If You're Coming By Train From London/swindon...

[Red-Robbo]

[Olé]

Well done Ole, a couple of goals to reward your efforts in the end.

Bit of a less complicated trip to AG from Southville, eh?

Thankyou sir. At this point I wish I lived among the great and the good of Southville excluding a few of the militant business owners..

The Orient Express (did you see what I did there) is just taxiing into Reading. If we're lucky the old guard will meet us at Ealing and given a fair wind and favourable conditions on Eastern seaboard, guide us into Paddington for a hero's welcome.

Rearrange: FirstGreatWestern. Brewery. Run. Piss up. Couldn't.

[Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan]

[Red-Robbo]

It's actually Network Rail that are responsible for the track and signalling equipment on the railway not the train operating companies.

 

But FGW don't help matters by not letting passengers know WTF is going on, not arranging alternative transport until it's too late, not suggesting other routes - plus they run too small trains with too much empty First Class accommodation.

 

They are neither Great, nor Western (it's a Scottish company) and they are rarely First....

[Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan]

But FGW don't help matters by not letting passengers know WTF is going on, not arranging alternative transport until it's too late, not suggesting other routes - plus they run too small trains with too much empty First Class accommodation.

They are neither Great, nor Western (it's a Scottish company) and they are rarely First....

I'm not saying any train operating company is perfect Robbo, they're not, I'm just pointing out that 'Ole's' train was delayed because of a Network Rail signalling failure. The train operating companies act upon information given to them by Network Rail.

[Red-Robbo]

I'm not saying any train operating company is perfect Robbo, they're not, I'm just pointing out that 'Ole's' train was delayed because of a Network Rail signalling failure. The train operating companies act upon information given to them by Network Rail.

 

The whole system is imperfect in my humbles, POH-H. 

[Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan]

The whole system is imperfect in my humbles, POH-H.

I think you're probably right Robbo. Ole, buy a car fella

[Maesknoll Red]

But FGW don't help matters by not letting passengers know WTF is going on, not arranging alternative transport until it's too late, not suggesting other routes - plus they run too small trains with too much empty First Class accommodation.

 

They are neither Great, nor Western (it's a Scottish company) and they are rarely First....

It's not easy to find enough coaches/ taxis at short notice, especially at school run time. The train size is governed by things outside of the companies control, once you get past Swindon there is only one other route, Thingley Junction to Melksham and Westbury, that might not be an option if the Driver does not sign the route. First Class is being reduced to one carriage, but it will take time to modify the existing first class coaches.

There is no simple solution, beyond massive investment.

[Olé]

Just made it home (I joke, I joke)

Don't get me wrong about FGW, I know a few of their staff really well and know things aren't always their fault, but yesterday was shambolic and as always that's not the people on the ground but the faceless "management" who have no ability to manage trains let alone incidents. Even the staff I spoke to said it was chaos.

Visible FGW office staff (management) who got on at Swindon for their commute, scarpered as soon as it kicked off while passengers waited for announcements and the train manager hid. It took an hour even for a plan, and over two hours for a meaningful announcement. A disabled passenger pulled the alarm twice and was ignored.

Yes it was the railway not the train. But I never buy the "network rail" excuse. Network Rail are not my supplier, they're FGWs. Network Rail don't need to get me home or tell me what's going on, FGW do. Over five hours one way without a single useful announcement is pretty hopeless. Thank god for City who played better than any time I've seen this season.

[MichaelRobartes]

[WTFiGO!?!]

I s'pose compensation is out of the question?

As much as I love the romantisism of trains - they're out of my budget and their press is consistently terrible. Why is it, in one of the world's leading countries, we are so poor at so much?

That's some commitment you make to follow the City, though.

[Maesknoll Red]

[IdliketoRogerMoore]

The FGR advert on the radio is ******* annoying about some scummy gas head who thinks bristol isn't a city and is the countryside and London's the be all and end all really grinds my gears!

[Eco]

The FGR advert on the radio is ******* annoying about some scummy gas head who thinks bristol isn't a city and is the countryside and London's the be all and end all really grinds my gears!

Forest Green Rovers have a radio ad ?

 

I can see your point Rob, but I have read back through the control centre logs of the incident today and Network Rail did not identify the problem or even a wild guess at a time to restore the signalling for several hours after it happened. I absolutely appreciate the point that FGW are supplying you the service and have a duty to keep you informed. But with any service provider, if their suppliers cannot give any information, its difficult to make meaningful decisions. If road transport were available, then 3 minutes after you boarded it the problem was sorted and the train would have got to Bristol quicker than the replacement transport, in many customers eyes that would be wrong.

You were unlucky in the fact that your train had passed the point of no return, whilst others further back got diverted via the B&H via Westbury and Bathampton, it just wasn't a feasible option to send your train back to west of Reading to use that route.

It turns out that it was a major failure of a cable that connects the signals to the signalling centre.

But surely they could have told the passengers something, even if it was blaming NR for lack of info ?

[IdliketoRogerMoore]

The FGW advert on the radio is ******* annoying about some scummy gas head who thinks bristol isn't a city and is the countryside and London's the be all and end all really grinds my gears!

[Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan]

But surely they could have told the passengers something, even if it was blaming NR for lack of info ?

People would then accuse them of passing the buck. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

It all reminds me of that Easyjet programme that used to be on TV in the 90s where frontline Easyjet staff would get screamed at by irate customers and called useless *******s because French Air Traffic Control had gone on strike again.

[Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan]

What a moron. I'm no fan of FGW but this is particularly braindead. Taking the piss out of your customers when you've let them down (if only by lack of information) is amateur at best. I don't mind a bit of fun but shite customer service like that is not on.

To be honest I've heard a lot worse said about BCFC than a light hearted quip like "you wanna save your money". Anyway, sack the bastard for showing disrespect to our mighty football club and replace him with a robot.

[Aizoon]

To be honest I've heard a lot worse said about BCFC than a light hearted quip like "you wanna save your money". Anyway, sack the bastard for showing disrespect to our mighty football club and replace him with a robot.

That happened ten years ago - do keep up!