A masterclass in how to complain from the MTLS▸ forum (link below.)
It's certainly a masterclass in how to complain. It's also a masterclass in not understanding modern life. In the 21st Century there are many times more people with time and money to travel than twenty years ago - for instance. And because of work patterns, time off tends to be at the same time. For the same reasons that the complainant considered it a good idea to leave London for the South West on the evening of Maundy Thursday, it is hardly surprising that thousands of others also thought it was a good idea. Many of them decided to travel by train. Why? Because the roads would be jammed with thousands of people trying to do it
that way. It probably took two hours to get past Stonehenge on the A303 that evening. Flying would be very limited as the few seats would have been booked well in advance.
For the same reasons that I don't go to Tesco on a Saturday morning or to the pub on a Saturday night, I didn't travel on Maundy Thursday. If you don't like crowds, it seems obvious to avoid travelling on the busiest day in the year for travel.
If you do decide to travel on such a day, it is hardly realistic to expect dozens of trains and crews to be miraculously provided from nowhere and then stored away again until August. It's no more realistic than expecting the
DfT» to provide temporary motorways at Bank Holidays to relieve congestion.
I'm not speaking with my
FGW▸ cap on here, but what does the complainant expect FGW customer services to say to him in reply? As most of us here know, it is impossible with current systems to run the railway with an airline type seat booking system and even if it was possible, even fewer people would have travelled on that day.
Finally - putting my FGW cap on - from somebody who has
asked people to leave a severely overcrowded train, the usual response is something that you wouldn't want your granny to hear. The only way I could ever get people to leave an overcrowded train without being subjected to violence is to call for the police. A health and safety limit on trains would be completely unenforceable. It would have to apply to tube trains and
DOO▸ trains as well. The capital would grind to a halt. There will never ever be enough carriages to avoid peak time overcrowding.