I suspect that I am going to get flamed for this but here goes anyway! I'm going to focus on the delays which occur towards the eastern end of the Reading to Paddington stretch only because that is fairly local to me.
I know there were periods when the delays due to signalling problems can be frustrating and trying. I agree 100% it's not life threatening but I think if I had to travel and suffer these delays on a frequent basis it would do my head in.
But for a moment lets take the effect on passengers out of the equation for the moment and ask what the long term answer is from a technical perspective? Shut down the railway, rip out the whole lot and replace it with brand new equipment? I suspect that isn't a weekend job
I would like to hear from anyone on here that has some quick fix answers to these problems.
I do hear about signalling delays even when I am not travelling but I don't post about them - I will leave others to do that.
I totally understand that there are customers on here that have a bad experience of travelling by train in our region to start with. I'm mainly thinking of overcrowded trains here and accept that adding delays into the mix is a recipe for dissatisfaction but - to misquote something someone once said to me it is easier to be critical than correct;
So having had a moan about moaning my question is "does anyone have a good idea as to how this can be fixed?"
So my level headed posting today was done from the comfort of my own home knowing I do not have to battle with any form of public transport today. My opinion could well change in the next month or so when I have to start commuting from Thatcham to London on a daily basis!
To those members of this forum who either work on infrastructure for a
TOC▸ I may not like the experience I get from rail travel from time to time but I appreciate your hard work.
In closing what some may see as this pointless ramble I would like to add that I appreciate those who work to ensure our safety on the rail network. My rail journey often takes me past Ufton Nervet where a number of people lost their lives over a decade ago. I as I pass the memorial near the crossing I often think "there but for the grace of God..." (not that I'm a religious person!).
I guess what I could have said when I started this post is "come on members, give these guys a break"
I'll get my coat..