Great Western Coffee Shop

"On Saturday 17 March 2007 my wife & I attempted to return to Bristol Temple Meads off the 1619 from Paignton.
The options were:-
1. Change at Exeter St Davids
FGW Exeter St David's arr 1715 giving 8 minutes to connect to the
VT Exeter St David's dep 1723 train (to York).
Staying on the local train to Exeter St Davids gives much slower & therefore better views of the magnificent coastal/estuary scenery.

or
2. Change twice - at Newton Abbott & again
Newton Abbott arr 1635 giving 5 minutes connection to the
FGW Newton Abbott dep 1640 train to Paddington changing at Exeter St David's or Tiverton Parkway or Taunton.
These changes at Exeter St David's or Tiverton Parkway or Taunton give a 20 minute connection into the same VT train (to York).

or
3. Change at Newton Abbott
Newton Abbott arr 1635 giving 28 minutes connection to the same
VT Newton Abbott dep 1703 train (to York).
[This is offered by the National enquiries system but we were unaware of that then].

Changing at Newton Abbott or Exeter St Davids would have involved using the overbridge to change platforms & changing at Taunton could have involved using the subway to change platforms. At Newton Abbott there were no warnings of delays so we stayed on the 1619 from Paignton to change at Exeter St David's. At Newton Abbott the Paddington train duly arrived & departed & our train followed it. Around Teignmouth there was slow running & delays.

When we reached Exeter St Davids platform 1, connecting passengers were instructed to hurry over the footbridge for the connection.

My wife is less agile than myself.

I arrived at platform 6 just as the VT doors were closing. A few seconds later another breathless hopeful connecting passenger arrived & was told to "stand clear".

My wife then arrived.

After the VT had departed, I explained to the train dispatcher that we were heading for Bristol Temple Meads & he confirmed that we faced an hour's wait for the next northbound VT. About 30 breathless passengers had "made the connection".

We therefore waited in the new northbound waiting room (where the travel information is staffed by the train dispatcher when not on platform duty). This waiting room has NO ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE SCREENS & our train was not announced there (although some previous trains had been announced).

About 4 minutes before the VT 1823 dep time, we went out to platform 6 & found that our train was in the platform but that the rear coaches (near the waiting room) were not being used. We therefore had to walk up to the front portion of the train. Whilst we were walking, the train was announced (for the first time) on the platform !! We boarded at the first open doors & soon afterwards the train doors closed & train departed.

At the Travel Watch South West General Meeting on Saturday 3 March at Taunton, Glenda Lamond (Customer Services Director FGW)' s presentation highlighted the new waiting room at Exeter St. Davids.

We have several complaints about the facilities & operation at Exeter St Davids station.

1. The new northbound waiting room/information on platforms 5/6 (unlike its predecessor) has a superior ambiance but NO arrival/departure DISPLAY SCREENS. Also the doors are rather slow to automatically close (with no manual override) which can be draughty on a cold day to those seated near (or in line) with the doorway i.e. most of those waiting.

2. Trains not always announced (this is particularly crucial whilst there are no display screens).

3. Passengers with heavy luggage or mobility problems need to use the lifts but there are no proximate screens. (Valuable connection time can be wasted struggling in the opposite direction to view screens before retracing to the lifts).

4. The stairs to the northern overbridge used by the lifts are chained off so that all able bodied have to use the southern overbridge which can become congested.

5. It is unfortunate that local FGW trains heading for Exmouth use platform 1 (away from the lifts) particularly when late running makes connection tight whereas those terminating at Exeter Central sometimes use platform 3 at Exeter St Davids which gives easy connection to fast southbound trains & is nearer to the northbound platforms.

There is also a more fundamental question re connection times (& timetabling connection times).

a.. Demographically, the UK population are ageing (& becoming more unfit & obese)
b.. The UK population is growing & (unsurprisingly) more people are travelling by train;crowded trains take longer to load & unload
c.. statistically for performance monitoring purposes trains are not late until they are 10 (5 local trains) minutes late

5. Are minimum change times long enough ?"