Poundland hits back after rail campaigner compared station to chain

Angry Poundland hits back after rail campaigner compared under-fire train station to the budget shopping chain: ‘Our stores have never failed to open because of the wrong kind of rain!’

  • Bristol Temple Meads station is set for a major multi-million pound revamp 
  • David Redgewell of South West Transport Network compared it to the chain
  • Poundland hit back and said its was not subjected to ‘mythical timetables’ 

Budget store Poundland has hit back after a rail campaigner compared an under-fire train station to the chain.

Bristol Temple Meads station had previously been described as the ‘Poundland of national rail stations’, during a meeting to discuss its future.

Poundland have hit back at David Redgewell of South West Transport Network, who made the comments during a meeting where a multi-million pound revamp of the station was being discussed.

In a tweet Poundland poked fun at the rail industry and said its stores weren’t overcrowded and were not subjected to a ‘mythical timetable’.

Bristol Temple Meads station (pictured above) is set to undergo a multi-million pound revamp

Poundland hit back at a campaigner who compared the rail station to the chain store (tweet pictured above)

It wrote: ‘Don’t bring us into your rail fail @RedgewellDavid @networkrail.

‘Dear Mr Redgewell, we were somewhat irritated by your description of Bristol Temple Meads as a ‘Poundland’ station on Bristol Live.

‘Frankly our 18,000 colleagues are a bit fed up of people using the name of their company to describe things that may or may not be a shambles.

‘Let me be clear. Our stores have never once closed due to overcrowding. They have never failed to open because of the wrong kind of rain.

‘They run to time, not to some mythical timetable that’s the figment of Network Rail.

‘When we sell something for £1, it’s not five times the price if you buy it before 9.30am or after 4.30pm.

‘Mr Redgewell – I would urge you to think of an adjective that more properly describes the shambolic state of the rail network and leave us out of it.

‘If not, you’ll find our lawyers react rather quicker than the 10.41 to Yate.’

It was signed off: ‘Love, Poundland.’

An aerial view of Bristol Temple Meads station above which shows its proximity to other places in the city 

More than 1,500 thousand people liked the tweet, with it also having been retweeted nearly 500 times.

This is while Network Rail Western responded to Poundland and said ‘can’t we be friends?’ and highlighted what it would be doing to change the ‘mythical timetable’.

It said: ‘Train performance in the west is the best it’s been for years and the ‘mythical timetable’ will change in December with journeys from Bristol up to 17 minutes quicker – all without the use of any unicorns!’ 

During the meeting, which was comprised of the leaders of Bristol, B&NES and South Gloucestershire councils, Mr Redgewell told Weca’s Joint Committee members, that he hoped money would be allocated to the station because it ‘was the worst’.

He said: ‘It’s the Poundland of national rail stations.

‘This is a gateway to the South West of England.’

The new funding will see over £26 million being ploughed into the area with a new eastern entrance to Temple Meads station and into Temple Quarter being created.

This is set to extend the existing passenger subway, used to access platforms, directly through to the development site nearby, where the University of Bristol is also building a new £300 million enterprise campus.

In response to Mr Redgewell’s comments, Network Rail said after the meeting that the Grade II-listed building was the ‘jewel in the crown of Brunel’s railway’ and had recently seen several improvements, including new gate lines for passengers, more bicycle space and extra seating.

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