FGW HSTs vs Arriva XC Voyagers

[whole diary]

[dooby13]

I have to say I much prefer the X-Country service and trains, compared with FGW^▸ (First Great Western).  They actually have electric doors AND they have been known to keep them clean, unlike FGW.  Obviously the cleanest trains I've ever been on were in Japan, and the dirtiest in Vietnam, but in all honesty, the late trains into Cornwall from London on a Saturday evening, are not far off the latter.  Fetid disgusting things...but I digress.

I did have one bad experience with X-Country.  St Erth to Sheffield return.  Going up was fine, but coming back took 2 hours longer, as we had to go via Newport, Wales, to pick up a member of staff.  How on earth is taking 6 full carriages, all the way to Newport and back (not a scheduled stop), to pick up one member of staff, in any way viable?  Should have stuck the person in a taxi - it's not difficult is it?!

[JayMac]

I have to say I much prefer the X-Country service and trains, compared with FGW^▸ (First Great Western).  They actually have electric doors AND they have been known to keep them clean, unlike FGW.  Obviously the cleanest trains I've ever been on were in Japan, and the dirtiest in Vietnam, but in all honesty, the late trains into Cornwall from London on a Saturday evening, are not far off the latter.  Fetid disgusting things...but I digress.

I did have one bad experience with X-Country.  St Erth to Sheffield return.  Going up was fine, but coming back took 2 hours longer, as we had to go via Newport, Wales, to pick up a member of staff.  How on earth is taking 6 full carriages, all the way to Newport and back (not a scheduled stop), to pick up one member of staff, in any way viable?  Should have stuck the person in a taxi - it's not difficult is it?!

Eh? When did this happen? An unscheduled stop en-route maybe, but I find it hard to believe that a scheduled service would go so far off route to pick someone up. Is it not more likely that the diversion was because of engineering works or a short notice closure of the line between Gloucester and Bristol? And 6 full carriages? What were you travelling in?

[paul7575]

And 6 full carriages? What were you travelling in?

Easy mistake to make if you are in 'coach F' I'd have thought...

Paul

[devon_metro]

I have to say I much prefer the X-Country service and trains, compared with FGW^▸ (First Great Western).  They actually have electric doors AND they have been known to keep them clean, unlike FGW.  Obviously the cleanest trains I've ever been on were in Japan, and the dirtiest in Vietnam, but in all honesty, the late trains into Cornwall from London on a Saturday evening, are not far off the latter.  Fetid disgusting things...but I digress.

I did have one bad experience with X-Country.  St Erth to Sheffield return.  Going up was fine, but coming back took 2 hours longer, as we had to go via Newport, Wales, to pick up a member of staff.  How on earth is taking 6 full carriages, all the way to Newport and back (not a scheduled stop), to pick up one member of staff, in any way viable?  Should have stuck the person in a taxi - it's not difficult is it?!

Regarding cleanliness of Cross Country trains vs FGW, I would definitely say, in my experience, that Voyagers are the dirtiest. The state of the interiors is awful.

[Exeter]

Perhaps getting away from Newquay but as for cleanliness of trains, I have to say that when I board a West of England service at Paddington they are 99.9% time extremely well turned out! What they are like when I alight at Exeter is altogether a different story!  I would love to see the state of some of the clientele's homes, based on their behavior on board!! And yes, I would imagine by the time they get to Cornwall they are pretty rank but blame that on the people that use them!!!!  And dont even get me onto cross country - even when a voyager is alledgedly clean they still stink!!! 

[Andy]

This should probably be in "the lighter side" (No offence meant) but what is/are the cause(s) of this gulf in cleanliness?


1) Voyager users are dirtier people than FGW^▸ (First Great Western) users.
2) Voyager cleaners are worse at their job than FGW cleaners.
3) AXC^» (Arriva Cross Country - about) don't employ enough cleaners/don't give their cleaners enough time to do the job in comparison to FGW.
4) Voyagers aren't cleaned as regularly/thoroughly?
5) Voyagers attract and/or generate more dirt than FGW HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) because they are the devil's invention (cleanliness being next to godliness)
6) The DFT^▸ (Department for Transport)
7) The European Union/all political parties except UKIP
8 Gordon Brown
9) Northerners/the youth of today/the abolition of national service?
10) ...
Match the poster to the answer  !
 

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

you been on a clean voyager.... was it during a factory tour when it was built?? in my experiance fgw cleaning is in devon atleast second to none... xc  on the other hand is just none existant

[thetrout]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Trains are so much better/cleaner than XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) Voyagers... My biggest gripe with XC Voyagers is the obnoxious toilet smell/cleaniless... Especially when the train has come from somewhere like Aberdeen... Just don't go in there if you value a good oxygen supply...!!!!!!!!

I could rant on and on and on about XC so please don't tempt me...

In their defence I do have to say their HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s are very good... But where's the bluddy WiFi and Hot Food in First Class they promised...?!

[inspector_blakey]

Any objections if I split off a separate "XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) voyagers vs. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train)" or "why Voyagers suck" thread from this and drop it into "The Lighter Side"? As various posters have pointed out already, we've strayed some way from the topic of the Newquay branch!

[Super Guard]

I have to say I much prefer the X-Country service and trains, compared with FGW^▸ (First Great Western).  They actually have electric doors AND they have been known to keep them clean, unlike FGW. 

Seriously?  I take it you would prefer a 142 with it's automatic doors over a FGW HST^▸ (High Speed Train)?

[devon_metro]

Are 142s not air operated doors like most other BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) 2nd gen DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit)?

[Super Guard]

Are 142s not air operated doors like most other BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) 2nd gen DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit)?

Thank you  ..... although I think the point was one had to turn a handle to open a door on a 30-40yr old train... disgraceful 

[plymothian]

The seats on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) always look awfully dirty because they show up all the fluff, hair and gunk.  I don't think they get vacuumed.

[inspector_blakey]

You're obviously travelling on different FGW^▸ (First Great Western) trains from me - the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) are almost invariably immaculate, and considering the heavy use the local fleet gets in general that's pretty good too. All sets get a thorough clean, including vacuuming the seats, every night as far as I'm aware.

[sorch]

There are a lot of reasons why I dislike the Voyagers, such as:
those crap internal electric doors that sometimes don't work, sometimes keep trying to close themselves, and you need to go through a thousand of them to get into the next carriage
the useless standard class seat trays, at least for laptops
the windows block GSM signals quite effectively, but not 3G
the toilet smell
no catering (I only ever travel to/from Plymouth into Cornwall)
those reservation screen that take ages to scroll around

Why I like the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) service in general:
it runs dead on time pretty much all the time, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) seem to enjoy being a few minutes late on either side of the journey a lot

Can someone tell me what the purpose is of the panel between the seats is? It has headphone jacks, volume/channel buttons, but if you plug anything in there's no sound.