central, then to Pencoed. I have a rail card so I can travel for free.
Where do I start? The trains are never longer than 2 carriages long, which would be fine, if I wasn't travelling at 7 in the morning. The trains are crammed with people, leaving absolutely no breathing room. You should not be surprised if you find yourself suffocating because there is no oxygen left. The seats are filthy and packed with dust and grime. If you were to slap the seat, a dust cloud would rise. Ironically, the cleanest place on the train are the toilets. Around 2 metres of acceptably clean room. Between Caerphilly and Thornhill, there is a fairly long tunnel, and it's not too unusual for there not to be enough electricity for lighting. So you spend 5 minutes in total darkness, standing and unable to breathe. Basically torture. While the Penarth train is reliable on time, it's very common for the other schedules to be ignored leaving trains arriving late, early... a new record is a train from Cheltenham arriving 3 hours late. 3 HOURS. By no stretch of the imagination is that acceptable. The staff, very few are polite. Expect many a sigh and dirty look. I have witnessed 2 10 year olds travelling via train, requesting a child's discount. The ticket man asked for ID, when ID isn't given until they are 16 years old. What. Sure, a 16 year old can look 18 with some effort, but how can a 10 year old, with less hair than a mole rat, look older than 16?
The worst journey I have encountered thus far was a signal fault. No biggie, it'll be here within 20 minutes. Try 45. It wasn't the fact that I arrived late, it was the journey itself. At least 500 people crammed into 2 carriages. Me, and a young woman almost collapsed from heat exhaustion and suffocation. 500 people, stopped at a busy station, ignored the train because there was simply no room. Occasionally someone would fall out when the doors opened. I saw a mother putting her child up on the overhead luggage racks, so he wouldn't get trampled by a stampede of commuters desperate for oxygen

If possible, avoid arriva trains. These trains should only be used as a desperate measure, take a bus or taxi, for your own sake.