LOOK! : First Great Western Refreshed HST's

[whole diary]

[tramway]

Try 6am with a hangover....

[smithy]

in my opinion 158's were the best but they are looking tired already.

Why is this? SWTs^▸ (South West Trains) 158s/159s were refurbed before FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s and still look as good as new.

SWT had a bigger budget and better refurb spec,also the maintainence is far superior to FGW probably because they only have one class of train to look after and more spare sets so can stop them for repairs etc.

[grahame]

SWT^▸ (South West Trains) had a bigger budget and better refurb spec,also the maintainence is far superior to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) probably because they only have one class of train to look after and more spare sets so can stop them for repairs etc.

Yes, but let's not forget that the franchise bid, by Alison Forster and her First team, set the budget and also the number of trains they needed - so that although you are, I'm sure, on the right track it's through choice of the companies concerned and not just down to the luck of the draw. First chose to squeeze budgets, and to squeeze passengers.

Didn't SWT used to run some 170 units (?) from Salisbury too?  Was the maintainance there os a significantly lower standard before they switched to a nearer-uniform fleet of just two classes - 158s and 159s?

And on a positive note for FGW, let's remember how well Exeter have done with 142s, and that the present incumbents in most FGW roles are not the same people who were at the front and making the bid that they're delivering until 2016 even if they were with the company elsewhere.

[tramway]

I was going to make the point about Exeter and what can be done with dedicated facilities, and their efforts have been recognised and rightly applauded elsewhere on this site.

It has gone quiet on the SPM^▸ (St Philip's Marsh (Bristol depot)) facilities of late, IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) it was meant to mirror the SWT^▸ (South West Trains) arrangement at Salisbury, did this ever happen, as even recently 158's have gone to Salisbury for work, at least the fluff has stopped coming out of the carpets. 

[smithy]

SWT^▸ (South West Trains) had a bigger budget and better refurb spec,also the maintainence is far superior to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) probably because they only have one class of train to look after and more spare sets so can stop them for repairs etc.

Yes, but let's not forget that the franchise bid, by Alison Forster and her First team, set the budget and also the number of trains they needed - so that although you are, I'm sure, on the right track it's through choice of the companies concerned and not just down to the luck of the draw. First chose to squeeze budgets, and to squeeze passengers.

Didn't SWT used to run some 170 units (?) from Salisbury too?  Was the maintainance there os a significantly lower standard before they switched to a nearer-uniform fleet of just two classes - 158s and 159s?

And on a positive note for FGW, let's remember how well Exeter have done with 142s, and that the present incumbents in most FGW roles are not the same people who were at the front and making the bid that they're delivering until 2016 even if they were with the company elsewhere.

now you come to mention it the 170's were looked after to same standard as the 159's,so it must be a number of reasons.

with the odd exception swt diesels end at a depot every day.
more scope to stop units for repairs
more skilled enthusiastic workforce maybe?

also exeter have done a fantastic job on clapped out pacers lets hope once they take on the 143's the reliability of them improves,as train crew i see all the time the shortcomings of SPM^▸ (St Philip's Marsh (Bristol depot)) far too many team leader informed,no fault found or for mobile to ride responses in defect books to faults train crew have reported.also worth noting that the good old canton trick of changing repair book is becoming more common with these now

[stebbo]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) refreshed HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) - I've said it before and I'll say it again - in my opinion bloody awful. I'm of the old school and I don't expect ttain journeys to be like Ryanair. There's more legroom on an Easyjet flight than on FGW (and Easyjet charges less per mile half the time).

[dog box]

And there is more legroom on a FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Hst than a Voyager, ... but what about Ryanair is there more legroom on a ryanair plane than an Easy jet one.........quite frankly i am not interested

[12hoursunday]

(and Easyjet charges less per mile half the time).

when you book 6 months in advance! Try going to Bristol Airport on the day you want to travel sunshine and you'll be in for a shock!

[Super Guard]

(and Easyjet charges less per mile half the time).

when you book 6 months in advance! Try going to Bristol Airport on the day you want to travel sunshine and you'll be in for a shock!

And also try taking as much luggage to the airport, that people seem to think they can take on trains and see how excess baggage works... I wish the railways would enforce this, because it really does take the mick sometimes.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

(and Easyjet charges less per mile half the time).

when you book 6 months in advance! Try going to Bristol Airport on the day you want to travel sunshine and you'll be in for a shock!

And also try taking as much luggage to the airport, that people seem to think they can take on trains and see how excess baggage works... I wish the railways would enforce this, because it really does take the mick sometimes.

that is a valid point however if every passenger had a suitcase would there be enough storage?