That reminds me of the days when the 6'o clock from Hereford (8:44? arrival into Paddington) used to be frquently routed via the slow line between Reading and Maidenhead or even between Reading and Langley, where it might well have to wait, to allow an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) to pass, despite the Cotswold service being hauled at that time by a Class 50, which, I seem to remember, had a very good turn of speed?

But this sort of nonsense still goes on today. I've lost count of the number of times that I've been on an HST coming up from Wales or the West Country where the driver has made heroic and successful efforts to catch up all lost time, only to be brought to a shuddering halt at West Drayton to let a Heathrow Express precede it. This happened to the service that I was travelling on last Monday evening and, as I say, it realy seems to be quite a common occurence. I suppose that the signallers receive their instructions on priorities from someone? 

Adelantes may not have had many more seats than the Turbos do, but those that there were, were considerably more comfortable than the perches currently provided in Turbos - trains that seem to have been designed for midgets.

Despite their acknowledged faults, Adelantes were able to get away from stations very quickly, thanks to their rapid acceleration and to their automatic door closing system.  It often seems to take an eternity to get an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) away from a rural, unstaffed station, usually due to thoughtless passengers who seem to think that there will be a Porter on hand to shut the doors after them. 

I've never understood why the powers that be consider that a Turbo is sufficient or satisfactory for the 18:30 Hereford departure to Paddington. An Adelante used to be allocated to this service and before that, an HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)), if my memory serves right. How FGW^▸ (First Great Western) could believe that a three-car suburban set could be appropriate for a 150 mile, three-and-a half journey is beyond me. I suppose that the answer is that they just don't care?  For my part, I am now compelled to use the 16:30, which is the last reasonably comfortable train up to London via Evesham on Sunday, so far as I'm aware. 

 I think that you're rather overlooking Network Rail's undoubted talent for creating a massive job out of a seemingly straightforward task.

These exchanges re Worcester prompt me to ask why it is that both platforms at Foregate Street could not be fully utilised? Like everyone else who has spent time at Shrub Hill or west of the river bridge waiting for a train to come off the single line in order that "our service" can proceed into Foregate Street, I wonder why it is that a set of points could not be installed at the Shrub Hill end of FS so that London-bound trains could use the Birmingham platform.  I am sure that the experts will tell me that there is a very good reason why this could not be done, but at the moment it eludes me! 

Far be it from me to intervene in a debate between experts, as a new contributor, but it does seem to me that the journey that I now make between Hereford and Paddington via Evesham on Sundays, that used to take 3:00 hours, and now takes 3:30 or more, according to engineering works, and stops at 17 stations (if a direct train), is beyond the bounds of what might be considered to be reasonable, particularly if the length of the journey at each end is taken into account. I cannot speak for all weekend commuters, but can only say that many people that I know locally have either given up coming back to Herefordshire at the weekends or have chosen to drive. I can only conclude that those responsible for drawing up time-tables have no idea what it is like to work in London from first thing Monday morning until last thing Friday evening and then take 10 hours out of the weekend to travel.  The days when I used to catch a train at Kingham 7:30am each morning and be in work in Victoria seem to be a distant memory.  But then, that was before the awful people moved in to the Cotswolds.