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28413
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Sideshoots - associated subjects / The Lighter Side / Still time for guests to sign up and take part in the quiz
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on: December 30, 2012, 08:42:13
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As well as our regular, registered users, this forum is read by a lot of guests. And in doing so it provides a great deal of information to railway customers (and potential railway customers too) - all very much an intended part of the service. The admin / moderator team encourages guests to sign up, to contribute their own questions and inputs .... but there's no obligation on people to sign up, and we've got a long-term strategy to have as many of our boards as we can being public readable (in other words, visible without signup). Where we do have to insist on a signup is if you want to contribute - and that's purely to ensure that we have an audit trail back to you if we need to raise an issue on something you've published on our world-readable boards. The signup is free, and it's as painless as we can make it. Over the past few weeks, I've noticed many guests taking a look at BigNoseMac's bumper prize quiz, asking people to recognise 25 locations which are from the UK▸ , on or near stations on either the national network, metro/tram systems or heritage rail locations. The prize quiz is still open for entries today and tomorrow, and if you're one of these guests and you recognise some of the places, you've still got time to sign up as a member and submit your entry. Registration form - http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?action=registerPrize quiz - http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=11647 |
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28414
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All across the Great Western territory / Across the West / Re: 'Margaret Gow: From Bath by train, I do wish I had driven' (from Rutland Times)
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on: December 29, 2012, 14:53:28
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Well, I said I wouldn^t do it, and I did. I^ve been using the railway again - different company; much worse! This happened only because the NHS insists that I must be nearly blind before I can have my cataracts operated on: I would have had to drive home from Bath in the dark.
Instead, the journey involved three trains both ways. In hindsight, driving home in the dark would have been much, much better. Oh dear - not only does the rail industry but also the NHS get it in the neck from Ms Gow; I'm so glad she didn't drive - it reads to me as if she would have been a significant risk on the road. She would probably have been happier (and safer) getting a taxi / minicab all the way. My Brummie friend was there to help, and took me to ^Reception^ so I could get information and a claim form. Bless him, he and his wife took me up the escalator for a free coffee and then carried my suitcase back down. Err - if she had more luggage that she could manage, then she was breaking the conditions of carriage which state: "Unless you are disabled or have reduced mobility and have made arrangements in advance for assistance, you should be able to manage your luggage without additional help."
I have every sympathy for occasional passengers who read a timetable / are given train times and assume that's when their train WILL run. The sympathy soon evaporates when you find them admitting that they would risk their lives and the lives of others to drive (and make it a bit easier for them), that they've been taking more kuggage than they're allowed, and that they even tried to make someone give up his reserved seat so that they could get a seat on a train for which they did not have a reservation. I wonder if anyone has pointed this out to Ms Gow, who has chosen to raise the matters in public, so is presumably happy to have them discussed. |
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28415
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Will Someone Please Explain
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on: December 29, 2012, 13:22:39
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Can anyone find any multi-ticket savings of more than 60.8%?
Day trip in the peaks, Melksham to Farnborough Main. Out at 06:38, getting back 19:47. * Direct fare (from Jan) 114.00 * Split: MKM» - TRO» 4.10 return, and TRO - Farnbourough 27.80 anytime day return. 72% saving by splitting. |
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28416
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All across the Great Western territory / Buses and other ways to travel / Re: London Underground - the Circle Line (or not, according to the Guardian)
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on: December 29, 2012, 12:56:51
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I used to dread the frustration - coming in to Paddington, travelling onwards to King's Cross, or the City, and having to guess whether the next tube would be from the Praed Street platforms or the Hammersmith line ones. Then waiting longer that I felt necessary for the tube. And that was compounded by the long wait at Edgware Road or Baker Street on Circle line trains, where (without a route end as such) there was a timetables staff change over / recovery time / loo break, with all the hapless commuters rushing to get to the city left standing with door open in a stationary train in the bleak midwinter ...
How things have changed ... with the concentration of all King's Cross services onto the Hammersmith platform, and "Circle" line trains now having their natural break when they've terminated, things got much better. Teething troubles in the new system meant that there was a new frustration, though - queues and crown control to get onto the tube platform (!) but with the new station entrance on the H&C lines that seems to have been cleared - at the expense of a longer walk. Glad to hear that the distance will again be shortened in the future.
One remaining issues is queuing to get out through the ticket barriers on the bridge from peak hour arrivals on platforms 2 to 5 - most of an 8 coach train seems to be going through just 2 ticket barriers, with commuters lined up all up the stairs. Will this issue too be addressed in following stages?
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28418
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All across the Great Western territory / Fare's Fair / Re: Will Someone Please Explain
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on: December 28, 2012, 17:21:30
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I can't offer an explanation why the Super Off Peak routed +Not Birmingham is more expensive than the Anytime Single routed +London/Evesham. Rather unusually this fare via London is cheaper than the only fare relevant for travel via Salisbury (the +Not Birmingham).
Because the "Evesham" route is entirely in the old Network South East area, and the fare is left over from them days? |
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28421
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Journey by Journey / London to the Cotswolds / Re: Class 180s return to the Cotswolds
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on: December 27, 2012, 14:48:02
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Today's 16:29 from Honeybourne, as predicted:
"Will be formed of 3 coaches instead of 8
This is due to over-running engineering works
Information correct at 27 Dec 2012 09:04"
Yeah .. I wondered if you were planning to be on that one. Booked HST▸ couldn't get out of Paddington due to overrunning engineering works; outbound train started at Oxford and it looks like they only had 3 coaches of turbo available. Hope you have a good journey! |
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28422
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Journey by Journey / London to the Cotswolds / Re: Class 180s return to the Cotswolds
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on: December 27, 2012, 07:30:58
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I'm assuming the seat reservation I have for the 27th will, at the appointed hour, vanish cinderella-like into the all too familiar no-arms train.  I hope you're not booked on too early a train - as the whole train may have disappeared or be running only as far as Reading or Slough: Owing to over-running engineering works between Reading and London Paddington all lines are blocked.
Impact:
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled or delayed at short notice. An estimate for the resumption of normal services will be provided as soon as the problem has been fully assessed.
Customer Advice:
Train services are suspended between London Paddington and Reading in both directions until at least 09:00. Some trains may operate between Slough and Reading and very limited road transport has been sourced to operate between Reading and London Paddington.
Customers are advised NOT TO TRAVEL unless your journey is essential.
South West Trains services are conveying passengers between Reading and London Waterloo in both directions until further notice. Arrangements have been made for First Great Western rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys.
London Underground services are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice.
Chiltern Railways services are conveying passengers via any reasonable route until further notice. Arrangements have been made for First Great Western rail tickets to be accepted for these journeys. Occasional problems / schedule changes are inevitable but the last week we've had - Major Signalling problem out from Paddington - Floods cutting off lines - Shutdowns on Christmas day and Boxing Day - Overrunning engineering works and at times it seems like we're back in the days where a train journey was an adventure. |
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28423
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All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: Christmas and Boxing Day trains - ongoing discussion
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on: December 27, 2012, 06:06:46
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What irritates me is the absolute failure by First Great Western and some other operators to provide clear, concise information.
Front page of FGW▸ site to say: "Trains over Christmas" Until 23rd December - normal service 24th December - Weekday services, some routes finishing early 25th December - NO SERVICE 26th December - NO SERVICE 27th December - Modified Saturday service etcOllie, those change sheets are VERY useful ... but what's the criteria for inclusion? As far as I can gather, TransWilts services (I looked up Melksham to Swindon) will be running as follows: Melksham to Swindon 08:00 -> 08:31 (Not Thursday?) 18:17 -> 18:41 Swindon to Melksham 08:35 -> 09:01 18:44 -> 19:11 and that's only one of the four trains in its normal slot. The printed timetable / standard .pdfs don't contain these, the update .pdf you pointed at doesn't - the only way I could work the out was by doing ticket / timetable searches. Actually the times are rather nice, but if they're hidden away, no-ones going to know about them. |
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28425
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All across the Great Western territory / The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom / Re: Christmas and Boxing Day trains - ongoing discussion
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on: December 26, 2012, 18:22:40
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Never really thought about there being no trains on Boxing Day before - I have just accepted they don't run and planned accordingly.
However I took a wander down to Teignmouth station and was there about 10 minutes. During that time I was asked by four people on the platform when the next train was (and another tried to use the help point). None had luggage so I suspect most were looking to make day trips ...
Some things I picked up ...   London Buses
London^s 700 bus routes are in operation throughout the day with extra buses for passengers heading to the West End or Westfield shopping centres in Stratford and White city. In previous years buses would start at approximately 8am but this year will be the first year where a full Sunday service is in operation with majority of services in operation by around 6am. Times are, indeed, changing. My gut feeling is that services could be well used, and from a passenger perspective this would be the day of the year when more newcomers to rail tried it out than on any other day. Grandma and Grandad taking the family into Bristol ... the excitement of a first train ride followed by a trip round the sales, and the train home again. But I would want to see it being done with everyone in the rail industry being fully in support as to how it's done, and I think that may be a hurdle too high. In the meantime, you see four groups in just 10 minutes at quite a small station being turned away. |
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