Yesterday evening - Monday 20'th - in the middle of the rush hour -
the LED departure board system at Paddington went u/s. THOUSANDS of
commuters ended up milling around with no-one knowing which platforms
their respective trains were departing from. The hapless staff knew
even less, and there wasn't a gold-braided manager in sight. Naturally
Paddington being one of the least organised of our major stations,
train departures never have regular departure platforms - unlike say
Amsterdam where the platforms are timetabled and rarely switched - no-
one knew what the hell was going on. PA announcements were made but
the wonder of this station is that the acoustics are perfect for
echoes and so the announcements were indistinct as usual. Even the
staff had a problem repeating what had just been announced. The BTP
were in attendance - not to help out - but to ward off irate commuters
from approaching the FGW gate line staff. CJB.

On Oct 21, 1:14*pm, CJB wrote:
Yesterday evening - Monday 20'th - in the middle of the rush hour -
the LED departure board system at Paddington went u/s. THOUSANDS of
commuters ended up milling around with no-one knowing which platforms
their respective trains were departing from. The hapless staff knew
even less, and there wasn't a gold-braided manager in sight. Naturally
Paddington being one of the least organised of our major stations,
train departures never have regular departure platforms - unlike say
Amsterdam where the platforms are timetabled and rarely switched - no-
one knew what the hell was going on. PA announcements were made but
the wonder of this station is that the acoustics are perfect for
echoes and so the announcements were indistinct as usual. Even the
staff had a problem repeating what had just been announced. The BTP
were in attendance - not to help out - but to ward off irate commuters
from approaching the FGW gate line staff. CJB.

Reading a CJB piece on FGW is a bit like reading an Andrew Gilligan
piece on Ken Livingstone, isn't it?

I had an excellent set of journeys on FGW over the weekend (London -
Reading, Aldermaston - Reading, Reading - Bristol, Bristol -
London).

All the trains were on time, and while the absence of departure LEDs
at Aldermaston was a bit disconcerting (I hate being at a country
station with a limited service and having no idea whether it's running
OK or not), the automatic tannoys did a reasonably good job of making
up for it.

The refurb HSTs have comfortable seats, and the table trays are
definitely laptop-sized. Although they are, definitely, too damn
bright. The night setting of 50% would probably be about right for
daytime; a 25% setting would work for night; saving 100% for
interrogating fare-dodgers. Also, have they really turned the tiolet
in coach A into a staff-only bog (and if so, err, why exactly?). And
was amused by the 'normals' getting off saying 'I like these new
trains, but why on earth have they fitted the old-fashioned slamming
doors to them?'

Although the weekday off-peak single fare of GBP14 to Reading is a bit
thieving. And why on earth does the line from Banbury to Oxford need
closing quite so often - what're they doing to it, compared with the
mainline...? (or is it just that it's 2-track rather than 4-track, and
so total closure is the only option)

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

.. Also, have they really turned the tiolet
in coach A into a staff-only bog (and if so, err, why exactly?). And
was amused by the 'normals' getting off saying 'I like these new
trains, but why on earth have they fitted the old-fashioned slamming
doors to them?'


As a FGW staff member I can reassure you that they have not turned the
toilet in coach A into a staff only one. It is actually a trolley
storage cupboard for the ill fated buffet removal program. As the
buffets are to stay the toilet will be reinstated - eventually

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:14:22 -0700 (PDT), CJB
wrote:

Yesterday evening - Monday 20'th - in the middle of the rush hour -
the LED departure board system at Paddington went u/s. THOUSANDS of
commuters ended up milling around with no-one knowing which platforms
their respective trains were departing from. The hapless staff knew
even less, and there wasn't a gold-braided manager in sight. Naturally
Paddington being one of the least organised of our major stations,
train departures never have regular departure platforms - unlike say
Amsterdam where the platforms are timetabled and rarely switched - no-
one knew what the hell was going on.

Do they deliberately not use fixed platforms, like the farce at Euston
that results in the race every time a train is called?

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Neil Williams wrote:

Do they deliberately not use fixed platforms, like the farce at Euston
that results in the race every time a train is called?

Allegedly the "farce" you mention at Euston is deliberate, in case sets
need to be swapped for whatever reason. If the peak services "always"
departed from the same platforms, then it'd cause even more chaos if
they did need to swap a set out, as they'd have to get all of the
regulars off of the "wrong" platform.

At least that's what I was told by someone who used to work at Euston.

Cheers,

Barry

On Oct 21, 1:14 pm, CJB wrote:

Yesterday

One day you might post something positive instead of these endless
moans.

Is your real name Henry Law perchance ?

--
Nick

On 21 Oct, 23:54, D7666 wrote:
On Oct 21, 1:14 pm, CJB wrote:

Yesterday

One day you might post something positive instead of these endless
moans.

Is your real name Henry Law perchance ?

--
Nick

He's got another letter in Rail Professional.

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:22:02 +0100, Barry Salter
wrote:

Allegedly the "farce" you mention at Euston is deliberate, in case sets
need to be swapped for whatever reason. If the peak services "always"
departed from the same platforms, then it'd cause even more chaos if
they did need to swap a set out, as they'd have to get all of the
regulars off of the "wrong" platform.

This is probably the reason, but it isn't a good one. Platform
alterations happen all the time in other stations, and do not
generally cause "chaos".

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Neil Williams wrote:

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:22:02 +0100, Barry Salter
wrote:

Allegedly the "farce" you mention at Euston is deliberate, in case sets
need to be swapped for whatever reason. If the peak services "always"
departed from the same platforms, then it'd cause even more chaos if
they did need to swap a set out, as they'd have to get all of the
regulars off of the "wrong" platform.

This is probably the reason, but it isn't a good one. Platform
alterations happen all the time in other stations, and do not
generally cause "chaos".

Euston isn't the ideal place to do that kind of thing. The only
interchange between platforms (assuming the subterranean tunnels are off
limits) is via the concourse, which is at a different level, and Euston
probably has a fair proportion of longer-distance travellers with
luggage, who will not only be slower than average, but will also get in
the way of others making their way from platform X to Y. With just a bit
of bad luck, chaos (for once) could turn out to be the best word to
describe the result.

--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p12198536.html
(50 011 at Birmingham New Street, 1979)

On Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:33:26 -0700 (PDT) someone who may be John B
wrote this:-

The refurb HSTs have comfortable seats,

I travelled on one recently. I thought that it was generally a good
job, though they should have installed wi-fi.

However, the ridiculous seat backs not only cut off the view, they
also make it more difficult to walk along the train. BTW the view is
not some fancy optional extra, observation by fellow passengers has
some effect on what is now called anti-social behaviour and the
police have been trying to get councils to design out hidden spaces
for decades. I suggest that this is far more important for
passengers as it is something they may experience every day, a crash
is something most passengers never experience.



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54