...well I'm certainly not feeling lucky if Dirty Harry asked me that question. FGW have managed to deliver me late to my destination on at least one of my 2 daily journeys towards Paddington and then home again for 7 consecutive days.
Tonight as I stood in the rain at Ealing Broadway the mis-information board told me my service was 5 minutes late, whilst the tannoy said approximately 6 minutes. Doesn't sound much, however I left my home station bang on time on the journey into work and got to Ealing Broadway 5 minutes late. Tonight we actually left 10 minutes late (approximately 6 if you are FGW.) allowing for the 5 minutes minimum we will lose on the homeward journey I will get home 15 minutes late, and may now once again miss putting my sons to bed, as number one's internal clock has him conk out at 7, whilst number 2 now likes to go at the same time (albeit I will be in time to then fight the sleep battle with him as he doesn't drift off like his older brother.)
It's not what I pay around £450 per month for. i accept that on occassions delays are unavoidable, like when some poor soul chooses to end their life.
However that's not been the case on any of the delays I've suffered. It seems to me that ineptness can be the only reason, and if I was delivering such a poor service then I think I'd find there were 6 bullets in figurative the chamber, and I'd join the list of the unemployed having been fired (following appropriate due process obviously, have to say that as an HR professional.)
So what are the consequences within FGW then? None that I can see as a beleaguered passenger, stuck in the trenches with my fellow commuting foot soldiers. We continue to battle to get to work on time, and to return home punctually too, however the enemy bombards us with tardiness. Maybe I should just give up, and rejoin the motorists of Britain. Maybe I should get a cupboard in London, the rent would match my train fare, and only see my family at the weekend.Or maybe I should lead a full frontal assault on Fortress Paddington, and gain access to the FGW boardroom. Once there I'a would force the CEO, who seems like a nice chap when he writes, to join me on one of the cattle trucks and see what he thinks of the journey. Now that's an idea...or I could just write to him and invite him to join me on a typical commute, though if I do that I bet that's one train that runs to time, has enough space and maybe even has air con that works.
On a positive note the delayed tran did have 2 extra carriages tonight...still a squeeze to Slough but at least the effort was made. Credit where credit is due.
Monday, 16 July 2012
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Time after time...
As Cyndi Lauper would have sung if she had used FGW trains - "If I'm late, and you look then you will find me, still on the train"
For the last 3 days I've had at least one delayed journey to or from work.
On Friday I was delayed getting home. I got to Paddington in good time, boarded one of the recently re-introduced fully air conditioned, power points for laptops, trains home. Result I thought....until asked to get off the train as it had broken down. So much for the work carried out to improve reliability. We waited then all the passengers off that train, plus a few more toddled off to platform 9 where a DMU cattle truck awaited. Only the first 5 carriages were ours, so we had to walk past a couple of unused carriages and squeezed into our stalls...I mean seats. The train was seriously over crowded, with a large part of my journey spent with an elbow in the side of my head. And the air con was as much use as a chocolate fire guard. Those extra couple of carriages would have made all the difference, and I do have genuine health and safety concerns re the number of us rammed aboard.
On Monday night as I stood under glowering skies I was grateful that my train arrived 5 minutes late, however before the rain. That was until once more we were crammed in like sardines in a tin. The train was even more seriously overcrowded than on Friday, being only 3 carriages long. Again the air con was ineffectual. The driver then spent most of the journey reminding cyclists that full size bikes were not allowed, and apologising for the increasing delay as the poor train was obviously suffering under the strain of being severely over loaded. Again I really have to wonder if any thought is given to the safety of the passengers wedged in. And I heard the most overly used word in the FGW staff vocabulary, "sorry" more times than I care to remember. Do wonder how sorry FGW and their staff are.
Then this morning I caught the semi-fast service from Cholsey at 7.20. It arrived a couple minutes late (first sorry of the day.) By the time we got to Tilehurst the train manager announced we were 6 minutes late. By Maidenhead we were running at least 20 minutes late. Another apology followed to inform us we were stuck behind a local stopping service, however should soon pass it when we moved into the fast line....followed by another to say we hadn't moved onto the fast line and "I don't know why, maybe it is due to us running in one engine." We did eventually get to Paddington, however due to our late running I missed an important conference call (won't blame the signal black spot on FGW, just wouldn't have been in it if we'd ran to time) and I was extremely late for a meeting.
I am sure that if an wrote to FGW I'd be told how sorry they were, however,an don't believe it any more. I do however hope FGW do not keep up their strike rate and I actually have a punctual service both ways tomorrow....however I won't hold my breath.
For the last 3 days I've had at least one delayed journey to or from work.
On Friday I was delayed getting home. I got to Paddington in good time, boarded one of the recently re-introduced fully air conditioned, power points for laptops, trains home. Result I thought....until asked to get off the train as it had broken down. So much for the work carried out to improve reliability. We waited then all the passengers off that train, plus a few more toddled off to platform 9 where a DMU cattle truck awaited. Only the first 5 carriages were ours, so we had to walk past a couple of unused carriages and squeezed into our stalls...I mean seats. The train was seriously over crowded, with a large part of my journey spent with an elbow in the side of my head. And the air con was as much use as a chocolate fire guard. Those extra couple of carriages would have made all the difference, and I do have genuine health and safety concerns re the number of us rammed aboard.
On Monday night as I stood under glowering skies I was grateful that my train arrived 5 minutes late, however before the rain. That was until once more we were crammed in like sardines in a tin. The train was even more seriously overcrowded than on Friday, being only 3 carriages long. Again the air con was ineffectual. The driver then spent most of the journey reminding cyclists that full size bikes were not allowed, and apologising for the increasing delay as the poor train was obviously suffering under the strain of being severely over loaded. Again I really have to wonder if any thought is given to the safety of the passengers wedged in. And I heard the most overly used word in the FGW staff vocabulary, "sorry" more times than I care to remember. Do wonder how sorry FGW and their staff are.
Then this morning I caught the semi-fast service from Cholsey at 7.20. It arrived a couple minutes late (first sorry of the day.) By the time we got to Tilehurst the train manager announced we were 6 minutes late. By Maidenhead we were running at least 20 minutes late. Another apology followed to inform us we were stuck behind a local stopping service, however should soon pass it when we moved into the fast line....followed by another to say we hadn't moved onto the fast line and "I don't know why, maybe it is due to us running in one engine." We did eventually get to Paddington, however due to our late running I missed an important conference call (won't blame the signal black spot on FGW, just wouldn't have been in it if we'd ran to time) and I was extremely late for a meeting.
I am sure that if an wrote to FGW I'd be told how sorry they were, however,an don't believe it any more. I do however hope FGW do not keep up their strike rate and I actually have a punctual service both ways tomorrow....however I won't hold my breath.
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Sitting on he dock of the bay...
...well the 7.07 from Cholsey to Ealing Broadway, which has now been stationary for a good half hour. Apparently someone has been taken ill on a train at Maidenhead. I wish them a speedy and full recovery, they will be pleased to know that their predicament was originally described in announcement as minor technical difficulties.
What I'd like to know is, as I watch trains speeding past on the adjoining rail tracks, including the service that was after mine, is why we can't simply move to some points and go around the blockage. It seems madness that there is no plan B for such eventualities. In fact what's the point of points if you are not going to use them?
Is it truly beyond the wit of man, or whoever controls the rail traffic on this line to come up with a solution? Or are we regular commuters the poor relations of those on the express services (and a couple of non-express services to be fair) who have gone speeding past us.
Another announcement...and it is indeed beyond the wit of man, or our signalman at least, who is in regular contact with our driver.
Oh well another round or two of Angry Birds for me it is then...and maybe some Stick Tennis
What I'd like to know is, as I watch trains speeding past on the adjoining rail tracks, including the service that was after mine, is why we can't simply move to some points and go around the blockage. It seems madness that there is no plan B for such eventualities. In fact what's the point of points if you are not going to use them?
Is it truly beyond the wit of man, or whoever controls the rail traffic on this line to come up with a solution? Or are we regular commuters the poor relations of those on the express services (and a couple of non-express services to be fair) who have gone speeding past us.
Another announcement...and it is indeed beyond the wit of man, or our signalman at least, who is in regular contact with our driver.
Oh well another round or two of Angry Birds for me it is then...and maybe some Stick Tennis
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