First Great Western

Advantages: Clean trains and facilities, helpful staff
Disadvantages: The seats are so comfortable you are in danger of sleeping past your stop.

...to buy a ticket. The first is in person at any uk train station where there is a ticket office. The second way to buy a ticket is on the internet. Either on the FGW site or any other site such as National Rail or The Trainline. The last way is to buy directly from the conductor on the service that you are travelling on at the time. There are many problems with buying tickets over the internet. They include the tickets not reaching you in time. For ...
...class post, but for some reason they dont actually get to you in time to travel. who knows why this happens, but it just does. Then you face long (and i mean long) queues at the train station to pick the tickets up there. I work in London Waterloo and sometimes the queues can have a waiting time of of to 45 minutes. This is not very good if you are booked to go on a specific train. Now, if you didnt want the hassle of buying the ticket on the net ... Read review

Advantages: Fast & Efficient, Plenty of Seats, Buffet's Good, Children's Activities
Disadvantages: Maybe a tad expensive - though deals can be found (but not on my route!)

First Great Western (FGW) run services to South Wales (Cardiff, Swansea, Carnaefon), the West Country and right down to Penzance - all of which run through Reading and terminate at London Paddington. They also run a service though the pictuesque Cotswolds through Oxford and then on to Worcester and Hereford. This is my local line - so my experiences relate to my travels through the Cotswolds. I must stress that this op is not about First Great ...
...***Timetables*** Combined with First Great Western Link - the sister operator of FGW - trains down to London from the Cotswolds vary in frequency depending on what time of day it is. In the morning peak you can expect one every half-hour. During the day it could be every one or two hours. In the evening, its back to one hour. Coming back from London, very few leave in the morning with the majority, understandably, coming back in the evening peak. ... Read review

Advantages: Nice design
Disadvantages: Late, completely packed

...service. I started getting First Great Western trains from Reading a couple of months ago. I generally get the rush hour trains in and back, but I do also have experience of using their trains during off-peak hours as I used to travel a lot on them at the weekends last year. Generally I am travelling between Reading and London Paddington, but I have also taken trains to other stops around the area such as Oxford. ~~An average day on the trains~~ ...
...train. I realise sometimes First Great Western can't help that their trains are late (if there has been a points failure or similar) but what I find really infuriating is that they have 3 carriages of first class seats on the 10-11 carriage trains. I have never seen any more than one carriage worth of first class passengers in the first class carriages and I think the train company would have much happier customers if they took awway some of these ... Read review

Advantages: Stress Free, straight into London, no hassle
Disadvantages: potentially could be delays?

...Who are they? ** First Great Western are one of the train operating companies. They run trains from London (Paddington) to the West Country and Wales, and I think up to Worcester. ** Getting a Ticket ** Yes I needed one of those!! I decided to get my ticket on the Thursday before I travelled, so off I went to the ticket office. The staff there were really helpful in working out the best option for me, to include a journey on the underground (only ...
...** Journey ** The first announcement that the whole train was no-smoking. I don’t smoke, but was surprised, I always thought people could smoke by the doors. There was one slight hold up, just outside Castle Cary, probably only for a couple of minutes. It got a bit lumpy and bumpy in places (I guess that was Railtrack – or whatever they call themselves now!) Unfortunately it was while I was coming back from the buffet with a cup of tea, but I find ... Read review

Advantages: Gorgeous Scenery/Wildlife, Beautiful Convenient Journey Breaks,!st Class
Disadvantages: Old Trains, Possibly Overcrowded,Unreliability not confined to this carrier

...the train snaking towards the first of the tunnels through the ancient Devonian rock of the red Devon cliffs. Hurtling through a tunnel with the window open was an exciting new experience for the children. The walls flashed by, near enough it seemed, to touch. Better than watching them through the tame safety of a modern plate-glass train window. Rocketing through the dark, the sound racketing off the walls, we talked of the men who had built them. ...
...Second Class! (Who are these First Class Types anyway and where do they reside? Do they all live in Palaces? Seriously, I expect a completely different version of events would be experienced in First Class. (except for the 20 min late arrival - their carriage didnt come in 20 mins ahead of the rest of the tain lol) This carriage seemed peaceful and spacious at all times. FARES It is possible to make considerable savings at firstminutefares.co.uk ... Read review