I have been a regular user of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Bridgend  to London Paddington service for about 18 months. I travel on a Wednesday morning and return on Thursday evenings. This is for work. From Sept 18 to end of Nov 18 all of my journeys except  2 or 3 were delayed from 10 or 15 minutes to well over an hour. Apologies but I didn’t keep records. There were some cancellations on my return journeys. Compensation was prompt on the major delays. I feel that  compensation should start at delays of 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes. I believe other rail companies offer this.

From January to present there have been no delays however last Wed there was a 10 minute delay because of trespassers on the line in West London...not GWR’s fault. So there seems to have been an improvement for my service. However every Wednesday morning I am stressed about the prospects of being late for work.

Another issue is  buying tickets. GWR seem to change the release date for the availability of Advance Singles. In November 2018 I was able to book advance singles well into May of this year although GWR state that Advance Tickets only go on sale 12 weeks in advance. When I spoke to a GWR salesperson on the phone just now he said Advance tickets could go on sale even earlier. Most confusing. And passengers could end up paying more if Adavnce Singles sell out before the 12 week realsease date. The salesperson said that it is up to Network Rail when a rail company can release certain types of tickets for sale. In the past ticket sales people on the phone didn’t know if Advance Singles had sold out or even been released for specific dates I was enquiring about. That’s not a comment on the telephone sales people. They are only going on information that GWR gives or doesn’t give them it seems.

Perhaps it would be easier for customers if GWR  released Advanced Singles 4 or 6 weeks in advance and stuck to that. When I lived in Manchester Virgin seemed to have a similar time frame. I did weekly commutes from Manchester to London and don’t remember any confusion surrounding ticket release dates when booking in advance.

Seat reservations seem to be non existent  on my return journeys. It is a requirement to reserve a seat when booking online which I am happy to do. However on my Thursday evening services there is always an announcement saying that seat reservations are not being observed. My 20:15 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) is very busy every Thursday evening and some weeks there  many passengers standing crammed in the central aisle and by the doors.

When my Advance Singles are available my online booking experience is ok although sometimes the site is very slow.