Most of my experiences of travelling by train in the past have been with South West Trains or Southern, neither of which has impressed me with punctuality. More recently, I have travelled several times with First Great Western from Portsmouth to Bristol; punctuality has been a strong point, but there is room for improvement in other ways.
I found it easy to look up times of trains and prices of tickets on the website, and it soon became obvious that buying two single tickets in advance was usually cheaper than buying a return. Prices seem to vary according to how busy a particular train is and to how far in advance you purchase your ticket. The disadvantage with buying a cheap ticket is that you are tied to a particular train (on which you have a reserved seat) and if you miss it your ticket is not valid on the next train. If you buy your ticket in advance and then want to change the date or time you travel, there would be an administrative charge of £10.
One thing that did annoy me was that I could not purchase tickets online and collect them at any Portsmouth station. There are only a certain number of stations from which you can collect tickets bought on the Internet. There was an option to have the tickets posted, but a signature is required on delivery and I would not have been at home at the time. The only way I can purchase tickets is to go to a station in person. On the last occasion that we travelled to Bristol there were three of us and we were entitled to a discount as long as we travelled together on the outward and return journeys. With these discounted tickets no seat reservations are given, but at least you are free to travel on any train on that particular day.
The carriages of First Great Western trains have been replaced quite recently and are certainly more comfortable than the ones I can remember travelling to and from Cardiff in a number of years ago. I have no complaints about the seats themselves, other than that leg room is very limited. A tall person on a long journey would suffer, I'm sure. There are the usual overhead racks for hand luggage, with extra space at the end of the carriage for larger bags and suitcases. Also at one end of the carriage is a space left free for anyone travelling in a wheelchair. The carriages are usually fairly crowded, but I have never had to stand for any part of a journey, even when crowds of rugby fans poured onto the train at Bath on one return journey. On one occasion the older carriages were in use and seat reservations had not been allocated, but we were lucky enough to find seats by a door that actually had extra leg room. When we are on our way back to Portsmouth we usually find that things become pretty quiet by the time we leave Southampton.
We have only once arrived late into Bristol, and that was by about fifteen minutes. None of the trains we have planned to travel on has been cancelled. I can't say the same for other train companies that I regularly travel with.
Considering that the Bristol train's final destination is Cardiff, what does surprise me is that there is no trolley service on this journey. The total journey time is around three and a quarter hours. When the departure of the train is announced in Portsmouth, the information is that a trolley service is available on the train. I have only once seen one, and that was a few minutes before we were due to arrive in Bristol. It must have been aimed solely at passengers going as far as Cardiff. We usually make sure to bring drinks and snacks with us from home, then make a point of buying a drink at Bristol station before boarding the train home. I don't understand why First Great Western don't provide this service, as the number of passengers would suggest that it would be worth their while.
The toilets on First Great Western are usually clean and in good working order on the outward journey. On the return journey they may still be working, but it is unlikely that they will be very clean. Once, about a year ago, the lack of cleanliness made them almost unusable. I have to say that I haven't noticed a better state of affairs with companies such as South West Trains, and it just leaves me thinking that Mr Messy must be very fond of travelling on trains.
The guards I have encountered on recent journeys have always been very polite, and I noticed one recently giving helpful advice to two young Japanese women who should have been travelling to London Paddington but boarded the Portsmouth train instead. That's some detour.
On almost every journey someone has come round once to collect up any rubbish, so the carriages are usually kept clean.
I do enjoy the journey to Bristol, particularly because of the picturesque countryside around Bradford-on-Avon. The White Horse of Westbury is easily visible on a hillside to the north of the railway line. None of this is down to First Great Western, of course, but it makes the daytime journey more pleasant.
I would probably have given First Great Western three and a half stars if it were possible, but as it is I have awarded three. Punctuality I cannot personally criticise. However, a trolley service would avoid the necessity to carry heavy drinks, and the possibility of buying tickets online and collecting them on arrival at the station would make life easier.
Also likely to be posted on Dooyoo under my username frangliz.
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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!)
evesham1988la 23.08.2005 (24.08.2005)
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evesham1988la 23.08.2005 (24.08.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
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