Fare Query - Digby & Sowton > Gatwick Airport Return - January 2016

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Thanks to all for your input - I will have a look at the 'via Southampton' and SVR options.

I am afraid that the final suggestion from TG cannot be considered because I hate long distance coach travel and would not use such services unless there was absolutely no alternative.

Good luck! 

Just a quick one on this Bob, I thought of you this morning when I got to Reading (en route to Bristol TM^‡(resolve)) and the Gatwick service was suspended due to a broken down train - the fallback being suggested was travelling to Paddington, across to Victoria and out again to Gatwick - perhaps worth bearing in mind for your trip - if the Reading-Gatwick service falls over, there are very few other options other than that being suggested this morning which adds a large amount of time to your trip.

[Bob_Blakey]

Well that was a damned close run thing! The up Paignton > Paddington service was delayed just east of Frome by an engineering work speed restriction - 'restricted' to the extent that the train was completely stopped for several minutes! - and arrived RDG^‡(resolve) 10 minutes late at 1430. However some spirited sprinting by SWTSMBO^▸ (She Who Thinks She Must Be Obeyed) and yours truly allowed us to make the 1434 to Gatwick, as planned, with 2 minutes to spare. Credit to the Train Manager of 1A82 who, when asked, did his best to get a short hold on the Gatwick train (the response was 'GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Swindon control says No') but I am certain that some sort of message must have got through given that the 1O78 TM^‡(resolve) was still on the platform looking back towards P7 as we approached.

On the plus side the booked GTW > DIG return journey yesterday ran perfectly - which is more than can be said for the preceding BA^» (British Airways - about) flight back from France that suffered a c. 60 minute delay largely because those muppets had overbooked it. They then tried to blame their online booking system.

And finally further credit to GWR for the provision of a pretty speedy WiFi service on all 4 sectors of the journey.   

[Chris from Nailsea]

Many thanks for that update on your rail travel adventure, Bob_Blakey! 

Purely for completeness, I've added SWTSMBO^▸ (She Who Thinks She Must Be Obeyed) to our 'acronyms/abbreviations' page.