I Hate First Great Western

Apparently, I don't Hate FGW enough

2008-07-18T14:54:00.004+01:00

When I started this blog, I was angry. Livid. To mention the words "First Great Western" to me were unwise, as they would spark a lengthy rant, full of expletives. I was highly pissed off.

I feel I should mention this at this juncture, because I have recently come under attack from someone who feels I am not angry enough, and am some kind of champagne-sipping toff who gets narky if commoners try to invade my space in the first class carriage.

It's true that I'm not as angry as I was, but to be honest, I don't think anyone could have that much energy, as being angry is pretty hard going, even for a few days, let alone for 18 months, and makes you liable to lose friends and alienate people. What I did instead was start a blog, in order that I could share my ranting with others with a similar hatred of FGW. And then, I moved house, in order to be nearer to my work. And then, I discovered the alternative service of South West Trains. And, all of these things have made me calmer, because I am opting out of the thing that makes me angry. I think this is called anger management. And, I suggest to Samuel Roberts, rather than simply being angry for its own sake, it's better to try and find out why something is making you angry, and to do something about it. It helps me to be sane, whereas you sound like someone I'd be very frightened to share a train carriage with.

But, I now have the honour of someone blogging about hating this blog, the imaginatively titled "I Hate I Hate First Great Western". Please visit it here: http://ihateihatefirstgreatwestern.blogspot.com/

In other news, my car has sold in a rather alarming three days, leaving me to mourn its absence, as I really am rather fond of driving. However, the bundle of cash I now have in its place enables me not only to pay the troublesome unexpected tax bill I mentioned in a previous post, but also to invest in a shiny new bicycle. I haven't been this excited since I was a child, and got a bright red shiny racer for Christmas. How I loved that bike. I hope I am able to be as fond of this one, as it will help me to get over the loss of my four-wheeled friend.

Not very app-Ealing

2008-07-03T16:08:00.003+01:00

Isn't Ealing Broadway station horrible? Specially late at night. No, actually, let me rephrase that. Aren't the drunk people at Ealing Broadway station horrible?

Last night, after a late shift, I arrived on the tube to get my train to Slough just as the one I was hoping to catch was pulling away, so had to wait half an hour for the next one. This gave me plenty of time to think about station improvements, most noticeably that the dark and grubby nature of the platform I was standing on seemed to give the drunk people the idea that it was okay to gob on the floor, or generally be unpleasant and intimidating. I would like to see a bit more lighting and a bit more seating, perhaps a few more benches further down the platform for those who don't want to sit amongst the beered-up people who always want to talk to you for some reason, no matter how close to your face you put your book.

There are times when I think I'd really like not to have to deal with people at all, especially drunk ones. The way they fill the train with litter and unmentionable stains must rile the poor cleaning staff who have to deal with it. It certainly riles me and I don't have to pick it up or wipe it up - eugh. Perhaps FGW should initiate a "night-status" carriage, which is entirely covered in the kind of plastic that sofas are wrapped in. Much easier to clean, and drunk people don't care where and what they sit on.

Me, I'll bring a cushion. And a larger book.

What do you think the train manager said?

2008-07-02T12:10:00.004+01:00

I had a bit of a bad day on Monday. I had finished work early, and decided to walk from Camden lock to Paddington along Regent's Canal, as the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and everything was hunky dory. Then I got diverted off the canal path because of some work being done there, and found myself rather hot and bothered on the Edgware Road, not the pleasant stroll through Little Venice that I had been expecting. When I arrived at Paddington I glanced up at the board and saw the 1651 to Oxford was about to leave from Platform 10. I ran across the station, and jumped aboard, assuming that it was the same as the 1851 I normally take, which runs fast to Slough. Not, as it turns out. In fact, it doesn't stop at Slough at all, though it does go through it, at high speed, on its way to its first stop - Reading. D'oh.

I only realised my mistake when the train manager started to make his announcement about all the tickets that weren't valid on the service. He sounded quite strict and I was a bit concerned about what he would say when he found out that about halfway through the journey, my ticket would stop being valid on any service. Short of throwing myself off the train at Slough, I could see only two options - flash my ticket fast and hope that he didn't notice, or come clean. I'm not one of the world's best liars, in fact, I'm terrible at it, and have therefore come to the conclusion that honesty is the best policy. There was a glimmer of hope when he came into the carriage, as it seemed that everyone on the train had got the wrong ticket, so he spent quite a lot of time charging people extra. But this made me all the more nervous, as it seemed my mistake was going to be quite costly. When he came to me, I showed him my ticket and said "I made a mistake, I thought this train went to Slough". "No", he said flatly, "this train doesn't stop at Slough". Then, to my surprise, he helpfully looked up the next train, and its probable platform for me, and moved on to the next customer. He didn't even attempt to charge me.

On my way back to Slough on the next service ten minutes later, the train manager didn't get as far as my seat before I exited the train, so I didn't have a chance to test the theory twice.

But there you go, scary-sounding train manager being completely reasonable about a genuine mistake.

So, why did I have such a bad day you ask? Well, I got home to find a large and unexpected tax bill on the doormat. I hate the tax man.

Let's get something clear here

2008-06-23T17:49:00.003+01:00

I'm getting a bit fed up of people thinking that because I encourage people to wear badges saying "I Hate First Great Western" when they are receiving a bad service, that I am also the kind of person who kicks puppies and pushes old ladies into the road.

One comment in my last post suggested I might be related to a lady who got off at Slough, who'd been abusing a train manager with bad language when he tried to remove her from the first class carriage. Another recent comment has suggested that I am personally responsible for people being rude to staff on board trains.

This is, of course, nonsense. I am in fact most charming and polite, and would never condone bad behaviour of any sort on trains. In fact, I am almost embarrassed to use my first class upgrade, as I realise it's a perk I've done nothing to deserve. My embarrassment is not, however, great enough to stop me using it so far, as it allows me to get some quiet time away from the enormous number of people with pushchairs and children with sticky faces all bellowing away in various languages as they make their way to visit the wonderful tourist sites of Windsor or London.

But I do sit meekly in First Class, never demanding my free cup of tea, or taking away the copy of the Times that has been kindly left on the table. I don't talk into my mobile in a loudhailer voice, put my bag on the seat when there are people who need to sit down, listen to loud music, smell bad (at least I hope not) or generally make a nuisance of myself. I am, in fact, a model passenger, so please desist from casting nasturtiums, it's most distressing.

In other news, I am currently musing on whether to buy myself a folding bike, to take on the trains and spare myself the sweaty crush of the tubes. There seem to be several Brompton owners amongst my usual commuting crowd, so are you one of them, and can I ask about your experiences in terms of suitable clothing, cycling in London, and whether you wimp out and take the bike on the tube if it's raining?

Cutting the mustard

2008-06-19T20:02:00.005+01:00

I'm not sure exactly what's going on at First Great Western with regard to First Class passengers, but something's up. As I reported in a previous post, my friend wrote to me complaining that there were staff on the platform at Reading trying to stop people even standing where the First Class carriages were going to stop, and threatening penalty fares for anyone who set foot in so much as the vestibule of the First Class section.

Then, this morning, I was standing quite properly at the front of the platform at Slough, ready to take advantage of my First Class off-peak upgrade. But the FGW dispatcher clearly didn't think I was up to scratch, and checked with me and another passenger before we even entered the train, that we were aware that only First Class passengers were allowed into this hallowed door to enter the world of free Times newspapers, and faux-leather seating. "Standard class is at the back" he muttered gruffly, as if to say we weren't really dressed for the occasion.

For goodness sake! It's not as if you even get a cup of tea between Slough and London, so I'm not sure what all the fuss is about, and this was at 1245 in the afternoon, so the train was hardly packed full. Has there been some kind of anti-riff-raff rebellion by the besuited types? I feel that FGW should perhaps be considering their priorities in regard to what they're telling their staff; talk about making us feel like second-class citizens. Or perhaps they know who I am, and are trying to indicate their feelings for the blog. I think I'd be a positive asset to First Great Western, I'm full of great ideas, how about bringing me on board? On board, see what I did there? I'll go now.

Standing room only

2008-06-12T11:04:00.004+01:00

I've been thinking about setting up a survey, to find out if things have changed on First Great Western in the past year, and whether you're seeing any improvement in the service. The company says nine out of ten trains are now running on time, so it sounds like things are getting better, but if anyone will know the truth, it's the 'haters' who visit this blog, so I'll be putting together a few questions in the next few days, and asking you for your opinions.

In the meantime, it seems there's still hate out there. I received an e-mail from a good friend this morning as follows:

"I'm so angry!! There are 'revenue protection officers' at Reading station this morning stopping anyone not holding a first class ticket from even standing up the first class end of the PLATFORM! They are now saying you can incur a penalty fare for STANDING in the first class end of the train! I wish I had some of your badges this morning I can tell you! So cross, on a 7.42 overcrowded service to not allow people to stand in first class is utterly ridiculous!"

Surely, surely, on a seriously overcrowded train, not to even allow passengers to stand in the vestibules is unreasonable? Reading to Paddington is only 22 minutes, so first class passengers don't have that long to put up with not being able to move around the train freely, and surely, surely, the aim is to move as many people back and forth along this busy stretch as possible, so why are FGW clamping down on this in such a heavy-handed way? Those of you who work for FGW and visit the blog, please let me know, as this is one of the things that really annoys people. If commuters are prepared to pack themselves in like sardines in order to get to work on time, at least you should let them. Even better, let some of the poor buggers sit down in First Class if they've paid full price for a return ticket, considering how much they cost. Surely, surely, empty seats in First Class and people packed like sardines into standard class is not the way forward? Somebody say something sensible on this please.

On yer bike

2008-06-11T15:47:00.006+01:00

Many thanks for all your supportive messages on my newfound cyclist status, it's good to know there are plenty of other people who've given up relying on public transport to ferry them around, and are taking to their own two wheels. I may have to invest in a new bike sometime soon, as the one I've been given has been sitting in someone's garage for a few years. The front wheel is wobbly, the brakes don't really work and the whole frame's a bit small for me, but I'm having a surprising amount of fun, specially since I discovered that you can cycle round Dorney Lake, which is where the rowing for the Olympics is going to be. It's a brilliant man-made facility full of birdlife and rabbits, and no traffic. It's also measured out for the rowers, so you can log how far you've cycled, if you like doing that sort of thing.
Back to First Great Western News, and I've found the website for last night's Week In Week Out programme, which was all about FGW, with Christian Wolmar travelling from London to Paddington and asking the hard questions we all want answered. You can watch it here for the next six days. Try and ignore that funny woman with the badges, there are some crazy people out there.

On the buses

2008-06-10T12:35:00.006+01:00

I have made the momentous decision to sell my car, and become reliant on public transport. The continuing rise in the cost of petrol, plus the fact that my car spends most of the week gathering dust and bird poo on the driveway, means that it's just not worth keeping any more, particularly if you factor in the cost of insurance, tax and servicing.

However, the thought of being completely at the mercy of buses and trains makes me very nervous. As a country girl, where public transport is limited, I've been driving ever since I was allowed. I passed my test four months after my 17th birthday, and have been the owner of a series of old bangers ever since. In chronological order, I began with a dingy orange Vauxhall Chevette, graduated onto an ancient brown Audi 80, followed by a beige Maestro (this was a low point). Once I was employed, things took a turn for the better, and I've been a happy car owner ever since. So now, for the first time since I was a teenager, I shall be without wheels. I may even have to learn how to use buses, something that I've never fathomed anywhere I've lived. And, you may ask, who is the provider of our local bus system in Slough and Windsor? Why, it's none other than the First group, what are the chances? I am not heartened by a conversation with a work colleage from Bristol last week, who requested an "I Hate First Great Western" badge for her husband, who doesn't even use trains, but has lots of bad things to say about the First bus service there. Still, I shan't judge until I've tried it, and just think of all the fun characters I'll meet on my way to and from the supermarket.

I've also taken to riding a bike (ooh, get me and my non-existent carbon footprint), but although it's glorious at the moment, I can see a time in mid-November where all my best-laid plans go horribly wrong, and I am trapped at bus-stops for hours on end, with the rain soaking into my shoes. Perhaps the purchase of some all-weather gear might be a good idea, and if I wear it on the bus, it might even deter people from talking to me. On reflection, I am far too unsociable to use public transport.

Just time for one more plug for tonight's Week In Week Out rail special, at 22:35 on BBC Wales One, available on satellite, digital, and Welsh televisions. I think you can also watch it on the internet after the event. At least I'm hoping so, otherwise I will miss my short moment of fame.

And now, for our Welsh viewers

2008-06-03T17:56:00.003+01:00

Hello all

Sorry it's been a while since my last missive. I have been away to the fair isle of Ireland, and not a train did I see during that time, armed as I was with a Ford Focus and a road map.

But, on my return, I have discovered that viewers in Wales will be able to watch the Week In Week Out programme about the train service from Wales to London (featuring my good self) on the 10th of June. So tune in, and let me know if I sound like a bit of a loon, as when you have to explain why you run a blog called "I Hate First Great Western" and send badges out to people bearing this legend, it's hard to come off as normal. Still, no change there.

I was interested to read a comment on my last post from a visitor who thought that free WiFi access was a great idea, and one which would affect their choice of train provider, so hopefully FGW will be watching and listening, and fingers crossed this perk may be available soon. I'm still very much enjoying the free off-peak first class upgrade, that really is a favourite.

This led me to wonder what other PR victories the company could score, by simply adding a few extra bonuses to their service. Answers on a postcard.

I've also been whiling away my leisure time coming up with a controversial theory as follows (I expect much abuse for this one, but hear me out):

Why not make the trains slower? In other words, leave a bit more time for them to get between stations, and stop for a few minutes each time. This is what the little shuttle does between Windsor and Slough, it sits for at least five minutes each end, and as a result is never late. If the train timetables were more realistic, and allowed for a minute or two extra at each station, the trains would be much more likely to be on time, because a few minutes delay here and there could be soaked up by not stopping so long at the next stop.

And, if you think that's mad, just ask yourself if you'd rather take a 30 minute journey that was always on time, rather than a 15 minute journey that was very often late?

I always choose South West trains from Windsor to London. It takes twice as long on paper, but in practice, it's often quicker, and it's virtually always on time.

So, should First Great Western take a look at their services, and give themselves a reality check?

No free WiFi? Why?

2008-05-12T18:43:00.001+01:00

So there I was, smiling valiantly and answering the questions of rail expert Christian Wolmar, as he asked me exactly why I spend my spare time moaning about First Great Western and sending people badges to wear when their trains are delayed, when something unexpected emerged.

We were filming for the BBC's Week In Week Out series, and I'd agreed to do an interview on Reading station. I dutifully brought along my massively heavy and rather out-of-date laptop, as we'd been told there was WiFi access at the coffee shop on platform four. And so there is, but you have to pay for it, at the rate of £2.50 per half hour, or something like that.

There followed much hassle and bother as the producer tried to use his card to log us on to the system. It took us about ten minutes. My question is: why not make this service free? If it takes ten minutes to log onto it, many people won't bother, and the amount of money it makes must be negligable. So, why not give everyone a treat and offer something useful and free, which they can use when their trains are delayed, thereby distracting them from thoughts of penning a complaint letter to FGW.

Just a thought.

Suddenly it's summer

2008-05-08T12:19:00.005+01:00

The sun is out, the sky is blue, I wish I didn't have to be in work today, as it seems such a waste of one of the really glorious days of the year, and we have too few of them as it is.

It seems a shame to moan about First Great Western on such a day as this, so I won't, since I've only taken one of their trains this week, and my only complaint was that its predecessor was bang on time, so I missed it, as I was late leaving work, so I had to wait 30 minutes for the next one. And, since I can't really expect the company to delay their trains to suit me, it seems a little churlish to mention it at all.

Following my plea for people to take part in a BBC Wales documentary about the transport problems between Cardiff and London, it looks like I shall now be appearing in the programme, so for those of you who tune in to Week In Week Out, watch out for a cameo appearance at Reading station by yours truly. There's still time for you to take part, particularly if you're of the Welsh persuasion. Just get in touch with Jeremy Davis at BBC Current Affairs in Cardiff - either on the generic e-mail address of wiwo@bbc.co.uk, or if you e-mail me - address on the right hand side of the page, I'll send you his direct contact details, as I don't want to put them on here, or he'll never see the end of the spam. My IHateFGW address is full to bursting since I put the address on the blog. I never realised there were so many members of the African royalty desperate to give me money, and requiring my urgent assistance.

Buffet, or no buffet? That is the question

2008-04-28T22:23:00.004+01:00

Did everyone catch Dom Joly's Complainers tonight? I'm quite glad I wasn't in it to be honest, as he did rather take the mickey out of everyone, to say the least, but well done everyone who took part, it's always nice to see FGW getting a bit of a roasting. It was particularly good in the way it highlighted the ridiculous situation where FGW doesn't have enough carriages, as it is still one of those issues I simply can't get my head round.

In other news, I hear on the grapevine of something really scandalous. An e-mail arrived in my inbox, bearing the following message:

"Did you know that FGW are experimenting with doing away with the buffet car on at least 6 sets running between Cardiff and London? It's being done completely on the quiet and they're waiting to see how many complaints they get, which I reckon is going to be an awful lot. In fact, we need to encourage everyone to write in or that's going to be it - no buffets."

Now this really is serious. We finally get our much-deserved First Class Off-Peak Upgrade and then they threaten to take away our flapjacks?

Please, someone say it's not so!

Hey, Welsh people, want to be on the beeb?

2008-04-22T10:12:00.002+01:00

Hello all

I have been contacted by BBC Wales, who are making a 30 minute programme on the transport problems between Wales to London. As I have mentioned before, I've had more than a few requests for I Hate First Great Western badges from Welsh people, so if you're Welsh, fed up with FGW, and have a yearning to see your face on the big screen (or at least the medium- sized one in the living room), please write to me with your contact details to ihatefgw@yahoo.co.uk, and I will pass your details on to the producer.

Train pushers, and the new timetable

2008-04-10T17:12:00.003+01:00

Here's a suggestion for how First Great Western staff can help get round the overcrowding problem. Watch this video.
I'm not sure how long this has been around, but I think it's excellent.
Basically, we know the trains are going to be packed at busy times, and to a certain extent, we accept that. Let's just push as many people as we can onto each one. I'm sure the casualties will be minimal.
In other news, the May 2008 timetable is out. Find it here. How is it for you?
In the interest of fairness, as I am an exceptionally fair person, I took First Great Western yesterday, as I needed to get to West Drayton, and SWT don't go there.
The train was on time, pretty clean, and not overcrowded, a textbook journey.
If you're wondering why the picture is of sweets, freefoto doesn't have any photos of sardines, and I thought this one looked jolly instead.

The ignorant and the gay, and an appeal for help

2008-04-08T11:43:00.008+01:00

Now listen, I'm not averse to a bit of healthy criticism. I realise that not everyone in the Thames Valley and the west of England hates First Great Western.

I also realise that to many, this blog has extremist tendencies, with my use of the word 'hate' appearing to have echoes of 'hate crimes', 'hate mail' and other not-very-nice things.

I don't even mind being told to get a life, since to those who don't use FGW on a regular basis, the depth of feeling about it cannot easily be understood.

What I do object to, however, is the suggestion that not only are we, the FGW-hating public, a bunch of saddos, we are also gay.

Surely, I mean really, honestly, are we not aware these days that accusing someone of being gay is not an insult? It also immediately reveals you as someone ignorant, whose comment I have to delete from my blog because it is offensive, thereby depriving you of your right to voice your opinion.

Also, if you think we're sad for spending so much time complaining about a train company, how sad are you when, on coming across the blog, feel so much rage that you feel compelled to spout your badly-spelt feelings, thereby showing that you yourself have nothing better to do than get all annoyed about something that you don't like. Either say something sensible, or: Just. Go. Away.

There, I feel much better now. I'm just getting annoyed at the amount of time I have to spend cleaning up the blog, although I suppose that's the price you pay for putting something on the internet in the first place.

Anyway, that's not what I was going to talk about today. I was, in fact, going to ask all those of you who are supporters of the blog to help a campaign group which is campaigning for a better service for the nice people of Wiltshire. Please sign the petition here to persuade First Great Western that the draft timetable they've agreed really will have the support of the people who will use it. They'll be very very grateful, and perhaps Wiltshire will get the service it needs.

First Class? Hardly

2008-04-03T11:46:00.003+01:00

My business (okay, it was a friend's birthday) took me to Paddington last night for a bite to eat and a few drinks.

It seemed ridiculous for me to take South West Trains to Waterloo instead of First Great Western to Paddington, so I bit the bullet and got onto the dreaded Slough train. The journey there was fine, apart from being crowded and dirty, but so far so normal, it came on time so that was the main thing. On the journey home, I took advantage of my free off-peak first class upgrade (see previous post for how you can receive yours) and got into the first class section of the 2214 Paddington to Reading train.

Now, I realise that these small stopping services don't have swish carriages, but honestly, there was very little to differentiate this section of the train from any other. It was covered in rubbish, the seats were torn, and various annoying loud people came and sat in it even though they didn't have first class tickets ("Come on, it's fine, they don't check at this time of night").

To be honest, there's no point in having a first class section on these small chuggy trains, because to call them 'first class' is a bit embarrassing. They're just a very slightly cleaner, very slightly quieter area where there's a door protecting you from the full horror of what's going on in the rest of the train. And, the worst thing of all - there's no free cake and tea!

I realise that there's usually no train manager working on these trains, but, as I've said before, there should be, because travelling in the evenings on FGW is a horrible horrible experience, and those people who pay for a real first class ticket must be horrified when they see what their extra millions have bought them.

Note to self - arrange to go out in Waterloo next time.

Seeing Red

2008-03-28T10:41:00.002Z

I cannot tell you how eye-poppingly angry I was last night at First Great Western. Of course this is not true. I can, and am about to tell you in great detail, so please brace yourself.

Here goes: I was at the pub after work, as someone was leaving, so I stayed for a few drinks. I left the pub at half past nine, aiming to catch the 2221 from Paddington, getting into Slough at 2243, and with a comfortable seven minutes to wait until my Windsor train at 2250, getting me home around eleven, in plenty of time for a reasonably early night.

I got to Paddington in plenty of time to catch the train, but of course they left us standing on the platform in front of the few grubby carriages, no-one thinking to open the door and let us sit down like the tired human beings we all clearly were. They announce the platform and open the doors immediately the train arrives on South West Trains - why don't they do this on FGW? Still, I digress.

They finally opened the doors and I settled down with my book, unaware that 2221 had come and gone until an announcement revealed that the driver was late arriving at the station "but should be here in approximately three minutes". The driver being late is one of the worst excuses of all time, as it's entirely avoidable. Why the hell was the driver late?

The train finally pulled out at 2236, fifteen minutes late, meaning that I missed my connection at Slough, and had to ring home for a lift. If I'd waited for the next Windsor train, I'd have been home at about half past eleven.

So far, so normal, you might say, but this is why I was so angry.

I had chosen FGW over South West Trains on the basis that the journey was considerably quicker, at least on paper. But here's the thing. It would have been better for me to take the longer tube journey to Waterloo, catch the 2228 (leaving seven minutes later than the Paddington train) and stop THIRTEEN times at stations on the way to Windsor, and I still would have arrived home earlier than if I'd waited at Slough for the next Windsor train, having missed my connection.

Let me say this again: The fast train from Paddington to Slough, stopping ONCE, followed by a six minute trip to Windsor from Slough, took longer last night than a South West Train service stopping thirteen times, and leaving seven minutes later.

This is just simply not good enough, and I'm absolutely furious about it.

I'm delighted to say that South West Trains have now cancelled their planned strike action, so I have no reason to set foot back on FGW for the time being, which is probably a good thing, as I would be freely flinging I Hate First Great Western badges around with great abandon.

The only good news for those poor souls who have no choice in their train provider is that the free off-peak First Class upgrade is back. It can't make the trains go faster, but at least you can have a free cup of tea while you wait. For your voucher, go here.

Anyway, rant over, thanks for listening. Sorry to go on, but it could have been worse. I was so angry last night, only the lateness of the hour prevented me from logging on and updating my blog then and there. I think it's safe to say it's lucky I didn't, or your poor ears might have been insulted by my terrible language.

The Sarkozy Effect

2008-03-27T14:38:00.006Z

Well, my goodness Windsor is clean at the moment. It's normally pretty tidy, one of the advantages of having the Queen as a neighbour, but at the moment it's absolutely spotless. I have also seen more policepeople on the town's streets in the past two days than in the entire six months I've lived there. A state visit is all rather exciting. Unfortunately, I've missed the whole thing because I've been at work, so as a commuter have only witnessed the imminent closing of roads and police dogs sniffing around in bushes, but I enjoyed the hustle and bustle and sense of expectation all the same.

Since I last wrote, I've been dutifully sending out badges, which it seems are still in big demand (thank goodness, since I ordered quite a lot of them, so don't be afraid to ask!) and avoiding the FGW issue altogether by travelling on South West Trains. Unfortunately the honeymoon appears to be over, because the train drivers' union ASLEF has announced four days of strike action, which will hit SWT on the 31st of March. Notice how they've now become abbreviated to SWT because they're in my bad books - that'll show them!

So, it's back to First Great Western next week, and back to Paddington Station. I have to admit to being quite a fan of Waterloo. The platforms seem to be announced with at least ten minutes to spare. The trains are always at least eight, and sometimes twelve carriages long, and they mostly appear to be clean, warm and on-time. I'll be sad to revert to the stress of running between platforms, waiting on cold stations and missing my connections.

Perhaps if we could get the Queen using a bit more public transport, the system could be smartened up a bit. There's no way they'd let her stand on the station at Slough on a freezing March morning, or sit in a carriage that smells of sick from the previous evening's drunken idiots. At least you'd like to think not anyway.

What about Wales?

2008-03-13T12:30:00.004Z

Last night I returned home to find that the postman had been unable to deliver a package because it needed to be signed for. I'm hoping it's the badges, how exciting. This means they will soon be winging their way to those that have asked for them.

I noticed whilst making a list of everyone's addresses, that there seem to be an awful lot of requests from Wales this time. Are things particularly bad in Wales, and is this recent, or have FGW been letting down the Welsh for a while now? I'd be interested to hear from you.

At the moment I am blissfully unaware of any FGW problems, because I am finding that using South West Trains to get to and from Windsor is a far calmer and more reliable experience, and the difference in the time is negligible, which is funny, since there are 13 stops between Waterloo and Windsor, and you would think it would be much slower.

Anyway, I don't mean to gloat while things are going well for me, as I know the rest of you don't have the choice to use a different train company, at least at the moment, though what with all these threats and rumblings from the Department for Transport about First Great Western losing its franchise, you never know. I'd be very interested to see if anyone else would be capable of running this, admittedly, very difficult part of the country's rail network.

Introducing Terry Mechan

2008-03-09T13:29:00.008Z

Hello all, hope you're having a good and trainless weekend.

I am very happy to say that my inbox at ihatefgw@yahoo.co.uk is filling up with requests for badges, which will be sent out as soon as I receive the new batch from the badge-making elves, who are busy painting them in the FGW colours as we speak.

In the meantime, while you wait, please enjoy the genius of Terry Mechan, who has taken his feelings about First Great Western and put them into song form in a Jonny Cash style, which you can listen to here.

I think we should invite him to busk his way up the First Great Western line and play for us on the platforms while we wait for the trains. I for one would definitely throw him a couple of quid for turning our frustrations into such an amusing ditty.

New badges on the way

2008-03-03T21:49:00.004Z

I'm delighted to announce that after a short absence, the badges are back. I think it's something about the beginning of March that has galvanised me back into action, as I feel like we're finally emerging from winter hibernation.

I've received several requests over the past few months, I have saved all your details, and your badges will soon be arriving through your doors.

If you too would like a completely free badge expressing your feelings towards First Great Western, please send an e-mail with your name, address and the number of badges you'd like to ihatefgw@yahoo.co.uk

I'm also happy to receive photographs of you sporting your badges, so please send those to the same address.

I don't hate South West Trains

2008-02-28T15:34:00.002Z

I took the South West trains service from Windsor to Waterloo today, as allowed by my new dual availability ticket, and from thence, a Northern Line train to my destination.

I was at work 15 minutes early, I had a seat throughout, and I enjoyed the scenic views of Staines and Feltham as we sailed through (okay, that bit is a slight exaggeration). It went slowly, but, crucially, it went slowly exactly to time.

It was brilliant. I'm a convert.

Next week I shall be testing the system by trying to use it in both directions to see what happens.

The former drill of either running between platforms or standing and shivering for ages, whilst relying on four separate services to get me to my destination was clearly madness.

Slowly but surely wins the race. Tortoise Power!

DfT and FGW don't tell the truth shocker

2008-02-27T11:51:00.004Z

The Times newspaper reports today that London Travelwatch has accused ministers of colluding with First Great Western to conceal the true extent of its failures. Read the full story here. It seems that 311 cancellations over the past 11 months went unreported, according to the DfT.

Well, safe to say, I am un-flabbergasted and not at all surprised by the allegations. We all knew things were worse than FGW let on, and I suspect no commuters will be shocked to hear this news, as we've all known for ages that the system has been crap over the past year, to the extent that even a lazy person like me started a blog to complain about it.

At least the new management is, as it puts it, "blowing the whistle on itself".

In happier news, I have taken advantage of the "double discount" currently available due to the crap service before Christmas, and have renewed my season ticket this morning. Having taken the advice of a station manager who commented on an earlier post, I've got myself a ticket which can be used for trips both on FGW's services, and the South West Trains service to Waterloo from Windsor and Eton Riverside.

This means that I can opt out of FGW when the constant train-changing gets too much.

I might experiment with a journey on SWT next week and see how that goes. I think the trip will take longer, but since it's two trains instead of four, I might be able to put up with that.

I like this new management team that admits to its mistakes and offers cheaper tickets as an apology. That's all we really wanted from the start wasn't it?

Well, I suppose what we wanted was a good train service, but I'm beginning to wonder if that might just be pie in the sky. For now, an admission, an apology and a discount are working for me. Any chance of that off-peak upgrade again? That was good.

Half a Cheer

2008-02-26T11:25:00.004Z

Latest News for those in the more Westerly areas of the FGW region. Full report from the BBC here:

"First Great Western is to pay for more trains and better passenger compensation after poor service on lines to Wales and the West Country.
The Swindon-based train operator agreed the £29m investment package after discussions with the government. Extra drivers and guards will be recruited to resolve a staff shortage.
FGW announced that five extra three-carriage trains will be leased for the troubled Cardiff to Portsmouth service. Compensation for delayed passengers next year will increase by half, on top of the doubling of compensation already announced for this year.
There will be extra discounted tickets available, better information systems and £4m will be spent on staff training."

More Train Less Strain, who organise the fare protests, have given the announcement "half a cheer", saying "We're very pleased to see more trains on a particularly troublesome route, but things like more cut price tickets are, to our mind, gimmicks."

Myself, I'm quite a fan of gimmicks, especially off-peak first class upgrades, or free cups of tea. Anything that acknowledges that travelling by train is not that fun and tries to improve it is fine by me.

Of course, the best gimmick of all would be cheaper tickets and fewer delays, but we can only live in hope.

Talking of delays, last night's trip out of Paddington was so bad I had to get off the train three stops early and get a lift home. I do wish suicidal people would find some other way to off themselves than throwing themselves under a train, it really is most inconvenient. I know it sounds callous but really, it throws the whole system into complete chaos for hours.

And, if you're standing nose to nose in a crowded carriage on the one train leaving the station for your destination (who knew there were 10 stops between Paddington and Slough?) please don't chomp away on something with open mouth whilst you're in close proximity to my ear, or you might end up one of those casualties on the tracks yourself. You have been warned.

Back on track

2008-02-25T12:01:00.009Z

Greetings friends. I've returned from a week up a mountain covered in lovely snow to find that we still haven't had a proper attack of winter at home, and now I'm wondering if we are actually going to see any of the white stuff this year.

Since it was a skiing holiday, we were up at 7am every morning, so I've now come back to work for a rest. As a result, the alarm clock did not, er, alarm me this morning, and I barely noticed the commute, except that the fast train was delayed, so I caught it, which was good. Also, I'm enjoying my current book so much that getting on and off at the necessary stations was feeling like a real inconvenience. If it's still good at the end, I'll add it to the book list on the blog.

My season ticket runs out tomorrow, and I can't help but wonder if it might make more sense to buy a ticket from South West trains instead, as the Windsor - Waterloo service seems to be much more reliable, and only involves one train instead of two, though it takes a bit longer. It's a bit late now to make a decision, and I suspect I will stick with FGW, who are quicker when things are working properly. I look forward to seeing if the "double discount" announced by Andrew Haines a short while ago has a noticeable effect on the price of my ticket. It will still make me quite grumpy to hand over such a large amount of money, but it's so much cheaper than buying weekly and monthly tickets, and so much less hassle.

Mind you, it doesn't bode well for my work-from-home campaign that I'm planning to buy a year's ticket. Hum.

Pants on fire!

2008-02-15T14:35:00.004Z

Now, I'm not sure how this happened, but my ire is beginning to turn and point (can ire point? If it doesn't, I think it should start, and, why not, let's have it stamping its feet too) firmly in the direction of the DfT. Sure, we all like to hate FGW, because they're the ones running the trains, and they've certainly made their share of mistakes, but it rather gets on my nerves when MPs start slagging off the company, when the DfT are the ones who are pulling all the strings.

Read the following, from the Sky News website: (read the full report here)

Chancellor Alastair Darling criticised First Great Western while in the West Country city of Bristol.
"I know there have been very great problems with this particular franchise that have gone on far too long. Frankly, the travelling public using the line are entitled to expect far better reliability and punctuality in a far better service. First Great Western need to get a grip of it. But I know that the Transport Secretary is very focused on this."
And fellow MP Dawn Primarolo said: "I share the rage of thousands of passengers regularly when I'm on a service where I can't get a seat, I'm tired, and I can't get home.
"I think they (First Great Western) have got to be given a clear ultimatum to improve the service. If they don't, we need to reconsider (renewing their franchise)."

Righty ho, so it's all their fault and not yours at all in any way then? The problem is, I don't believe it. It's just all such a lot of finger-pointing crap, and not in any way helpful to sorting out the problem of GETTING THE TRAINS TO RUN ON TIME!
Yes, FGW have their problems with staff-shortages, being a bit rubbish at giving us information sometimes, and putting up prices, and all of those things are their fault. But if they weren't so shackled by the DfT, they'd be able to sort out some of their problems and get the service improved.
I'm quite riled now. Which is a shame, as I'm off on holiday next week, so was having a lovely term's-out kind of Friday.
I'm all for getting a few "I Hate the DfT" badges printed, but I think there would be a queue of car drivers ahead of us, and who ever heard of a government department listening to anyone anyway. Golly, I've gone all political. Someone bring me a magazine full of celebrity gossip, quick!

Days when I like delays

2008-02-14T11:53:00.008Z

Happy Valentine's Day everyone, unless you hate the whole concept, in which case, happy 14th of February, hope it's a good day generally and the shops full of gaudy red hearts don't get you down too much.
I had plenty of time to look at the inescapable flowers and assorted sentimental goo this morning. I arrived at Slough station to find that the fast train I usually miss had been delayed, which meant that I caught it, and sped into London, arriving 15 minutes earlier than usual, and arriving at my destination with plenty of time for a relaxed stroll into work, rather than the usual swearing and huffing and puffing.
Talking of huffing and puffing, in my continuing quest to work from home, I've realised that I'm definitely going to have to build some exercise into the equation. I've worked out through a process of counting (yes, I'm that weirdo walking up and down with my lips moving) that I get through at least half of my recommended 10,000 steps a day just by walking to the station, walking between platforms, walking between tube stations, and walking to my work. And back again. Whereas, the distance from my bed to the kettle and from thence to the computer is approximately 20 steps, and although these are in the form of stairs, I don't really think that's going to be sufficient to keep me fit and healthy. Even wearing my heaviest dressing gown and with the occasional trip to the phone or front door. Which is a worry. Mind you, with the extra three to four hours a day Former Commuting Time (FCT) I'll have at my disposal, I could go to the gym, have a shower, maybe even get dressed too and possibly interact socially with some people in my area. It's a tempting prospect. I must start a list of more 'Things To Do With My FCT', when I've got a moment.
Finally, I must draw your attention to the following site, which will also be appearing in my links list on the right hand side of the blog. Lee Fletcher from the First Great Western Coffee Shop has, along with several other people and groups, started a new site called "Campaign Against New Beeching Report", or CANBER, which campaigns against the closure of existing rail stations and train services nationwide. Find it here. Give it a visit, as it's only if we all get together and complain that anything will get done. Muttering under your breath in a packed train will not change the world. Eh, I'm right philosophical today.

Spring has not sprung

2008-02-11T22:10:00.002Z

So, there I was, having a lovely Sunday walk, admiring both the snowdrops and the daffodils, and all the while pushing aside the nagging feeling that this might not be the right state of affairs for the beginning of February.

I shouldn't have worried. Things came right this morning. I walked to work amidst the freezing fog rolling across the Thames, which was making the swans go fluffy as they tried to keep out the cold.

And, bizarrely enough, I rather enjoyed it. Really cold weather has been so rare this winter, that I quite enjoyed the feeling of being properly dressed in a coat and scarf, rather than feeling a bit too bundled up for the clement weather.

Normally by this time of year I'd be at my most miserable. In fact, if I look back at my posts from February last year, I see that I was considerably less cheerful, although this might have been due to the rather longer commute I was undertaking when I started the blog. But I think the only thing I'm enjoying about the cold weather is the fact that there's only been a very small amount of it.

I'm off up a mountain next week, with planks stuck to the end of my legs in a most unnatural way. I expect this will bring my love affair with the winter to an abrupt end, as I'm really much more of a summer person.

In fact, if this is global warming, it's very pleasant. Maybe I should increase my carbon footprint rather than doing the opposite. Back to your cars everyone!

Becoming Blogless

2008-02-01T11:11:00.000Z

So, we've made it through January, and so far, it's been pretty kind to us on the whole, weatherwise at least.

But this morning I found it harder than usual to drag myself from my bed, even though it's Friday. It was quite noticeably colder too, and although none of the trains was delayed, I was becoming impatient on the platforms, because of the increased chill factor. I also feel more gloomy than usual, and for no discernable reason. It must be February.

I've recently been finding the commute more laborious than usual, and I think it's because every day is such a battle. Even when things are going well, it only takes the tube to stop for a few minutes at Edgware Road and the journey starts unravelling. I then end up taking a later, slower train from Paddington, and pull into Slough just as the Windsor train is pulling out, which means a 20 minute wait for the next service.

For non-commuters, 20 minutes probably doesn't sound like a lot. But if you factor in a 15 minute wait at Paddington, plus a couple of minutes on the two different tube stations I frequent on an almost-daily basis, and the time I get home can differ by up to an hour, and this is when the delays are just a few minutes. It's a daily battle of wills and elbows just to get a seat, and to get home in an hour and a half, rather than two, or two and a half, and it's so tiring.

For this reason, my thoughts have been turning towards the idea of working from home. I have fantasies where I wake up in the morning, make myself a cup of tea, and sit down at my computer in my dressing gown, ready to write something inspiring, for which I'll be paid goodly sums of money - or, at least, enough to cover the mortgage. Since moving to Windsor, this feeling has become stronger, because it's such a nice place to live, but I seem to spend most of my time struggling in and out of London, and it seems so absurd.

The comment in my last post from frequentlyfazed really hit the nail on the head, it's all just such a bloody grind, and it wears you down.

So, at the risk of making myself blogless, this year I'm going to channel my energies towards working from home, and leave the world of First Great Western behind. Maybe I'll find that it won't all be snug cups of tea and walks by the river, so keep watching - by next year, I could have a parallel blog up and running - ihateworkingfromhome.blogspot.com. But I doubt it.

Prices frozen!

2008-01-22T15:11:00.000Z

New news from First Great Western. This is from the BBC, who've linked it to the upcoming fare strike:

"A train company is to double the amount of compensation it pays season ticket holders after failing to meet its punctuality and reliability targets.
First Great Western (FGW) apologised for poor service and said it would also freeze fares and car park charges until the end of the year.
Most season ticket holders are expected to pay the previous year's prices when they renew their 2008 ticket.
The move comes days before a planned fare strike by disgruntled passengers.
Pressure group, More Train Less Strain, said it had received widespread support for the protest scheduled for 28 January across the West Country".

I have already found out how much my season ticket is due to be, when it runs out in a month's time. So, will that amount go down, if it's going back to 2007 prices? I wait and see with much excitement.

Strike details for the 28th January

2008-01-22T10:11:00.000Z

Hello peeps

No reason for the picture, except that it's a lovely day and pictures of strikes are a bit dull, so this is a statue called "The Meeting Place" on St Pancras Station. Nice...

On to business.

Here are the details of the upcoming fare strike. The point is not necessarily to try and dodge your fare, but to bring the company's attention to the number of us who are unhappy with the service, so please take part even if, like me, you're already a season ticket holder. Details follow from More Train Less Strain, who are the organisers:

"The stations known to be partcipating are Yate, Yatton, Bath, Oldfield Park, Frome, Oxford and Bristol. Other stations may also partcipate so be prepared to pick up a strike ticket wherever you are.

At each of those stations you can expect to be given a fare strike ticket and explanatory leaflet between around 7:15 and 8:30 am.The leaflet says as follows:

FARE STRIKE DAY 28 01 2008.

Our aim is to demonstrate to First Great Western that their passengers will not tolerate their expensive and unreliable service any more, and that the government must take back the franchise from FGW. To do this you can

1. Show your FARE STRIKE ticket to staff on the train and at the barriers instead of your proper ticket. (It is your decision whether or not you have a proper ticket and you could be breaking the law if you travel without one!)

2. Avoid confrontations with staff, they are on our side!

3. TV and press will be at many stations on the FGW network. Tell them what you think.

4. Send a FARE STRIKE ticket to your local MP and local paper and tell them that the time has come for FGW to go. Email the CEO of FGW and tell him what you think: andrew.haines@firstgroup.com

http://www.moretrainlessstrain.co.uk/

HOW DO THE TICKETS WORK?

They look similar in design to a standard ticket. If the barriers to the patform are open we suggest you show this ticket rather than a valid ticket to gain entry to the platform. Once on the platform, we suggest that you show your strike ticket when requested to show a ticket by staff on the train or at the exit barriers.It is up to you whether you travel with a valid ticket in your back pocket. The law states that you should have a valid ticket. It is not our intention to defraud FGW even though some might consider they are generating unreasonable profits from us. Our aim is to generate publicty to highlight at a local and national level the failure of FGW to provide an affordable and dependable service. We anticipate that this in turn will make it harder for the Department of Transport to continue to turn a blind eye to the collapse of FGW's franchise.

WHAT DO WE WANT?

There is no party line. That depends on your politics. Some would say take the franchise back into public ownership, others would say hand it to a company who really can run a train service. Whatever you believe it is important that you make your views known to the media who will be out in force on the 28th and to your local MP.Whatever you do, please be polite and respectful of FGW 's long suffering staff.

Regards,The More Train Less Strain Team."

Slight disappointment re: the free money

2008-01-18T12:01:00.000Z

I was very excited last night to find a letter had come from First Great Western. I was slightly less excited to find that the rail voucher enclosed was for the grand sum of £4.00.

Yes, you read that right. 400 of our British pence. This is Andrew Haines' compensation for the less-than-excellent service throughout December. Although, to be fair, that will buy 5.12 copies of my favourite Take a Break magazine, which provides much needed opportunities to laugh at other people's misfortunes during train delays.

For example, this week's edition, bought as compensation when I missed a connection last night, had finished my book, and found myself with nothing to read, contains the following headlines - Child with a Junkie Father - "wake up daddy, I'm scared"

They Were Burnt Alive - "Yobs murdered my pets"

Amazing! - I became pregnant - and shrank!

Britain's Got Love Rats - "You can run, John...but you can't hide!"

Quality entertainment I'm sure you'll agree. However, I can't help but be slightly concerned that the cost of sending out all these £4.00 vouchers may be more than the value of the vouchers themselves.

Still, I am now armed with four rail vouchers, as a result of all my careful complaining last year. Sadly, they add up to a mere £34.00 at the last count. Which probably won't even cover the recent fare rise. Still, it's something. As various celebrities continue to say annoyingly in Tesco adverts, "every little helps".

We can strike too!

2008-01-11T12:22:00.000Z

As if by magic, my question from the last post has been answered. This comment from Tony at More Train Less Strain was received:

"If anyone from Reading or Maidenhead would like to help to co-ordiante a fare strike on the 28th January we want to hear from you.

Email: tambrose31@yahoo.co.uk and join the 6 fare strikes curently planned."

So, what are you waiting for? Join the strike and make your feelings known.

Even if the drivers and guards don't go ahead with their strike action, we can, and we have lots to complain about.

Also, an interesting discussion on overcrowding is taking place on the Insider's blog In Defence of First Great Western. Go and have a look. He explains it all in a clear and understandable way, but my question is: why is the system in such a mess that First Great Western hasn't got enough carriages (ie: why is no-one making any new ones?), and why does it have to run and ask the government every time it wants more? Why isn't it in control of its own trains? It's a rum old world I tells thee.

Can we strike too please?

2008-01-10T12:34:00.000Z

So, guards and drivers at FGW have voted to go on strike. Apparently, they're fed up with FGW's "confrontational" style of management, and they don't like it when managers drive the trains.

Hey, guess what, I don't like it when managers drive the trains either! I want my trains driven by train drivers please.

The problem is, we passengers can't go on strike, so we'll have to put up with even more cancellations and delays, because the company can't get it together to look after the people who work for them, or at least keep them in dialogue long enough for them not to go out on strike.

Sometimes the words "piss-up" and "brewery" come to mind when I think of the way that FGW try to run their bit of the railway. The words "bull" and "china shop" occur to me too, when you look at the way they deal with problems.

Look, we know there aren't enough trains, the staff morale is low, the tracks need fixing and the stations aren't big enough. We know all this. We just want you to sort it out. All we can see from our end is the cost of our tickets, and the constant failure to get us from A to B. Surely you can see why we might be as annoyed as the drivers who object to managers driving the trains. My message to First Great Western is take your hands away from your ears and stop shouting "la la la, I can't hear you". It's good to talk, as they say.

Stop press: free money alert!

2008-01-03T12:00:00.000Z

I should probably visit the First Great Western website more often than I do.

I must admit that, considering the nature of this blog, it is very remiss of me. But, better late than never. A peruse of some of the other websites which are not best friends with FGW (a list of links to which you can find on the right), has led me to find the following link. My thanks to Economy Klaus from First Late Western for being on the ball and bringing it to the attention of his readers.
It is a letter from Andrew Haines, FGW's Chief Operating Officer, apologising about December's bad service, and offering season ticket holders two day's worth of travel vouchers as an apology.
All you have to do is write to the Freepost address provided and give a copy of your ticket, and, hey presto, free vouchers come through the door. My letter is already written and posted. Hopefully the aforementioned vouchers will arrive before I renew my ticket in February.
So, a slightly more Happy New Year after all. I stand corrected.

Let it snow!

2008-01-03T11:14:00.001Z

Ah, New Year. A time for fresh new beginnings, soon-to-be-broken resolutions, and the feeling that a new page has been turned, an opportunity to get fitter, get a better job, get to work on trains that run on time, and are not crowded. Ah.
I, like many of you, went back to work yesterday after a longer-than-usual break. It's delightfully quiet on the trains this week, I got a seat on the tube from Paddington this morning, which is unheard of. However, despite being delighted about arriving at work early, the only reason I did so is because the fast train from Slough that I usually miss was badly delayed, so I caught it. Everything was delayed at Slough this morning. It seems the system still isn't working, and they can't blame passenger numbers, because most of us aren't even there to get annoyed by it.
So, what has the New Year brought for First Great Western? Well, fare rises for a start. That got everyone talking on New Year's Day, probably because there wasn't much other news. I won't be getting all irate about that until February, when my season ticket runs out, but expect to hear some pretty loud bellyaching then.
No, I'm most aggravated by the fact that I'm really looking forward to the promised snow, and it hasn't come. Also, if it does come, I shall be forced to be annoyed about it messing with the trains, rather than stomping about enjoying it and throwing it and making it into snowmen as I did in my childhood. Being grown up is rubbish and forces you to be grumpy about things that used to be fun. Remember how cool it was to travel by train when you were a child? Perhaps we should try and recreate that innocence of youth, and be genuinely surprised every day when we arrive at the station and find that the train isn't there. Then we could all play clapping and skipping games while we wait for it to arrive. At least it would confuse the hell out of the staff, who seem pretty grumpy themselves about working on the trains, something they too would have thought brilliant as children.
Or maybe we should bring the age of steam back. Even adults think steam trains are cool. Choo choo!

We wish you a Merry Christmas

2007-12-22T22:04:00.000Z

I imagine most of you will be settling back this weekend and enjoying Christmas already, so in the spirit of the tradition of playing word games whilst slumped on the sofa after a massive roast lunch, I thought it would be fun to give you a few anagrams of "I Hate First Great Western" that I've been slaving over whilst at the office today.

Not really, the part about being at the office is true, but I found a brilliant anagram-making website, so here are the best five:

Reintegrate a Fresh Twist

Sweethearts a-Frittering

A Teenager Writes Thrifts

Thereafter is a Grits Newt

Twit Rehearses a Gift Tern

Very silly, but made me laugh. And if you'd like to have a go, visit http://www.angelfire.com/biz/WLAW/anagram.html

And here's the best one made out of the letters of my full name:

Red Jellies, Ooh a Nun!

Have a great Christmas everyone, and come back with your gripes and grumbles in the New Year. It'll be the blog's first birthday in January, so I'll have to think of something special to do to mark the anniversary.

Tidings of comfort and joy

2007-12-18T13:32:00.000Z

When I became a commuter, a few years ago now, I soon realised that I had also become a bit of a bore, because talking about our horrible commute is what commuters do. A lot. And probably quite angrily. So it's always nice to find others in the same boat, who can share their stories about "the day it took 17 hours to get home from work", or "the night I went to prison after finally punching the drunk man on the late train who wouldn't stop talking loudly and incomprehensibly into his mobile phone".

In that spirit, here are two other blogs you might find sympathetic to your complaining needs. Thanks to Lee from the First Great Western Coffee Shop, who is also a useful port of call when your nearest and dearest tell you if you mention First Great Western one more time, you'll be banished to bed with no supper.

http://www.thirdratewestern.com/

http://www.trainfellows.blogspot.com/

I'll add these to my links list too. It seems the number of places to go when you're fed up with FGW is growing. Soon, you'll only have to switch on your computer to hear a collective "Aaaargh! Wait until I tell you what happened on the way to work/from work/at the station."

I imagine we make up quite a varied and disparate bunch of people, coming as we do from up and down the Thames Valley and the West. But with just one voice: "I Hate First Great Western!" Someone should write a blog about it I reckon.

Ho, ho, ho! A merry Christmas commute to you

2007-12-17T12:20:00.000Z

Hello peeps

Apologies for my rather substantial absence, and sorry if you were under the impression that I'd disappeared entirely. Things have been rather busy at work, and, I find myself having to admit, my commute has been fine recently.

That is no excuse of course, as I know there are many of you still struggling with delays and overcrowding on a daily basis, so I'm back to assure you that I'm still here, and still reading your messages with interest.

Sadly, I also currently find myself badgeless, as I have now sent out 600 of the little fellas, and have run out of my present stock. If demand..er, demands it, I shall reorder in the New Year, but until then, apologies, and to those who have them already - you are now the possessors of a limited edition item, so don't lose them!

But, back to business, and a timetable change has occurred during my absence, something that always upsets a fair few of us. I was a bit disappointed to discover the disappearance of some of the daytime fast trains to Paddington from Slough. I expect this will begin to get on my nerves in the next few weeks, when I shall be on late shifts. How has it affected you?

I'd also like to assure the staff member who has commented on my previous post that, honestly, we know commuters are a bit pushy and annoying and the badges are not meant as an insult to you personally. I myself am very fond of the nice people I talk to on the platforms, most of them anyway, and usually find them helpful and sympathetic to my complaints.

But even nice people can turn into a horrible baying mob when pushed to extremes, and sometimes, I am ashamed to say, even I catch myself barging old ladies and children out of the way to get that last available seat, something I am not proud of. So, seeing as it's the season of goodwill, a big apology to anyone who's felt the sharp end of my elbow during the past year, I'm normally a very calm person and quite kind really, yes it's true.

Anyway, a very merry Christmas to you all, and I hope you have trouble-free travel throughout the Christmas and New Year period.

To hell with global warming, give me a patio heater!

2007-11-14T20:58:00.000Z

The weather's taken a bit of a turn for the chilly, as I'm sure you've noticed.

Whilst actually on the train, this is not an issue, as we are warmed in the same way as people stuck up mountains. No, we don't get naked and climb into each other's sleeping bags, but we do huddle close together, whether we like it or not.

No, the part of the day that really pains me is the bit where I stand on the platform with the wind somehow managing to bypass the gloves, the scarf and the extra pair of socks, in its mission to climb into my bones and stay there all day long.

At these times I crave the warmth of a patio heater. Just imagine how happy we'd be clustered around these planet-killing wonder-inventions, all toasty and warm and slightly less annoyed about the delays.

But we couldn't have those, as they're too bad for the environment. So, what else can we do to beat the freeze? I suppose the second-best option is the waiting room, but all too often these are locked, especially in the evenings when we need them the most.

My least favourite place to be when it's cold is the Hammersmith and City platform at Paddington Station. I'm convinced this platform exists in a separate weather system to the rest of the city, as it always seems to be at least three degrees colder there than anywhere else along the journey. And it appears to be something of a wind tunnel. I'm shivering just thinking about it.

So, what are your top tips for keeping warm on the platform? Maybe we could sing protest songs and someone could bring a guitar.

Or perhaps we could just huddle like we do on the train. Next time you feel someone invading your personal space, don't worry, I'm not getting over-friendly, I'm just trying to stave off an attack of hypothermia.

We are not amused, but not so angry

2007-11-06T16:21:00.000Z

Well, it's been nearly a year since I started the blog, and as the long winter nights start to draw in, I have to say I'm a lot less angry than I was back in January.

And I think there are three reasons for this.

1) Moving house - I can highly recommend living nearer your place of work. It still takes me a fair old while to get to the office, but the delays just aren't as severe as when you have to travel out into the wilderness beyond Reading. Of course, I realise this is not a solution for most people, but it's certainly made a difference to me. And, is it just me or are things slightly better in terms of delays these days? I think they are, at least up my neck of the woods anyway.

2) Getting the full picture - My gratitude to those members of FGW staff who have made such an effort to explain to us why the trains are late, overcrowded and cancelled. Two have even set up their own blogs for the purpose, which is marvellous. It's so much easier to cope with delays if you understand why they happen, even if you don't have much sympathy at the time.

3) Having someone to talk to - Thanks to everyone who takes part in this blog on a regular basis. I find that it's very hard to explain to a non-commuter how awful things are sometimes - people either assume I'm a scary aggressive person, for wanting to give out badges with the word "hate" on them, or just switch off once I start relaying my morning commute to them, blow by blow. It's good to share, even if we're only sharing the need to have a good whinge.

But, on the flip side of the coin, there are things I still don't understand, and which still make me unhappy. And these are they:

1) Why are the train managers given stupid rules to follow that don't make sense?

- Not allowing season-ticket holders to sit in First Class if standard class is full, even though the Conditions of Carriage say you're allowed to ask

- Not allowing standard class ticket holders to upgrade to First Class on the train, even when they're offering you money up front and the rest of the train is full

2) Overcrowding

- It's still not okay to pay a large sum of money to be squished up to your neighbour's armpit on a regular basis, and no-one's come up with a really good explanation of where all the carriages went and why. It's something to do with money and the department of transport, but to be honest, isn't providing the maximum number of seats possible on each rush-hour service something that should be a priority?

3) Customer Service

- Why does the complaints department always try to fob you off with a standard letter, no matter what your complaint? It's insulting and makes us angry. No-one likes complaining, and certainly no-one likes complaining twice, or three times...

- Things seem very unclear. I've discovered that season ticket holders can reserve seats, although I'm not sure if they're supposed to. And I only found out about the off-peak upgrade from someone else with a season ticket, it seems that passengers could do with a bit of the website that would tell us about the reasons for delays, any offers, and other useful information. I'm sure it's all there on the website somewhere, but it's not the easiest to get around.

I shall be investigating, and see if I can find some answers...

Calling all cattle: do you use Twyford?

2007-10-23T12:41:00.000+01:00

An appeal, from some TV programme-makers, who want to investigate the cattle-truck-like conditions faced by commuters:

Do you use Twyford station during the morning rush hour, either as a resident, changing from Henley, or on the long haul from Oxford to Paddington, or any of the stations in-between?

If so, they, and I, want to hear from you.

If you'd like to be involved in making a point about the crushed conditions faced by the daily London commuter, please get in touch with either me (ihatefgw@yahoo.co.uk) or the programme's producer (rakhee.hindocha@northonetv.com) who can provide you with more details of what will be involved, when you get in touch.

Please join in, it's a really good opportunity to make your grievances heard, and you'll get to be on TV as well, as an added bonus.

Moooooo!

Save Ashchurch train services

2007-10-23T10:44:00.000+01:00

Look at this for a picturesque village church. Doesn't it look like the sort of place you might want to visit sometime?

This Gloucestershire village, near Tewkesbury, is served by the brilliantly named station "Ashchurch for Tewkesbury", once a railway centre of some importance, according to Wikipedia.

These days, its services are under threat, which is a shame. And that's where you come in.

Please help the lovely people of this countryside parish to keep their train services, by signing this petition. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ashchurchtrains/

The deadline is the 22nd of November, so put your name down now.

Don't let the sun go down on me

2007-10-22T17:31:00.000+01:00

My work leads me to research lots of interesting things. And today, I've been finding out about Seasonal Affective Disorder, and its non-clinical cousin, the "Winter Blues". Apparently up to half of us experience the blues in the winter months, manifesting as lethargy, overeating, sadness and anxiety. This is because we aren't getting the sunlight we need, and our bodies prepare to go into hibernation as a result. I've certainly been finding it harder to get out of bed over the past few days, and my need to eat cake has increased to a ridiculous extent.

All this is very well and good, but "So what?" I hear you cry.

Well, how's about this for an idea?
Why don't train companies give us a boost by offering lightboxes, either on the trains or in the stations? Bright light therapy helps 80% of people with S.A.D. and can also be effective for anyone who's feeling a bit down in the dark months. They could even hire them out for the journey, as any delays would mean a longer exposure, and a happier passenger as a result.

Making people happier the longer they spend on the train is about as win-win as it gets, and since there will always be delays, how about a range of things to make people feel better about them - from a simple cup of tea to a blast of extra-strong light?

Surely it's about time that FGW thought about employing me as a Great Ideas Manager?

You can't sit down, not even if you pay me

2007-10-20T22:39:00.000+01:00

My eyes and ears at Reading station (actually she's a whole person, but it would take too long to list every part) has complained to me of a worrying case of jobsworthiness, as follows:

She quite often pays on the train on the way home from Paddington for a first class upgrade, as when it's very busy, she feels it's worth the £13 extra just to have a nice sit down after a hard day. However, two days ago she asked the train manager if she could upgrade and he said no. She asked why, and he said she couldn't upgrade her ticket on the train, and should have done it beforehand.

However, how did she know whether or not she was going to get a seat until she got onto the train? And surely, anyone who's prepared to pay a few pounds to go and sit in a half-empty carriage and help ease the congestion in standard class should be welcomed?

My friend then questioned the train manager, saying she often upgraded her ticket on the train. His response was that the people who were upgrading her weren't doing their jobs properly, as it wasn't allowed.

Livid, my friend found that her only possible revenge was to stand defiantly in the first class carriage all the way back to Reading, and then ring me and complain about it.

Surely this train manager was wrong? Please can I have some guidance on this, as it seems unbelievable that on-train upgrades aren't allowed, when seats are quite clearly available.

Oh please can I keep it, please please please?

2007-10-18T19:16:00.000+01:00

Well now then. There have been some fun and games as I tried to convert my season ticket from a Pangbourne one to a Windsor one, the upshot being that I currently have more than £2000 on one of my bank cards which First Great Western have accidentally credited to me.

And now they want it back, which is a terrible shame.

The real refund, once a manager from Slough was despatched to sort out the problem, was only a few hundred pounds, which was very disappointing.

How tempting it would be to go on a spending spree at FGW's expense, and consider it a payback for all the hours I've spent delayed on trains over the last couple of years.

Sadly, they know where I live, and I'm not really the hardened criminal type.

But god, it's tempting.

A sad day

2007-10-12T15:15:00.000+01:00

Hello again
It was with great sadness earlier today that I stepped into the last first-class carriage in which I am properly entitled to sit down and make myself comfy.
Yes, the free first-class upgrade has expired, no more will a free flapjack and a cup of tea brighten up my trips to work. RIP upgrade, I will miss you a lot.
But, what other news?
Those of you who use Facebook may notice that anti-First Great Western groups are springing up there - it seems the anger is still running just as high as it was when I felt compelled to start this blog more than ten months ago. One has even named itself "I Hate First Great Western", but has no relation to this blog, though I hope its members will come and visit, and perhaps order a badge or two.
So, ten months on, are things any better at all? Well, I do feel that I have a better understanding of why bad things happen, but I must admit the customer service still doesn't seem to have improved much, what's your experience?
I'm about to try and take the major step of changing my season ticket, so that it runs from my new home in Windsor instead of from Pangbourne. I imagine this will not go off without a hitch, but we'll see.
There's still no news of when my meeting with the First Great Western people will take place. They're quite busy with the Ufton Nervet inquest at the moment, so fair enough, but it's been rather a long time since I asked. I hope to be able to bring you some answers to some hard questions in the next week or two.

Oh how very strange

2007-10-08T12:39:00.000+01:00

Do, please, visit You Tube and have a look at this, if you're not feeling too sensitive:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GkoFIp6Mxqo

How very strange some people are.

Tickets please!

2007-10-05T16:01:00.000+01:00

Is it just me, or has today been a ticket-checking day? I was asked to show my ticket on two occasions this lunchtime, maybe it's just because I'm on a late shift.

I'm glad actually, because I hadn't seen a ticket inspector yet on the Windsor-Slough line, and having paid £30 for a month's season ticket to pootle backwards and forwards between the two, I was wondering if I should have bothered. But this lunchtime, several youngsters were given a severe dressing down for boarding the train without a ticket, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I am an generally a pretty honest person and always buy a ticket even if I think no-one's going to check.

Then, on my Slough-Paddington leg, I duly sat in first class, and the host came and asked me to show her my ticket. I had a moment of horror as I realised that my upgrade might have expired, but thankfully it's still good for another week, so phew, a free cup of tea and a nice empty carriage, thanks very much. I'll be sad to see that upgrade go, as I'm sure will all the others who've taken advantage of it. I must remember to ask FGW what the effect of the offer has been, and whether they might be considering another similar scheme in the future, I for one would be heartily in favour, not too surprisingly.

I do have one note of complaint today. Last night I shuffled up the stairs of the Hammersmith and City Line entrance to Paddington Station. As I'm not yet used to the timetable to Slough, I asked the person at the information desk whether the 1833 Oxford train on Platform 12 would be stopping at Slough. He said yes. I got on it. Then a lucky announcement moments later declared that the train would be stopping at Maidenhead, Twyford, Reading.... I got off again.

So, either the information man was mistaken, or lying. In either case, he's not a very good information man, and nearly sent me to the wrong destination. What's the use of an information man that gives out wrong information?

Merry Christmas, from First Great Western

2007-10-03T16:48:00.000+01:00

Lee at the First Great Western Coffee Shop, where you can drop in and natter to your heart's content about the latest news on cancellations and delays, has pointed out to me that while FGW haven't yet officially released their December 2007 - May 2008 timetable, the draft is already available on the website, in fact, it's here. So, what do you think?

The news from Slough is that there are more fast services to and from Paddington, so yay, but the new morning ones all at around 6am, so boo, as fingers crossed, none of my shifts start that early at the moment.

The other good news is that the High Speed Trains with 515 seats per train will replace Adelantes with 282 seats per train from Dec 9th onwards, oh joy.

So, have a look and see what you think, will it be a Happy Christmas from FGW?

Friday night is fright night

2007-10-02T16:27:00.000+01:00

Hello all

Proper news about the new December timetable and a request for your views on it coming soon, so watch this space.

But as the leaves begin to fall, and a chill begins to bother the back of my neck as I wait at the station, my thoughts turn inevitably to Halloween, and all things horrible.

A-ha, you think I'm going to say my thoughts turn to First Great Western, don't you? Well, no, in fact, I'm talking once again about the horror of passengers behaving badly.

My increasingly more frequent chats with FGW employees has uncovered the fact that, while we have good reason to be frustrated, we may sometimes not behave in a manner becoming upstanding commuter-types.

One employee reports that he has been spat at, and I myself have observed the pack-like instincts of the drunken commuter faced with a cancelled service late at night, something which resembles the behaviour and sound of hyenas. Our friend the Insider has also reported that staff are unwilling to say which platform a train is expected to arrive at because there are some travellers who do not care who they push and shove in order to be first on the train and first to a seat.

Now, we all know the reason for our frustrations - delays and cancellations. Nothing new there.

But, we should expect to be judged by the way we behave, and if, as I have heard, train managers sometimes decide not to come out of their rooms at all during some services, then that's a worry.

On a lighter note, I'd like to ask for some views on visual protests. The badges provided by this blog are clearly a marvellous opportunity to make our feelings known. But they're very small, and staff usually don't see them at all.

So, should I happen to be organising some kind of visual event (let's just say for the purposes of argument that I might be, but I might not) what should it be - flags, t-shirts, hats?

I'm thinking of something along the lines of the Flash Mob trend, which started a few years ago, and involves lots of people turning up to the same place at a time agreed at the last minute, all demonstrating, or acting in a certain way, then going away again. Not very well explained, but here's a website which might help: http://www.geocities.com/londonmobs/.

I'd like to something amusing, very visual and which will give the message that travelling by FGW is a real pain in the bum - perhaps we could all wear giant prosthetic bums?

As you can see, I do really need your help, so, since I know you all have plenty of time staring into space, or the next person's neck, on the way home, get your thinking caps on and come up with some ideas.

I am now considerably posher than yow

2007-09-25T17:01:00.000+01:00

Hello all, sorry for the absence of more than a week, during which I moved house and am now resident in the Royal Borough of Windsor. And very nice it is too, thanks for asking. Windsor Central Station is really lovely, terribly twee and touristy, and alarmingly clean. Must be something to do with the Queen.

Happily, I am now nearer to London in miles, though curiously, that doesn't seem to shorten my commute, due to the fact that Slough is not as good as Reading (station-wise, though actually in most other ways as well), and I am now on a lovely little branch line, which chugs along from Windsor to Slough in its own good time, pausing so that we can enjoy the sights along the way. Well, that's how I've decided to look at it anyway.

The bad news is that my season ticket does not include this byway, so I'm having to pay £2.40 a day to get from Windsor to Slough and back, something that is almost (but not quite) persuading me to put a pair of trainers on and walk the 45 minutes down to Slough station, poverty stricken person that I now am, and a bit of a skinflint where paying for train tickets is concerned.

What all this does mean is that the focus of my ire has now moved up the main line from Reading, and I shall be saying some very stern things about Slough station, based on the fact that it is rubbish. Its only plus point is that it has a mascot in the form of a stuffed dog on platform five, but even that can't make up for the fact that the information boards seem to be on the blink more often than they should be and there aren't enough fast trains to Paddington. Or enough trains in general come to that. I remember the old days when every Paddington train stopped in Slough, what happened? I think what happened is that Maidenhead took over, but I wonder if people would be terribly upset if some trains stopped at Maidenhead AND Slough on the way to Paddington. What do you think?

Are you sitting comfortably?

2007-09-13T14:41:00.000+01:00

Since my post about the Evening Standard article on Adelantes two days ago seems to have caused a fairly lively discussion, I would like to talk in more detail about what we actually want from our trains.

Personally, I want a seat on a train that runs reasonably to time. It's as simple as that. Other things are nice, like cleanliness, enough toilets that work and tea and coffee, but my basic need is to sit down and get home from work as quickly as possible.

I don't mind if the carriages are old- or new-style, I don't mind if they have a table, more leg-room or a place to plug in a computer. I can imagine these things are important to tall people and laptop-users. But to me, they're extra things are secondary to sorting out the

problems of capacity and delays, surely you agree?

Of course, in a perfect world, it would be nice to be able to have some input about what kind of mod-cons we would like in the carriages. I would nominate a referee in each one, who could "send off" annoying people who are behaving badly, ie: make them stand in the corridor, and if they carry on, make them get out at the next station.

It would also be nice to have a "gym-carriage" where out-of-shape commuters like myself could jog their way home, using the delays to tone up bodies made flabby by sitting at a desk all day.

Perhaps the gym machines could be used to generate electricity, thereby further reducing our carbon footprint.

And, of course, a selection of free hot drinks never goes amiss, perhaps served up by jesters in a "comedy-carriage" where commuters can forget their woes by being made to laugh all the way home.

Oooooooooooooooor, you could just run my train on time, that'd do me.

Blame the children

2007-09-12T16:07:00.000+01:00

I noticed on this morning's commuter sardine can from Reading to Paddington that the winter coughs and sneezes have already begun.

At the time, I wondered why, considering most people (not me, I've been saving up for a gigantic stamp duty bill, no, please, don't feel too sorry for me) have had a nice summer holiday somewhere sunny. While I've been slaving away in a basement in Knightsbridge until the late hours, these same people have been sitting on the decking sipping wine and being generally relaxed during those few sunny evenings we've had this year.

Then I realised, the children have gone back to school, and it all became clear.

The little darlings have been and caught each others' bugs and are now distributing them liberally amongst their hard-working parents, who are now bringing them onto the train in the morning for us all to enjoy. I'm thinking of getting a Japanese-style face mask, though I would need earplugs too, as it's the sniffing that really gets to me. Perhaps I should make up some "I Hate First Great Western" tissues to hand out over the coming winter.

I have also realised that a couple of months of first-class upgrades have made me much more sensitive to noise on the train. Last night a drunken couple in the first class area were being so loud, I couldn't concentrate on my book. I didn't dare to challenge them, because one man who was unfortunate enough to sigh and glance over in their direction received a torrent of abuse that lasted all the way to Maidenhead. Which was annoying, as the man himself had got off at Slough.

And this morning, in the quiet carriage, a woman in the corridor spent the whole journey talking in a voice like a foghorn about the saga of dropping her child off at nursery school. I wouldn't mind if either of these incidents had involved conversations of interest, but both were so banal, I became filled with rage that they should be contaminating my brain with such rubbish, though of course I was much too polite to say anything (aren't we always?).

I have definitely become a low-tolerance commuter, which doesn't bode well for my return to the daytime hours this month, when my upgrade is no longer valid. I really think the earplugs might be the way forward, as they'll also block out the onboard announcements.

I know where the safety cards are. And I know where the quiet carriage is. I'm in it. Now SHUT THE HELL UP!!!

Yes, definitely a low-tolerance commuter.

All change at the top

2007-09-07T20:03:00.000+01:00

The Guardian newspaper reports today that FGW has appointed a new "over-arching" manager, Andrew Haines, while managing director Alison Forster focuses temporarily on the company's high-speed train services. I'm not sure what this means in terms of my forthcoming interview with a senior manager, but I will give the company a call on Monday and find out.

In the meantime, what do we know about Mr Haines? Here are five interesting things I found on the internet (I won't say "facts" as they are not double-sourced and I don't want to find myself being accused of "sexing-up" the blog):

- he's from Merthyr Tydfil in Wales (but we won't hold that against him, ha ha, only joking)

- he once had a holiday job in the lost luggage office at Victoria, and joined British Rail as a graduate in 1985 (a lifetime of trains!)

- according to one transport correspondent, he once shed four stone in as many months (clearly has some serious self-control)

- in an address to a the International Rail Operators Young Professionals in 2006, he reportedly told his audience that plans often fail because people look too much to the future and that instead, you should “Live in the world you are in” (sage advice indeed)

- finally, and best of all, Mr Haines agreed to sit down and listen to the concerns of commuters in an interview in 2004, when he was managing director of South West Trains (hurrah, there is hope for us!)

Andrew Haines is also himself a commuter. I like him already, now let's see what he can do.

Don't worry, be amused by the train manager

2007-09-04T21:10:00.000+01:00

Hello again all.

Things are getting serious here at blog central, what with various members of rail staff of different kinds across the network ordering "I Hate First Great Western" badges (no names, no being fired for being naughty) and you unhappy commuters giving me your grievances to ask the company's managers.

But, as I continue to feed my local postbox with protest badges, on a lighter note, I was most entertained by the train manager on last night's exceedingly slow train from Paddington to Reading. As each station was reached - Acton Main Line, Ealing Broadway, Hanwell, Southall, Hayes and Harlington... (god, it's endless), the manager announced the station with words such as "It gives me immeasurable pleasure to tell you that we will shortly be arriving at Maidenhead" and "I can hardly contain my excitement as I let you know that we will soon be at Twyford". Fair made me chuckle so it did, which is a difficult thing to achieve at that time of night on the stopper-from-hell I can tell you.

And my happiness was made complete this afternoon, when a lovely First Class Host brought me a cup of tea in a way that made me feel like some kind of VIP. What a wonderful way to travel, thought I, it took me right back to the old days of the Orient Express. No, not really, I've never been on it, but I think maybe I should, though it's probably the only train service that costs more to use than First Great Western.

Bizarrely, I was even quite happy about the tube strike, because it was a nice day, so I walked to work across Hyde Park and most pleasant it was.

So, there you go, a moment of happiness in this sea of complaining.

Normal service will be resumed next time.

And so, we meet

2007-08-29T13:51:00.000+01:00

Good news, it looks as though I am to be granted an interview with a senior FGW manager in the next few days, so I will be looking at all your comments and putting together some questions.

If you have a burning question you'd like to ask, please let me know by adding a comment below, and if it's a good one, I'll put it on the list.

I'd also be interested to know your views on the following. My friend rang me, furious, on Bank Holiday Monday, saying she'd been unable to get to work. The Reading Festivalgoers were arriving at the station en masse, and because of health and safety concerns, all entrances to the station were closed. Only a few people were being admitted at a time. My friend went to the side entrance of the station, explained that she was a season-ticket holder trying to get to work, and asked to be let into the station. She was told she'd have to join the gigantic queue of tent-carrying welly-wearers and take her chances. She gave up and went home.

Now, should she have been allowed into the station? Or shouldn't she be given special treatment just because she's a season ticket holder?

My view is that the Reading Festival happens every year, and that perhaps there should be some provision to help get those extra people home, maybe some buses or extra trains, or at least some way of letting everyone else go about their normal business rather than bringing the whole thing to a standstill. I'd be interested to know your views.

You want to talk? Let's talk

2007-08-23T18:15:00.000+01:00

The recent appearance of an article about this blog in a local newspaper has led to a small flurry of appearances on local TV and radio.

The latest of these was on BBC Oxford, and while I was on air, the presenter Bill Heine read a statement from First Great Western, which suggested that the company is always happy to listen to people's problems, and that it seemed that some people (I think they mean't me) simply didn't want a constructive dialogue with them.

It's half an hour later, and I'm still fuming. A dialogue is exactly what I do want, and now I've decided to try and get it, since they've laid down the gauntlet. I'm not sure whether the comment came from a press officer, or from someone in management, but it's typical of First Great Western's approach of "stick your fingers in your ears, shout 'la la la, I can't hear you' and pretend everything's fine"

So, I've now decided to call the press office myself, and see if I can get myself a bit of dialogue with someone. But first I need to know - do you feel First Great Western is happy to listen to your problems? And if not, what would you ask them if you had the chance?

I'll be happy to pass on your grievances, and will let you know what they say in response.

Hell hath no fury like a commuter scorned.

Hallelujah! The cheque arrives

2007-08-22T23:05:00.000+01:00

Well my friends, here's proof, finally, that you can obtain a refund from First Great Western, if you really try hard.

Thanks to some timely intervention from the Insider, a priority cheque was dispatched, and my claim from the 28th of April is finally settled, thank goodness. I do wonder how long it would have taken had the Insider not stepped in and performed magic, but let's not dwell on that, on such a happy day.

In other news, starting the week after next, my run of late shifts comes to an end, and sadly therefore, so does my first class upgrade, as I'll be travelling during peak hours again.

I have so much enjoyed the peace and quiet, and occasional cups of tea that go with a first class upgrade, that I can understand why those with First Class tickets are so loath to let any of us cattle-types in. But to be honest, as long as I've got my bum on a seat and the train runs to a reasonable schedule, I can live without the occasional free biscuit.

And in a month's time, I move into my new abode, which is considerably nearer to London, and therefore begin a whole new commuting experience, from the branch line in Windsor. I can't wait to tell you about all the Slough-based adventures I'm sure to have.

As the summer (what summer?) comes to an end, and things begin to change in work and home life, perhaps its time to reflect that things aren't quite as bad as they were when I began this blog back in January, and perhaps there's room for hope that they might get even better in the near future, with a favourable wind and a bit of luck.

Or maybe the arrival of the cheque has given me a rose-tinted moment, I'll probably be back to my normal grumpy self tomorrow, so that's something to look forward to, I'm sure you'll agree.

Tom Harris on Radio 4

2007-08-20T18:20:00.000+01:00

You and Yours this lunchtime featured the question: A government White Paper aims to give the UK railway network a clear direction over the next 30 years. Will it?

Listen again here

No specific mention of First Great Western was made, but the Minister for Rail Tom Harris was asked about the budget set out in the White Paper and said the following:

- 1,300 new carriages will be bought to increase capacity across the network

- "Reading was identified by Brunel as a major bottleneck in the mid-1800s... The amount of money we're going to spend there will make a major difference in terms of extra platforms and extra capacity."

- "The government doesn't need any additional increases in fares in order to achieve the revenue streams predicted in the white paper"

This final point only relates to restricted fares like season tickets, but I must admit it's really nice to actually hear a government minister say that there won't be fare increases for commuters as a result of the planned improvements.

Rail groups on the programme all welcomed the White Paper, but say they'll be watching the fares over the next few years, as the bad news is that unrestricted fares could go up sharply - one contributor predicted a rise of 20% in unrestricted tickets like standard return fares.

Have a listen and tell me what you think. Do you believe it?

I'm not completely bonkers, who knew?

2007-08-18T22:31:00.000+01:00

My thanks go to the diary editor of the Reading Evening Post, Steven Hughes, who kindly gave the blog a mention in Friday's edition of the paper, and has also done a pretty good job of making me appear like a normal human being, fancy that.

He says (in case you're not from the Reading area)

"Okay, so the campaign's name is straight out of the 'na na na-na naaaa' book of playground taunts, but The Diary salutes it for expressing the exact feelings of most of the people who have to catch FGW trains".

So, hurrah! If the newspapers (alright, one newspaper) say I'm doing the right thing, then I must be.

What this does do, apart from allowing me to show off, is to bring your attention back to the main reason for this blog, which is persuading people to wear "I hate First Great Western" badges, in order to embarrass the company into listening to us, the mere customer. So, if you haven't ordered one yet, e-mail me today and do so. There are three good reasons why you should:

1) They're free!

2) They're funny!

3) They're due to be the fashion sensation of the autumn season!*

Just think, if you don't, First Great Western will eventually get round to realising that the one thing that's stopping them making even more money than they are at the moment is having to actually run the pesky trains, and will cancel them altogether in order to maximise their profit margin. It certainly feels as though that's the way it's going.

So, e-mail me at ihatefgw@yahoo.co.uk and order your badge today.

*This might be a lie, but you never know, remember the puffball skirt? Stranger things have happened.

Hello? Can I say it more loudly?

2007-08-15T17:59:00.000+01:00

The past few days have seen quite a debate about whether or not London TravelWatch libelled First Great Western when they wrote to the government criticising its punctuality record, and suggesting that its franchise be taken away.

Now, I frankly don't care whether or not the comments made were defamatory, because that is not the point.

The point is this, and it's the point of this whole blog, the only reason it exists, other than to give me something to do during those quiet moments at work.

The point is: customers of First Great Western are not happy. We are not happy with the fact that despite paying very high prices for our train tickets, we do not get the service we need in order to go about our business. We are not happy because when we try to get a refund, we are always sent the standard brush-off letter, and are forced to complain again and again before we get any sensible response. We are not happy because there are not enough carriages on the trains, so we are forced to spend hours sweating like sardines in the dirty foyers. And we are not happy because (pause to take large breath) WE FEEL AS THOUGH NO-ONE IS LISTENING!

I don't care who runs my trains. If First Great Western would listen to us for long enough to make a few improvements and run things a little better, I'd be happy for them to run the service. I know that the main problems are the Department for Transport, Network Rail and years of neglect. And, I don't think FGW should have the franchise taken away, because the next company probably wouldn't do any better. But, guess what? We have a few ideas, and we'd like a bit of dialogue. It's the mushroominess of it that I can't stand, being kept in the dark and being fed bullshit.

So, please, can we have a conversation about how we can improve the system, rather than having a fight about who said what to whom, and who started it?

Thank you.

The McDemo photo

2007-08-10T13:43:00.000+01:00

So, here it is, Mark Thomas and one of his McDemo colleagues hating First Great Western on our behalf. They certainly don't look very happy, but that might be because they had a total of 181 demos to do that day, and I think this was the first.

Still no cheque from First Great Western, but this may be partly due to the postal system collapsing around our ears.

The Insider has posted a very interesting explanation of the madness and complications of the fare system, so if this is your particular beef, go and visit him here. I tried to read it all, but began to lose the will to live about half way down, I'm so glad I'm not the one trying to sell the tickets, the system's a mess!

I'm beginning to feel a bit like a message board, so let me tell you a story instead.

I'm on a late shift again. Last time I worked a late shift on a Friday, there was a drunken businessman being sick next to the departure boards. Let's call him Mike. He wasn't in a good way, and a kind young drunken man was trying to help him get home. Let's call him Jim. Then a much less kind drunk person decided that Jim was patronising Mike, and tried to have a fight with Jim. So far, so typical of Friday nights on Paddington Station.

But then, amazingly, everyone joined in to look after Mike. Once he was on the train, the whole carriage decided he was their pet project for the way home. Despite the fact that he kept disappearing under the luggage rack to be sick, everyone was very nice to him, and made sure he got onto the platform safely at Reading. I'm afraid to say I don't know what happened to him after that, as I didn't really fancy taking him home in my car, what with him being sick everywhere every five minutes and all. The most intriguing thing about Mike was that he was carrying two umbrellas. Jim was very concerned that either he'd stolen the second umbrella, or, more worryingly, that it belonged to another extremely drunk businessman who he'd lost somewhere along the way.

There are two things I took away from that journey. The first is that drunken people aren't always annoying and stupid, though they usually are. That trip was fun, everyone was in a good mood, and the atmosphere was great.

The second is that I thank FGW from the bottom of my heart for the off-peak first class upgrade that will allow me to escape the worst of the pantomime tonight, as it's not usually anywhere near as fun as that.

Actual magic happens

2007-08-09T10:00:00.000+01:00

That Insider is a bona fide miracle worker. As promised, I received a letter yesterday with an offer of a free first-class journey of my choice, and news that a priority cheque to the value of £12.00 would be sent out with the greatest haste. I will provide photographic evidence of the cheque when it arrives, as it will indeed be a historic moment.

I think we can deduce from this that the Insider does indeed have the ear of the FGW management, and that we can rely on the sage advice available on the blog In Defence of First Great Western.

However, I have been asked to say that your complaints should still go through the official channels, except in exceptional circumstances. This is because the Insider is very busy fighting crime, leaping tall buildings, and of course answering our many and varied questions about the inner workings of the First Great Western empire.

If talking of those inner workings is your thing, I have also been asked to draw your attention to the First Great Western Coffee Shop, a forum where you can discuss the ins and outs of your daily journeys to your heart's content. It is also a useful place for us to organise ourselves when the time comes for the next fare protest, which the nice people at More Train Less Strain are organising sometime in the autumn.

Thank you for your attention, you may now go back to staring out of the window and wondering why you're not sitting in the garden in the sunshine with a cold drink instead of being stuck at work.

Free money from FGW

2007-08-06T16:20:00.000+01:00

My diary informs me that it is now 100 days since First Great Western failed to provide a bus replacement service, and left me beside the side of the road in the middle of the night, forcing me to spend £12.00 on a taxi to get home.
Since then I have written three letters of complaint, and received two rail travel vouchers and a free standard-class return trip to the location of my choice.
What I have still not received, sadly, is the £12.00 which was the subject of my original request.
I'm wondering what comes now, as I pen my fourth complaint letter this week. The apologies have become more and more grovelling, the offers of free travel more and more generous, but still no cheque arrives, so what next? Well, my fingers are crossed for a first-class upgrade, as I am thoroughly enjoying my free three-month off-peak upgrade, (see previous post to find out how to get yours, if you haven't already) but I fear that may be beyond the power of even the most senior complaints manager.
Still, it can't hurt to ask. I'll let you know how I get on.
On another note, it seems more and more people are jumping to the defence of FGW, and setting up blogs to answer our questions and explain the problems behind the delays. This is great, and the sort of thing that the FGW management has been too short-sighted to provide so far. So, please visit In Defence of First Great Western and see if you can get your questions answered.

Seduced by a flapjack

2007-07-31T15:49:00.000+01:00

Oooh, first class is nice!

I took advantage of my upgrade this morning, as mentioned in yesterday's post. The empty carriage was a haven of calm in which I was able to concentrate on reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (children's version, I'm not one of those who needs to pretend to be reading a grown-up book) without having to listen to the usual babble of people on their mobile phones and children on their summer holidays.

Then, even better, a man appeared, offering tea and cake! Flustered at such generosity, I took the nearest, a date and honey flapjack, and extremely nice it was too.

I can see why the First Class ticket holders wouldn't want to give up this kind of treatment. There was even a copy of the Times newspaper tucked unobtrusively into the pocket of the seat back. I had no need of this, being fully armed with a large hardbacked book, as previously mentioned, but put it into my bag anyway. It's not often you get anything free from First Great Western, and I wanted to make the most of it.

Well, I'm sold. Delays feel much better when there's a man poised by your elbow offering a selection of hot drinks and cake. If FGW realised this, they'd give out a few biscuits to customers in cattle class. I tell you what, I bet the number of complaints would fall rapidly.

First Class Upgrades

2007-07-30T20:03:00.000+01:00

As a season ticket holder you are one of First Great Western’s most important customers, apparently, and as a thank you for your continued custom, they would like to offer you a free First Class upgrade during off-peak journeys on your normal route for three months.

Go here and fill in the form to print off your upgrade voucher.

I know it's not much use to those who only use the train during commuter hours, but if you've been working late, why not take advantage of the comfy seats? I know I will be.

I don't want to sound an ungrateful note here, but do you know how I found out about this promotion? Not on the FGW website, not on a poster at the station (though apparently there are some, maybe I'm not paying enough attention), but on a FGW customer's forum. I sometimes get the feeling FGW have a tendency to bury their good news, why would they do that? Still, there it is, sign up today!

Bigger, stronger... and more expensive, perchance?

2007-07-26T20:22:00.000+01:00

I see the government has announced its plans for a "bigger, stronger" railway, carrying twice as many passengers by 2030. Among the schemes in Ruth Kelly's masterplan are the enlargement of Reading Station and a rehaul of the signalling system, both of which I heartily applaud.

But, hang on a minute, how are these schemes to be paid for I wonder?

Well, the plan is that the extra passengers will provide the money, except that it's going to take an awful lot of extra passengers to pay for all this improvement, which includes longer platforms and more carriages on trains, again, great ideas, which I welcome.

I fear that the cost will be passed on to the passengers, who already pay a premium for a crap service. Will we be prepared to pay more for a good service? Surely we can't be expected to pay more to endure years of work on the lines, while we wait in queues outside the station?

Government ministers insist there won't be a big rise in fares. But I don't believe them. We'll end up paying in advance for a service which is bound to get worse before it gets better. What a surprise.

Mark Thomas Hates First Great Western!

2007-07-24T20:22:00.000+01:00

At least he does tomorrow. That's when my McDemo is due to take place in Parliament Square. For more on McDemos, see here.

Between 09.30 and 10.00am tomorrow, Mark Thomas will hate FGW on our behalf, and will send me a photograph to prove it.

Tragically, I can't be there because of work commitments, but if anyone happens to be down that way in the morning, please go and have a look, and make sure he's hating them as much as we would like him to.

Glug glug

2007-07-23T14:30:00.000+01:00

Well, what can I say? A mini-monsoon descended on the south of England at the end of last week, and I'm sure we've all felt the effects.

Strangely, the worst delays to my journeys to work and back have been caused by the roads rather than the rails. My village sadly disappeared under water, as you can see. The picture on the left is courtesy of the BBC and local resident Phill Nederend, see more here. I've been leaving my car in Reading, which is lucky, as that's one of the only places the trains were still going to at the height of the flooding, so I was able to drive home, though I had to turn back several times as I tried to find a road into Pangbourne that wasn't under several feet of water.

The village is now once again passable, but now I have new worries. As the water flows down from the tributaries into the River Thames, there are new flood warnings. And where is my parking space in Reading, you may ask? Yes, it's at a friend's house right next to the river, near Caversham where the river is threatening to break its banks.

Strange times indeed. Should we start building an ark?

A commuter out of water

2007-07-19T13:57:00.000+01:00

Its very strange. I'm the same, I wear the same clothes, I take the same route to work. But everything else is different, everyone else is on holiday, towing enormous suitcases, wearing garish t-shirts, and having absolutely no sense of urgency whatsoever.

My summer of late shifts means that I travel to work in the middle of the day, and it's making me feel like I've landed on a different planet. Normally, when I tut and shuffle, trying to get to the front of the queue for the train door, I'm surrounded by other people dressed in dark clothes, tutting and shuffling along with me. And it works fine. We're like a moody river, all moving in the same direction, all in a bit of a rush because of some signal failure or other, all moving smartly away from the train upon exit and striking out with purpose towards our chosen tube line. And absolutely never, and I mean never ever, stepping down from the train, stopping dead still, and looking around in amazement at the sheer excitement of being on Paddington station, suitcase blocking what's left of the doorway, with no awareness whatsoever of the commuter standing behind you, fit to burst with frustration and almost falling over your stupid suitcase.

There were actually a million people on Paddington station today. Where they hell were they all going? And why did they feel it necessary to sit all over the floor, so that I couldn't find a way through the milling, disoriented, bag-dragging, stopping-suddenly-for-no-reason-whatsoever-and-then-staring-around-in-wonder crowd to get to the underground entrance.

I think I need a holiday. And when I do have one, I will be sensible and get into my car. Like normal people do.

Great big gigantic signal failure

2007-07-16T15:32:00.000+01:00

Well, last night's trip home was a bundle of fun I can tell you.
Due to what I eventually found out was a great big gigantic signal failure (that is the technical term), we were all turfed off our late night train at Slough, and treated to a double decker bus ride through Maidenhead and Twyford, before being deposited at Reading. Through a stroke of luck, my car happened to be at a friend's house in Reading, otherwise I shudder to think how I would have got home to Pangbourne, where another dreaded rail replacement bus is also in place from Tilehurst because of work on the line. I still didn't make it home until after 1am, but at least it didn't cost me anything.
So, this leads me to another question - why do signals fail so frequently, and why can't they be fixed or replaced so that they don't fail so often?
Signal failure is one of the most common reasons why trains are delayed, so I feel I should try and learn a bit more about it. I realise that the signals are not part of FGW's remit, but I don't care about that, I just want to know why the system doesn't work, and how to fix it.
This is all I know so far from a brief foray on the internet: signals can fail for a variety of reasons (what reasons?) and when they do, they always "fail safe", which means they go to red for safety reasons. That's about it. I can't find anything more helpful, apart from very technical descriptions of type of signal and signal procedures, which I can't bring myself to read.
So, rail fans, what's the answer? Whose fault is it and why isn't it being sorted?

What a lot of old Potter

2007-07-13T16:40:00.000+01:00

Reading station may not have enough platforms, but it does have ten, which is why I was getting quite irate at having to wait outside it at midnight last night. When we eventually got into the station and I finally got off and began to wait for my connection to Pangbourne, I heard one of the station staff say that the reason the train couldn't use any of the other platforms was that work was being done on the line.

Does that also explain why we had to wait outside Paddington station at one o'clock this afternoon? Why am I always sitting on trains outside platforms, is it simply that work is always being done on the line, or is it a lack of staff, or simply bad management?

I have another theory. In the middle of the night, when the ghosts are abroad, I think the line is cleared for the Hogwarts Express, and assorted ghost trains, leaving us mere mortals on First Great Western crawling along in the dark, slowly losing our minds.

I'm afraid that the late shifts might be taking their toll on my sanity, but I would like to know the answer to this question. Why are the late trains always so badly delayed when there's so little traffic at that time of night?

Not sure whether to laugh or cry

2007-07-10T17:00:00.000+01:00

Poor First Great Western. Sometimes I feel almost sorry for them. As regular visitors will know, I've been trying for some time to get a refund of £12.00 for a taxi I had to take when a replacement bus service failed to turn up. Since then, I've been exchanging letters with the Customer Service Department, who eventually agreed to give me a refund. However, a month later, I'd still not received a cheque, so I sent a third letter, chasing up the payment. These are selected highlights from the letter I received yesterday:

"I regret there has been an administrative error, and the ordering of your cheque has been severely delayed. However, I have arranged for another cheque to be sent to you at the earliest available opportunity"

"As a goodwill gesture ... I would like to offer you a complimentary Standard Class ticket to make a return journey with First Great Western at any time in the next twelve months"

"I am happy to enclose a Rail Travel Voucher for £5.00"

"I would like to thank you for your letter and your patience in this matter and hope that this will be resolved to your satisfaction soon"

Honestly, all I want is my £12.00 back, but FGW seem utterly unable to send it to me. So, instead, they've so far given me £30.00 in rail vouchers and a free return ticket, valid for 12 months. Which must be worth a few pounds as it's a standard return, which as we know is almost as expensive per mile as a charter rocket flight to Mars.

It almost makes me feel guilty, as though I'm kicking a puppy, when they're so grovellingly sorry for not being able to give me what I want.

But then, I think back to my journey this morning, in which my train from Pangbourne was delayed, and I only made my connection at Reading by sprinting full tilt across the entire station in a most undignified fashion, even though I'd allowed plenty of time for delays.

And, I read articles like this one in the Times, and it turns out I don't feel so bad after all.

The left luggage ... found!

2007-07-06T15:50:00.000+01:00

The bag has been retrieved, with only minor disruption to its contents, and a charge of £3.00 for the dubious pleasure of rifling through my smalls. Happy days.

The left luggage

2007-07-06T12:57:00.000+01:00

I don't know how it happened, but this morning I managed to leave a bag on the train when I got off at Paddington. Actually, I do know how it happened, because last night I was celebrating with my friend, who'd just passed her motorbike test. Champagne on a school night can have this effect on the brain, and somehow my poor fuzzy noggin managed to forget that I'd packed up some clothes for the weekend, and stashed the bag in the overhead storage area. It wasn't until I was almost at work that I stopped dead in the middle of the pavement with the horrible realisation that my bag was probably about to become the subject of a controlled explosion. It's not a very clever idea to leave things hanging around on trains in the current climate, even if it is a bag containing nothing more dangerous than a pair of jeans.

I immediately phoned the lost property office at Paddington, and got a recorded message asking me to leave my name, number and details of the lost property. This I did, and heard nothing back. When I got to work I found another number and called again, only to get hold of someone with very bad English, who could only tell me I needed to come to the Lost Property office on platform 12. Not easy, as I had to go straight into a meeting.

So, the current situation is that I don't yet know if the bag has a) avoided being blown to smithereens, or b) made it to the Lost Property office at platform 12.

I'm now going to spend my lunch hour travelling to Paddington and back, so I'll let you know.

Apologies if you were at the station earlier and this caused you any delays, it's the sort of thing I'd be really annoyed about if someone else did it. So, if you're really angry, let me know, and I'll give you the mobile number of the friend who gave me the champagne, as really it's all her fault. I'm nothing if not fair.

Straight from the horse's mouth

2007-07-05T10:56:00.000+01:00

I am delighted to welcome members of FGW staff (and indeed those from other train companies) to the blog, who've recently become involved in the debate about how customers are treated, and why delays happen, and have put forward their points of view. It helps us no end to know that we can finally get a straight answer to a straight question, something that is sadly unforthcoming from the company's management.

So, please visit a new blog that could be very useful http://www.iworkforfgw.com/, giving out the kind of information that can help us understand the challenges involved in getting the bloody trains to run on time, something we all want, staff and customers alike.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to distance myself very clearly from the kind of people who abuse the staff, the idiots who ruin it for the rest of us by proving that we can't be trusted to behave like civilised human beings, I hate people like that even more than I hate FGW. Maybe there should be some kind of "sin carriage" which gets towed behind the back of the train, with no seat and no roof, for those kind of people. That'd learn 'em.

We are human beings, honestly we are

2007-07-03T10:18:00.000+01:00

Ah, July. The seemingly endless sunny days, the birds singing, the children playing in the park ... half of the country under water and rail signals being hit by lightning. What in the name of all that is normal is going on with the weather at the moment?

I arrived at Paddington last night to see the commuter's worst nightmare: a departures board with the word "cancelled" on every line, and thousands of tetchy suit-wearers milling around impatiently.

The reason, it seems, was a lightning strike at a signal at Southall. Now, I of all people realise that we can't blame FGW for the weather. But what annoys me is the way we're treated when things like this happen.

Rather than give out the latest information as quickly as they get it, we are herded behind closed gates and forced to guess which will be the next train to leave.

I wonder, does the crowd really become uncontrollable if you tell them that the train that's just arrived at platform four will be the Penzance service, calling at Slough and Reading, but please could you wait for it to be cleaned before we let you on it? Surely we're not such animals that we would charge through the barriers willy-nilly, barging the poor cleaning people out of the way as we set our sights on the prize - the empty seat? Would we?

I do wonder sometimes, when I see the way people behave during rush hour. But I like to think that we're civilised enough to be given all the information and still behave ourselves. And, actually, when it is something like a lightning strike, we don't mind so much, because we realise that's not the company's fault.

Though the trains were absolutely packed last night, people were fairly cheerful. It would have been different if trains had been cancelled because there was no driver available, or not enough carriages. So, please, try to treat us like human beings and let us prove that we are capable of behaving like them.

Will I also hate Virgin?

2007-07-02T15:27:00.000+01:00

I'm being given the opportunity to try out another train service this week, as my work takes me to Birmingham. Not sure how that happened, but there it is.

The only things I've noticed about Virgin to date are the amount of time the trains seem to spend sitting at the platform at Reading station (long), the length of delays the services are able to rack up on a long distance journey (epic), and the fact that the staff look like airline cabin crew in their swish new red trains. This is probably not enough information for me to make a proper comparison with the services of First Great Western, so I shall be taking copious notes.

This latest development also means that I have a seat reservation on the 18:45 from Paddington to Reading on Wednesday which I won't be using. Any takers?

Corporal Mortification? Try commuting on FGW

2007-06-28T13:42:00.000+01:00

Abandon hope, all ye who were hoping for an improvement in the railway network, for Ruth Kelly is the new Transport Secretary.

Luckily, her religion expects her to undergo a certain amount of suffering, in order to bring her closer to God, under the Opus Dei organisation. So, I suggest a period of using First Great Western train services to try and get to work. If this kind of suffering brings us closer to God, then we're all pretty close to being saints by now.

On a serious note, she's not done very well so far in the ministerial posts she's been given, let's see if she can make the transport system any worse, that's a pretty formidable challenge for anyone.

What's wrong with this picture?

2007-06-28T12:15:00.000+01:00

Today, I was going to write "Bum on seat, part 2: C34a", but to be honest, I got to the station, the seat was free, I sat on it, and, well, that's it really. There's nothing much else to say except that the seat reservation system continues to work, and it's delightful.

I would, however, like to pass on some of the comments that I've been receiving in my inbox at IHateFGW@yahoo.co.uk, as they are far more interesting.

Firstly, today's photo comes from Tangers, who wonders how exactly the disabled people at Swindon Station are supposed to exit after going through the special barrier. Answers on a postcard.

Also, I was delighted to hear from Ryan, who tells me there's a FGW guard currently to be seen wearing an I Hate First Great Western badge that he was given by a passenger at Bristol. Apparently he's doing it for a dare, brilliant!

Finally, news from our regular visitor Billyo, who's discovered that the fares system is such a mess, it's sometimes cheaper to buy a ticket to Paris, or Rosslare in Ireland than it is to get an open return between Bath and London. This is because open returns are uncapped by the government, and are therefore often priced at a level that can only be described as bonkers. I've heard from others that you can save a small fortune on your ticket by breaking it up into smaller journeys, or buying a cheap ticket to a location beyond the one you'll actually be getting off at. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has tips on how to save money. I'll also be trying to look into it, but I went on two European websites yesterday, and trying to find out the rail fares from the UK made my brain melt, so I gave up. Check his blog post here for the full debate on the issue, really quite unbelievable.

Bum on seat, part 1: E27a

2007-06-27T10:39:00.000+01:00

The system works! Not a phrase you hear often in relation to FGW, but it seems that despite suggestions to the contrary, season ticket holders can reserve seats.

As I have mentioned before, I am the proud owner of a reserved seat on nine services from London Paddington over the next three weeks, and last night was the first: seat E27a.

The tube was functioning surprisingly well, so I arrived in good time for the train and did not have the satisfaction of booting someone out of my seat, but I was still pleased to see the little cardboard ticket poking from the back when I boarded coach E. The train was full by the time we left, and there were people standing, but unfortunately I was too happy in my private area of reservedness to remember to hand out badges to those passengers less well off than myself. Hey ho.

If you'd like to try this for yourself, the e-mail address you need is charlotte.mcconnachie@firstgroup.com, let me know if the system works for you too, or if I happened to catch the customer service team on a good day.

28 days later

2007-06-26T17:08:00.000+01:00

There are a lot of things you can buy with £12.00. For example, a quick glance at Amazon informs me I could buy the film The Train (with Burt Lancaster, 1964) on DVD, a copy of the Bob Dylan CD Slow Train Coming, or even the book Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith. I could buy any one of these and still have enough change from my £12.00 to buy sweets in the shape of trains (can you get sweets in the shape of trains?) if that is what I chose to do with my £12.00.

But, sadly, this option is not open to me, because I have still not received my compensation cheque from FGW for a journey I took on the 28th of April. It is now, if I have counted correctly, 59 days since I spent the money on a taxi after being abandoned beside the road late at night. It is also, more importantly, more than 28 days since I was informed that a cheque would be forthcoming. And I quote, from a letter dated the 24th of May:

"I have arranged for a cheque to the value of £12.00 to be sent to you from our Finance Department. This will be sent directly from them, under separate cover, at the earliest available opportunity, please allow up to 28 days for delivery". Well, the 28 day period has passed, and the cheque has not arrived. So, complaint letter number 3 is on its way to the customer service department, which, by the way is a freepost address (First Great Western Customer Services Team, FREEPOST SWB40576, Plymouth, PL4 6ZZ).

I should have warned them, I get very upset from the lack of sugar which results from eating no sweets in the shape of trains (there must be sweets in the shape of trains, surely? Imagine the pleasure in being able to bite them in half, a bit like jelly babies), and when I get upset, I write letters. Lots and lots of letters. I think you should too.

What's wrong with you people?

2007-06-21T10:45:00.000+01:00

Ah look, a fantasy train, with eight carriages on it. Just like the train that was supposed to be the 18:30 service out of London Paddington yesterday. I bet everyone in that fantasy train has got a nice seat to sit on, the train is clean, and it leaves on time and doesn't stop inexplicably for twenty minutes outside Reading station. Unfortunately, this was not the train that made it into service last night. Instead, only five carriages were provided on this major rush hour service and you can easily imagine the kind of squeezing into the lobby that followed. Luckily, I had recently replenished my stock of badges and cards, so eased them out of my bag, trying not to elbow anyone in the face at the same time, and began to offer them around the packed lobby area. You would think I had asked each passenger if they wanted a slap in the face. A couple of nice ladies opposite me took the badges suspiciously, read them, then told me that they agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment, and put them on. Everybody else looked like I was trying to sell them a timeshare apartment on a Spanish golf complex. For goodness sake, I'm trying to campaign for a better service here, isn't that what you want? This kind of reaction is so frustrating, and leads me to believe that there are some people who'd rather moan and whinge than actually try and do something about their problems. So, don't whine, complain! Write a letter and tell the FGW customer service department what you think, otherwise I won't be the one listening when you're bellyaching yet again about how useless the service is. Okay, rant over, consider yourselves told.

The importance of sitting down

2007-06-19T17:27:00.000+01:00

Great news to impart. I have successfully booked a seat on nine trains from Paddington over the next few weeks, starting next Tuesday.

I have the seat numbers in my possession, and will unceremoniously be chucking people out of any that are occupied, so I'm sorry if it's you, but it's a jungle out there in commuterland, and it's survival of the fittest.

So, this disproves something I saw written on the FGW website, which says that season ticket holders can't reserve seats. I think it's actually the goodwill of the FGW Customer Service staff I have to thank rather than any change of policy, but I'm not complaining, as long as there's a seat there for me to sit on. I'll report back next week on how it goes.

My only problem is that sometimes I don't get that train, but I'm going to try very hard, just to make sure I give the seat reservation system a good trial, all in the name of research of course.

In other news, still no sign of a cheque in the post, sadly, so I continue to await my refund. It'll be 28 days on Thursday since I received the second letter replying to my complaint, so a third letter will be despatched on that day to try and hurry it up a bit.

And I'm not even going to mention my 50 minute wait at Paddington Station on Friday night at 11:45pm, after a late shift, when the train failed to turn up because it was delayed in the depot. Whoops, I just did. I tried to mention my blog to some of the hundreds of people waiting with me, but sadly most of them were drunk, so I'm not sure my point got across very well. Still, if I only get one more visitor it'll be worth it. No, it won't, I need hundreds more. Spread the word!

The blog celebrates its 2000th visitor!

2007-06-15T22:23:00.000+01:00

I'm delighted to announce that at seven minutes past two this afternoon, the I Hate First Great Western blog received its 2,000th visitor. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's visited the site, ordered badges, and made helpful comments (I sound like I'm making an Oscars speech). And, to mark this momentous occasion, I'd also like to thank the 2000th visitor with a bottle of bubbly. So, if it was you, get in touch. This is all I know about you - you appear to work at Star House in Maidenhead, according to your IP address, and you spent 32 minutes on the site, finding it through a Google search at 2.07pm on Friday the 15th of June and exiting by clicking on the link to a BBC story called "Rail passengers want lower fares". Is this you? Can you prove it by visiting the blog again from the same IP address and then e-mailing me your details to IHateFGW@yahoo.co.uk? If you can, I'll reward you with not only champagne, but your very own shiny I Hate First Great Western badge, you lucky lucky person.

Tick Tock

2007-06-15T15:27:00.001+01:00

It's been nearly three weeks now since I received a letter telling me that I would be sent a refund from the First Great Western finance department, for a journey I took back in April during which my friend and I were abandoned at the side of the road after midnight, when a replacement bus failed to materialise.

It's not a large amount of money - the taxi home only cost £12.00, when we finally managed to flag one down - but it's the principle of the thing. And the fact that the company tried to brush off my claim for a refund with a standard letter spouting a passage from the infamous CoC (Conditions of Carriage).

It's just not good enough to treat people like this, forcing them to write two letters of complaint before anything is done. It's one of so many reasons that I hate FGW, this complete disregard for people's anger and frustration. It's not like I was expecting compensation, just a refund for a journey I was forced to take when their service failed.

One of the blog's visitors, a rail employee, says he's heard through the grapevine that all complaints are now being sent to the ombudsman, to make sure the system is being improved. So once again, I urge you to complain in writing every time you feel that anger at being treated badly, at being squashed into a full carriage, at being delayed and late for work, or, like me, finding yourself standing by the side of the road in the dark.

I'll wait another week for this money, but then I shall be putting another complaint in the post. And this time I will be asking for compensation. And interest at the standard rate. Tick tock, tick tock...

The insider

2007-06-14T12:50:00.000+01:00

I was perusing the new comments this morning, when I was delighted to happen across one from someone claiming to be a First Great Western employee. Amazingly, this member of the Customer Service staff said he (or she) had no idea that the company was so hated. Clearly, we have not been complaining loudly enough, or making our grievances known to the right people. So, what should we do about this?

Well, for a start, continue to order your "I Hate First Great Western" badges (just e-mail me, the address is on the right hand side of the blog) and wear them prominently when your train is delayed, full-to-bursting, or cancelled. Make sure you complain in writing at least twice, every time there is a serious problem. And, e-mail your complaints about the company's service directly to Alison Forster, the FGW Managing Director: alison.forster@firstgroup.com.

But also, if you are that FGW employee, please come back again and take part in our discussions, so we can find out more about why FGW makes the lives of its customers such a misery - are they simply unaware of how horrendous the commuter's life is, don't they care, or it just that they're not very good at running a train service? I'd be fascinated to know more about things from your point of view.

And, if you are someone high up in First Great Western, reading this blog, get in touch! All we're asking for is a reasonable service, some perks for paying a fortune for a season ticket, and the feeling that when we scream, someone's listening. Are you out there? Hello?

Why the duck?

2007-06-13T16:55:00.000+01:00

I've received an e-mail from Sharon at the "Forward" programme to confirm that it's now closed and there's no other promotion in its place. So, my dream of first class upgrades and free cups of tea is no more.

But, in better news, she's confirmed that season ticket holders can indeed reserve seats for no cost, despite the website suggesting that a £5 fee could be charged for each reservation. So, I've given her a list of dates, and wait to see whether the system works. The first reservation I've asked for is tomorrow, so fingers crossed I could have a guaranteed seat for my bum at the end of the day. I'll let you know.

To answer the question I posed in the title, I've used a picture of a duck because I'm getting a bit stuck for pictures that don't involve a FGW train, in order to illustrate the seat reservation issue. So, instead I've decided to throw caution to the wind entirely, and take full advantage of the lovely images provided by Free Foto. I hope you like it.

Summer is here...

2007-06-12T11:52:00.000+01:00

...and with it comes the sweaty unpleasantness of the underground as I battle towards Paddington and hope for a seat on the train home.
But maybe soon I won't need to worry, as a small white ticket will hopefully save a seat for me, and allow me to make my way on to my regular-ish train without having to worry that I'm going to stand all the way to Reading.
A free reservation system is offered as part of FGW's Forward Customer Programme, which is designed for season ticket holders and regular travellers. Apparently there are all sorts of other benefits, but I've only just found this out, as I'm not a member. As you will see from the Forward Customer Programme page on the website, it offers all sorts of benefits, including free weekend car parking, free hot drinks from the buffet, free first class weekend upgrades, and access to the first class lounge. These are things I want! Unfortunately, when you read on, you discover that the programme is currently closed to new applications, as they're reviewing it. I've never heard of it before, have you? Maybe I've not been paying attention, but as far as I know I've never been offered membership, or ever seen the service being advertised or promoted. I've asked for more details on the scheme, but I'm expecting that, like most things at FGW, the reply will be slow in arriving, so if you know anything about it, please let me know, as I feel like I've been missing out all this time.

Does the reservations system work?

2007-06-11T13:03:00.000+01:00

I spend a lot of time sitting in reserved seats. Not ones that I've reserved, but ones with tickets in the back that someone else has reserved, but that the reservee doesn't actually turn up to park his or her bottom in. Our annoying friend, Mr NVN, whose comments I've been blocking due to their insulting nature, did actually make an interesting point. He suggested that we should all stop moaning about not being able to get a seat on the train, and reserve one, which costs nothing.

A lot of people do reserve seats. In fact, there's one carriage every day which is liberally peppered with these reserved labels, and there are always people hopefully hanging around waiting for the train to leave, so they can nab them.

Several times a week, when there's no seat available, I take my chances and sit in one of these reserved seats, and nine times out of ten no-one turns up to turf me out. So, are these people just reserving seats on several trains, to make sure they get a seat on one of them, or are they getting on the train and finding out there is a seat available, and sitting in that instead? And, if hardly anyone's turning up to use their reserved seats, what's the point of them?

This week, I think I will try and reserve a seat on the train I normally manage to catch in the evening from Paddington, the 18:45 to Swansea, and will let you know if it's an easy thing to do and whether the system works. I'd be interested to know whether the system has worked for you.

On another subject, it seems my celebration at finally receiving a refund from First Great Western was short-lived, as I am still to receive a cheque from their finance department. How long do you think I should leave it before I start charging them interest?

Five food facts

2007-06-06T11:46:00.000+01:00

Hello all. A slight diversion from the subject of trains today. This is because this morning's train was delightfully on time, so I have no complaint to make, and because a fellow blogger has 'tagged' me. Charlotte from the GreatBigVegChallenge has asked me to reveal five food facts, and as food is one of my favourite subjects, I thought why not? So here goes:

1 - I am a vegetarian, and have been for 20 years. And no, I don't miss bacon, though I do miss ham and pork crackling. My favourite vegetarian food is probably falafel in a salad wrap with garlic mayonnaise. It's better than a kebab after a big night out.

2 - I'm not much of a cook, but I like making sushi. Not the raw fish kind, obviously, but there are lots of vegetarian things you can use, and it's much cheaper to buy the seaweed sheets and wrap them yourself, with a bit of wasabi strong enough to make your whole head feel like it's going to sneeze.

3 - When times are hard, and there's nothing in the fridge, I have been known to eat pasta with tomato ketchup. This is a habit from university, and it's much nicer than it sounds, especially if you add peas and sweetcorn. My favourite pasta shape is conchiglie (shells).

4 - I once worked at a sandwich and ice-cream bar in New Zealand. This was not a good time for my waistline, as New Zealand has some wonderful full-fat ice cream with flavours like Hokey Pokey, Pinky Winky and Boysenberry Swirl, which were all perks of the job.

5 - Another dirty food secret: when the diet gets boring, or the hangover demands it, there's nothing like a cheese and chip sandwich on white bread with salad cream. Carbohydrates ahoy!

I suppose if we are trying to link all this back to First Great Western, we should talk about railway food. Famously awful in the British Rail days, it's now infamously expensive. I never eat on the trains, as I don't have that kind of money, but I'd like to know what you think. There, it wasn't a completely irrelevent post after all. Smashing.

No name? Shame!

2007-06-05T02:01:00.000+01:00

Why did the chicken cross the road? Well, apparently, it was to log onto my blog and post annoying comments, some of them slightly offensive. Now, I'm all for a bit of spirited discussion, but frankly you've become a bit annoying, and the worst part is, you don't even give yourself a name, so I'll call you Mr Not Very Nice. So, Mr NVN, I'm objecting to your comments on my site on the following grounds:

1) You can't spell. This is offensive in itself. I do try to run a tidy site and you're making it look all messy, so go and get yourself a dictionary and some lessons in basic punctuation before you come back and comment again

2) Your comments aren't actually very funny. Silly boasting wasn't even amusing at primary school.

3) You're upsetting the nice people who support my cause, and that is unforgiveable.

So, for these three breaches of taste and decency, you're barred mate. Go and stand in the corner wearing the pointy hat with the big 'D' on it, and think about what you've done. Then step slowly away from my blog. Thanks awfully.

Yes! Success!

2007-05-29T22:56:00.000+01:00

I'm delighted to announce that, following my second letter of complaint, First Great Western have decided that they should in fact refund the £12.00 my friend and I were forced to spend on a taxi because we were left stranded at the side of the road in the early hours when a replacement bus service never arrived. That'll serve them right for directing my attention to their now notorious so-called "Conditions of Carriage" (CoC), which, following a quick read, proved that they did after all have some small semblance of responsibility to get me home. Fancy that.

Since writing my second complaint letter, I have also read First Great Western's Complaints Handling Policy (another interesting document available on the company's website), and I feel I should give you a bit of a tip - it's always worth complaining twice, because the second complaint is handled by a manager, ie: someone who has the power to actually give you a refund rather than parrotting you sections from the CoC which go something like "I'm sorry, we actually don't give a monkeys whether you had a bad journey or not you prole. You mean nothing to me. My company made billions of pounds in profit last year, so I'm off for a dip in the champagne hot tub, so there." I think it was something like that anyway, I've mislaid the first letter, so can't go back and check. Anyway people, get complaining. There's nothing like several tonnes of paper hitting the complaints desk to raise attention that we're not altogether happy with the way things are. And they really really want us to be happy apparently. I quote: "We believe that customer service is key in everything we do. We know that it is the little things we do that make all the difference in delivering excellent customer service". Yes, those little things, like not providing enough carriages on the trains, or bothering to try very hard to run them on time, that kind of thing. Put pen to paper, immediately!

Photo gallery # 4

2007-05-26T17:32:00.000+01:00

Name: Gerry

Location: Slough

Likes:

Snowboarding

Fast cars

Loose women

Dislikes:

Berkshire Property Services

Liver

Big Brother

Why he hates First Great Western:

Because they're never first, they're far from great, and I use them to go east anyway, so the name just makes no sense really.

Photo gallery # 3

2007-05-23T12:41:00.000+01:00

My goodness, here's another one. And he really doesn't look happy does he?

Name: Jonathan
Location: Reading

Likes:
The countryside
Travelling (but not on FGW)
Alternative guitar music
Fine Whisky

Dislikes:

FGW

Noisy and disrespectful commuters

Corrupt politicians

Why he hates First Great Western:

Because you just cannot rely on them to get you there!

Photo gallery # 2

2007-05-23T11:27:00.000+01:00

Here's another badge owner with an axe to grind.

If you'd like your photograph featured, send it to IhateFGW@yahoo.co.uk. Don't forget to tell me a bit about yourself.

Name: Sam

Location: Reading

Likes:
Inventing cocktails with rude names
Hairy bikers
Asparagus

Dislikes:
Late trains
Falling over
No asparagus

Why she hates First Great Western:
The lateness of the trains eats into my valuable social time. And please tell me why you can NEVER EVER EVER get a seat on a fast train to and from Reading in the rush hour, is it really so hard to make the trains a bit longer?

Please may I fly first class to the moon?

2007-05-22T10:17:00.000+01:00

You may remember that last week I was introduced to First Great Western's fascinating "Conditions of Carriage", a document which suggests that, for the payment of a certain sum of money, the company has no responsibility to take you anywhere, at any time, unless it feels like it.

Reading on, however, I found a paragraph saying that if the standard class carriage is full, you can ask the train manager if you can sit in the first class carriage. This sounded promising, I had visions of travelling to work in a much more civilised fashion in the future and looked forward to putting this new knowledge into action.

This morning, my route to work was different, as I stayed overnight with a friend in Reading, so went direct to Reading station. As is well known by the commuting population of Reading, all fast trains to London are full in the mornings, so you have to stand. "A-ha!" thought I, and approached the train manager to ask if it was true that I could ask to sit in the first class carriage when standard class was full.

"You can ask" he said, "but the answer should always be no, because you pay for the carriage, and not for a seat".

Righty ho, so the Conditions of Carriage allow me to ask the question, but it will almost always be answered with a no. So the document might as well say: "If the train is full, you can ask to fly to the moon", or "If the train is full, you can ask to be carried to your destination on the back of a giant golden pigeon".

Also, did you know that if the train is so full that you end up standing in the first class carriage, you can be fined for not having the correct ticket? Luckily, no train manager has ever been brave enough to try and enforce this rule.

I might write myself a new contract at work along the following lines, following FGW's example:

"I might turn up to work, but I might not, and I still want to be paid a lot of money. If I don't fulfil any of my duties, there's nothing you can do about it. You can ask me to do various tasks, but if you do, I'll probably say no. Please can I have the contract to do this job across the country and make vast sums of cash? Thanks"

Calling all Bath haters, and I don't mean soap dodgers

2007-05-21T17:09:00.000+01:00

I am happy to announce that the second batch of badges have now arrived, the last lot having been sent far and wide across the FGW network. And, I'm specially pleased that the nice people at More Train Less Strain have ordered 100, to distribute to unhappy passengers in the Bath area.
So, if you're unhappy and in the Bath area, see if you can see anyone wearing an "I Hate First Great Western" badge and they might be able to give you one of these highly fashionable accessories of your very own.
Of course, if you're not in Bath, you can always use the traditional method of e-mailing me at IhateFGW@yahoo.co.uk and giving me your address so I can send you one, or perhaps several.
It seems that FGW are having to seek far and wide to find a bus company willing to pick people up at the weekends for their replacement services. On Saturday night, the driver of the bus replacement from Tilehurst to Pangbourne had to use his sat-nav to find the way. It's 3.1 miles. Still, I shouldn't complain, it arrived and we got home, so compared to recent journeys, it was a positive triumph. The new timetable came into force today, did anyone spot the difference?

Photo gallery # 1

2007-05-16T15:19:00.000+01:00

Here's the first in what will hopefully become a regular series, in which those who hate FGW stand up and are counted.

If you're proudly wearing your "I Hate First Great Western" badge, please send a photo to IHateFGW@yahoo.co.uk

Name: Terry

Location: North London

Likes:
The liberation from the cycle of uncontrolled rebirth thereby reaching nirvana
Snowboarding
Football
Cinema (in particular The Bulletproof Monk and The Golden Child)
Nintendo Wii

Dislikes:
Tony Blair and George Bush
Despotic Communist regimes
First Great Western
Uncontrolled rebirth

Why he hates First Great Western:
His regular trips to the Buddhist temple have been disrupted by the continual poor service of First Great Western and have severely delayed his journey to enlightenment. Consequently, he has made it his purpose in life to "preach the word of I hate FGW to fellow commuters and thereby bring about a new dawn for rail travel in the UK and beyond".