Has anything got better?

[whole diary]

[Visoflex]

Since

- The castigation FGW^▸ (First Great Western) got in the local and national press
- Feedback from the passengers
- The drubbing by the Transport Select Committee
- The replacement of Alison Forster
- Network Rail's replacement of the Airport Junction points
- The December 2007 timetable

FGW promised improvements - have they delivered?

[johoare]

My journey has got a lot more punctual (although the last week or so  it has been slipping a bit and has been late again).. The timetable however has not improved, and I don't think it will.. I travel Maidenhead to Paddington daily..

[Mookiemoo]

Since

- The castigation FGW^▸ (First Great Western) got in the local and national press
- Feedback from the passengers
- The drubbing by the Transport Select Committee
- The replacement of Alison Forster
- Network Rail's replacement of the Airport Junction points
- The December 2007 timetable

FGW promised improvements - have they delivered?

My journey - WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains) - PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) daily

Has it got better - theoretically yes.

Train arrive according to the timetable - however they still take as long as they did before hand!

SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) = less tickets checks = more free loaders in first who know they can get away with not upgrading

I pay more for the privalege due to no discounts

However I can recognise the surrounds of Evesham station very well - next week if I get the 1721 I will see if I can make Tesco, pick up the shopping and get back before the train leaves - its tempting to try it

[Btline]

Since

- The castigation FGW^▸ (First Great Western) got in the local and national press
- Feedback from the passengers
- The drubbing by the Transport Select Committee
- The replacement of Alison Forster
- Network Rail's replacement of the Airport Junction points
- The December 2007 timetable

FGW promised improvements - have they delivered?

My journey - WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains) - PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) daily

Has it got better - theoretically yes.

Train arrive according to the timetable - however they still take as long as they did before hand!

SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) = less tickets checks = more free loaders in first who know they can get away with not upgrading

I pay more for the privalege due to no discounts

However I can recognise the surrounds of Evesham station very well - next week if I get the 1721 I will see if I can make Tesco, pick up the shopping and get back before the train leaves - its tempting to try it

Tee hee! Why don't you fix a camcorder to your shoulder, and film the race from your seat to Tesco, and back again!

[swlines]

Sounds like the stopper between Southampton Airport and Poole... waits 14 minutes at Southampton Central, then 19 minutes at Brockenhurst.... 

[Electric train]

One question FGW^▸ (First Great Western) can never answer is why the xx:00 ex Padd misses the Malow brance by 30 seconds, and the Maidenhead service during the day is now slower than in the days of the Mk1 DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) due to all the stops the service makes

[kazbear]

One question FGW^▸ (First Great Western) can never answer is why the xx:00 ex Padd misses the Malow brance by 30 seconds, and the Maidenhead service during the day is now slower than in the days of the Mk1 DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) due to all the stops the service makes

That's why the connection is on the xx:45 ex Padd

[12hoursunday]

One question FGW^▸ (First Great Western) can never answer is why the xx:00 ex Padd misses the Malow brance by 30 seconds,

Could be that the xx:00 trains from Paddington are not timetabled to connect with these trains. Try taking the xx:52 it will give the 8 minutes required for the connection, the timetable booklet will tell you time you need to allow!

and the Maidenhead service during the day is now slower than in the days of the Mk1 DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) due to all the stops the service makes

That one's easy! Twice as many trains running now than 15 odd years ago whilst the track speed is the same. Add that to the thousands more trying to board these trains and you'll find that no way on this earth will you be able to do it quicker!

[Ollie]

Sorry but the xx:51 off of Pad do not call at Maidenhead, getting this service although quicker requires 2 changes.
The service with the connection is the xx:45 off of Pad.

By getting the xx:51 you change at Slough, and connect with the xx:45 off of Pad anyway.

[johoare]

and the Maidenhead service during the day is now slower than in the days of the Mk1 DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) due to all the stops the service makes

That one's easy! Twice as many trains running now than 15 odd years ago whilst the track speed is the same. Add that to the thousands more trying to board these trains and you'll find that no way on this earth will you be able to do it quicker!

If we are just talking about the local services, I've no idea if there are twice as many trains running compared to 15 years ago, but I was commuting into London from Maidenhead then, and there were certainly a lot more fast trains then than there are now.. It'd be nice to have them back..

[swlines]

Sorry but the xx:51 off of Pad do not call at Maidenhead, getting this service although quicker requires 2 changes.
The service with the connection is the xx:45 off of Pad.

By getting the xx:51 you change at Slough, and connect with the xx:45 off of Pad anyway.

That's still a saving of 6 minutes!!! 

[Btline]

Who thinks that a third fast track (i.e. a fifth track) should be done at the same time as Crossrail?

That would allow the expresses from London to Reading to go at 140 mph, AND leave space for more/faster semi fast services (the ones that stop at Reading).

After Crossrail comes in, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) won't have the capacity to stop much between Reading and Paddington (except perhaps Slough), as the slow lines will be full of Crossrail trains.

[Andy W]

Since

- The castigation FGW^▸ (First Great Western) got in the local and national press
- Feedback from the passengers
- The drubbing by the Transport Select Committee
- The replacement of Alison Forster
- Network Rail's replacement of the Airport Junction points
- The December 2007 timetable

FGW promised improvements - have they delivered?

My journey - WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains) - PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) daily

Has it got better - theoretically yes.

Train arrive according to the timetable - however they still take as long as they did before hand!

SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) = less tickets checks = more free loaders in first who know they can get away with not upgrading

I pay more for the privalege due to no discounts

However I can recognise the surrounds of Evesham station very well - next week if I get the 1721 I will see if I can make Tesco, pick up the shopping and get back before the train leaves - its tempting to try it

Mookiemoo, if you can't get to Tesco I'm sure you could get a drink and snack at the Railway Hotel.

Sounds like the stopper between Southampton Airport and Poole... waits 14 minutes at Southampton Central, then 19 minutes at Brockenhurst.... 

My concern is all this padding masks problems. When the issues are masked there will no longer be the impetus to fix them.

My last trip (Pershore - Paddington) had the best part of 30mins padding and the train was still 10 mins late (oops sorry, was on time).

The week before last my son had a 25 minute wait on a windswept Pershore station but arrived on time. Did FGW arrive on time, yes. Was the service better, no. So the problem is now hidden.

Additionally while a significant amount of money has been invested on improving the rolling stock I'm not sure the preference of long distance vs short distance are understood, hence the real differences of opinion over the refurbished Mk3s.

However Grand Central don't seem to hit the mark ....... http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/734571/grandcentralguignol.thtml

[John R]

However Grand Central don't seem to hit the mark ....... http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/734571/grandcentralguignol.thtml

I can't see them surviving. Apart from their disastrous unreliability, the payments to NE to carry their passengers in lieu of their own services, their business model must be under severe pressure from the rise in diesel prices.

[swlines]

I'd say GC^» (Great Central Railway - link to heritage line) are doing it quite cleverly - they're just issuing replacement all operator replacement tickets, also valid on their services. So while they pay XX into the pot, they also get some back through ORCATS^▸ (Operational Research Computerised Allocation of Tickets to Services). They cover some of their other losses through the profits on GC only tickets.