I totally agree Grahame.

However I guess it's more important how many of the population actually commute than how many live in a town.. Hopefully you don't get to suffer the cattle like services with people crammed in that we do, but knowing FGW^▸ (First Great Western) I imagine you do?

If they remove any more trains from Maidenhead we'll be travelling on the roof I think!!

Well I e-mailed Andrew Haines as a result of this particular delay. The result, a lovely bouquet of flowers and a ^20 cheque. This was of course a very nice gesture.. Now all we need is a reliable service like we used to have a few years ago!

Although I was fortunate enough to not have to get the train this morning, I can assure you that the people of Maidenhead do not generally dawdle. We usually get on the train (dead fast), and sit there for several minutes (most mornings) while we wait for a much more important (late running) long distance train to pass through the fast line before we get a green signal!  If however I am wrong and my fellow Maidenhead commuters chose this morning to get on the train really slowly for once (were you there then?), then I apologise!

Ha ha. I'll take it tongue in cheek.

I don't know about Melksham (not entirely sure how far away it is and I come from wiltshire originally so I should know) but Maidenhead has always been a busy commuter town on the mainline and has always had a fast train at least every 15 minutes, and more, in both morning and evening rush hour.. So, considering those trains were always full and now there are less of them, it's a bit of a cattle truck like service now! 

Does it not worry anyone else that there is no fast train to Maidenhead between the 17.44 (stopping at Slough) and the 18.18 (first stop Maidenhead).. That is a whole 34 minutes with no fast train.. I have told FGW^▸ (First Great Western) this many times yet the same big gap is in the new December timetable. If anyone just misses the 17.44 (due to no fault of their own usually) it is a very long wait until the next train. The old 18.06 before it was removed (first stop Maidenhead) used to be very overcrowded until Maidenhead so obviously there is a need for a train then.

She is doing all she can, but has the same problem as the rest of us, it's a bit like banging your head against a brick wall. In fact it's very like banging your head against a brick wall..

E.g. We tell FGW^▸ (First Great Western) they need to improve reliability, they say it's improving, it doesn't, we tell FGW they need to improve reliability, etc, etc ,etc

Thanks for the credit card tip. My season ticket is up for renewal in December. If I have to renew it (I'm seriously tempted to start driving!) then I will use the tip!

Thanks for that but she already knows all about my experience with FGW^▸ (First Great Western), including this one!

This is the 7.52am from Oxford. Yesterday it was about 15 minutes late and today 20. I can remember whole weeks where it has not arrived at Paddington on time.. zero percent puncuality!!

I asked FGW^▸ (First Great Western) a while back for  the statistics for this particular train and was told in no uncertain terms that they would not take people away from "improving the train service" to provide me with statistics. Well it didn't work. The train is still as bad as ever.

FGWs solution to this particular problem is to remove it from the December timetable. So it won't be late at all after that. What then worries me is that I will already be arriving at Paddington 15 minutes later each day from December, and what if that new later train is late every day too?

I hope my boss in understanding!

Just thought I'd introduce myself since I've just joined FGW^▸ (First Great Western) coffee shop..

I've commuted from Maidenhead to Paddington most days since 1992.. So I have seen the deterioration of the service at first hand.. And it is still deteriorating..

And yet I still have a sense of humour...

Thank you. Yes I did notice the Bloody nose topic. I'm sure First Great Western (or Worst Great Western as I affectionately like to call them) would have refunded my annual ticket by now and would be owing me money! I have had some weeks where my morning train has had 0% punctuality.. WGW have responded to this by removing it from the December timetable. It won't be late anymore then..!

As for today, an ill child ensured I worked at home, and didn't have to suffer any stressful train travel... lovely!

I can hardly wait for tomorrow...

Did anyone else try to get the 18.33 Paddington to Maidenhead tonight like I did. Instead of getting home at 7pm I got home at 8pm.. First the train was delayed, then (after I had tried and failed to get on the 18.44 due to lack of space) when the 18.33 finally arrived, and we'd all got on, it was announced that it was no longer stopping at Maidenhead so as to speed it up a bit....!!!

 So I suffered a nice squash on the 19.14 in the end...

And I pay lots of money for this?