Is there any provision in the National Rail Conditions of Travel for compensation to passengers when the timetable is ripped to shreds with just seven days notice?

In comparison, the EU261 legislation protects air travellers when the timing of the flight you're booked to travel on is changed up to 14 days before departure.

I've written to my MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) about the current status of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s customer services after a 4 month wait for four claims to be processed.

He's now had to chase Mark Hopwood for a reply...

Don't think I could face travelling back to Reading on Easter Monday. Fortunately the office is closed tomorrow..!

I was on this train yesterday between Reading and Exeter St Davids and I can safely say that this was some of the worst overcrowding I have seen on a train back to the West Country. At Reading they announced that the service was for reservation holders only, even though the platform staff wouldn't or couldn't enforce this rule. I was in Coach D and there were people stood throughout the carriage until Taunton, with people in the vestibules, even after Tiverton Parkway.

However, knowing that I wanted to travel on the first super off-peak train at the start of the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend getaway and that demand would far exceed supply, I booked myself an advance ticket for ^19.00 on the 12th of JANUARY. Whilst I entirely accept that there will be some who will need to make last minute travel plans, surely it's reasonable to say that the vast majority were in a similar boat to me and could've been more organised by booking at around the same time.
 
Yes, government policy over decades has meant a lack of investment on additional rolling stock and conditions which you wouldn't keep cattle in, the 1915 out of Paddington on a Friday night a particularly notorious example. But I ask you this question. Would the demand yesterday evening and the limited paths out of Paddington meant overcrowding, irrespective of how many extra trains GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) put on? The two additional trains to Swansea and Penzance were also reported to be full and standing for long periods last night.

Just my two cents.

Cheers,
Alex

Hi all,

Has anything changed on this issue follwing the December timetable change? GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)'s Twitter team have suggesting again that there are a number of peak services in the evening into London...

https://twitter.com/furby/status/676788723498004480

Thanks,
Alex

August 7th has just been declared as a void day. It seems as if some parliamentary intervention may have led to the change of heart..

Cheers,
Alex

Twitter team have acknowledged its an error. I will be keeping an eye to make sure it does get changed..

Thanks for your help Bignosemac!

Thanks for your response Bignosemac. There isn't anything in words on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website, however some services came up as restricted when trying to buy a OPD, leaving Reading around 18:00 on 17/09.

However, I also came across the following conversation over Twitter between FGW and a customer (screenshot attached).

Cheers,
Alex

Good evening everyone,

Whilst having a cursory look at the tickets section of the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website, I noticed that a number of services from Reading to London Paddington, both fast and stopping, in the evening peak, now don't permit the use of Off Peak tickets. These are:

17:27 semi-fast, Maidenhead only (17:01 from Oxford)
17:33 stopping (16:37 from Oxford)
17:42 stopping (starts at Reading)
17:51 fast (13:03 from Penzance)
17:56 semi-fast, Slough only (15:14 from Hereford)
18:23 fast (17:38 from Bedwyn)
18:33 fast (16:55 from Cardiff Central)
18:33 stopping (17:37 from Oxford)
18:50 stopping (starts at Reading)
18:57 semi-fast, Slough only (18:31 from Oxford)
19:03 fast (16:28 from Swansea)
19:12 fast (18:00 from Bristol TM^‡(resolve))
19:18 fast (18:53 from Newbury)
19:33 stopping (18:37 from Oxford)

The questions I would like answered answered are when they were introduced, does their franchise agreement allow them to introduce this so quietly and...what's the point? I commute every day between Reading and Slough and travel into London at least once a month and get my ticket checked probably once a fortnight, if that. It just seems like price increase by stealth to me.

What concerns me the most is the lack of info on the departure boards at Reading stating that a particular service into London does not accept said tickets. I certinaly intend to ask Network Rail and FGW what they're going to do about this.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Kind regards,
Alex

Hello and welcome to the Coffee Shop forum!

I commute between Reading and Slough every day, so have a bit of insight if you're going to be taking the later trains into Paddington and the earlier ones out.

On the 08:26 from Twyford, you will get a seat, but it does get very full on departure from the only stop, Maidenhead. However, I believe its due to be upgraded from 3 to 5 coaches from Spetember 7th.

In the evening, if you want some space to breathe, especially at the front of the train, I would recommend the 17:12 to Henley. The 17:18 fast train to Maidenhead (an Adelante), is dodgy, as is the 17:35. But this is due to become a HST^▸ (High Speed Train), also from September 7th, so conditions will probably improve considerably.

Finally, purely based on the number of complaints on Twitter, the 17:06 and 18:05 non-stop services back to Twyford in the evening are pure hell...some of the busiest trains in the peak.

Kind regards,
Alex

At the same time the generic apology went out at lunchtime today, they also announced that a void day would not be declared. Dodgy decision in my opinion, especially given that there was less disruption on 8/12/14, when the last void day was declared after two broken High Speed Train's (HST^▸ (High Speed Train))s outside Paddington.

Time for the declaration of void days to be taken out of TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) hands methinks..

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying Acronym

The main timetable changes section of the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) site says that the 08:19 from Reading, 08:35 from Maidenhead, will be 5 carriages from September 7th. It also says that the 17:35 from Paddington will be a HST^▸ (High Speed Train) from the same day. Wonder where they got the stock from?

With regards to the question, and I get the 08:19 from Reading at least twice a week so I have experience, I find the passengers at Maidenhead always create a gap to allow people like myself to alight. On the few occasions that someone stray's, they get a bump from me!