I've had a crap morning so far and most of it is due to NXEC.

For those that don't know, there are 2 car parks at Peterborough station. One north of the station and another south. Commuters parking in the south car park access the platforms via the main building. Until this morning, Motorcyclists and commuters using the north car park could access the platforms via a gate which NXEC and GNER before them, kept open between 6 - 9.30am and 4 - 7.30pm. This morning there was a notice on the north gate stating that 'for reasons of safety, this gate will be permanently closed from Jan 28th'. For fucks sake. Safety reasons! What safety reasons? How dangerous can a gate be? Do NXEC beleive that us commuters get so excited about being able to access the platfors without trudging down to the main building that we loose all common and rush ontyo the platfors delerious with joy only to fall onto the tracks in blissful joy? By my mind, what the notice should have said is 'this gate will be permanently closed becasue we can't be arsed to man it properly.

From my point of view, it's no big deal to walk down to the main building. However, for those using the north car park or those running late, this gate was a life saver (or train saver) as it meant customers stood a good chance of making their train without runnign an extra 500 yards down to the main building. What's insensed me most are the lies they have told to justify closing it. There are NO SAFETY issues using this gate. How unsafe can it be walking through an open gate? In my opinion, NXEC think there are shed loads of customers using this gate and boarding train without a ticket which there isn't. Under GNER, they used to have a man or two checking tickets on this gate and if you ask any of the regular platform staff if anyone has ever been caught using this gate without a ticket, they would say not really.

The other thing that pissed me off this morning was the lack of seat reservations AGAIN. So far this year, NXEC have not once issued the seat reservations on a monday morning. This morning was particularly busy and each vestibule was full of people (including myself) standing. Being a seasoned commuter, I know Mondays are going to be bad which is one reason I reserve a seat. It irks me no end when I have to stand becasue NXEC can't be arsed to sort their own problems out and provide the service I've paid and gone to the trouble of securing. Some of us regulars suspect NXEC are deliberately witholding seat reservations on a monday morning becasue they know it's going to be busy and it's easier for them to do this than deal with the complaints from non Peterborough commuters who can't get a seat. They never do a ticket check when it's like this either becasue the guards can't face the complaints from people who have reserved a seat but don't have one becasue of THIER incompetence.

The final complaint has to do with punctuality or lack of it. One again the 07.20 was 3 mins late into Peterborough and 8 mins late into Kings Cross. Not good enough. 8 mins is neither here nor there for me, but for other catching connecting services, 8 mins can mean the difference between catching and missing your connection.

NXEC seem to be pissing me off more than GNER did and until recently, I didn't think they would.