Mainly because we've been promised "Jam tomorrow" and numerous variations of "Manana Manana" by First/GWR▸ /the railways for years, and (quite rightly) they are no longer trusted as they fail to deliver.
At least we have seen real progress this year though. The 387s have been introduced and are proving very reliable, the
IET▸ ’s have (opening day
PR▸ disaster aside) settled in pretty nicely with largely favourable reviews. Had seats been a bit softer on both trains then there would have been widespread praise!
Also, new electrification equipment has so far proven to be very reliable, and we have started the Turbo cascade to the west, though with initial punctuality problems on the Severn Beach route.
At the start of next year 387s will take over nearly all suburban trains into Paddington throughout the day, and Crossrail trains will soon start testing and then be in use between Heathrow and Paddington from May. IET’s will have taken over the majority of
HST▸ work by the end of the year, and the west should see short-formed HSTs and Turbos arrive in numbers significant enough to bolster capacity there.
I’m optimistic that Sunday’s will be brought into the working week for drivers, which should make weekend planning much easier, and several training courses of drivers will complete to increase numbers of staff.
Still a lot of hurdles to overcome though. Lots of training, lots of ‘new’ things to bed in, and lots to be done to get the public back on side.
Oh, and I thought it was “Manyana manyana”?
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