Is the answer http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=619.msg2935#msg2935, perhaps? 

So now nobody actually wants them, then??? 

... but they forgot to add another Spanish word, 'ma^ana' - 'tomorrow'! 

Erm ...


 

Now, it's probably my dodgy memory again, but weren't we being told, not that long ago, that these 'new' Adelante trains would be the solution to all the problems of reliability, punctuality, overcrowding, etc.? 

When we had all the flooding a couple of Fridays ago, I saw a lovely sky blue 'St Ives Bay Belle' on platform 3 at Bristol Temple Meads.  Not a problem, I just wondered what sort of tidal wave had brought it all the way up to Bristol!

Thanks to you, too, dog box: my memory is obviously more dodgy than I thought! 

However, in view of the fairly comprehensive security of such a lock, it is indeed a mystery how anyone could bypass it, while travelling at high speed?

Or is this a case of, "nothing can be made foolproof, because fools are so ingenious!" 

... and it's because of the facts of life that some people are pregnant? 

Thanks, John: in that case, a mystery indeed!  But I don't have a problem with central locking per se - just with the way it's being applied perversely with SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening), for example at Nailsea!

Agreed, John - and IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) part of the problem was that the door could be opened by a handle on the inside - where that shiny steel blanking plate was fitted, when central locking was introduced?

You should have shouted at him to keep the noise down, then!   

Erm ... so who were you talking to?   

An interesting theory - but I'm not sure it's viable, though.  (Sorry, Mookiemoo, I'm going to disagree with you on this one!) 

Lots of first class passengers pay the full whack - and that's big money - for season tickets. Pound for pound, relative to passengers carried / miles travelled, that's a lot more than the equivalent rate for standard class.  That's good business for any TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company).

First class is 'generally' not oversubscribed - that's why late discounts/upgrades are often available for first class, to fill seats that would otherwise be empty.  Again, good business for any TOC.

Now, I can only comment from a Bristol - Paddington - Bristol perspective (not WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains) - PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) - WOS, which I do accept may be quite different!), but I have often observed that first class is relatively deserted most of the time.  How about a compromise, where we remove carriage G from first class, leaving H and the F part of the buffet car, and add another coach (EE?) to standard class accomodation?  That would perhaps double the capacity of one carriage within the train, and resolve a lot of the current problems of overcrowding - and mean that only one and a half first class carriages would have to be accomodated under SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening), not two and a half!

Now, I'll just duck back down and wait to be shot at!

Nice one, Jim! 

As in, "Oi, ****head, step back inside and shut that door!!!"

Seriously, thanks, Will, for your summary of this: I must say, I was getting giddy, going round in circles like that.