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If you’ve recently taken a train from Euston station, you’ll know to always prepare for pure carnage. One minute everyone’s stood gawping at the announcement screens, next thing you know a departure changes its status to ‘boarding’ with two minutes to spare and it’s every man for himself as you all stampede towards the platform. You’ve just experienced the ‘Euston Rush’.
The chaos at Euston is now infamous. Last year the Office for Rail and Road said that crowds there had reached ‘unacceptable levels’ and last month passengers were warned to completely avoid it at Christmas. But now, there’s an initiative that could finally see a pleasant, civilised Euston station (imagine!).
Starting this week (October 28), 40 percent of Avanti West Coast services at Euston will start boarding 20 minutes ahead of departure, increasing to 55 percent by Christmas.
On top of that London Northwestern Railway has introduced ‘continuous boarding’ for routes to Birmingham, meaning passengers can board as soon as the previous train departs.
Jonny Wiseman, customer experience director for London Northwestern Railway said: ‘We are pleased to be working together with Network Rail and other train operators to improve the travelling experience for our customers at Euston. We’ll be monitoring the impact of these changes closely as we continue working with partners to make the process of boarding trains smoother across the station’.
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