Great Western Coffee Shop

I'm booked PAD-WOR direct on Sunday.  First class AP, but seat in Coach D, so must be IEP!

How do they work with the short platforms south of Bristol.  As there is no way to walk from unit to unit, I guess they have to stop in such a position that the back 2 cars of set 1 and front 2 cars of set 2 are platformed? 

Or does someone come through the train at Bristol and ensure everyone remaining in the back half is going to Weston?

Cheers
Alan

At present, the rear 5 doors are locked out of use between Bristol and Weston/Taunton.

In the future the train will split at Bristol however there are currently some issues meaning this can not happen.

Great, thanks.  So I should head for the front unit at Pad, even if the thing is in reverse formation with ABCDE at the back. To save messing about at BRI.

Can someone please explain, preferably in words of one syllable, why GWR are dragging 5 coaches of fresh air around, while the other 5 coaches are usually rammed solid ? It makes me want to force the other half of the train open, and I am sure that thousands if not millions feel the same way.

If it is the RMT/DFT playing silly buggers again can we not at least lock up /M(N)ick Cash and Failing Grayling in one of the locked OOU sets, trundle them around the network in a heatwave, without food, water, air conditioning or toilet facilities, and not let them out until they have come to an agreement ?

I notice that this is my 1066th post. Could Flailing Grayling be marching south from Stamford Bridge ( no,not Chelsea) to do battle at Battle with Mick who could probably just stay more or less where he is.

Curve too sharp at Bristol to split or join trains?? 10 coach trains too long to open doors from there to Taunton. So ten in train but just five in use.

Sorry - "Bristol" and "Taunton" both have two syllables and the word "syllables" has three!

Is that really the case?
Wasn't splitting at Temple Meads part of the original plan?
Did nobody check that was actually possible?

You are selectively quoting me  :D - I added two question marks after my comment to indicate I was unsure without going into multiple syllable words.

I believe they have found some problems in coupling / uncoupling mid-journey a Bristol and I not sure of current status on those.  Could be the curves,  issues with the new signalling systems and the trains drawing up to each other, issues with the train computers and reservation systems resetting when a train is split / joined, or simply not enough IET trained drivers / conductors to shunt the 5 car empty set.

The requirement was for 120 m radius, and 2 minutes to do it. That's tighter than the normal minimum track radius (200 m), or any of the exceptional minimum radii (though tighter curves exist in sidings "because they are there", and with some train types banned). What the platform lines at BRI are I don't know, but I suspect a bit more than 200 m. Incidentally, new station platform curves have to be at least 1000 m - though I struggle to believe that's a hard "must do" figure.

The trains will have been designed to do that and tested to confirm it. But as Graham says, that does not guarantee that GWR staff can to it operationally with the reliability they need, for a variety of reasons. Ideally the designers would have talked to the customer's staff beforehand, but I doubt that happened on IEP. So the issues my be minor, even rather silly, ones and that can be fixed quite simply, but it still takes time. After all, if you are embarrassed to have got it wrong once, you don't want to jump in with a quick fix and find you've got it wrong again.

Don't want to worry you undually Alan, as a regular commuter out of Weston to Paddington, I always get a reservation and more times than not recently the IEP has been replaced by an HST and the service becomes a "free for all" with no reservations

May want to keep your phone app ready for the platform at Paddington before announcement. My journey last Thursday back was full and standing from London all the way back to Chippenham

Thanks for the warning.

TBH I'd prefer it if a proper HST did turn up!

Unless they declassify first it shouldn't be a problem getting a seat, and I normally find the platform number and board the train a good 10 mins before anyone else ;-)

Cheer,ls,
Alan

Considering IET's will start running to Cornwall next month, decoupling 5 at Plymouth, GWR need to get their act together, it think more than anything its just the unions kicking off anything for a payrise, and staff training being late and poor.

Just as an update to this, total GWR Farce!  Arrived at Paddington about 1850, to allow plenty of time in the lounge (train booked 2000).  Noted that the 1926 to BRI was canx, so realised would need to be on the ball to find the platform for the 2000 before everyone else!  But after 10 mins in the lounge, noticed now the 1926 was running and it was the 2000 that was canx!  Spoke to the receptionist, who made a call and then advised getting the 1926 and then another train from BRI to WOR. Now since the only train after that to WOR was the canx 2000 off Pad, I figured that was not overly helpful, and in actual fact would be better getting the 1933 to BPW, as at either Bristol station I'd need a lift home, and even without the roadworks in temple way, BPW is easier to get to than BRI from outside the city!

This train was 7 mins late leaving due to train crew late arriving on a delayed service, but a proper HST reverse formation so first was nice and empty.  However after departing RDG I learnt that GWR changed their minds yet again, canx the 1926 and resurrected the 2000.  Even so, decided it was not worth the risk of bailing at SWI and finding a 5 car IET rammed with 2 HST-worth of pax, and continued to BPW.  Arrival back in WOR was before the ex-2000 was due anyway, so overall it worked out, no thanks to GWR but big thanks to my friend!

Paddington staff are all rude, I asked if First Class was at the front or the rear and they snapped “I don’t know”. Elsewhere on the network I feel GWR provide great information and customer service.

Paddington staff are (largely ?) Network Rail ... so only agents for GWR

I'm sorry to hear that some members find the staff at Paddington to be rude ,this comes as a surprise to me as I have allways found the service from them be they GWR or NR employees to be polite and helpful.

Has there been a change? Ticket office, concourse customer services/floor walkers, gateline and despatchers are all GWR employees arent they?

Network Rail customer facing staff at Paddington seem limited to Passenger Assistance.

I know this is an old thread but it's mine and still relevant :)

Had a better trip back from London last Sunday but there was confusion with the stock.  2x 5car IET sitting in the platform.  Had first class tickets booked in coach K but knowing that worle is too short sat in coach D instead.  (Train was (front)EDCBA-LKJHG(buffers)).  About 10 mins before departure coach D suddenly became K and showed the relevant reservations.  Then just before departure it reverted to D again!  No warning until Bristol that if you wanted Nailsea Yatton Worle to move to the front section. 

If they are going to insist on sending 5+5 where they don't fit, why not put the stop marker 2 or 3 cars beyond the platform (like they did with the HSTs) so that they can open doors from both units?

Because then if the first class coaches are at the front and back there would be no wheelchair access to the train.

Just goes to show the stupidity of cobbling two 5 car DMUs together and calling it a 10 car train !  Did no one think of this problem ?

We're promised that many of the outstanding issues regarding the PIS will be resolved on the next software update, including, amongst many things, the reservation and coach lettering resetting when somebody logs in, or a special stop order is issued.

Careful now, I have been told off for calling them DMUs. Even the MD insists that they are electric trains that can also use diesel power.
DMU is considered a negative term that might in passengers minds be associated with shorter trains that lack buffets, padded seats, luggage space and other facilities found on inter-city trains.
The sort of thing that used to be confined to branch lines or secondary routes, but these days they are infesting main lines.

DMU is inaccurate.  BMU or BMMU (Bi-Mode Multiple Unit) is a more accurate and much preferable description IMHO, especially given the prevalence of such units now being ordered so that they will become very commonplace. 

Of course, even Voyager's should more properly be described as DEMU's.