On yer bike

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.

And now, for our Welsh viewers

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?

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.

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

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.

Seeing Red

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

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?

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

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

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.

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

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.

A sad day

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

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.

Friday night is fright night

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.

Don't worry, be amused by the train manager

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.

I'm not completely bonkers, who knew?

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.

What's wrong with this picture?

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.

What's wrong with you people?

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.

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

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?

No Way to Run a Railway

It's time for a call to arms. Forget what I said yesterday about being too lazy to protest. Another fare strike is on the cards, and this time we all get to join in. Our friends at www.moretrainlessstrain.co.uk are organising a day of action in September, called "No Way to Run a Railway Day" and they need people across the network to take part. Please go to their forum and register your name and location, so we can make this protest bigger and better than their last one, which was mainly Wiltshire-based. And, of course, I'll be trying to make sure everyone's got a badge to wear, so if you'd like some to give out either now or on the day, please contact me at IHateFGW@yahoo.co.uk and I'll get some sent out to you. Please help if you can - it's our chance to get ourselves noticed by FGW, so tell everyone you know, and try to get as many people as you can involved.

The new timetable

So, no fanfare, no big announcement. I was just looking up a train time or two yesterday when I noticed that the new May timetable is available to view on the FGW website. From a Pangbourne point of view I must say it was rather disappointing, as I can't see any extra services or changes at all - is anyone else better off?

To try to add weight to my campaign, I've decided to send the badge to all the MPs who've had their say on FGW's performance. Henley's Boris Johnson, Reading's Martin Salter and Maidenhead's Theresa May will all be lucky recipients. I imagine they'll be mostly ignored, but with Boris you never know, so fingers crossed the "I Hate First Great Western" badge could be making an appearance on a certain lapel during a transport debate soon. Let me know if you think your MP should be involved too, and a badge will wing its way to them. Meanwhile, another request for photographs of you, your clothing or your luggage proudly wearing its badge. Please send images to IhateFGW@yahoo.co.uk. A tip - use the macro option on your camera if it's got one, otherwise it'll look like a vague pinkish blob in the distance, and I'll have to call it art instead of politics. I'll feature the best on the blog, so be creative.