My comment, Jim, quite simply is: 'Good for her!'

Let me quote a paragraph from the standard letter one gets from FGW^▸ (First Great Western), if one raises the question of 'crowding':

"We never want any service to become uncomfortable, but we don't turn passengers away until there's a danger that the service will become unsafe. There's no set number of passengers for this, just as there is no legal limit to the number of people we can carry on a train. We leave the decision to the professional judgement of the train manager and the driver."

In this particular case, she used her professional judgement - and she is a credit to FGW for doing so! The general support for her decision, from other members posting here, just confirms that, IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion).

Was that with, or without, a buffet car? 

Thanks, vacman!

I must say, reading this thread, it all seems very confused?  Does anyone have any clear information on what is, or is not, available on HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) generally, for example, at the moment?

I've looked on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website, but they've still just got their 'marketing blurb' about how great their buffet cars are - no mention of buffet cars being withdrawn / replaced with a trolly? See http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=66 .

Yes, those TPE^▸ (Trans Pennine Express) 158s turn up all over the place, don't they? 

Welcome to the forum, from me too!

Again, I agree!  As I've posted elsewhere:


 

I agree, those pre-recorded station platform announcements are often a pain in the ear!

At Bristol Temple Meads, with about 15 platforms (don't even ask!), we quite often get a situation where an automatically-triggered announcement for platform 8 is almost immediately 'shouted down' by an alternative announcement from platform 5. The problem with having such announcements broadcast at full volume on all platforms is exactly that: even those with the hearing of a bat can't understand any of it!

The double screens are indeed useful, though: they often show apparently the same list of timed departures, side by side - perhaps so you can amuse yourself by playing 'spot the difference', while waiting for your delayed train???

I can't see the whole dockyard being closed down altogether, in this scenario: surely, with all that existing infrastructure, expertise and skilled workforce on site, even if they lose the Royal Navy work, there will still be contracts with foreign navies, commercial shipping companies, etc.?

Ah, you've obviously met my mother-in-law, vacman? 

However, on a much more positive note: advance tickets at Bristol Temple Meads!

I have a very important meeting in Taunton this Saturday, so I did some research on the website and I found what I thought was the best ticket option. However, as I wanted to 'pay' for the tickets with some of the very welcome travel vouchers that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) keep sending me, I called in at the 'advance ticket' office at Bristol Temple Meads this evening, to actually 'buy' my tickets.

Not only did the excellent chap behind the counter take all this without a blink, he also found me an even cheaper way of doing it!  Fair play to - well, I'll just call him 'D', to avoid any embarrassment.

Credit when it's due: when FGW staff get it right, they really can get it right!

I was going to say, that's just our profit margin, smokey!  Quite modest, I'd say?   

On the 0743??? 

 

By the way, glenno, welcome to the forum!

Good to see that you've started an interesting debate: thanks!

Chris 

Actually, I agree with that. While the PA announcements have to compete with all the other background noise in other carriages, there's much less noise in the quiet carriages, so surely there's no need for the announcements to be quite so loud?

 

I bet they do a roaring trade in coffee and bacon rolls, at that time of day, then!   

... which tends to bear me out, qprrule?  Why don't FGW^▸ (First Great Western) leave the existing configuration as it is, with a proper buffet car in its usual place, and stop fooling about with trials of trolleys - that clearly won't work on crowded trains???

  Grrrr!  (Sorry!)

Thanks, d-m!  I'm just a little puzzled, though: isn't a 'static trolley' rather like a 'buffet counter'?

Why not just stick with the existing (and popular!) buffet cars until such time as 'crowding' is sorted and trolleys have some chance of being wheeled anywhere (other than in ever-decreasing circles)?