Great Western Coffee Shop

Today I was taking the children to London and this is how it went..

Firstly I decided to travel from Slough not Maidenhead as Slough gets half hourly fast trains all day.. Maidenhead has no fast trains off-peak

1. Drive to Slough
2. Pay ^6.60 to park (ouch) even though it's after 10am (off-peak at Slough appears to start at 4pm - no wonder the car park is half empty)
3. Have two attempts at buying tickets (first machine didn't fancy credit cards today)
4. Spend a little time on platform 3 but due to signal trouble at Reading there were no fast trains (well the delayed 10.11 did come through but it didn't stop)..
5. Spend about 20 minutes on platform 5 until a train arrives
6. Attempt to get on the train.. Can't get on..
7. Go back to car and drive...

So I paid out for car parking and train tickets that I didn't use.. And then had to pay central London Parking prices AND the congestion charge..

Marvellous... >:(

why couldn't you get on?

If it was anything like the trains going through Maidenhead, they were running less carriages than normal, and were so jam packed people were hanging out of the doors ...

Indeed.. There was no room to get on...Goodness knows how people further down the line managed..

By all accounts it was a bit of a nightmare trying to get into London on the GWML yesterday morning (02/06/2011).

I'm glad I'm a cheapskate and went via Salisbury from Bristol. PA at Bristol TM was warning of severe delays and short notice cancellations at, and from Reading. Can't have been much fun if you had no other journey options.

Well yes. Not helped by the (new) CIS at Slough appearing to just give up... Mind you I know how it felt  ::) ;D

Tonight looks little better according to the FGW website

WoE services particularly badly hit. The 17:33 to Taunton cut back to Bristol Temple Meads and the 18:03 to Penzance and the 18:33 to Plymouth cancelled completely. Bad news for a Friday night especially.

At Bath Spa yesterday afternoon there were very few happy passengers.  Services to London were advertised as "taking an alternative route".

The school holidays, coupled with disruption on nearly every route plus the temperature didn't make for good travelling conditions.

Not to mention the delayed Portsmouth Harbour service (that all Weymouth passengers were advised to take as far as Westbury despite a Weymouth service calling within 20 minutes) that was substituted with a two coach Class 150 ::)

Don't get me started on the morning service.  People who only travel by train once in a blue moon playing musical chairs because seat reservations weren't printed at PMH.  "You sit here", "No, this is my seat", "I've got the window", "We've got children, we need the table".  Arghhhhh, for goodness sakes, just sit anywhere, the train was less than a quarter full anyway.  Thank you to the conductor who backed me up (in saying that her seat reservation wasn't valid anymore) after I refused to move after having already moved twice.

My last FGW journey for a long time but I certainly wasn't a happy traveller.  I had planned to take the mother on this "day trip", but lucky I didn't, else her opinion of the modern railway would be scarred forever!

I am getting a little fed up with FGW at the moment tbh.. They seem to have given up on their passengers (as I had to give up on them yesterday.. even tho I gave them some money for the privelege)... oh well..And these short trains are ok until it all goes wrong as they are all so hot even when they're not totally packed.. so packed is dangerous in my opinion...Heading into summer now.. marvellous.. I can hardly wait... :(

To be fair to FGW yesterday and today's problems have been out of their hands. The signalling at Reading and Maidenhead are for Network Rail to sort and the fatality at Castle Cary is beyond anyone on the railways' control.

Where FGW can assist is ensuring passengers (and would be passengers) are kept informed. I saw what was on the website but I wasn't travelling at the time so I don't know how well they succeeded in that.

East Coast railways publicly criticised Network Rail after problems with the signalling and overhead lines. I hope FGW don't go down that avenue - there's a danger it could be counter-productive. 

Well yesterday they were telling people not to wait on platform 3 for the fast trains with no reason ( although I guess it was because the one I saw didn't stop so others wouldn't too) but to go to platform 5.. This is fine if they run trains long enough to get everyone on.. It was 10.50am so not the height of the peak...If they chose to run short trains which just about work when things are ok (just) .. They should come up with a plan when things are not ok.. They didn't..

I could have spent a long time at Slough trying to get on trains where there was no room.. I decided that wouldn't be fun...or that I'd get where I was going.. Hence paying Apcoa and FGW money for tickets which I didn't use... oh well.. not their loss I guess  ::)

If you haven't already I'd send the tickets to FGW and explain why you didn't travel. Nothing to lose and if I had been in the same circumstance I would.

Yeah I have thought about that (but ended up using the travelcard portion on bus/tube in London so imagine I won't be allowed).. I'd like to claim my ^6.60 car park ticket back too but imagine that also won't help... It was a very expensive day out in the end...:-(

But it could have been much, much worse!  Am about to write up what happened this evening!

Oh dear.. What has happened now? :-(

See http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=9039.0 for details!

Trains still in mess this morning (Saturday). On the stoppers, it looks like they are only currently running the London - Oxford trains, all the Reading ones are cancelled. And the trains that are running are picking up large delays (30+ mins)

Live departure boards and FGW website saying it is due to vandalism (speculation: cable theft?)

From FGW:

Have to go to work today, so will have to brave it  :(

I was on the 0446 from Twyford (8 car Turbo!) which was running 10 mins late when I got on. When I did get on there were some drunks smoking which set my alarm bells ringing. We stopped at a red signal just before Brunham which we were talked through (I assume because of the probelms yesterday). At Slough two of the drunk yobos started fighting - luckily they took it on to the platform and the driver pressed the close door button! Unfortunately their mates were not best pleased and pulled the communication cord just after Langley. The driver came down the train with a security guard who had been hiding in 1st class (why employ these people if all they do is sit in the 1st class compartment?!) and had a go at the idiot who did it 'I just fell on it' - yeah right, we all saw you do it! We made an unscheduled stop at West Drayton - for the offenders to be met by the Police. The Poice weren't there and unsurprisingly the yobos used the emergency door handle, ran off down the track and jumped over the fence. Probably would have been better to carry on to Hayes and Harlington which would have given the Police more time to attend.

I know it's not really the fault of the railway, but we ended up arriving at Paddington 30 mins late - thanks to the drunks my first hour at work is going towards paying for a taxi, as if getting up at 0410 isn't bad enough! The driver dealt with the incident very well - he was confident they would be caught as there would be loads of CCTV of them.

Wow, your journey was much more eventful than mine turned out to be. After posting above, I checked the LDB and realised the 7:05 from West Drayton had got to Slough (running 10 minutes late). So I got my things together and left pronto.

Jogged to the station in 6 minutes for a walk that normally takes 10 (need the exercise anyway  ;) ) and made the train, which then continued as normal to Paddington.

Had hoped they would have extended the trains to 5 or 6 carriages as they are running 2 an hour (normally 4) but no such luck. Wasn't a problem this early but I expect it will be cosy later.

CP

The incident itself is beyond their direct control, but, and it's a big but, having robust procedures in place to mitigate delays during, and immediately after, the incident certainly can make a huge difference.  For example, I was at Reading last night watching platforms 1 and 2 for a little while and trains from Bedwyn/Basingstoke arrived and then sat there for ages before either departing very late or eventually being cancelled.  None of the platform staff had the faintest idea where the booked driver was or whether one would be turning up.  The trains were loaded with people but no announcements were being made on the train to keep people informed (no driver = no key in the cab = no working PA system!).  Similar situations would have been occurring all over the region I'm sure.

When things go badly wrong, whatever the answer is, we all know it's not integrated control centres nowhere near the action with an over reliance on computer systems and an ever-decreasing number of front-line staff able to make decisions on a local basis.  The few ladies and gentlemen sitting on the desks at Control at Swindon, despite working flat out, simply can't keep up.  Nobody can get through to them on the phone when the various computer systems reach meltdown, and you get the kind of chaos last night dragging on for far longer than it should do.  It's time FGW management woke up to this fact.

I totally agree with you and it was the point I was making in the paragraph after the one you quoted. I sometimes get the feeling that frontline staff know they can't get any answers from higher up so largely give up on phoning and to an extent who can blame them.

As you say FGW need to work on their systems and break that culture.

Yes, I kinda floated past your second paragraph when I read your post.  The answer was 'badly!'  ;)

I understand entirely, IndustryInsider. However it would be much better at Paddington to just switch off the screens during times of disruption, rather than give out misinformation, seeing as their software is so limited. A while ago (I think it was winter 2009) there was a major problem one evening, with complete service suspension. All trains were delayed, but the 17:12 Henley showed as on time at platform 12. The whole of the Thames Valley tried to pile on this 3 carriage train that wasn't actually going anywhere. I had to call BTP to sort this out as the scenes were getting quite ugly. If the screens had been off, this would never have arisen.

For some reason FGW are stubbornly refusing to admit they have a problem getting information out. SWT had this problem as well during the early years of their franchise, but have addressed it successfully. FGW need to do the same. In the absence of information, front line staff need to be empowered to make some decisions ie ask for the boards to be turned off, make PA announcements, advise passengers to seek alternative routes and help them to do this etc.

I have seen the displays at Reading revert to a generic "First Great Western Passenger Information System" at times of disruption. Although given that message it would be better to have them blank altogether. They do also make manual announcements. The problem is they can only act on the information they are given.

In the past announcers were based in Reading Panel Box which obviously gave them an advantage. Now the reliance on computerised/automated systems means when it all goes wrong you are going to struggle however good the people on the ground are.

Regarding efforts to crack down on cable theft, the following signs have started appearing warning potential criminals.  This one is at Honeybourne, an area targeted a lot over the last year or two.

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2507/5797882052_4f139fce49_b.jpg)

According to the latest issue of Rail Magazine two FGW trains came "close to colliding" while repair work was being carried out on June 4th. The trains are only identified by the reporting numbers 1Z08 and 1Z31. It seems the safeguards in place when a driver is authorised to pass a red/failed signal worked correctly. The driver of the second train saw the first one stationary ahead and because he was proceeding at slow speed was able to stop in time.

It also reports that two trains were trapped for two hours after Network Rail started work at two sites ahead and behind them thus stranding them in the middle.

All told there were 9,000 minutes of delays and compensation to train operators amounted to ^924,000.

From the limited details available, it sounds as though "close to colliding" may be an exageration.
It would appear that the driver of the second train had been permitted to pass a signal at danger.
Under such circumstances the driver must proceed cautiously such that they may stop short of a train or other obstruction.
It would appear that the driver proceeded correctly and stoped well short of the preceeding train. Press reports mentioned 200 yards, that would be worryingly close at line speed, but seems acceptable at the very low speed involved.

Can snyone identify 1Z08 & 1Z31? Which trains are they?

They were additionals for Cardiff.

Today felt very deja vu to me  ;D

Here is what happened....

Today I was taking my daughter to London and this is how it went..

Firstly I decided to travel from Slough not Maidenhead as Slough gets half hourly fast trains all day.. Maidenhead has no fast trains off-peak

1. Drive to Slough
2. Park but don't pay to park (I decided to wait till I was actually on a train this time and pay via my mobile phone)
3. Queue for ticket machine and just before it's my turn I glance up at the indicator board to see my train says "delayed" (which usually means it's not made it through Reading yet)
4. Go back to car and drive...

At least this time I found somewhere to park on the street which was ^8 and free after 1.30pm and no congestion charge.. but still.. Next time.. I'll remember just to stay on the M4  ::) ;D

There was only a few trains which departed more than a few mins late from Slough today.

12:40 which left at 12:51
15:24 which left at 15:37
19:40 which left at 19:54

Thankd Ollie... That is so weird as the 10.40am just said delayed.. I am guessing the information was wrong on the board then..  >:(

Oh well.. there wasn't much we could do.. If we had gone to find out information from a member of staff to find it was in fact on time, then we wouldn't have had time to buy a train ticket anyway...as we only had five minutes..so we really had new choice..

Good new CIS then  ::) ;D