5 into 10 goes once

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

And some, like me, take the view that full fare open tickets are expensive.
For all that money  I think that a buffet should be provided on all longer routes, and a Pullman restaurant on selected services.

[TaplowGreen]

And some, like me, take the view that full fare open tickets are expensive.
For all that money  I think that a buffet should be provided on all longer routes, and a Pullman restaurant on selected services.

I wonder how many people actually pay for full fare open tickets? They are eye wateringly expensive in most cases

If it made commercial sense to do so, you can be pretty sure that buffets would have been provided on all longer services, Travelling Chef was stopped because hardly anyone was using it, buffets are heading the same way. People's habits change and whimsy or nostalgia is not a reason to maintain a lossmaking service.

The fact is that there are far more options for customers now, M & S food stores at many stations for example, where food is better value, better quality and there's far more choice. If I want to have a coffee and a sandwich, I'll visit Costa and M & S before I board.

Pullman is provided on selected services so that ticks your box, it's priced and designed for what a niche market wants and is prepared to pay for but it's unlikely that its appeal will expand it much beyond where it is now.


People want a reliable reasonably priced service which transports them from A to B as quickly as possible. GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are not currently achieving this and are nowhere near meeting the high expectations that they created.

I would suggest that catering is some way down the list of priorities for most, especially when crammed onto a 5 car train that should be 10, or left on the platform for want of a driver.

[broadgage]

I used to regularly pay the full first open fare from Paddington to Taunton, during the years that I did this the first open single fare increased from about £50 to about £170, cant remember the exact price.

The 18-03 train was my favourite, being fast, having a restaurant, and the earliest that I could catch after work. Availability of discounted fares was of course limited on this popular service.

I did not begrudge the rather high fare provided that all went reasonably well, booking honoured, restaurant available and train reasonably punctual.
I was disgusted however if I paid that much, and the advertised restaurant did not appear, or if I had to stand. Delays worried me less unless extreme.
I was also somewhat disgusted with Reading commuters who should not even have been on the train, invading first class with standard  tickets. Or standing in First and obstructing the Pullman crew.

I used to make the return trip about 12 times a year, more like twice a year now.

[TaplowGreen]

I used to regularly pay the full first open fare from Paddington to Taunton, during the years that I did this the first open single fare increased from about £50 to about £170, cant remember the exact price.

The 18-03 train was my favourite, being fast, having a restaurant, and the earliest that I could catch after work. Availability of discounted fares was of course limited on this popular service.

I did not begrudge the rather high fare provided that all went reasonably well, booking honoured, restaurant available and train reasonably punctual.
I was disgusted however if I paid that much, and the advertised restaurant did not appear, or if I had to stand. Delays worried me less unless extreme.
I was also somewhat disgusted with Reading commuters who should not even have been on the train, invading first class with standard  tickets. Or standing in First and obstructing the Pullman crew.

I used to make the return trip about 12 times a year, more like twice a year now.

……………………...you really ARE Jacob Rees-Mogg aren't you! (I'm still waiting for my fiver from last time!!!) 

[Zoe]

Passengers get off and when they have done so the next lot get straight on at Looe, at Newquay, at Falmouth Dock,  and at places like Reading on trains arriving in from Bedwyn, even where such trains when they reverse at Paddington have a "make 'em wait" operation technique.

I don't know if it is still the case but I can remember passengers at Exmouth not being allowed onto the platform until the train was ready (even though it was just a 150), I understand the staff were quite strict about it also.

[froome]

Apparently there are going to be some notice boards put up primarily to direct those with seat reservations to board the correct portion at Paddington. The limited boarding time for many services doesn't help though with getting others up to the front.

With HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train), platform access at Paddington has "had to" wait until the train had been "prepared".  But people are allowed on the platform while preparations are under way at the other end such as as Bristol Temple Meads. The idea of holding people outside the gates if they're headed for the Paddington train until it's ready seems impractical and time has proven it un-necessary.    And that same thing applies at so many end-of-route stations for other types of trains too.  Passengers get off and when they have done so the next lot get straight on at Looe, at Newquay, at Falmouth Dock,  and at places like Reading on trains arriving in from Bedwyn, even where such trains when they reverse at Paddington have a "make 'em wait" operation technique.

With the electronification of seat reservations and destination notices, is it now time to be efficient and customer friendly at Paddington too, and let people be on the platform to join the incoming train once the incoming passengers have left it?   Has anyone asks a sample of customers "if you arrive in good time for your train, would you prefer to sit in it early and wait there rather than on the station concourse and in the shops" ... of course there would be nothing stopping people shopping and whatever until a few minutes before the train was due to leave - and isn't giving customers a choice a great idea?

Yesterday, two friends who had travelled on different trains down to the West Country from Paddington both said the same thing to me: "They didn't show which platform it was on until less than 5 minutes before it was due to leave. It was utter madness, trying to all get onto the platform and down to the far end." (both had bike reservations)

Has this got worse? It has always been bad, often showing the platform with just 7 or 8 minutes for a whole train load of people to get through the barriers and then squeeze down narrow platforms, especially if taking a bike. But less than 5 minutes. That is indeed madness.

[IndustryInsider]

If it has got worse it’s only due to the poorer punctuality of late leading to more late arrivals cutting down on the train preparation time for departures.