Great Western Coffee Shop

This morning I tried to travel from Maidenhead to Paddington. Fortunately I checked the national rail website in advance to find that there must be engineering works as the timetable from Maidenhead had been reduced by about a half.. Since I didn't fancy standing squashed into a packed train for 50 odd minutes stopping at all stations to cram some more people in, I drove to Slough, for the chance to stand on a packed train but only for 20 minutes (non-stop to Paddington)..

And it was packed.. very very packed.. And to make it worse, the heating was turned up high, and it was one of those lovely sealed air conditioned carriages so no hope of ventilation.. And by the time we found out how hot it was, there was no room for us to move so we could remove our coats.. I had an 11 year old and a 9 year old with me who really did not enjoy the experience.. lovely... And although I commute into London daily I've not experienced conditions as bad as this for a very long time!

So, this is not a moan, just a warning to other people to avoid these trains at weekends when the timetable is like it was today (if they don't want to travel like sardines that is, some people might quite enjoy it).. The train was a 6 (I think) car turbo, so FGW couldn't have provided more carriage wise.. Thank you FGW for that, otherwise people would have been left behind..

Oh and maybe just a request to whoever is in charge of heating trains, if the train is cram packed with people, we most likely don't need the heating on!

And finally, there is nothing obvious I can see on the FGW website telling us about this weekends timetable cuts.. I'm sure it's there in the small print somewhere though..

Sorry to read about this rather 'nightmare' of a journey, johoare.  :(

I have to agree, it's not particularly obvious on the FGW website, but there is a brief mention, under the heading London Paddington to Reading and Greenford, at http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=2209 - "On Saturday 8 March 2008 due to engineering works between London Paddington and Slough a revised service will be in operation in the London Paddington area."

Hopefully, one of our FGW staff members of this forum will be able to add a little more information on this?

From the timetable I've got - it looks like only one set of lines was open between Paddington and Slough.

Yes, as we left Slough I could see the "slow" line was shut.. Hence the reduction in trains I guess.. So something slightly more obvious than the usual "Engineering works" message on FGW website might have been a nice warning.

At least I got to Paddington nice and early for my train home so we all got seats.

Just a reminder the Great Western Railway did not have "slow" lines.

They are Relief Lines and they are still called that today.

I expect jo "quoted" them as (s)he wasn't sure of their proper name.   Thanks for filling us in with the real name!

"Slow line" was a bit tongue in cheek, as when I get a fast train that goes down the relief line, it invariably gets stuck behind some stopper or other.. And therefore runs slow.. Also some of the fast trains are timetabled to run fairly slowly behind stopping services.. So in my experience, there is a slow and a fast line (generally!). I do know the real names for them, honest..

In all fairness to any regular person travelling, it will be the slow line, even if on a fast train, because the linespeed is lower.

It's a bit like correcting someone for calling the overtaking lane on a dual carriageway the fast lane.

The lines RED to PAD are in fact the UP and Down Mains and UP and Down Reliefs the max speed on the Reliefs is 75mph so they arent that slow

Oooh to not be stuck behind a stopper and to actually travel at that speed on the relief line.. That hardly ever happens..

But not all dual carriageways have overtaking lanes...

Only 50mph slower than the mains! ;D

Oops didn't mean to cause a stir, just pointing out how proud of their railway the original GWR was so much so they couldn't comtemplate having slow lines.

From West Drayton to Padd most is at 90 mph with some at 80 or 85. Which is why the Heathrow Connects are so nippy. If I travelled inwards from Hayes I would always try and get a Connect. Especially as they are usually empty when they arrive at Hayes. In fact rather than hang round Padd I sometimes get a Connect back to Hayes and change for Taplow.