FGW Website

[whole diary]

[Timmer]

Right thats it. I was going to have a rant about FGW^▸ (First Great Western) not regularly updating their 'award winning' website when I got back from holiday on Sunday, but decided to give FGW the benefit of the doubt that they would doubtless be updating things this week. WRONG. It's still showing alterations to services on their useless* engineering work page (so called 'timetable alterations' but doesnt actually show what the alterations to the timetable are!) from two weeks ago.

I think there is nothing worse in the wonderful world of the web than not keeping a website up to date. Why bother having one if you don't keep it up to date? If anyone at FGW is reading this come on and keep it up to date, its not a lot to ask is it and doesnt take much staff resources in doing so. If not, give me the information and I'll keep it up to date for you for nothing!

* useless because it only ever vaguely mentions engineering work is taking place but provides absolutely no details of revised services. Gone are the days when they used to be bothered to post up revised timetables to download.

[grahame]

I think there is nothing worse in the wonderful world of the web than not keeping a website up to date.

I think that's a bit harsh, Timmer.  I have pages that are out of date - painfully out of date - on some of the sites I look after and even on some of the information pages here. I do *try* to come back with tags to tell people where to refer to, but will all my will I just don't have the resources to be first, or even second, there with the news.

It's this issue that makes a forum such as our, or a wiki, so valuable because they can be updated without a central authority.

Why bother having one if you don't keep it up to date?

Because if the only web sites out there were the ones that are 100% up to date, the web would be a pretty empty place 

I do agree that last weekend's engineering works are MUCH less useful that next weekend's, and that  last year's timetables (for our TransWilts line) make depressing reading showing 5 well spaced and times trains per day rather that just two in "Marginal time".  But we mustn't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Perhaps FGW^▸ (First Great Western) would like to provide a public update / forum / wiki type site for their customers and staff to get all the up to date information out there, well linked and co-ordinated to their glossier and  better structured regular pages.  Discussion links from each page as some of the newspapers are doing now .... and it might even reduce the need for me to run places like this.

[Jim]

Remember though, people may want to read articles on a User Group site that are from the past, but do we really need to know about last months alterations?

[Timmer]

I think there is nothing worse in the wonderful world of the web than not keeping a website up to date.

I think that's a bit harsh, Timmer.  I have pages that are out of date - painfully out of date - on some of the sites I look after and even on some of the information pages here. I do *try* to come back with tags to tell people where to refer to, but will all my will I just don't have the resources to be first, or even second, there with the news.

It's this issue that makes a forum such as our, or a wiki, so valuable because they can be updated without a central authority.

Fair point Graham and I revise my compliant to say that a website that is meant to provide information on services such as travel that isnt up dated frequently isn't much use and my frustration with FGW^▸ (First Great Western) is that it doesnt take much effort to maintain it on a regular basis, especially for a company the size of FGW. I admit that information, or lack of information in this case is a bit of a bugbear of mine which is the same as communication, something that at times is lacking or the way it is presented on our rail network.

Why bother having one if you don't keep it up to date?

Because if the only web sites out there were the ones that are 100% up to date, the web would be a pretty empty place 

I do agree that last weekend's engineering works are MUCH less useful that next weekend's, and that  last year's timetables (for our TransWilts line) make depressing reading showing 5 well spaced and times trains per day rather that just two in "Marginal time".  But we mustn't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Perhaps FGW would like to provide a public update / forum / wiki type site for their customers and staff to get all the up to date information out there, well linked and co-ordinated to their glossier and  better structured regular pages.  Discussion links from each page as some of the newspapers are doing now .... and it might even reduce the need for me to run places like this.

Brilliant idea Graham, hope FGW are reading this.

[Timmer]

Good news, well two pieces of good news in fact. Firstly FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have updated their website today    Secondly and more importantly, found this out by accident BTW^▸ (by the way), they have updated the timetables that had many errors printed in them back in May or were incomplete as in the case of the Sunday services in Book A. Whether these revised timetables are available in print at stations I dont know but they are online so are worth checking out. Well done FGW for updating them. See I do give credit where its due.

Right because I was nasty to FGW about their website last week Im going to stand in the corner for half an hour with my hands on my head. 

[Scooby]

Printed copies of timetable 'A' are available revised from 10th September. Available at a station near you!! New editions have a red band across top of front cover. They have all the summar dated trains etc removed to ease confusion!!

[grahame]

Available at a station near you!!

The only station near me is Melksham ... (Melksham, Wiltshire - population 24,000).  To reach another station takes nearly half an hour - a short walk followed by a bus journey.  I wanna be able to get the basics like timetables and tickets and trains here, and I feel I'm being treated like a second class citizen in not being offered these things 

[Timmer]

Now Alisons gone please can we have weekly timetable alterations booklets back, revised engineering work timetables online. Return of the timetable and leaflets stands at Bath Spa instead of one poorly stocked one (some decent lighting in the ticket hall wouldnt go a miss either, its so dark and dingy in there now) and finally Timetable Book E scrapped and replaced with two timetable booklets showing Severn-Solent, Weymouth services and one through Bristol services timetable just like it was pre-december 06. The current timetable E is to cumbersome combining what was once three timetbales into one. Thank you! What chance I will see any of these happen 

[Jim]

Now Alisons gone please can we have weekly timetable alterations booklets back,

I really have to agree, the amount of 'blind' journies I make on Sundays is un-real

[Timmer]

glad you agree Jim. FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s provision of providing details of alterations due to engineering work was once one of the best on the network other than GNER^▸ (Great North Eastern Railways), now they are crap and only provide very vague details on the website and at stations.