First Great Western Trains – what a complete and utter shambles you are!
How people who have no option but to use your ‘service’ daily cope with the frustration, I shall never know.
A few figures to portray my experience of using your trains on November 24: Trains taken: four.
Trains late: four.
Trains more than half an hour late: two.
Trains with more than 100 people standing all down the carriages: two (the ones with the longest journeys).
Trains with 50 first-class seats empty, yet not enough seats for ordinary mortals: two (yes, the same two).
People who refused to let me sit in the seat I’d reserved because I have a back problem (staff hadn’t labelled the seat as reserved): one.
Really bad back, much exacerbated by having to stand for more than an hour on a barely-moving train, next to empty first-class seats: one (mine).
Door-to-door travel time, London to Witney: over four hours Stations with no indoor waiting facilities or toilets: two.
Homicidal fantasies: too many to document.
Episodes of bursting into tears with the awfulness of it all: one.
A short comparison of this experience with the Oxford-to-London coach service: the price is about a third of that of the train, seating is guaranteed, journey time (compared to this day, with all the delays), considerably quicker.
I know which transport I’ll use in future!
The provision of late trains, with inadequate seating and yet an excess of seats which the operator knows won’t be used, shows a total disregard for the paying customer. Yes, it’s the logical conclusion of privatising services which should be kept nationalised.
But does that make it okay? No!
KATE MELLERSH Witney
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