If Carlsberg did unreliable railways with poor communication...

Then First Great Western would be the one.

Last week only one journey home was on time, and I had such a poor experience I actually wrote to the Chief Exec, Mark Hopwood. A lackey from Customer Services now has me in a holding pattern and Im not holding my breath whilst I await a response.

Today has been another poor experience. Our train left Ealing Broadway 5 minutes after its due departure time of 17.33....not bad considering. Then we were held at Slough, and again somewhere in the middle of nowhere after Slough eventually arriving at Reading at 18.48, about the time I'd normally get home. I began to relax as it was only 20-ish minutes to home, may just get there in time to read my 2 young boys a story and put them to bed.

Then the driver came on "Ladies and Gentlemen I've just been told this is now a fast service to addict. if you are travelling to Tilehurst, Pangbourne, Goring & Streatley and Cholsey then please get off the train, you need to get off the train." So I and a few regulars I recognised did just that, stepping into the chaos of Reading station, where platform staff have an uncanny knack of vanishing mysteriously as you approach to get guidance on how you will actually get home.

I was a tad miffed to say the least, as were my fellow evictees from the train. Eventually I got to the info desk. Good news the next service was the 1857 from platform 9. Bad news it was also late, due in at 1909.

Well I went to platform 9 and waited patiently. A train pulled in at 1905, no longer for public use...damn. It then sat there, and was still sitting there at 1909 when I could see the train aI was meant to catch in the distance being held outside the station. And then the inevitable happened, it started moving towards the station and a platform change was announced. I joined the weary horde of now even more disgruntled passengers trying to squeeze onto the escalators and up onto the bridge to make our way to the new platform. I think we all made it, FGW staff probably realised if we hadn't then there may well have been a justifiable riot!

I have just got home at 1935, so only 45 minutes late. I've missed putting the boys to bed again.

As I said if Carlsberg did unreliable railways with poor communication then there really would only be one winner.