Great Western Coffee Shop

The month before Christmas seems like a good time to suggest to your colleagues, friends and others who don't use the train that they should try it out ... people are breaking their regular weekend habits to go out and forage for Christmas supplies that aren't what they purchase regularly each week, and what better way to explore new places than a trip on a train that they've not used before?

A couple of rather naff (can say that as I did the naffing) pictures of trains with borbells around them which I've used on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TransWilts/) promotions.   For these pictures, I do love that bright read "Citizen's Rail" unit - and love having it on the TransWilts where it helps promote some of the places our customer base can go by train, but may not have considered.

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/xms_mkm.jpg)

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/xms_tro.jpg)

Donchya jus' lurve grahame's 'borbells', jingling and jangling away, merrily ::) in the good old US of A !

Like.   But interesting comment - I live in a bilingual household where we speak both American and English. I do know not to ask in the USA if anyone has a fag, and that Lisa needed an explanation when I was staying in a hotel in Plymouth and said I was going to the Ho[e]. And I won't forget the shocked comment my American friend seated beside me in the passenger seat of my car beside me when my 7 year old daughter in the back announced she had dropped her rubber.  Does my Facebook post come across as particularly americanised?

Although I am pro rail, largely due to the environmental costs of motoring, I am sorry to say that I have largely given up suggesting rail travel to others.

I have met far too many people who have tried rail travel for leisure or discretionary trips and vowed "never again"
Usually after paying hundreds of pounds to stand for hours, or being hugely delayed, or being charged penalty fares under circumstance that they felt to be unreasonable.

Others have been regular victims of the appalling thameslink service and cant imagine anyone using a train if not compelled to for work.

Elsewhere on these forums, some appalling instances or overcrowding are discussed, and a fairly general view is that nothing can be done to handle peak flows and that it is the customers fault for choosing to travel on busy trains.

And of course no one knows in advance how much the fare will be ! railway ticketing is hugely complex and the fare payable is generally considered to be matter of luck or chance or perhaps due to the skill of the purchaser in searching on line for the best deal.

Until recently I used trains a great deal, and the vast majority of my longer journeys went smoothly, and many were enjoyable.
I almost always went first class. 
I avoided times when I knew that railway would not be able to cope.
                                                                                                                                                                  
I also avoided weekends, no proper first class, no Pullman.
I used only named trains, as I suspect that these are prioritised at times of disruption.
My generally favourable experiences were therefore not typical.

None of these are particularly relevant for the journeys that Grahame is promoting those is it?  Relatively short hops into Swindon or Bath for Xmas shopping.

It is something we have been conscious of when promoting the TransWilts.  It is counter productive to attract people to a service which is already likely to full.

A case in point has been the summer services to Weymouth.  We went to town when it was an HST in 2015 but less so this summer when it was a unit with a change at Westbury.

On our relatively short hops, there are certainly less of those issues to consider - but never the less, promotions encouraging new rail users take a lot of these issues into account and we try not to oversell and persuade people to make their first journey at a "surprisingly low" price, and on a train that's likely to run and on which they can get a seat.

The Santa shopping promotions have started now that engineering timetable changes and the occasional bustitution are over for a while.  The fares quoted are the off-peak ones and the suggested train times are all ones on which that fare is valid.  Consideration was given whether or not to include the 17:36 train back from Swindon,  as the experience on that - likely to be full and standing from Chippenham to Melksham on Mondays to Fridays - may not be ideal, but it was included because (i) most people out for the day shopping are likely to come back on the previous train, (ii) leaving it out would make it look like there's a nasty gap in services and (iii) first time travellers tend to arrive at the station early anyway, so will board 'first doors' and be pretty sure to get a seat from Swindon.

As a CRP Officer these days, I encourage promotions that are going to show the line / service in an excellent light, both to the promotion readers who choose not to travel (marketing) and those to whom the promotion actually makes a sale. And also promotions which for the most part are going to make use of existing resources that are there anyway and are available for use.   The summer and autumn "Days out from Melksham" brochure suggested around a dozen different places to go and gave example train times.  Not one of those examples was on the 07:50 departure or 18:03 arrival.   I frankly wrestle with suggesting day trips to London; pricing, ticket complexity, crowding, engineering changes, failing connections at Swindon off the officially suggested returning trains, a TVM which hides the best fares and won't sell you GroupSaves, and a direct National Express coach service which also needs promotion to ensure its longevity all help towards a decision to promote local journeys first, and have people try London as a later trip once they've been baptised into train use within our area.


You added that while I was typing my over-long answer, BobM.   Couldn't agree more (or have put it shorter!  ;) )

...and, from my own objective observations, American Lisa's typing in English English (her second language) is rather more accurate than grahame's English English (which ought to be his first)  :o ::) ;D

You should know CfN - Graham's is Kentish English.   ;D

Are you sure it is Kentish English and not English of Kent?  :P :D

Oooooh so tempted to start on CfN's Plymouth dialect - but then I'd have TaplowGreen on my case!

Kentish English for sure - except it's by birth, and on that basis my typing is Scouse

Hmm. ::)

I have been challenged in the past, about my apparently having a 'home counties' accent, but never before have I been accused of having a Plymouth dialect on this forum.  :o


No, grahame: having had to step in to correct some of your rather more unfortunate smelling pistakes in the past, I think the word you're looking for is "Sh!te"  ::) ;) ;D