Station barriers are causing chaos (From Thurrock Gazette)

Yes - since the roadworks started on the A13 for the new road the traffic in the town centre is very chaotic. Traffic is coming through the town centre to avoid the A13 and when the crossing is down for lengthy periods the whole area becomes absolutely gridlocked. I lived in Wharf Road and most days I leave home at 7.40am and struggle to get out of Wharf Road in the first place because of the level crossing. It can take me up to 20 minutes just to get over the crossing. This is leading to people driving on the wrong side of the road and taking chances and I have already seen one accident at the top of Wharf Road where a car was trying to turn right after driving on the wrong side of the road. Until the new road opens I don't see it getting any better.

jinksbella I agree totally with you. I too live on Wharf Road and have even found it difficult to pull away from outside my house in the mornings and I have now resorted to running the school run gauntlet round Copland Road to avoid the end of Wharf Road and still have trouble getting out onto Corringham Road.

Yes the excess traffic avoiding the manorway roadworks is a factor but the train gates being down for so long is ridiculous!

It is also affecting the bus times as they are held up going both ways. On a few occasions now 3 number 100 buses have turned up at the same time going towards Basildon. Which is making people late for work etc. I live near to the Inn on the Green and the traffic there at half 7 onwards is an absolute joke.

well if you are in a car to the train station, why not get out and walk the rest of the way instead of sitting in the car?
If you are in a car why not take an alternate route? there is other ways to other side of the tracks without going across them.... common sense people....

sidimmu wrote:
well if you are in a car to the train station, why not get out and walk the rest of the way instead of sitting in the car? If you are in a car why not take an alternate route? there is other ways to other side of the tracks without going across them.... common sense people....

all very well coming up with that brilliant observation! what about people who want the station car park instead of parking in front of someone's house all day. I've agree with these people sometimes the traffic is backup up to Billet Lane it's ridiculous and it did start when they started the road works.

I think the barrier operators are just lazy. We have a similar problem in Grays High St. Everyone knows the barriers go down for 5 to 6 mins at around 23 & 53 for the c2c trains during the day, but if a freight train is behind one of them they generally stay down even though the freight train doesn't make an appearance for another 10-15 mins, more than enough time to open & shut the barriers, but usually they don't!

It's just as bad in Purfleet too. Sometimes you can wait 15 minutes for a tain and by then you are stuck in a queue and can't turn round

jb411 wrote:

sidimmu wrote:
well if you are in a car to the train station, why not get out and walk the rest of the way instead of sitting in the car? If you are in a car why not take an alternate route? there is other ways to other side of the tracks without going across them.... common sense people....

all very well coming up with that brilliant observation! what about people who want the station car park instead of parking in front of someone's house all day. I've agree with these people sometimes the traffic is backup up to Billet Lane it's ridiculous and it did start when they started the road works.

get the bus to the train station? saves you the outrageous price of parking in the station car park also. get up 20 minutes earlier and ride by bicycle there? plenty of other options other than driving to the train station to leave your car there.
My original response was not regarding the people that need the car park, but more directed to the fools who are moaning they need to get on the other side of the tracks instead of sitting there and waiting, if i ever need to go on to the other side of the tracks i take the manorway and first exit to the other side of stanford, quicker, easier and avoids all the crappy speedhumps in stanford.

sidimmu wrote:

jb411 wrote:

sidimmu wrote: well if you are in a car to the train station, why not get out and walk the rest of the way instead of sitting in the car? If you are in a car why not take an alternate route? there is other ways to other side of the tracks without going across them.... common sense people....

all very well coming up with that brilliant observation! what about people who want the station car park instead of parking in front of someone's house all day. I've agree with these people sometimes the traffic is backup up to Billet Lane it's ridiculous and it did start when they started the road works.

get the bus to the train station? saves you the outrageous price of parking in the station car park also. get up 20 minutes earlier and ride by bicycle there? plenty of other options other than driving to the train station to leave your car there. My original response was not regarding the people that need the car park, but more directed to the fools who are moaning they need to get on the other side of the tracks instead of sitting there and waiting, if i ever need to go on to the other side of the tracks i take the manorway and first exit to the other side of stanford, quicker, easier and avoids all the crappy speedhumps in stanford.

Are you daft? Even the buses are getting stuck and running late! So are taxis! And what if you don't own a bike?

And the whole point is that people are avoiding the manorway due to the traffic there caused by the current roadworks!

You say you use this and yet you seem to have no idea what's going on in and around Stanford.

I am aware of everything that is happening around stanford as i live next to the manorway actually.
Buses have to follow that path regardless to get to the other side of the tracks, you as the driver of the car have a different option and the manorway is not that bad, I have a clear view of the manorway all day everyday and it is a quicker and easier way to go to get to the other side of the tracks, even the current road works are not that bad and i know this as i use it everyday! why dont you all just stop moaning and try my suggestion for a change instead of getting on your high horse.
If you dont own a bicycle then guy one, it will be quicker and easier for you to get to the station while doing you good and getting in exercise and getting fitter.

ok... buses have to stay on route unless the drivers are told they can take an alternative option but car drivers can take an use an alternative route but if you don't live far from the station then walk or cycle its cold so wrap up warm and can taxi drivers can also find an alternative if people use their brains which i have noticed a lot of people don't and as for grays train gates if they are down people can use the stairs... ok so there are people that prams,pushchairs and wheelchairs and even kids with them but 5 or 10 mins to the left of those gates there is a foot bridge and if someone makes a suggestion instead of getting on your high horse why not try it, if there is an alternative way around try it and if it saves time then you've done yourself a big favour

I get the frustration with the train barriers. They can stay down for far too long and that seems to be a trend with the c2c line. It's a problem that needs to be addressed and maybe this story will help push this to the forefront of the operators minds.

Before Purfleet had the bridge installed at Tank Hill Road you could actually get trapped if you were travelling via motor vehicle as the village was cut in half by two crossings. That was mighty frustrating and there was no easy way around it.

As mentioned by other contributors to this story, there are alternative routes to the otherside of the barrier. If you know there's a problem that repeats itself daily you've got to find an alternative approach until said problem ceases to be. It's not ideal but it's madness to get caught out every day by a problem you know about and can predict.

essex guy wrote:
ok... buses have to stay on route unless the drivers are told they can take an alternative option but car drivers can take an use an alternative route but if you don't live far from the station then walk or cycle its cold so wrap up warm and can taxi drivers can also find an alternative if people use their brains which i have noticed a lot of people don't and as for grays train gates if they are down people can use the stairs... ok so there are people that prams,pushchairs and wheelchairs and even kids with them but 5 or 10 mins to the left of those gates there is a foot bridge and if someone makes a suggestion instead of getting on your high horse why not try it, if there is an alternative way around try it and if it saves time then you've done yourself a big favour

I agree. But when the alternative route is blocked and/or so slow moving due to roadworks that it then it rules that out route for the vehicles.

I don't even go over the train lines, in fact I go the total opposite way, but still I get caught up in the traffic caused by the gates being down so long/roadworks etc.

So what do you expect us to do? If you really want to get ridiculous about this, we could get pilots licenses and fly to work instead? Or maybe we can get a ferry going between us all and use the Thames?!

There is no "high horse" just an issue that residents have attempted to resolve quietly with the rail company but have so far been ignored and therefore felt that a voice over a genuine concern needed to be heard. As you can see, there are other places on this line that have the same problem. So just because S-L-H has raised the issue in the local paper before anyone else, it's us that's getting on our "high horses"....hmmm horses....maybe that's an idea!