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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2016/aug/24/behind-traingate-we-retrace-corbyns-trip-to-see-reality-of-uk-rail-travel-live
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| Behind Traingate: retracing Corbyn's trip to see reality of UK rail travel – live | Behind Traingate: retracing Corbyn's trip to see reality of UK rail travel – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 1.25pm BST | |
| 13:25 | |
| Martin Belam | |
| Huge thanks to Fran Lawther who has been in charge of updating the live blog while I was filing via my phone during the journey. I was pleasantly surprised to find I had signal for most of the way. I’ve now got myself a place with wifi near the station - and I’ll be picking up some of the points you’ve made BTL and via Guardian Witness. | |
| 1.15pm BST | |
| 13:15 | |
| Martin Belam | |
| We’ve arrived in York, which is looking absolutely gorgeous in the sunshine. The train was on time and there were plenty of seats – even with the number of journalists onboard pestering people for their opinions about UK rail. | |
| 1.10pm BST | |
| 13:10 | |
| Martin Belam | |
| I’ve spoken to Sef who feels the service on the east coast mainline has deteriorated rapidly. | |
| There seems to be this dogma that everything that is privatised has to work better. Well, it works better for the shareholders. | |
| He cites two broken toilets on this train that have forced him to walk further through the carriages. He says it is really important for people to realise how the service has been diminished by the new franchise. | |
| 1.07pm BST | |
| 13:07 | |
| Owen Smith is not the only Labour MP to have weighed into the party leader’s transport row. | |
| I wonder how Jeremy will spin his way out of this one. #traingate | |
| Good spot! https://t.co/aMKcwaDkbL | |
| I don't care about #traingate tbh. If you think JC campaign don't spin you are kidding yourselves. Straight talking honest politics is a lie | |
| Perhaps It was the Hogwarts Express. And all the children were wearing invisibility cloaks. | |
| Reminds of JC denying he'd called for #Article50 invocation but had. Virgin challenges Jeremy Corbyn train footagehttps://t.co/uwB5xoenYg | |
| However, Diane Abbott and John McDonnell focus on the party’s NHS push. | |
| With @jeremycorbyn & fantastic #nhs activists Dr Rishi and Nurse Danielle. At UCLU launching Jeremy's Health Policy. pic.twitter.com/hFMefihdcV | |
| Labour's Shadow Health Secretary @HackneyAbbott and @jeremycorbyn pledge to renationalise the NHS. https://t.co/C3l98kCt5j | |
| 1.00pm BST | |
| 13:00 | |
| Virgin Trains faces investigation by data protection watchdog | |
| My colleague Damien Gayle has more on Virgin potentially being in hot water with the information commissioner: | |
| Virgin Trains faces an investigation by the data protection watchdog after releasing footage of the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, looking for seats on its London to Newcastle service. | |
| Officials at the information commissioner’s office are making inquiries over whether the train operator, owned by Sir Richard Branson, breached the Data Protection Act, which governs the release of such data. | |
| It comes after Virgin accused Corbyn of lying over a claim, filmed and circulated to the press and online, that he had not been able to find a seat on the “ram-packed” train. The Labour leader had used the episode to reiterate his calls for the re-nationalisation of rail services. | |
| An ICO spokesperson said: “We are aware of the publication of CCTV images of Jeremy Corbyn and are making inquiries. All organisations have an obligation to comply with the Data Protection Act and must have legitimate grounds for processing the personal data they hold. | |
| “Where there’s a suggestion that this hasn’t happened, the ICO has the power to investigate and can take enforcement action if necessary.” | |
| According to the ICO’s CCTV code of practice, the disclosure of footage must be “consistent with the purpose(s) for which the system was established”. | |
| In words that seem particularly apposite in Corbyn’s case, it adds: “For example, it can be appropriate to disclose surveillance information to a law enforcement agency when the purpose of the system is to prevent and detect crime, but it would not be appropriate to place them on the internet in most situations. It may also not be appropriate to disclose information about identifiable individuals to the media.” | |
| Virgin Trains declined to comment, although a spokesperson said releasing the CCTV was about setting the record straight after Corbyn made damaging claims about its service. | |
| Updated | |
| at 1.16pm BST | |
| 12.45pm BST | 12.45pm BST |
| 12:45 | 12:45 |
| Martin Belam | Martin Belam |
| We’ve just gone through Doncaster and I got momentarily disorientated because the Unipart rail depot has a London Overground carriage in being worked on. It’s the kind of thing you probably wouldn’t see under Corbyn’s railway policy. | We’ve just gone through Doncaster and I got momentarily disorientated because the Unipart rail depot has a London Overground carriage in being worked on. It’s the kind of thing you probably wouldn’t see under Corbyn’s railway policy. |
| His pledge is to take the railways back into state ownership and deliver a better and cheaper service. Launching the policy last month, he said: | His pledge is to take the railways back into state ownership and deliver a better and cheaper service. Launching the policy last month, he said: |
| Public ownership of our railways is needed now to fix the transport nightmare we are currently faced with, and we know there is overwhelming support among the British public for a people’s railway. It is only by bringing the railways back under public ownership as the contracts expire that we will fix the rail crisis. | Public ownership of our railways is needed now to fix the transport nightmare we are currently faced with, and we know there is overwhelming support among the British public for a people’s railway. It is only by bringing the railways back under public ownership as the contracts expire that we will fix the rail crisis. |
| 12.42pm BST | 12.42pm BST |
| 12:42 | 12:42 |
| Martin Belam | Martin Belam |
| I’ve spoken to one member of the crew, who, perhaps understandably, was a little bit reluctant to go on the record. “You’ve seen what this train is like. It’s like this every day,” they said. The inference is clear. I really haven’t had any trouble finding a seat at all. | I’ve spoken to one member of the crew, who, perhaps understandably, was a little bit reluctant to go on the record. “You’ve seen what this train is like. It’s like this every day,” they said. The inference is clear. I really haven’t had any trouble finding a seat at all. |
| 12.39pm BST | 12.39pm BST |
| 12:39 | 12:39 |
| Angry Corbyn reminds Branson of rail nationalisation plans | Angry Corbyn reminds Branson of rail nationalisation plans |
| Heather Stewart and Damien Gayle have this take on the latest developments in the Corbyn-Virgin row: | Heather Stewart and Damien Gayle have this take on the latest developments in the Corbyn-Virgin row: |
| Jeremy Corbyn has reacted angrily after being repeatedly asked about his public row with Virgin Trains over his account of sitting on the floor of a “ram-packed” service – and reminded the company’s boss, Richard Branson, of his policy to renationalise the railways. | Jeremy Corbyn has reacted angrily after being repeatedly asked about his public row with Virgin Trains over his account of sitting on the floor of a “ram-packed” service – and reminded the company’s boss, Richard Branson, of his policy to renationalise the railways. |
| Corbyn faced numerous questions about the controversy at an event to launch Labour’s health policies in London on Wednesday. | Corbyn faced numerous questions about the controversy at an event to launch Labour’s health policies in London on Wednesday. |
| He said: “I boarded a crowded train with a group of colleagues; we journeyed through the train looking for places; there wasn’t a place for all of us to sit down, and so for 40 minutes or so we remained on the floor of the train, in the vestibule,” he said, explaining that a sympathetic train manager later found him and his team, including his wife, a seat, by upgrading other passengers. | He said: “I boarded a crowded train with a group of colleagues; we journeyed through the train looking for places; there wasn’t a place for all of us to sit down, and so for 40 minutes or so we remained on the floor of the train, in the vestibule,” he said, explaining that a sympathetic train manager later found him and his team, including his wife, a seat, by upgrading other passengers. |
| Asked again by a Sky journalist about what was rapidly dubbed #Traingate on Twitter, a tetchy Corbyn initially refused to answer, before saying he hoped Branson was aware of Labour’s policy of bringing train operating companies into the public realm. | Asked again by a Sky journalist about what was rapidly dubbed #Traingate on Twitter, a tetchy Corbyn initially refused to answer, before saying he hoped Branson was aware of Labour’s policy of bringing train operating companies into the public realm. |
| Read the full story here: | Read the full story here: |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.46pm BST | at 12.46pm BST |
| 12.27pm BST | 12.27pm BST |
| 12:27 | 12:27 |
| Martin Belam | Martin Belam |
| Adam and Adam, who were possibly winding me up about both being called Adam, are in coach B. | Adam and Adam, who were possibly winding me up about both being called Adam, are in coach B. |
| They use this route once every couple of weeks, because they live in London but work for a company that has an office in Newcastle. One of the Adams describes himself as a Labour supporter who likes Jeremy Corbyn. He’s definitely in favour of nationalisation. He says he’s worried that the press have drummed into people that Corbyn is unelectable, and that this has been really damaging to the Labour party. | They use this route once every couple of weeks, because they live in London but work for a company that has an office in Newcastle. One of the Adams describes himself as a Labour supporter who likes Jeremy Corbyn. He’s definitely in favour of nationalisation. He says he’s worried that the press have drummed into people that Corbyn is unelectable, and that this has been really damaging to the Labour party. |
| They do have some horror stories of trains where the air-conditioning or heating has broken so that masses of people have to be bumped up to first class, or train crews have to give away free water to keep people hydrated. On more than one occasion, they say, they have had to do the London-Newcastle route sitting on the floor. | They do have some horror stories of trains where the air-conditioning or heating has broken so that masses of people have to be bumped up to first class, or train crews have to give away free water to keep people hydrated. On more than one occasion, they say, they have had to do the London-Newcastle route sitting on the floor. |
| 12.19pm BST | 12.19pm BST |
| 12:19 | 12:19 |
| Martin Belam | Martin Belam |
| I’ve just had a quick look at your below the line comments on my phone – over 700 already. I can’t really reply to them all on my phone but in general from what I’ve seen, I agree, it’s obviously not a way to find out the truth of what happened on the exact journey that Corbyn made but: | I’ve just had a quick look at your below the line comments on my phone – over 700 already. I can’t really reply to them all on my phone but in general from what I’ve seen, I agree, it’s obviously not a way to find out the truth of what happened on the exact journey that Corbyn made but: |
| Seems like the ideal place to do this reporting is a train. | Seems like the ideal place to do this reporting is a train. |
| One those hundreds of comments came from Mickinthehouse, who has shared what it was like commuting between Leeds and Huddersfield. | One those hundreds of comments came from Mickinthehouse, who has shared what it was like commuting between Leeds and Huddersfield. |
| I live in Leeds. Some years ago I worked in Huddersfield 20 odd miles away. I didn’t need a car at work so wanted to use the train. I used a local station that was the last stop on the line from York to Leeds. I then needed to change trains at Leeds. Frequently the train into Leeds was so full that I was unable to get on because the areas around the doors were full of passengers standing. It used to infuriate me that people would not move down the train so I and others could get on but the basis of the problem was no seats. Too frequently this caused me problems in terms of arriving at work on time and I reverted to driving. Train travel seems to me to be very expensive yet often overcrowded, uncomfortable and inefficient. France is a far bigger country with a similar population. My experience of using trains in France, a much bigger country, suggests they can run a far more effective better quality and cheaper service. Why is this? | I live in Leeds. Some years ago I worked in Huddersfield 20 odd miles away. I didn’t need a car at work so wanted to use the train. I used a local station that was the last stop on the line from York to Leeds. I then needed to change trains at Leeds. Frequently the train into Leeds was so full that I was unable to get on because the areas around the doors were full of passengers standing. It used to infuriate me that people would not move down the train so I and others could get on but the basis of the problem was no seats. Too frequently this caused me problems in terms of arriving at work on time and I reverted to driving. Train travel seems to me to be very expensive yet often overcrowded, uncomfortable and inefficient. France is a far bigger country with a similar population. My experience of using trains in France, a much bigger country, suggests they can run a far more effective better quality and cheaper service. Why is this? |
| 12.12pm BST | 12.12pm BST |
| 12:12 | 12:12 |
| Martin Belam | Martin Belam |
| I just spoke to David who described himself as a Labour voter. He has some strong views on the train incident – describing it as “opportunist”. He says with all the money going into the Labour party it shows incompetence that the leader’s team couldn’t book two seats together in advance. He says before privatisation trains were overcrowded, dirty and unreliable and he wouldn’t want to go back to that. | I just spoke to David who described himself as a Labour voter. He has some strong views on the train incident – describing it as “opportunist”. He says with all the money going into the Labour party it shows incompetence that the leader’s team couldn’t book two seats together in advance. He says before privatisation trains were overcrowded, dirty and unreliable and he wouldn’t want to go back to that. |
| 12.05pm BST | 12.05pm BST |
| 12:05 | 12:05 |
| The Guardian’s Peter Walker has tweeted his take on Traingate. | The Guardian’s Peter Walker has tweeted his take on Traingate. |
| Before I try to forget about the whole sorry farrago forever, here's what I believe is most plausible set of facts on #traingate (1) | Before I try to forget about the whole sorry farrago forever, here's what I believe is most plausible set of facts on #traingate (1) |
| Firstly: it seems there were some free, unreserved seats which JC could have sat on. He & his team said there were no double seats left (2) | Firstly: it seems there were some free, unreserved seats which JC could have sat on. He & his team said there were no double seats left (2) |
| ... and he wanted to sit with wife. My guess is they went down carriages seeking double seats, and spare seats filled up soon after (3) | ... and he wanted to sit with wife. My guess is they went down carriages seeking double seats, and spare seats filled up soon after (3) |
| JC was not only person who found it hard to find seats. There's strong evidence of others sitting in corridors. Virgin do not dispute it (4) | JC was not only person who found it hard to find seats. There's strong evidence of others sitting in corridors. Virgin do not dispute it (4) |
| But it also seems this shortage was in part due to a/ initial chaos and b/ people not wanting to take reserved seats not yet sat in (5) | But it also seems this shortage was in part due to a/ initial chaos and b/ people not wanting to take reserved seats not yet sat in (5) |
| It seems most people were sat down after about 45 mins or so, after train staff did some shuffling round. Includes Corbyn & his team (6) | It seems most people were sat down after about 45 mins or so, after train staff did some shuffling round. Includes Corbyn & his team (6) |
| You can plausibly argue both JC & Virgin right – at some point there seemed to be no free seats, but train not 'ram-packed' for 3 hrs (7) | You can plausibly argue both JC & Virgin right – at some point there seemed to be no free seats, but train not 'ram-packed' for 3 hrs (7) |
| I've been on train which initially appear chaotic and pver-packed, but which calm down after a while as people shuffle about (8) | I've been on train which initially appear chaotic and pver-packed, but which calm down after a while as people shuffle about (8) |
| So, you can theoretically accept JC not guilty of fakery, while Virgin CCTV still shows what it purports to show (9) | So, you can theoretically accept JC not guilty of fakery, while Virgin CCTV still shows what it purports to show (9) |
| Anything beyond that is, of course, up to people's interpretation/judgement/prejudices. Now let us never hear of #traingate again (10) | Anything beyond that is, of course, up to people's interpretation/judgement/prejudices. Now let us never hear of #traingate again (10) |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.32pm BST | at 12.32pm BST |
| 11.57am BST | 11.57am BST |
| 11:57 | 11:57 |
| Martin Belam | Martin Belam |
| I’ve been talking to people in coach C. Susan is heading to Newcastle to visit her sister. She says she has been using this train for 25 years and has never once failed to get a seat. I ask her about nationalising the railways – she says it’s more important that the owner are British. She thinks Corbyn was doing a publicity stunt and she doesn’t have much time for him. She says the only time people are standing in the corridors is to stay by their luggage, not because of a lack of seats. | I’ve been talking to people in coach C. Susan is heading to Newcastle to visit her sister. She says she has been using this train for 25 years and has never once failed to get a seat. I ask her about nationalising the railways – she says it’s more important that the owner are British. She thinks Corbyn was doing a publicity stunt and she doesn’t have much time for him. She says the only time people are standing in the corridors is to stay by their luggage, not because of a lack of seats. |
| Also in coach C is Linda, who is taking her two sons, Robert and Jamie, to Newcastle. She says she always books 12 weeks in advance to get the best price. Susan, who is sitting at the same table, points out that not everybody has access to computers. There’s a long debate about how unnecessarily complicated ticketing is. It’s frustrating that different train companies have different rules, says Linda. But she adds: “I wouldn’t want to go back to British Rail.” | Also in coach C is Linda, who is taking her two sons, Robert and Jamie, to Newcastle. She says she always books 12 weeks in advance to get the best price. Susan, who is sitting at the same table, points out that not everybody has access to computers. There’s a long debate about how unnecessarily complicated ticketing is. It’s frustrating that different train companies have different rules, says Linda. But she adds: “I wouldn’t want to go back to British Rail.” |
| Mentish is on the train travelling for business. I plonked myself down next to him and interrupted him analysing a folder of documents. He says he doesn’t travel that regularly by train but would be in favour of stronger regulation. He wouldn’t support out-and-out nationalisation but would like to see more central control and “accountability” so that train companies are “held responsible for the promises they make”. | Mentish is on the train travelling for business. I plonked myself down next to him and interrupted him analysing a folder of documents. He says he doesn’t travel that regularly by train but would be in favour of stronger regulation. He wouldn’t support out-and-out nationalisation but would like to see more central control and “accountability” so that train companies are “held responsible for the promises they make”. |
| 11.55am BST | 11.55am BST |
| 11:55 | 11:55 |
| Martin Belam | Martin Belam |
| I’ve just had my ticket inspected. Without mentioning that I’m a journalist I try to get a conversation started: “Plenty of spare seats today...,” I say. “Aye, even enough for Mr Corbyn,” comes the reply. | I’ve just had my ticket inspected. Without mentioning that I’m a journalist I try to get a conversation started: “Plenty of spare seats today...,” I say. “Aye, even enough for Mr Corbyn,” comes the reply. |
| And, just as a reminder, this is the footage that started it all: | And, just as a reminder, this is the footage that started it all: |