Some groundworks have been ongoing on both platforms by the entry/exits for the last week or so......

Are we about to get travel information screens at long last?

Still no sign of a replacement ticket machine since the last one was trashed...

Compare these 2 journeys.

Mon 28th Dec, 10:30 service off Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddingtion. Train manager was polite and courteous throughout journey, very visible checking tickets after each schedule stop. Informative info for connections at Swindon, Didcot Parkway & Reading (our service ran a few minutes early to these stations which allowed customers to make earlier connections all of which were explained by the TM^‡(resolve)). Overall experience was good, just as it should be^

Sat 2nd Jan, 18:00 service off London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads. Departed 10 minutes late due to delay with inbound service. Train Manager apologised but was rather pre-occupied with the large number of Swindon Town  customers on their way home from their FA cup match in London. The service made up some of the time but was further delayed after leaving Chippenham due to a brokendown train at Bath Spa. Arrived 12 minutes after published time of 19:39. Made my way from Platform 15 to Platform 8 for the (recognised) onward connection (19:55) to Taunton, only to find the dispatcher and Conductor closing the doors and sending the train off down the line (despite my shouting to hold the train which caught the attention of the Conductor as he turned to see where the shout had come from). I sought to engage with the train dispatcher as to why hadn^t been able to hold the train for those handful of passengers who were off the late running service. What I got by way of a response was that of a ^typical jobs worth^ all he was interested in was ensuring the local service got off on time. I enquired whether there had been any communication about the late running service and got a rather sheepish answer that he wasn^t interested about that particular service and any customers who might have wanted to continue their journey. I was not alone in wanting to make this connection and the way the other customers were treated was equally sloppy. Overall experience, very poor from a member of staff who quite frankly seemed disinterested.

I renewed my ticket in May this year (regular customer who buys an annual ticket) and am still waiting....

I have even written to FGW and they replied along the lines of this promotion is very much a lottery and not all will receive such benefits.....

I am on the mailing list; this week I received a letter offering me the chanace to travel first class on my regular route outside rush hour, couple of problems, no first class service from my station in the morning and i am not sure how the boss will react if i walk in around 10:30....Inculded with the offer was 6 free car parking tickets - the car park at my station is FREE -Oh well it is the thought that counts

Journey into London on the 08:28 from Weston-super-Mare rolls into London Paddington 25 minutes late. Train manager offers apologies for the slight delay in our arrival....

20:30 Paddington to Exeter delayed by 1 hour and 16 minutes due to trackside equipment problems at Trowbridge(?) - arrived at W-s-M just after midnight - had to take a taxi as I had missed my bus connection. Train Manager made sure that we were will informed of the delay/progress - but at that time of night most passengers just wanted to get home. The train was due (revised time) to get to Exeter at around 01:00.......

Oh, I used Southern Services off Charing Cross to Hastings (and return) as well, service ran smoothly and to time........

Does anyone buy these on a regular basis?

The daily train fare from Worle to FAW is ^9.30 - you can get a Travel card for ^9 which includes all trains and buses in the nominated area - and there are no time restrictions for travel. Indeed there is a 7 day version for ^36.......

Comments/views welcome

For the 3rd weekend running I have travelled from Bristol to London and at no time has there been any check of my tickets by the Train manager or station staff

For 2 of the journeys i exited Paddington main line to the Hammersmith and City line and was not asked to show my tickets by staff, the other journey i arrived at an open platform.

Last night the train was quite crowded due to the football at Wembley, the Train manager announced at least 4 time s before departure about Leisure Advance tickets and being on the right train otherwise you will be liable to buy a new ticket and nothing happened - how do I know? Well the 2 guys sitting with me had tickets for the 09:30 service - this was the 20:00 departure to BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI))

Are FGW^▸ (First Great Western) this lax normally?

I wonder how many 'freebies' travel each Saturday.

Or are they making enough from the mugs who pay and travel on the right train?

(My journey also involved taking a train out of Liverpool Street and then a bus to arrive at my destination due to engineering works- the staff were just as un-interested on the ticket front.....)

I am a regular user of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services, for work and leisure travelling locally within the Weston to bristol area as well as to London to watch sport (footie) at the weekend.

I have to say the service provided is generally ok, however when things go wrong, boy do they screw-up the journey....

In an idle moment I spotted this http://www.severnside-rail.org.uk/resources.asp

Is there more detail that can be shared, indeed a draft of the Winter Timetable?