Great Western Coffee Shop

Goodness - six O'Clock already!

Some fascinating answers and a big THANK YOU to Samyutha, Caroline and Jason. I've been watching stats during this hour and we've been very busy with guests reading the threads and 'likes' - really good to see that feedback as it suggests the answers are actually addressing the questions ;-).   I'll take a look at some further server data ovenight.

I / we look forward to better, easier times - busy (but not overcrowded) trains again, and an ability to travel to work, stay away, get a coffee on the train, and perhaps take a trip up to Okehampton on a Wednesday.

Finally - please may I add an extra THANK YOU to everyone at GWR - from Paddington to Penzance via Portsmouth and Port Talbot (and Swansea) - for all your extraordinary work over the past months. Many of us have not been around to say those thanks in person, but they are heartfelt.

Please do pop in and see us from time to time.   Always a friendly place  ;D

I would also like to add my thanks. A very honest and informative session

Thank you so much, for your time and for all your insightful questions. We're always happy to listen to your ideas, views and answer any questions you have, and thank you for travelling with us :)
We hope to see you all soon at the other side of this

Thanks Grahame, that's very kind of you & we're all very much looking forward to welcoming everyone back on board our services as soon as we can, hopefully that won't be too long!

Hope the answers have been informative & we'll check back to see if we can help with any further comments.

Also, if I can help anyone on the forum with a Customer Service issue they're welcome to get in touch with me directly. Will also try to pop in to the forum when I can.

Thanks again & stay safe everyone

Jason

[like +++]

Thank you for organising today's session Graham and the team, really enjoy working together on these and very pleased to see the stats show it was worthwhile to members and guests.

Will certainly pass on your thanks to GWR colleagues.

Thanks for having us! :)

Caroline

Agree with positive thoughts expressed.

I am not always in agreement with the views of GWR as a company, or with the views of individual managers. Such managers are however to be commended for joining in and engaging, rather than hiding as was alleged to be the case in years gone by.

I am in general pro rail for environmental reasons. Diesel trains produce less pollution per passenger mile than private cars, and electric trains are better still.

My main concerns are;

Poor reliability in adverse weather. Any reasonable passenger would expect disruption in truly extreme conditions, but we see far too much disruption in moderately adverse weather during which motorways and airlines operate as normal.

Hugely complex fares. It makes sense to charge higher fares at busy times and lower fares when less busy. I see no merit whatsoever in offering discounted tickets for services known to be overcrowded, nor in charging punitively high fares for last minute walk up travel on a lightly used service.

Declining standards of comfort and facilities on new trains. See other posts regarding this, not going to repeat it in this thread.

I would also like to add my thanks. A very honest and informative session

Stats from "Meet the Manager" - 17:00 to around 18:00 on 18th June 2020

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/mtmgra_20200618.jpg)

119 sessions started around the MTM session time
(versus 60 in the same period previous day)

119 (yes, same number) posts during the day
(versus 48 the previous day)

Peak of 124 active users on the site during the session
(versus around 60 typica at around that time of day)

Posts in thread / number of direct reads (*) (including immediate aftermath)
3/110 Welcome to "Meet the Manager" - 18th June 2020
6/193 Question 1 – 18 Jun 2020: What is an ‘essential’ journey?
7/172 Question 2 – 18 Jun 2020: Hygiene for rail passengers
10/258 Question 3 – 18 Jun 2020: Return to catering?
5/143 Question 4 – 18 Jun 2020  Assuring older users that it is safe to use trains
2/114 Question 5 – 18 Jun 2020: Daily train service to Okehampton
2/96 Question 6 – 18 Jun 2020: Over-carries
8/178 Question 7 – 18 Jun 2020: Safety on IETs
2/76 Question 8 – 18 Jun 2020: Season ticket refund backlog
3/85 Question 9 – 18 Jun 2020: Face masks: proving exemption
2/78 Question 10 – 18 Jun 2020: Summer 2022
8/144 Meet the Manager - thank you Jason, Samyutha and Caroline
Total 58 messages posted.
* - does not include reads via "recent" tab used 1772 times in day v 1392 previous day

PLUS 59 likes during the session and immediate aftermath
(typical rate at peak period - around 12 over same period)

91.5% of visits for day were from UK IP addresses (pretty typical)

Noting from the graphics ...
Arrivals are show hour by hour.  With MTM starting on the hour, the spike spreads out over 2 hours
Only a small proportion of visitors are identified by age or gender - so there diagrams are no more than a taste