Train journey getting longer... and longer...

Badger_Lady

Hia,

I've Googled this to no avail, and have fired off an email to First Great Western but don't hold out too much hope of a speedy answer!

I live in South Wales but work in London, so every week I need to order an advance train ticket and travel the distance. It's become a routine by now, and at least I can prebook a seat. But here's the odd thing:

My journey normally takes 1hr45 (to within a couple of minutes). It's always the same route, always a direct train with the same number of stops (just five of them) and begins and ends at the same stations with the same set of coaches.

But for the last few weeks, my Sunday evening train to London has been timetabled to take 2hr15. Without any other changes and with no explanations whatsoever. I've been a bit grumpy about it, but just made sure I had enough to read for the extra half hour. (All other trains on a Sunday have had the same time added.)

Today, when looking ahead to book my advance tickets, I've noticed that from next week onwards the journey has advanced to 2hr55! That's a good hour or so longer than it usually takes, a good hour longer than the return journey.

I've picked up on the Daily Mirror offer and have ordered myself £1 coach tickets for the rest of the year - that only takes 3hrs and so there's no reason not to.

I'll still be catching the 1hr45 train from London back to S Wales because there's a limit to how long I want to spend travelling each week... I'd just appreciate some information as to why my train has changed so much without, er, changing! :rotfl:

WestonDave

If you catch the train you would probably find that most weeks it will spend a ridiculous amount of time at somewhere like Reading (London bound) - what they've done is built in recovery time for delays (which are generally worse on Sundays as that's when engineering work takes place) so that they don't get penalties for being late. The alternative is that it sits at each station for longer along the route for the same reason.

Oh and the chances of Worst Great Western actually fessing up to this is virtually nil!

WestonDave

Having looked into this - to be fair, it appears that from the timetable change at the end of October certain Sunday evening trains from South Wales to London will be going the long way via Bristol Temple Meads and Bath rather than the direct route via Bristol Parkway - that will add a certain amount of genuine time to the route, and is probably due to low passenger numbers meaning that more stops makes the service more viable.

Badger_Lady

WestonDave wrote: »

Having looked into this - to be fair, it appears that from the timetable change at the end of October certain Sunday evening trains from South Wales to London will be going the long way via Bristol Temple Meads and Bath rather than the direct route via Bristol Parkway - that will add a certain amount of genuine time to the route, and is probably due to low passenger numbers meaning that more stops makes the service more viable.

Yes, every other train is doing this... those ones take 3hr20, almost double the norm. It's the direct ones in between that I can't fathom taking 2hr55. Although your explanation does make sense!

Let's see whether they'll say anything about it... in the meantime National Express here I come!

alanrowell

Could it be as simple as they are doing engineering works as Sunday is a popular day for doing it.

Badger_Lady

alanrowell wrote: »

Could it be as simple as they are doing engineering works as Sunday is a popular day for doing it.

It could be... but they've kept it secret. There's nothing on this page that covers my route and/or dates: http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=720

It also seems to be a very long-term change.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

alanrowell wrote: »

Could it be as simple as they are doing engineering works as Sunday is a popular day for doing it.

more than likely this. Get the work done without putting people on buses so it may take a bit longer seems a much better prospect then anything else.

Its not like the want to for fear of losing passengers to the coaches is it.

Humphrey10

Badger_Lady wrote: »

There's nothing on this page that covers my route and/or dates: http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=720

It also seems to be a very long-term change.

That page is for changes to the published timetable - maybe your train was planned to take 2hr55min when the timetable was put together, so in the timetable it always said it would take 2hr55min, so it doesn't appear on that page.

It could be engineering work, depending on what's being done and the opportunities to do the work (eg they might only be able to do it on Sundays) it could take quite a while.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/currentAndFuture.html?nojs=true&action=true&txtTravelDate=16%2F10%2F2011&toc=gw

Badger_Lady

Jeff_Bridges_hair wrote: »

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/currentAndFuture.html?nojs=true&action=true&txtTravelDate=16%2F10%2F2011&toc=gw

Thanks but my route isn't on there either!

Through whatever technicality, FGW have decided they don't *have* to publish any excuses for the change to my service... but as a regular customer I'd rather appreciate it :undecided

Mankysteve

They do it so that rather than actually make the trains run on time by sorting out the things that make them delayed they just make them go slower when they do get delayed they can just go a bit quicker and catch up, thus avoiding the fines.