Great Western Coffee Shop

9.03 Maidenhead to Paddington today.. First Class was full and standing.. I had work I needed to do.. I had a coffee.. It was so full in there I wasn't even able to remove my coat (or move.. or in fact have anything easily to hold onto to), and FGW had kindly turned the heating up which was blasting away nicely to help the situation..

End result.. No work done.. I felt quite ill.. coffee not drunk (tho it was just about warm still when I got off the train (always the optimist me))..

And FGW STILL sell First Class tickets from Maidenhead and STILL don't check tickets (very often)... >:(

Was it a free coffee from the buffet?  Quite an achievement!  On earlier trains it's rare to see the buffet trolley in First Class so some passengers queue up in the buffet to get a drink first before heading off to First Class.  Not such a good plan as sometimes there aren't any seats left!

Erm no.. It was a turbo.. as most trains from Maidenhead are.. I paid for my coffee then wasn't even able to drink it (even with a first class ticket)... marvellous.. not...

And I don't think there are any trains from Maidenhead where you might see a buffet trolley in first class? unless someone knows a secret I don't?  ::)

I had a particular dire experience last week on a HST in First. The host in the Buffet Car refused to serve me a complimentary coffee because I had missed the trolley going through. I asked what difference it made. Apparently it was because they couldn't be bothered to get the cafetiere from the Trolley which was parked in Coach H. I replied politely saying instant was fine and that I actually prefer it (No word of a lie; I prefer Instant coffee in some cases). Begrudgingly the host made me an instant coffee...

Sods law dictates that having been on the train for 30+ minutes. The few minutes I decided to go to the toilet, I missed the trolley going through...! >:(

The 7.08 used to have a trolley, but I haven't seen it this side of Christmas. 
In related news I did have my ticket checked today (I reckon thats 4th time this year) but probably because it was in reverse formation.  A good 20 people got turfed out of my carriage.

07:08 Maidenhead-Paddington on Thursday 28th Feb had a buffet service.  Such was the rareness of the event that I tweeted @FGW to say thank you for providing the service that I pay for.

Hahaha - maybe that was to apologise for the Wednesday 7.08 which arrived in 3 carriage Turbo format where the only catering was the sweat dripping down the carriage walls.


Edit Note: Quote marks fixed for clarity - bobm

I did find the decision to operate the service with a turbo intreguing.  Was it that they were keen to provide at least some service to the commuters?  Or was it a cynical ploy that mean't that the service was classed as operating normally, without any cancellation penalties?

which is all kind of missing the point of the original post in a way.. however I had a very prompt reply from FGW.. to say very sorry that tickets weren't checked.. etc etc.. Train manager should have really been able to do so  etc etc... deep deep sigh.. do they not read their emails properly and know that the 9.03 is a turbo.. Unless turbos now have train managers that is.. now wouldn't that be nice?  ::) ::)