Bernard Ginns: Hot and bothered as passengers feel the pain on the train

“Thank you for travelling with East Coast,” it said. “We hope you enjoyed your journey and had a good trip.”

Unfortunately, Sunday’s journey was awful and one of the worst I’ve endured here or abroad.

It was a reminder of just how shockingly bad public transport can be in the UK, which is supposed to be one of the world’s major economies.

Sunday was a sweltering hot day. When it’s hot outside, we expect it to be cool inside. On the contrary, the 1705 London to Leeds service was like an oven in some carriages.

Red-faced passengers poured with sweat. Elderly ones looked like they were struggling for breath, while the very young cried in discomfort.

The air conditioning was broken, a fact I confirmed by seeing the fault light on a control panel between carriages.

But staff initially seemed to be in denial. After 45 minutes with no acknowledgement, a flustered guard announced via the intercom system that the train would be cancelled at Peterborough and he would be getting off.

He followed this up with a second announcement that those who wished to stay on board could do so, as a manager would be taking the train on to Leeds.

Like many others, faced with the choice of being stranded in desolate Peterborough or making it home for the night, I chose to stay on board.

The remaining two hours of travel were very uncomfortable in spite of the free water on offer.

It was not a pleasant experience and stepping off the train at Leeds I felt worse than after a 10k run.

East Coast’s follow-up email asked me if I would like to consider first class next time. Perhaps I will – if it includes air conditioning as part of the package.

The price will probably put me off though, as value for money is not something that any sane person associates with railway travel in this country.

This is particularly so on the East Coast service, which has been ranked the worst-performing operator in performance tables for train punctuality.

The eternal optimist inside me, the bit that hasn’t been totally eroded by years spent reporting on political and economic affairs in Great Britain, would like to believe that things will be better when the East Coast service reverts to the private sector.

Somehow I doubt it. However, Elaine Holt, the chairwoman, believes the line is the “jewel in the crown” of the country’s rail network and could be run profitably and successfully.

This is despite the last two franchise winners – GNER and National Express – both giving up control of the network because it was proving too costly.

According to the National Audit Office, the collapse of the National Express East Coast rail franchise in 2009 will have cost taxpayers up to £380m in lost revenue by the end of next year.

This hardly augurs well for its return to the private sector.

East Coast said yesterday that it would continue to operate the service “at least until the end of 2012”.

A spokesman added: “With outside temperatures reaching more than 28C, we did receive some reports of overheating problems yesterday in a small minority of carriages within some of the 44 train sets operated by East Coast.”

It seems to be a recurring problem. Rolling back the years, GNER inherited some issues with air conditioning systems when it took over the franchise in 1996.

In a “warm welcome” to customers, the operator promised investment in air conditioning to improve travelling conditions for the paying customer.

It seems the next franchise holder will need to as well – as a top priority.

East Coast claims that there were no reports of passengers being taken ill on its trains on Sunday. During a long, hot spell it might not be so lucky.

The operator might need to revisit some its policies. At present, it doesn’t have any specific health and safety guidance on safe temperatures on its trains, preferring instead to offer alternative seating and cold water and call for a fitter if available.

That looks more like a sticking plaster than a permanent solution to me.

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