0645 PNZ-1223 PAD 01/07/11 Full & Standing From Exeter

[whole diary]

[Bob_Blakey]

Work day out in London yesterday but didn't need to be there until lunchtime so booked myself on the 0957 from EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains). It was obvious what was going to happen as a PA^▸ (Public Address (broadcast loudspeaker announcements) or Passenger Assist (railway staff providing physical assistance to passengers with mobility issues), depending on context) message instructed all passengers with heavy/large luggage to proceed to the 'rear' of platform 5 so their goodies could be loaded into the power car. Excellent planning I thought. P5 was absolutely packed with the usual Friday crowd plus significant numbers of people heading for the Take That concert and a few large school parties. I had to turf a passenger from further west out of my seat in Coach A. I understand that the entire of standard class was full & standing all the way to Paddington and it looked as though some passengers (without reservations?) were denied boarding at both TVP & TAU^» (Taunton - next trains). Under the circumstances a 10 minute late arrival at PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) was pretty good going.

[devon_metro]

Always a busy train, stopping at Westbury doesn't help since that provides plenty of connection opportunites. (plus it's the first off peak train out of Devon)

[Lee]

It's an interesting reflection on how the rail network and its services currently operate if we are talking about a stop that provides plenty of connection opportunities not being a helpful thing 

[devon_metro]

It's an interesting reflection on how the rail network and its services currently operate if we are talking about a stop that provides plenty of connection opportunities not being a helpful thing 

I think it's rather subjective though - I personally love the fact that it stops at Westbury since if I needed to go to Uni from Devon if staying with relatives it is a quicker option.

Meanwhile if say travelling from St Erth to Paddington in the ideal world you would only stop at Paddington  (reminds me of a certain 4 wheeled device commonly known as the car)