Pub on Platform 3 at Bristol Temple Meads

[whole diary]

[Brucey]

Has anyone ever visited the pub on Platform 3 at Bristol Temple Meads?  I've got a 45 minute wait on Friday so need something to keep me busy!

Are the prices reasonable or would it be worth breaking my journey and walking to the Knight's Templar (Wetherspoons)?

Don't know why, but I quite fancy the idea of drinking a pint whilst sitting in the main train shed.

TIA^▸ (Transient Ischemic Attack (aka "mini-stroke"))

[matt473]

The pints are expenisve and I prefer to go to the Weatherspoons pub round the corner from the station which is a pleasent pub with a tv showing departures form the station which is handy. I will admit however the price of food is reasonable if you have a friend with you.

[John R]

The Knights Templar  ('Spoons) can be horribly overcrowded from 5pm for a couple of hours on Friday night, so I would avoid that time if I were you.

[signalandtelegraph]

I remember the 'good old days' when you could get a decent pint of Bass in the Travellers Fare buffet on Platform 10!

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm. In days long gone, you could get a decent pint of Bass in the George Railway Hotel, too ... 

However, if you want real ale, I'd suggest the Reckless Engineer, at the bottom of the station approach road.

Otherwise, I can only agree that the beer in Bonaparte's (the rather bizarre name for the 'pub' on platform 3 at BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)?) is grossly overpriced - but, as you say, you can sit outside and watch the arrivals and departures on the nearest platforms.

[JayMac]

The ale choices in Knight's Templar are usually quite good. Reckless Engineer always strikes me as tatty.  Bonapartes is okay if you're time limited but still want a pint, but you will pay over the odds.

It's a little late for this trip Brucey, but for future use, may I suggest getting a BiTE card? 20% off at a whole host of on-station catering outlets (including licensed premises).

[Chris from Nailsea]

I was just offering an alternative to Bonaparte's - the Reckless Engineer is indeed rather tatty (but cheap and cheerful!), while Knight's Templar will probably be rather hectic on a Friday?

The classic quintessential dichotomy: you pay your money, and you take your choice! 

[JayMac]

Pedant alert!

The dichotomy in this case Chris, needs reversing - You take your choice then pay your money. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

In the Reckless Engineer, you take your chances - and still pay your money! 

[Brucey]

Thanks.  I'll have to see how much time I actually have on the day but Spoons sounds good to me!

[RichardB]

I'd vote for the Reckless Engineer too, particular if you like real ale.  Beer always good in there from my (limited) experience.

[Brucey]

Never got a chance to do anything on my journey yesterday

Arrived at Redland station and the train was showing as 6 minutes late.  The platform was packed with school children.  The train arrived and it was full of workers from the docks at Avonmouth.  For the entire journey, the guard remained in the rear cab and only came out to open the doors.  He made no attempt to check/sell tickets.  I arrived about 15 minutes late and ticketless at Temple Meads.

So, off to the excess ticket desk by the gates.  The queue was quite large and the man was attempting to talk to a police officer whilst serving customers.  About 10 minutes, it is finally my turn.  "Can I buy a ticket from Redland to ...".  "Go to the ticket office".  And he points me to the ticket barriers.

A little confused, I go to the manual gate and explain to the lady there and she lets me through (surely this is a very easy loophole for fare evaders?!)  Queue at ticket office was awful and the clerk's computer was very slow.

In the end, I had about 5 minutes left to wait so no opportunity to do anything else.  However, I did learn that a ticket from Redland to anywhere will open the barriers at BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI)).

[grahame]

Never got a chance to do anything on my journey yesterday ...

I would describe that as an "astonishing tale" except that I've had similar ... it's enough to put people off travelling by train.

Isn't there a five minute service target somewhere?  It seems reasonable, but that five minutes should (IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion)) be the sum of all the times you spend waiting while not travelling.

[JayMac]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s Passenger Charter states:

You will be able to purchase a ticket with cash, cheque and most credit and debit cards. A list of accepted cards will be displayed clearly at each ticket office window. Ticket office opening hours will be displayed at each station along with alternative methods to purchase a ticket. When purchasing a ticket from our ticket offices you should not have to queue for more than 5 minutes during peak periods, and no more than 3 minutes outside of peak periods. (Peak periods are busier periods of the day when customers are travelling to and from work, e.g. between 0700 and 0900.) Regular checks will be carried out to ensure that these standards are consistently met and any shortfall rectified.

Makes no mention of being unable to buy on board, or queueing* at the gateline though.

As an aside, I note that FGW have 'Customer Services' yet their charter is for passengers!


*Anyone else know of a word with five consecutive vowels?

[John R]

Never got a chance to do anything on my journey yesterday

Arrived at Redland station and the train was showing as 6 minutes late.  The platform was packed with school children.  The train arrived and it was full of workers from the docks at Avonmouth.  For the entire journey, the guard remained in the rear cab and only came out to open the doors.  He made no attempt to check/sell tickets.  I arrived about 15 minutes late and ticketless at Temple Meads.

So, off to the excess ticket desk by the gates.  The queue was quite large and the man was attempting to talk to a police officer whilst serving customers.  About 10 minutes, it is finally my turn.  "Can I buy a ticket from Redland to ...".  "Go to the ticket office".  And he points me to the ticket barriers.

A little confused, I go to the manual gate and explain to the lady there and she lets me through (surely this is a very easy loophole for fare evaders?!)  Queue at ticket office was awful and the clerk's computer was very slow.

In the end, I had about 5 minutes left to wait so no opportunity to do anything else.  However, I did learn that a ticket from Redland to anywhere will open the barriers at BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI)).

He won't have helped the passenger numbers on the branch then.