200,000 posts. A chance to look back at your old favourites!

[whole diary]

[grahame]

200011 Posts in 15085 Topics by 1840 Members.

Wow!  We've passed the 200,000 mark ... which is a quite remarkable number of posts.

What's YOUR favourite post of all times?   And your most memorable?   

[Adelante_CCT]

I remember a few months back one of our members got fed up with disruption at Paddington and started resorting to cannibalism, (though they claimed it was a typo), that certainly sticks in the memory 

[SandTEngineer]

So what was Post No.1.........

[bobm]

This one always makes me smile

If you forgot you username AND password and has happened to me once - cant honestly remember what email you had at the time (think it was the trainline) - you just sign up again with a new user name

You registered with the trainline? Twice? What on earth possessed you do that? 

[bobm]

So what was Post No.1.........

I'm guessing...

Hello and welcome!

I've been campaigning for an appropriate passenger train service on the "TransWilts" line from Swindon via Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge and Westbury on perhaps to Warmninster, Salisbury and beyond for some 18 months. But getting the railway world to take note of their customer base has proven to be incredibly frustrating!

This site has been set up for CUSTOMERS and WANNABE Customers of First Great Western so that they can exchange views, stories, suggestion - with the ultipmate objective of making positive feedback, actually having the customer listened to and heeded and perhaps coming up with a better rail service for us, and one that's better for the operator, the economy and the environment too.

Apart from being an FGW^▸ (First Great Western) customer, the opertors of this site have no links commercial links with the company

If you're reading this ... you've very early - I haven't even finished setting up yet.   But - you're very welcome, do join in and I'll try to avoid loosing any posts during testing!

- Graham

Trademark typos even then... 

[grahame]

So what was Post No.1.........

I'm guessing...

Hello and welcome!

I think post no. 1 was "this is a test" and was quickly deleted.  What you've found is post no. 2 ... the first remaining post.

[JayMac]

Most memorable? Probably my fourth one in June 2009.

Asking this forum for help with a fares query. As a Railcard holder I was regularly being overcharged on the Severn Beach Line after the local CRP^▸ (Community Rail Partnership) had sought and won a 50% reduction (instead of the usual 34%) for line fares for Railcard holders. Unfortunately, after the advertised start date in May 2009, industry ticket systems hadn't been updated.

It took some time for FGW^▸ (First Great Western) (as was) to sort out.  They seemed content to have only Avantix^▸ (Ticket Issuing System used on board trains) fixed. Ticket office, TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine), and online took too long to fix.

This was my introduction to the intricacies and complexities of the fares system. It was also an introduction to the often times frustrating FGW/GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Customer Service experience, and the sometime cavalier attitude taken toward overcharging customers. I was refunded for all the fares I'd overpaid. The vast majority probably didn't complain. Only on the railways does such overcharging go unpunished.

At that time in June 2009 I never saw my future being the (frankly anal) study of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail fares system, along with the Conditions of Carriage/Travel and Routing Guide. I'm glad I did though. Saved a fortune!

Just last week I travelled from Bristol to Birmingham with an Off Peak Return ticket that had neither 'Bristol' or 'Birmingham' printed on it. Less than half the price the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) would want you to pay.


And without blowing one's trumpet too much,  I hope the advice and suggestions I've given fellow forum members these past 7 years or so has helped them legitimately save a few bob too.

[JayMac]

This one always makes me smile

If you forgot you username AND password and has happened to me once - cant honestly remember what email you had at the time (think it was the trainline) - you just sign up again with a new user name

You registered with the trainline? Twice? What on earth possessed you do that? 

Only a year into my 'study' of rail fares. But, even by then I'd learnt to avoid thetrainline.com.  And to tell others to do likewise.

[grahame]

When I solict general inputs like "what was your favourite ..." here, I do the relection test and ask myself "could I answer?" and "would I want to answer", and if I couldn't / wouldn't , I think twice about posting.

I did think twice about this post (but, heck, carried on!!) because there's no one pivotal or outstanding post for me.  So I would - as a politician might - answer a question differento the one asked and hope you don't notice.

The forum was set up to help inform.  And my favourite threads are those which do just that - that could be providing answers to questions, it could be letting people know what's going on (sharing information), and it could be threads which inform us on different views and opinions.

Informing is key. It informs the passengers and potential passengers about systems as arcain as the fare system, and as complex as timetabling and rostering. It informs those of us who seek improvement and change as to what's practical to suggest and what's in the interest of the people we're asking.  It helps inform thos of us who live in one town / village on one rail line / service about what happens elsewhere, so that we can see the wider picture.  And from time to time it brings public opinion and on-the-ground issues to the attention of those in the industry, politics and government who can actually do something about them.

I celebrate two things about this forum.  How information that we spread - directly or indirectly - can (and in some cases I think has) make a very real positive difference for some people.  And the very positive interactions / friendship it has brought me too - thank you, everyone.