Great Western Coffee Shop

Two unhappy commuters. (https://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/reading-passengers-claim-theyre-treated-17739612)

I'll leave more experienced members of the forum to asses the claims and counter-claims.

He claims the 6.18pm train from London, bound for Cardiff Central, is the only "fast" service to Reading with no other stops after 6.15pm, and is busy and unreliable.

The next one is at 6.34 just 16 minutes later, and also takes just 23 mins.  Of all the complaints I've heard about the new timetable, that seems one of the least compelling.

Between 6 and 7pm the following trains take less than 30 mins:-

02,04,07,18,34,37,42,47.

Slightly bunched, but I think most commuters would be very happy to have such a service, especially such a fast one.  And if it means the trains to Bristol and S Wales are less crowded with Reading commuters then, bluntly, good!

There are no services between Paddington and Devon/Cornwall that do not call at Reading -  apart from the 9 Friday trains which allegedly stop at RDG only to pick up passengers but previous comments across this forum indicate that this restriction is never enforced at the PAD gateline.

By all means have a pop at your TOC for poor service but kindly refrain from making stuff up to try and reinforce the complaints.

As to the 'treated worse than cattle' comment, I concur; on my last few trips to/from London with GWR there was no straw on the menu.

I do have a little sympathy with the much derided on here ‘Reading commuter’.  Some of the Superfasts do leave with plenty of spare seats, with the 18:28 to Banbury chief amongst them - first stop Oxford, a 9-car IET which is usually less than a quarter full when it leaves Paddington. 

That would plug the gap nicely at the time of day he quotes.  More services were supposed to be stopping at Reading, until NR failed to accept the timings, so hopefully a solution can be found.

GWR is caught between a rock and a hard place in that it has to satisfy the good people of Oxford/Banbury/Bath/Bristol/Exeter/Plymouth etc, etc as well as the Reading commuter. Reading has plenty of services to choose from, others don't sadly.

Yes, I’m inclined to largely agree on the case of the more far flung destinations, but it’s a balancing act and the Banbury train in particular I suggested is one that I think should call if it can.  There’s only about a dozen at most who get it to Banbury and a hundred or so to Oxford. 

The 17:58 to Worcester is another candidate - around half full on departure when I’ve seen it.

Straw contains little nourishment for cattle and they wont eat it unless very hungry. Hay is what cattle eat in the absence of fresh grass.
Straw is the leftover stalks after wheat, barley or similar crops have been harvested and processed. It makes useful bedding for livestock.
Hay is grass cut possibly by hand but more usually with machinery. It is dried and stored as winter feed for cattle.

Neither is found on the GWR menu !

"scum class" on the top gear caravan train DID feature fresh straw :)

……….I don't think Bob was being 100% serious about the straw  ::)

Perhaps straw SHOULD be scattered on the floor of the Crossrail trains, for the same purpose as in animal pens, namely soaking up waste products.
The mixture of straw and waste can be removed each week and composted, it makes good fertiliser when well rotted.

Those who travel to London each day from Reading were bound to suffer when Crossrail trains arrived. All that eagerness and excitement about it arriving, then a bump down to earth when it is here. I always thought this would be the case and there would be, quite rightly a reduction in the fast services between london and Reading. The convenience of the turn up and go service has moved over to the relief lines and, as long as there is capacity from point to point regardless of journey time, authorities will be happy. My gripe with the timetable change is a reduction in the opportunities to go everywhere but London, if those trains don't stop at Reading it means I need to change, or worse, make use of a voyager.

A general comment you'll hear echoed from Stapleton Road to Bristol Parkway, and from Chippenham to Swindon.   Ironically, this thread started with LONDON to Reading gripes!

Not sure I'd agree with 'quite rightly' when the demand isn't there for the slower, turn up and go service. I think most regular travellers from Twyford and Maidenhead would feel the advantage of not having to plan their journey isn't outweighed by it taking twice as long.

This thread has worried me so I had a look back at the timetable of a year ago.   From 18:15 ...

2019
18:19, arrives Reading 18:53
18:22, arrives Reading 18:50
18:30, arrives Reading 18:55

2020
18:18, arrives Reading 18:41
18:20, arrives Reading 18:53
18:34, arrives Reading 18:57

The gap in services to  Reading none-stop is caused by a "flight" of trains on the main line - Heathrow Express, Banbury, Cheltenham, none of which call at Reading.

Journeys that run from Paddington, first stop Reading, are now 2 minutes faster, but I suspect that saving of a couple of minutes is less noticeable than time hanging around at Paddington.

..............reeds, I hope, in First !

Of course. GWR quite rightly made a business decision, based on the serious amount of trains calling at Reading, to accommodate those beyond. It appears they thought that everybody in between the two points would be happy with the slow service, frequency and capacity over speed, when that is clearly not the case.

The problem has been around since - at least - the introduction of the HSTs, namely that Paddington to Reading non-stop is sufficiently short to make standing preferable to a seat on a stopper.

We have a similar - though obviously on a much smaller scale - problem on Birmingham New Street to Worcester (and beyond) trains in the evening peak. Completion of the Lickey electrification means that Bromsgrove has three Cross-City trains an hour from Birmingham, but the 1720, 1750 and 1759 Hereford/Shrub Hill trains continue to stop at Bromsgrove. And guess what? A lot of the time passengers for Droitwich and beyond don’t get a seat until after Bromsgrove.

Different but related... the 18.20 from Paddington tonight is appallingly overcrowded but I can’t see any previous cancellations. Is there a reason for this or is it always like this these days?  This timetable just keeps getting worse.

Huge disruption on long distance services following fatality? at Swindon

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/18260823.breaking-police-confirm-person-killed-train-lines-reopen-swindon-station/