Great Western Coffee Shop

Does anyone know which services from bristol to brimingham and back are HST on a saturday?

Need to go to brum this weekend for a tutorial and if I could get a HST in at least one direction will make it more bareable

knowing xc the quiet ones.....

17:30 off of Bristol Temple Meads IIRC is a HST ;)

i said it out of sarcasm however it would seem thy just proved my point  :D

To Birmingham from Temple Meads:

d1330 a1456 (Newquay to Dundee)
d1600 a1726 (Paignton to Manchester)

From Birmingham to Temple Meads:

d0942 a1112 (Manchester to Paignton)
d1312 a1442 (Glasgow to Newquay)
d1512 a1642 (Glasgow to Penznance)

Source: 125group.org.uk (http://www.125group.org.uk/diagrams-AXC.pdf).

Disclaimer: Engineering work can affect weekend trains as can the whim of CrossCountry!

Thanks - looks like its vomiter up and HST back

ive been on 4 voyagers today all packed they need to sort it out!

Something that's not going to change for at least a few years.

Ok so my tutorial is 2pm which means it's vomited both ways - is it worth me going down the way fro. Nai,sea to pick the vom up eArlier to get a decent seat in first for weekend upgrade - last two times I did the temple meads join I ended up with one of then pseudo airline seats

Where can I pickup a vom before temple meads to get me to newbstreet by 1330

Strange one on Monday - joined a Voyager from Penzance to somewhere 'up north' at St Erth and it was already full & standing - TM was imploring folk to get off and join the following FGW service.
Three standard class carriages is just not enough for long haul journeys - when RB ran them as Virgin at least there were four carriages - never understood why he had the franchise taken away - staff were chirpy - seats had entertainment sockets - there was a shop - they all ran to Penzance rather than terminating a Plymouth.

There are 14 'at table' seats in a XC Voyager 1st Class. Eight in two bays of 4 and six in three bays of 2. The rest have a kind of half table.

The 1000 CrossCountry starts from Bristol, so you shouldn't have a problem bagging the 1st Class seat of your choice, unless it's heavily booked with ADV 1st Class. Arrives Brum 1126 which maybe a touch early for you. Checking online using the CrossCountry carriage plan for seat reservations shows all table seats in 1st Class still available at the time this reply was posted.

The 1030 from Bristol, (starts at Penzance) has 9 of the 14 1st Class table seats currently available, including one whole bay of 4.

You could go for the 1034 from Weston Super Mare arriving Brum 1226. This service starts at Plymouth and terminates at Manchester. Carriage plan shows that there are currently five unreserved 'table' seats. Three in the bays of 4 and two in the bays of 2.

Unfortunately, whilst you can buy the walk-up Standard fare and the upgrade online at the same time you cannot reserve a 1st Class seat. Reservations using the seating plan are only possible with dedicated 1st Class tickets.

You can save money on the through fare to Birmingham by splitting your tickets at Cheltenham. I'm not sure there is any particular rule that prevents you buying one upgrade to accompany a split ticket journey on one train. It would be a particularly officious (and possibily incorrect) Train Manager who makes you buy seperate upgrades to go with the split tickets.

I would go with the 1000 starting at Bristol, as the 1030 coming up from Penzance will be bursting at the seems, and you won't have very long to attempt to get your first class reservations, as people will upgrade en-route regardless/kick off at the TM and stick themselves in 1st, and even if you do get a seat you can bet they'll be others standing in the vestibules etc.

For the sake of half an hour, I bet you'll save yourself a load of grief.  I also wouldn't recommend any train going through WSM either for the same reasons.

Just my opinion though.

Thanks all

Think I'll go for the 1000 - can get lunch in brum

Normally I have the 10am tutorial slot so rarely do I have an issue as I go up earlier than the shoppers/returnees and getting the train back at 1pm seems to miss the return rush as well

I prefer the "pseudo airline seats", as they're more private, the tables only slightly smaller and there's no chance of someone taking over the table.

You mean someone like me?

 :o I wasn't thinking about that (was thinking of less distractions, more privacy, etc), but I suppose if two people with laptops and other papers/books needed to share a single table it could be a squash, and there could be a "battle" - luckily I've almost always managed to avoid these.

At least the 1st Class Airline seats have decent tables!

I've had many - about five years ago ....

I got on at pad - adelante - was settled in by reading - was the 192x I believe so quiet.  Sone upper class twonker got on at reading - a regular on the earlier trains - and sat at my table despite there being other tables not in use

I objected to him insisting I tidied my stuff - suggested he sit elsewhere as there was plenty of space - pointed out the available tables and I was there before him so in his shoes I'd haven chosen one of the tables not in use.  He refused - shoving match ensued - loud argument with much effingham and blindingham on my part (reverted to full scouser mode) - train manager offered me a choice of moving .or the btp at oxford.  It was not a regular on the route.  I refused to move and said bring em on -he eventually agreed to move on the grounds he did nit want to be an indirect cause of a delay because if the Chav opposite him - his words not mine. But he made such a song and dance over it - he only ended up sitting in the most logical place he could have sat in in the first place.

So I know about table wars
 

Are they covered by the Geneva Convention?!!  :P :D

Good to hear he eventually moved. Some people just think they're above the rest...

To be fair it's probably more than enough for passengers travelling further than FGW territory, Bournemouth XC services are the same, all because passengers dont want to wait another ten minutes for a direct Waterloo train and instead insist on changing at Basingstoke. Funnily enough the same passengers who insist on standing and sitting in vestibules when there are still seats to be had if you look for them!

Sorry to pose this again! Wednesday 1st September, what XC trains are HST sets from then South West to Leeds?
Many thanks 8)

1223 Plymouth - Glasgow
1523 Plymouth - Leeds

Many thanks...you're a star, Eurostar? ::)

Ha Ha that was our office joke when we used to see the Eurostar in the distance (from a Victoria office) when it used to run from Waterloo...Glad we weren't the only ones  ;D