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 I dutifully brought along my massively heavy and rather out-of-date laptop, as we'd been told there was WiFi access at the coffee shop on platform four.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.

Suddenly it's summer

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.