chuckles1066
Member
- Joined
- 24 Nov 2010
- Messages
- 361
So I returned to the rail network this week after a 16 month break as I had the misfortune of having to attend a training course in Bath (ahhh, "happy" memories from the winter of 2010/11).
5 x tickets @ £9 a throw, nice work if you can get it, good job I get to claim it all back.
I see Filton Abbeywood still have three or four members of staff demanding to see tickets on the bridge so I guess the MOD-ticket-dodging problem won't go away although one very nimble and cheeky chappy alighted from a service and did use the tracks on Wednesday to avoid having to confront them. God bless that ruffian.
Hey ho, times change, people don't.
I observed the usual shortformed FGW services in operation (so some things definitely don't change, "this service consists of two coaches instead of three due to unforseen circumstances"......yeah, right) along with the overcrowding that I remember so fondly.
But what's this?
I'm standing on the platform at Bath Spa this afternoon, listening to Phil's still out-of-synch announcements (the train isn't standing at platform 1, you plum, it's only just pulling into the station) when I spot that the 2.47p.m service to Bristol looks like a proper train.
Yep, not the scabby **** FGW serve up, this train looks the real deal.
For one, both lights are working on the front - this is an eye-opener.
It pulls up and seems to be a South West Trains unit originating out of London Waterloo no less.......all very clean and tidy from the outside, nice, shiny red paint and windows that appear to be transparent.
The doors swish open very smoothly and I clamber aboard. The seats are clean (and very comfortable), there are proper computerised announcements accompanied by a graphical display for those hard-of-hearing types (rather than the "live", unintelligble stuff I'm accustomed to) and the one member of staff I observed actually looked happy in his work.
FGW (Mr Hopwood, pay attention boy) really need to travel on a grown up train service to see how it's done.
Thank you for your time, this week brought back many memories.
5 x tickets @ £9 a throw, nice work if you can get it, good job I get to claim it all back.
I see Filton Abbeywood still have three or four members of staff demanding to see tickets on the bridge so I guess the MOD-ticket-dodging problem won't go away although one very nimble and cheeky chappy alighted from a service and did use the tracks on Wednesday to avoid having to confront them. God bless that ruffian.
Hey ho, times change, people don't.
I observed the usual shortformed FGW services in operation (so some things definitely don't change, "this service consists of two coaches instead of three due to unforseen circumstances"......yeah, right) along with the overcrowding that I remember so fondly.
But what's this?
I'm standing on the platform at Bath Spa this afternoon, listening to Phil's still out-of-synch announcements (the train isn't standing at platform 1, you plum, it's only just pulling into the station) when I spot that the 2.47p.m service to Bristol looks like a proper train.
Yep, not the scabby **** FGW serve up, this train looks the real deal.
For one, both lights are working on the front - this is an eye-opener.
It pulls up and seems to be a South West Trains unit originating out of London Waterloo no less.......all very clean and tidy from the outside, nice, shiny red paint and windows that appear to be transparent.
The doors swish open very smoothly and I clamber aboard. The seats are clean (and very comfortable), there are proper computerised announcements accompanied by a graphical display for those hard-of-hearing types (rather than the "live", unintelligble stuff I'm accustomed to) and the one member of staff I observed actually looked happy in his work.
FGW (Mr Hopwood, pay attention boy) really need to travel on a grown up train service to see how it's done.
Thank you for your time, this week brought back many memories.