Great Western Coffee Shop

the 0632 wos to pad arrived ahead of schedule!

left reading early due to something about a delayed plymouth train picking up its path. but even the tm was sceptical about us arriving early.

but no - we did!

wasn't perfect mind. the heating was not working in half the train and in the other half it wasn't exactly tropical.  but beggers can't be choosers

Was it an HST?

Yes - and a refurbed one at that!

All HSTs are now refurbished - apart from the luxurious LA79

Rubbish about the delayed plymouth train, the first one doesn't get into Paddington until 0900 (0901 today - surprisingly on time!!!)

Your train left Reading 5 minutes early and arrived at Paddington 6 early.

Impressive  :D

Okay... so why am currently in F on a  HST in shabby brown i.e. one FGW inherited from someone else.  G and H are refurb (I like sitting in F just next to the buffet as you can hear the staff and often find out what is REALLY going on rather than what the announcements are)

As for the timings... we were told that we were being allowed to leave early since there was a delayed plymouth train that would pull into reading when we were due in and hence could cover our route and us hanging around would delay it

There are a lot of unrefurbished buffet cars, as FGW intend to withdraw them. They are being kept for the moment whilst passenger reaction to the trolley service being introduced is monitored. But I suspect your days of enjoying being next to the buffet car are numbered.

Actually I like the brown seats. They are much more comfortable than the refurbished ones, which look nice, but are somewhat hard on the behind after a couple of hours.   

Forgot about the best stock left on the network. Personally i'd never choose to travel in coach F as its least safe, but maybe i'm just paranoid  :P

Is that the only set that is fully un-refurbed? Or the only set containing un-refurbed carriages(execpt F)?
And do you have any idea of diagramms?

Have all the Adelantes gone?

There are still Adelantes in service.

Nope - see my post in across the west from yesterday

They're all out of service on monday i believe

LA79 is the Midland Mainline set.

Is this set on temporary loan whilst the refurb is taking place or is this set now part of the FGW fleet and will refurb shortly?

The former.

One of the sets heading to XC by any chance?
I can't wait for XC to start running HSTs again. I can actually start travelling Cross Country for long distance travel rather than go via London. Bristol-Birmingham is my absolute limit on a Voyager.

It's a last nostalgic reminder of how Mk3s used to be comfortable, have a view down the carriage (and out of the windows in front of you, not just next to you), and how you could see whether anyone was sitting in a seat before you passed it. Enjoy it whilst you can.

Officially the longer routes such as hereford and penzance  (and swansea?) were supposed to keep the buffet?

Otherwise a 3 hours journey with no buffet?

AFAIK
Trials were on the following:

Cardiff Central services
Bristol TM services
Worcester services


<Don't quote me =P>

I hardly call Hereford long when compared to Penzance!

But it is quite.

WOS is being trialled - off peak

the peak services re running with a buffet - reburbed or not

There are only a few sets I believe that have no buffet, so it is only limited services they are being trialled on.

But that in general is the routes you will find them on.

FGW should keep the Buffet cars, turn them round and put in Standard class seats.
To operate a fleet of Non-buffet and a fleet of Buffet car HST's is asking for trouble, big trouble.
First class businessmen won't like it when their Glolden Hind train has no Buffet and it WILL happen.

If they had done that then they could have increased capacity in standard without needing to cram more seats in. Then they wouldn't have needed to do a complete refurb, and could have spent the money on more stock for the Wessex services, and probably still been quids in, even with the costs of running the additional coach in the HSTs..

I'm not sure how much value customers put on a train with a brand spanking new interior. So long as it is clean, they can get a seat, its comfortable, and everything works then most people are fine. New fabric on the seats, a refresh of the toilets (which were looking yuck), and I reckon most passengers would have been happy, if not happier than what they've now got. My wife went to London recently and phoned me to say how nice the set she was on was. LA79 of course.   

And power sockets!

Good point!