My wife and I decided to get away this weekend. A change is as good a break, someone might have said once. We thought we'd go somewhere easy to reach - just a single train ride from Bath - so we chose Weymouth.
In hindsight, I can't believe I was stupid enough to use FGW for a weekend break. The journey down on Saturday morning went smoothly enough. In fact it was almost entertaining; if sitting in a live episode of Little Britain is your cup of tea. We were surrounded by yoofs "Yeah, but, No but"-ing their way from Westbury, Frome and Yeovil all the way to Weymouth.
Interestingly, after listening to the said yoofs discuss tactics for fare evasion (going to the bogs when the collector arrives, hiding their booze and asking for child tickets etc), they all got away without buying tickets after the train manager announced that his machine was broken and would people please buy a ticket at their destination. It'll be no surprise to you that none of them did upon arrival at Weymouth.
At least half the people getting off at Weymouth had no tickets - I hope FGW don't use a lack of revenue as an excuse to shut down this line.
After a wonderfully relaxing weekend, we went to get the 14:00 train back to Bath. This is the first of only 3 trains that run on this line on a Sunday, the others at 18:00 and 20:09. However this train was cancelled. The SWT staff at the station had no idea why is was cancelled, or indeed if the 18:00 would run, only that a bus was being provided. I phoned FGW to find out why it was cancelled, since there was a train on the platform, and was informed that it was due to staff illness.
Outside, sure enough, a bus was on the forecourt to take us as far as Westbury where we'd have to pick up the no doubt already packed service from Portsmouth.
The journey didn't take too long as we only went to one of the intermediate 10 stations (Yeovil Pen Mill) on the way. I hate to think what information was available at the others, particularly the unmanned ones. I suppose most people just had to wait the four hours for the next one.
We arrived just after the 15:58 had left Westbury, and no-one will be surprised it didn't wait, then again, we could have been hours yet, had we stopped everywhere. A long wait was therefore on the cards, but thankfully the coach driver offered to take anyone who wanted, a lift back to Bath or Bristol given that he was headed back to Bristol. So we got back on the bus and arrived in Bath around 45 min late. It could have been a lot worse had the kind driver not gone above his duty.
Question is though, given that the bus was dispatched from Bristol, the staff illness mustt have been known a wouldn't have been easier and cheaper to send a train crew in a taxi? Or was the staffing shortage so bad that there was no spare crews anywhere?
Showing posts with label FGW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FGW. Show all posts
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Hidden Charges
I went to book some train tickets for this weekend on the trainline.com. There are a series of hidden costs; First you have to uncheck the boxes for optional travel insurance from Columbus at the riduculous cost of £1 per journey. This cost is ridiculous because you have to be delayed by four hours before you can claim anything, and you'll be covered by your household/travel insurance for most of it anyway.
Then you move on to the payment screen. There is a £1 charge for postage. Fair enough, that's a bit steep for an envelope and stamp, but cheaper than most ebay sellers. But what if I'm prepared to collect the tickets myself? Well then you pay a £1 ticket arrangement fee. WTF! This fee wasn't applicable when they were being posted, but now I'm doing all the leg work myself there's a different charge. Effectively this £1 is a trainline.com tax. But their taxes to not stop there.
Next there is a £2.50 Credit Card fee. Why is this? There is no charge for debit cards, so why credit cards? Unusually I'm not being facetious, I am genuinely interested if there is a real reason for this. But I doubt there is an argument that can stand up in the face of the fact that you will not be charged a credit card fee if you buy the tickets in person from the counter.
I am fully aware that the trainline is not the only company to do this. Another pet peeve of mine is Odeon cinemas. They charge a 50 pence "card handling fee", again a totally nonsense charge that you do not pay if you turn up in person. However this charge is made all the more nonsensical when despite it's implication that it is for handling the payment, it is charged per ticket. 4 tickets, one payment, but four card handling fees. Hmmm.
I'm sure that the costs companies more to sell tickets in person that via automated call centres, or on the internet, so it would be understandable to pay a premium for the personal service, but to pay more for the cheaper service is a nonsense.
Anyway, I decided I was not going to pay a £3.50 tax to buy my tickets on line, so I decided I would get them in person at Bath Spa station on my way home. I arrived at 7.30 and there were two windows open at the ticket office. Both were devoid of customers. However I was told that I could only buy tickets for that day. Or tomorrow. But not Saturday. Why not? Apparently the advance ticket windows are only open until 7 pm. It used to be that then one of the windows would become "All Tickets", but now there is no room for flexibility. Even when there are two people serving, and just one person to serve.
I suppose they want people to go on-line and pay the outrageous tax.
Then you move on to the payment screen. There is a £1 charge for postage. Fair enough, that's a bit steep for an envelope and stamp, but cheaper than most ebay sellers. But what if I'm prepared to collect the tickets myself? Well then you pay a £1 ticket arrangement fee. WTF! This fee wasn't applicable when they were being posted, but now I'm doing all the leg work myself there's a different charge. Effectively this £1 is a trainline.com tax. But their taxes to not stop there.
Next there is a £2.50 Credit Card fee. Why is this? There is no charge for debit cards, so why credit cards? Unusually I'm not being facetious, I am genuinely interested if there is a real reason for this. But I doubt there is an argument that can stand up in the face of the fact that you will not be charged a credit card fee if you buy the tickets in person from the counter.
I am fully aware that the trainline is not the only company to do this. Another pet peeve of mine is Odeon cinemas. They charge a 50 pence "card handling fee", again a totally nonsense charge that you do not pay if you turn up in person. However this charge is made all the more nonsensical when despite it's implication that it is for handling the payment, it is charged per ticket. 4 tickets, one payment, but four card handling fees. Hmmm.
I'm sure that the costs companies more to sell tickets in person that via automated call centres, or on the internet, so it would be understandable to pay a premium for the personal service, but to pay more for the cheaper service is a nonsense.
Anyway, I decided I was not going to pay a £3.50 tax to buy my tickets on line, so I decided I would get them in person at Bath Spa station on my way home. I arrived at 7.30 and there were two windows open at the ticket office. Both were devoid of customers. However I was told that I could only buy tickets for that day. Or tomorrow. But not Saturday. Why not? Apparently the advance ticket windows are only open until 7 pm. It used to be that then one of the windows would become "All Tickets", but now there is no room for flexibility. Even when there are two people serving, and just one person to serve.
I suppose they want people to go on-line and pay the outrageous tax.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Monday, Not Fun
Wow - just goes to show you shouldn't tempt fate.
After telling you all on Friday that, despite being occasionally busy, things have been, generally tolerable on the trains recently, this morning things went well and truely belly up, and I experienced one of the longest delays of my 20 months or so of commuting. An hour and a half delay. Yep, a whole 250% increase on the usual journey time. Plus it could have been a lot worse had I listened to the mindless optimism of the train manager....
Things did not look promising at first, arriving at the station, departure board warns of a 16-minute delay. I can live with that. In fact, I quietly welcome 10-15 minute delays as it means I have time to go to the snack bar* for a freshly made bacon sandwich and a cup of tea from the local cafe rather than the station facilities, twice as nice, half the price and supports a local business fighting for its life as the south end of Bath is a building site for the next two years and their current walk-by trade = zero.
Anyhow, after coming back with breakfast, the usual 2-minute increments were stacked up until the delay was a full half hour, but the 06:56 pulled in just before the 07:28. The delay had been caused by a faulty power car according to the train manager. "bet we get no further than Temple Meads on this train", I said to my lab mate who for the last few months has been commuting with me.
Though, we did get out of Bristol, with a fitter on board, we broke down short of Filton. "We'll be going to Parkway for a powercar test and I'm sure we'll be on our way soon" the train manager announced optimistically after finally moving off after around 20 minutes. "We'll be on our way soon" he announced again after 10 minutes or so at Bristol Parkway. Anyway, not believing the guy (he must have been new, bless him), I phoned rail enquiries and discovered another train to Cardiff in a few minutes, telling the few people around me, we made our way over to the other platform. Eventually we were an hour and a half late. We'd have been later if I'd have listened to the train manager.
This evening though, I received an unexpected bonus, courtesy of FGW's uselessness. The 19:49 from Bristol, calling at Oldfield Park, so my 20:22 made an additional call. There were some Mardy people on my train, who had been cold at Temple Meads for a while, but for me it was a shorter walk home. You win some, you lose some.
*If you too are a Bath commuter and have ten minutes to fill, rather than spending a fortune in the station Pumpkin or Crusty Sandwich fooderies, take one-minute walk up manver's street (straight ahead - see map) and though Railway Street on the left, is a building site, defiently holding on, just around the corner is the Snack Bar . Very friendly staff and perveuyours of a most excellent bacon sarnie.
After telling you all on Friday that, despite being occasionally busy, things have been, generally tolerable on the trains recently, this morning things went well and truely belly up, and I experienced one of the longest delays of my 20 months or so of commuting. An hour and a half delay. Yep, a whole 250% increase on the usual journey time. Plus it could have been a lot worse had I listened to the mindless optimism of the train manager....
Things did not look promising at first, arriving at the station, departure board warns of a 16-minute delay. I can live with that. In fact, I quietly welcome 10-15 minute delays as it means I have time to go to the snack bar* for a freshly made bacon sandwich and a cup of tea from the local cafe rather than the station facilities, twice as nice, half the price and supports a local business fighting for its life as the south end of Bath is a building site for the next two years and their current walk-by trade = zero.
Anyhow, after coming back with breakfast, the usual 2-minute increments were stacked up until the delay was a full half hour, but the 06:56 pulled in just before the 07:28. The delay had been caused by a faulty power car according to the train manager. "bet we get no further than Temple Meads on this train", I said to my lab mate who for the last few months has been commuting with me.
Though, we did get out of Bristol, with a fitter on board, we broke down short of Filton. "We'll be going to Parkway for a powercar test and I'm sure we'll be on our way soon" the train manager announced optimistically after finally moving off after around 20 minutes. "We'll be on our way soon" he announced again after 10 minutes or so at Bristol Parkway. Anyway, not believing the guy (he must have been new, bless him), I phoned rail enquiries and discovered another train to Cardiff in a few minutes, telling the few people around me, we made our way over to the other platform. Eventually we were an hour and a half late. We'd have been later if I'd have listened to the train manager.
This evening though, I received an unexpected bonus, courtesy of FGW's uselessness. The 19:49 from Bristol, calling at Oldfield Park, so my 20:22 made an additional call. There were some Mardy people on my train, who had been cold at Temple Meads for a while, but for me it was a shorter walk home. You win some, you lose some.
*If you too are a Bath commuter and have ten minutes to fill, rather than spending a fortune in the station Pumpkin or Crusty Sandwich fooderies, take one-minute walk up manver's street (straight ahead - see map) and though Railway Street on the left, is a building site, defiently holding on, just around the corner is the Snack Bar . Very friendly staff and perveuyours of a most excellent bacon sarnie.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Friday Fun
It's been a while since I've had a moan about FGW, this is due concurrent bouts of commuter and blogging apathy. To be fair to them, there does seem to have been some improvements recently too. Which is no bad thing. But after a crappy journey home this evening I thought I'd have a little whinge.
Every Friday is the same, the 5.30 train to Portsmouth is jammed to the rafters. I normally try and avoid getting this train by going for a pint or two after work and get a later train. However this evening I was absolutely knackard and had a stinking headache so I braved the student shuttle. So called because as well as the usual daily commuters, who usually fill this service on their own, we also have dozens and dozens of weekend travellers and their assorted luggage.
Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge people using the train to get away for the weekend, it's a great idea, but it would be nice to have an extra carriage on this service. However, in recent months I have been educated by various bloggers, but in particular the excellent Insider, and I know understand that there are no more carriages, and FGW's hands are tied by a Labour Government's transport policy that barely cares about public transport in the home counties and frankly don't give a shit if it doesn't start/finish in London.
So anyway, given that there are no more carriages, and I'm sure this problem is not unique to Cardiff, I believe a little should be done to encourage the weekenders to get earlier or later trains. So why can't FGW stop selling their cheap tickets on this service. Most of this evening's suitcase brigadge has their big trainline tickets (why are these not the same size as usual tickets?) and were kicking regular season ticket holders out of reserved seats. Slightly unfair I'd say given that technically season ticket holders can't book seats. So why not remove the cheap tickets from these services as an encouragement to use earlier and later trains.
At worst, the same people will get on the train and FGW would make more money, so it's surely a solution that would appeal to the management.
Every Friday is the same, the 5.30 train to Portsmouth is jammed to the rafters. I normally try and avoid getting this train by going for a pint or two after work and get a later train. However this evening I was absolutely knackard and had a stinking headache so I braved the student shuttle. So called because as well as the usual daily commuters, who usually fill this service on their own, we also have dozens and dozens of weekend travellers and their assorted luggage.
Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge people using the train to get away for the weekend, it's a great idea, but it would be nice to have an extra carriage on this service. However, in recent months I have been educated by various bloggers, but in particular the excellent Insider, and I know understand that there are no more carriages, and FGW's hands are tied by a Labour Government's transport policy that barely cares about public transport in the home counties and frankly don't give a shit if it doesn't start/finish in London.
So anyway, given that there are no more carriages, and I'm sure this problem is not unique to Cardiff, I believe a little should be done to encourage the weekenders to get earlier or later trains. So why can't FGW stop selling their cheap tickets on this service. Most of this evening's suitcase brigadge has their big trainline tickets (why are these not the same size as usual tickets?) and were kicking regular season ticket holders out of reserved seats. Slightly unfair I'd say given that technically season ticket holders can't book seats. So why not remove the cheap tickets from these services as an encouragement to use earlier and later trains.
At worst, the same people will get on the train and FGW would make more money, so it's surely a solution that would appeal to the management.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Lone Demonstration (In Absentia)
It finally arrived. Despite the fact that I sent my McDemo application form off before my good friend over at I Hate First Great Western, Mark Thomas and his friends have done the business and will protest, on my behalf outside the Department for Transport. (Click see see letter more clearly)
A part of me feels bad. The train services recently have been almost adequate, save the frequent greenhouses (sorry, I mean trains) with broken air-con. However, I am glad that this protest is happening. Not solely because it will be registered that a demonstration has taken place (still totally justified given the relatively poor services around Bristol, and the disgraceful fare increases in January). But because it is a total waste of police time to deal with my application (filled out on my behalf by the good people at McDemos for the bargain price of £5).
I hope the reason my application has taken so long is not a misplaced form, rather that it has taken so long to get through the backlog of McDemo applications.
For those that don’t know, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005, makes it illegal to have a peaceful demonstration within a mile or so of parliament without the express permission of the police. People have been arrested for wearing anti-war T-shirts in the area. One woman was arrested for eating a cake with the word PEACE written on it, near the cenotaph. Does this sound like a law of a democratic country where it’s citizens have “freedom of speech”? Quite.
Anyway, Mark Thomas and his friends have been making a mockery of this law, by attempting to waste as much police time as possible. By staging a series of lone demonstrations, for which the police must grant permission, unless they have just cause not to do so. The idea is to highlight the absurdity of this law and regain our true freedom of speech.
So, if you think your train services are a bit naff, head down to the DfT this afternoon between 1245 and 1300 and take part in my demonstration. Unfortunately I’m at work in Cardiff so can’t be there, but if you’re in the area why not head down. Also if you have a burning statement to make outside parliament, or you simply think that the SOCPA bill is absurd, contact McDemos and get your very own demonstration. Free custard creams for pensioners!
A part of me feels bad. The train services recently have been almost adequate, save the frequent greenhouses (sorry, I mean trains) with broken air-con. However, I am glad that this protest is happening. Not solely because it will be registered that a demonstration has taken place (still totally justified given the relatively poor services around Bristol, and the disgraceful fare increases in January). But because it is a total waste of police time to deal with my application (filled out on my behalf by the good people at McDemos for the bargain price of £5).I hope the reason my application has taken so long is not a misplaced form, rather that it has taken so long to get through the backlog of McDemo applications.
For those that don’t know, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) 2005, makes it illegal to have a peaceful demonstration within a mile or so of parliament without the express permission of the police. People have been arrested for wearing anti-war T-shirts in the area. One woman was arrested for eating a cake with the word PEACE written on it, near the cenotaph. Does this sound like a law of a democratic country where it’s citizens have “freedom of speech”? Quite.
Anyway, Mark Thomas and his friends have been making a mockery of this law, by attempting to waste as much police time as possible. By staging a series of lone demonstrations, for which the police must grant permission, unless they have just cause not to do so. The idea is to highlight the absurdity of this law and regain our true freedom of speech.
So, if you think your train services are a bit naff, head down to the DfT this afternoon between 1245 and 1300 and take part in my demonstration. Unfortunately I’m at work in Cardiff so can’t be there, but if you’re in the area why not head down. Also if you have a burning statement to make outside parliament, or you simply think that the SOCPA bill is absurd, contact McDemos and get your very own demonstration. Free custard creams for pensioners!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Back To Reality
Hello, how are you?Glad to hear it. Yes, yes, I know, it's been a while, I've been on a conference, then on holiday for a bit and then had a busy week last week.
Anyway, where shall we begin? I know, lets start here. I bought this morning's Times not for the Sudoku but for the front page headline: "RAIL FIRM'S LEGAL THREAT TO SILENCE PASSENGER WATCHDOG". Sounds interesting, I thought. Can you guess, loyal readers, which rail firm has been trying to bully London Travelwatch? That's right, Silverlink County. Only kidding, it's First Great Western.
London Travelwatch wrote to the rail minister Tom Harris enquiring whether FGW were in breach of their franchise agreement, and if not, just how bad will it have to be before the DfT steps in. Anyway, FGW were sent a copy of this letter and decided that it was "defamatory" and threatened legal action against the passenger watchdog.
Interestingly, the article also points out that First Group has Alistair Campbell on it's payroll as an advisor on "strategic communications" or Spin Doctoring to you and me. It all begins to make sense now....
In other FGW related news, there is a great new blog written by the insider, someone who works at FGW and gives the story from the other side in a fair and balanced manner, unlike some others I could mention.... The insider also appears to be a useful person to know, if stories are to be believed.
Finally, there are worrying rumours abound, that the new timetable in December will see my direct service from Bath to Cardiff scrapped, thus lengthening my already sizable commute with a change at Bristol Parkway. I pray this is turns out to be false.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
First Great Useless
As you'll no doubt already be aware, I have a problem with First Great Western. They are not capable of running the service they are supposed to provide. We are halfway through this week and my delays already total more than an hour.
My problem is not generally with FGW front-line staff (though occasionally it is), my gripe is mostly with the appalling management who havn't a clue how to efficiently run a railway. In fact they can't be trusted to do most things.
Below is a picture I took at Bath Spa station on Saturday in the ticket office. The office is partly closed at the moment for refurbishment and this poster, signed by Ian Monks the station manager, apologizes for the inconvenience caused during the refurbishment. This poster sums up fantastically so many things about FGW.
Now anyone can make a typo. Though even the most basic proof-reading by a person of limited intelligence should spot this one before printing. What's worse though, is that having spotted this mistake after printing, you'd have thought Ian Monks would have been quite embarrassed and taken the poster down and printed another. But no, it's just neatly crossed out and corrected with a biro, so that everybody has their attention is drawn to how stupid it is. Nice.
My problem is not generally with FGW front-line staff (though occasionally it is), my gripe is mostly with the appalling management who havn't a clue how to efficiently run a railway. In fact they can't be trusted to do most things.
Below is a picture I took at Bath Spa station on Saturday in the ticket office. The office is partly closed at the moment for refurbishment and this poster, signed by Ian Monks the station manager, apologizes for the inconvenience caused during the refurbishment. This poster sums up fantastically so many things about FGW.
Now anyone can make a typo. Though even the most basic proof-reading by a person of limited intelligence should spot this one before printing. What's worse though, is that having spotted this mistake after printing, you'd have thought Ian Monks would have been quite embarrassed and taken the poster down and printed another. But no, it's just neatly crossed out and corrected with a biro, so that everybody has their attention is drawn to how stupid it is. Nice.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Well Done FGW
Apparently there was a monumental thunder storm in the Bristol area last night around 6pm. Which is strange because 12 miles away in Bath there was not. The weather this week has been strange, hasn't it?This storm caused (so the Chinese whispers at the station would have me believe) flooding and signal problems in the Severn Tunnel.
"The 06:56 to Swansea will terminating at Bristol Temple Meads."
So how do we get to Cardiff? I ask the train dispatcher. "They might lay taxis on for you. Go to Bristol and they'll deal with you there." He said washing his hands of the problem.
"Will passengers for South Wales please report to the Customer Service Desk on platform 3, for details of road transport to South Wales."
We do, we're split up into groups of four and given vouchers for taxis to Newport. Presumably buses are very difficult to get at short notice this time of the morning due to the school run.
Incredible efficiency from FGW, but it has occured to me that had this been a broken down train or something else that was FGW's fault, they might not have been so quick to splash the cash on quickly getting people across the border. They will, presumably claim these expenses back from Network Rail.
Still, it's nice to report good customer service occasionally.
Though I still have to get home yet.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Fares Fair?
I am gob-smacked. Truly gob-smacked.I have spoken before, of how by travelling into London you get a better deal that if you commute around the South West. But I didn't realise quite how much a better deal you get. Having read some comments about season ticket prices on I Hate FGW's blog, I have investigated the price of tickets from Bath to London and from Bath to Cathays. Here's what I found:
Bath Spa - London Paddington
Daily Open Return: £121.00
Weekly Season: £174.80
Thus a weekly ticket costs 1.44 times the price of a daily open return.
Bath-Cathays (just outside Cardiff)
Daily Open Return: £16.60
Weekly Season: £70.80
Thus a weekly ticket costs 4.26 times the price of a daily open return.
That's not even close to being fair. In fact, put another way it means that commuters to London travel Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for free.
It means that commuters in the southwest get Friday afternoon for free.
Oh, and don't forget, if you travel to London you get relatively comfy, high-speed trains that are in the process of being refurbished. You get an on-board buffet, toilets, tables, optional first class and plug points at your seat.
If you travel between Bath and Cardiff you get the crappiest trains FGW can find (they gave all the nice ones away). These trains are often dilapidated, the toilets don't work, the windows leak when it rains, the air-con doesn't work and on half of them there is no room for a 6ft man to sit down comfortably, let alone tables to do some work.
How does FGW justify this disparity? I'll write to them and ask.
I think I'll let the local rag and my MP know the situation, while I'm at it.
Friday, May 25, 2007
This Week I Have Been Mostly....
...messing about with Facebook. It is horribly addictive. I opened an account on it about a year ago, but it was boring because no-one else was on it. Now, everyone is on it, and I seem to want to check it for updates every 5 minutes. This can not be healthy.
This week I have also got my Powerbook back. Woo Hoo! It took over four weeks, and in the end the whole motherboard was changed. But I didn't pay a penny for fixing it. Which is nice. I HEART Apple.
My life without my laptop has been very different; I've read three books (good), I've watched more TV (bad), I've started buying Private Eye again (v.good), I gave money to the evil Murdoch empire, by buying The Times everyday just for the Killer Sudoku (v.bad), and I've blogged less (I'll let you decide). I will try and take some of these better changes with me into my renewed laptop-containing life, but I will stop buying The Times.
One thing that hasn't changed though is that FGW are still late. No trains have been really late, just consistently 5-10 min late. Which, to be honest, I'm getting used to and beginning to ignore -It think I've turned into a commuter! I am becoming immune to 10 minute delays and shrug them off without a moments thought. It's taken 8 months, but apathy is starting to slip in. The bastards have ground me down, and I'm ready to give in. This is what happens to commuters.
Damn it.
Thankfully help is at hand for the apathetic protester. After reading Mark Thomas' fantastic book about the UK arms trade, As Used On The Famous Nelson Mandela (I highly recommend), I was browsing his website when I came across a company he has set up called McDemos. This company organise bespoke demonstrations on the topic of your choice without having to leave the comfort of your chair (or more importantly give FGW money by going to London in my spare time). Demonstrations start at just 99p for a 30 second demo. I was feeling flush and went for the £5 happy Demo option, which includes all the proper paperwork. So in the words of a famous 80's tv programme; why don't you go and do the same?
It doesn't have to be a demo against FGW, this company is set up to make a mockery of the serious organised crime and police act (SOCPA) which stops people freely expressing their opinion outside Parliament without permission of the police. Maybe you could protest against having an unelected Prime Minister or MPs who are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, it's up to you. But as Mark Thomas says on his website...
If you're not pissed off, you're not paying attention.
Picture from harryharris on flickr.com
This week I have also got my Powerbook back. Woo Hoo! It took over four weeks, and in the end the whole motherboard was changed. But I didn't pay a penny for fixing it. Which is nice. I HEART Apple.
My life without my laptop has been very different; I've read three books (good), I've watched more TV (bad), I've started buying Private Eye again (v.good), I gave money to the evil Murdoch empire, by buying The Times everyday just for the Killer Sudoku (v.bad), and I've blogged less (I'll let you decide). I will try and take some of these better changes with me into my renewed laptop-containing life, but I will stop buying The Times.
One thing that hasn't changed though is that FGW are still late. No trains have been really late, just consistently 5-10 min late. Which, to be honest, I'm getting used to and beginning to ignore -It think I've turned into a commuter! I am becoming immune to 10 minute delays and shrug them off without a moments thought. It's taken 8 months, but apathy is starting to slip in. The bastards have ground me down, and I'm ready to give in. This is what happens to commuters.
Damn it.
Thankfully help is at hand for the apathetic protester. After reading Mark Thomas' fantastic book about the UK arms trade, As Used On The Famous Nelson Mandela (I highly recommend), I was browsing his website when I came across a company he has set up called McDemos. This company organise bespoke demonstrations on the topic of your choice without having to leave the comfort of your chair (or more importantly give FGW money by going to London in my spare time). Demonstrations start at just 99p for a 30 second demo. I was feeling flush and went for the £5 happy Demo option, which includes all the proper paperwork. So in the words of a famous 80's tv programme; why don't you go and do the same?
It doesn't have to be a demo against FGW, this company is set up to make a mockery of the serious organised crime and police act (SOCPA) which stops people freely expressing their opinion outside Parliament without permission of the police. Maybe you could protest against having an unelected Prime Minister or MPs who are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, it's up to you. But as Mark Thomas says on his website...
If you're not pissed off, you're not paying attention.
Picture from harryharris on flickr.com
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Longest Delay & Why I Love Being British
Last night, having had a pretty crap day in my still sweltering building, I decided to cheer myself up by nipping out of work a little early so that I could be back home in time to catch an early(ish) showing of Blades of Glory at the cinema. I didn't make it to the cinema.
My train was delayed by and hour and half. The longest delay I have ever experienced on a FGW train (only breaking the record by 5 minutes though!)
However I was not angry with FGW, no-one on the train was. Because as we passed through the rural, one-train-a-week station that is Pilning, someone decided to end their life by jumping in front of our train moving at 70 mph.
That annoys me. I feel deeply sorry for anyone who feels their life has come to a point where the only option is suicide. But having decided that sucide it is, Jumping in front of train is a pretty selfish way to go about it.
On the train there was a massive bang, lots of bouncing around and the sound of stones hitting the underside of the train. It felt as though we were derailing. I wonder if a train hitting someone can derail it.
The train then breaked relatively quickly, and the driver came out of his cab looking pretty shaken up. He walked down the train apologising, and explaining to everyone that someone had jumped in front of him and that we were likely to be here for a couple of hours
No-one complained though, instead, the usually silent commuters started chatting. In typical Dunkirk spirit; the usually silent British love to have a chatter and support each other during a crisis. We chatted about the incident at first, then joining in with other conversations further down the train. We answered "who wants to be a millionare questions" that one man was calling out from a game on his phone. At the end of the wait, a group of about five of us were joining forces to tackle the Times Crossword. It was quite good fun, and the hour and a bit we were there passed relatively quickly. I was slightly disappointed that, given this was not my regular train, these were not my regular fellow commuters. But I enjoyed their company for that hour. I can see how Stockholm Sydrome comes about.
Finally, having slagged them off time and time again I thought I should mention that I will be sending a letter to FGW customer relations praising the professionalism of their staff during the delay. The driver and the guard kept us informed, though it should be noted that they were wearing Arriva Trains Wales uniforms and were presumably covering the service as far as Bristol on behalf of FGW.
But it was new FGW staff who turned up to take over the running of the train, and a new train manager came down the carriage slowly, asking everyone if they had any questions, and apologising that the service would be (understandably) terminating at Bristol. He even had the excellent news to give me that a fast london service would be making additional stops at Keynsham and Oldfield Park. An excellent service from FGW, never thought I'd write that, especially after an hour and a half delay. Must be the Stockholm Syndrome.
Picture from the wikipedia entry for Pilning Station. Love the sarcasm in the Service entry.
P.S. Posts might not be that frequent for a while, my powerbook has gone in to be fixed. Might be gone 4 weeks they said. Sob.
My train was delayed by and hour and half. The longest delay I have ever experienced on a FGW train (only breaking the record by 5 minutes though!)
However I was not angry with FGW, no-one on the train was. Because as we passed through the rural, one-train-a-week station that is Pilning, someone decided to end their life by jumping in front of our train moving at 70 mph.
That annoys me. I feel deeply sorry for anyone who feels their life has come to a point where the only option is suicide. But having decided that sucide it is, Jumping in front of train is a pretty selfish way to go about it.
On the train there was a massive bang, lots of bouncing around and the sound of stones hitting the underside of the train. It felt as though we were derailing. I wonder if a train hitting someone can derail it.
The train then breaked relatively quickly, and the driver came out of his cab looking pretty shaken up. He walked down the train apologising, and explaining to everyone that someone had jumped in front of him and that we were likely to be here for a couple of hours
No-one complained though, instead, the usually silent commuters started chatting. In typical Dunkirk spirit; the usually silent British love to have a chatter and support each other during a crisis. We chatted about the incident at first, then joining in with other conversations further down the train. We answered "who wants to be a millionare questions" that one man was calling out from a game on his phone. At the end of the wait, a group of about five of us were joining forces to tackle the Times Crossword. It was quite good fun, and the hour and a bit we were there passed relatively quickly. I was slightly disappointed that, given this was not my regular train, these were not my regular fellow commuters. But I enjoyed their company for that hour. I can see how Stockholm Sydrome comes about.
Finally, having slagged them off time and time again I thought I should mention that I will be sending a letter to FGW customer relations praising the professionalism of their staff during the delay. The driver and the guard kept us informed, though it should be noted that they were wearing Arriva Trains Wales uniforms and were presumably covering the service as far as Bristol on behalf of FGW.
But it was new FGW staff who turned up to take over the running of the train, and a new train manager came down the carriage slowly, asking everyone if they had any questions, and apologising that the service would be (understandably) terminating at Bristol. He even had the excellent news to give me that a fast london service would be making additional stops at Keynsham and Oldfield Park. An excellent service from FGW, never thought I'd write that, especially after an hour and a half delay. Must be the Stockholm Syndrome.
Picture from the wikipedia entry for Pilning Station. Love the sarcasm in the Service entry.
P.S. Posts might not be that frequent for a while, my powerbook has gone in to be fixed. Might be gone 4 weeks they said. Sob.
Monday, April 16, 2007
They Don't Know What They're Doing
Today I have received a letter from FGW regarding their lack of compensation for a 30 minute delay I suffered, and their total incompetence in dealing with it, I previously summed it up here.
Firstly Sue Smith the team manager apologises;
I have now had the opportunity to review your case and agree we did make mistakes for which I apologise.
Well that’s something I suppose. Though there’s an automated voice at every station that apologises for delays, so actually apologies from FGW are pretty frequent, but rarely feel meant.
We did record the wrong journey and having checked our records these show that the delay to your connecting service at Bristol Temple Meads was due to a mechanical problem. [they had previously stated that it was due to driver illness] John is a relatively new member of staff and I will ensure that he has the necessary training to prevent this happening again.
Presumably this training is to look at a database of delays and read off what caused my delay. That’s pretty simple training, which makes me believe that he’d had no training at all. She continues;
He was however correct not to compensate for a delay under an hour. I appreciate that this contradicts Alison Forster’s [FGW Managing Director] letter. I have spoken to her office and I regret that an error was made in her reply. The 30 minute delay compensation period relates to previous Thames trains services and not to previous Wessex Trains. We adopted the policy that the companies had in place when we took on the areas they covered previously.
So my questions to my fellow commuters is thus: Is this true? Was Wessex trains compensation policy to pay out for delays of 30 minutes or of 1 hour? I don’t know, I was only commuting with Wessex trains for about two weeks before FGW took over. Also if you’re a former Thames Trains commuter do you get compensation for delays over 30 minutes? Sounds like many of you in the Maidenhead area are experiencing these kind of delays every day. Are you getting your money back? Or is this FGW trying to explain the cock-up with yet another lie? If you want a copy of my letter to post off with your complaint forms let me know.
Finally, Sue finishes with;
In view of the error, and the mistakes in our response, Alison has asked that we forward Rail Vouchers to the full cost of this journey leg as a goodwill gesture and these are included.
Except that this is another mistake. She actually sent me rail vouchers for the full return price. Twice the amount I was asking for. Idiots.
The basic gist of this is that no-one at FGW knows what’s going on, and someone has been telling lies. The Managing Director doesn’t know when compensation should be paid. The man in the office makes up the reason that trains are delayed. Basically it’s just a big farce, and it is clear to everyone with the exception of the DfT that FGW is not fit for purpose.
Firstly Sue Smith the team manager apologises;
I have now had the opportunity to review your case and agree we did make mistakes for which I apologise.
Well that’s something I suppose. Though there’s an automated voice at every station that apologises for delays, so actually apologies from FGW are pretty frequent, but rarely feel meant.
We did record the wrong journey and having checked our records these show that the delay to your connecting service at Bristol Temple Meads was due to a mechanical problem. [they had previously stated that it was due to driver illness] John is a relatively new member of staff and I will ensure that he has the necessary training to prevent this happening again.
Presumably this training is to look at a database of delays and read off what caused my delay. That’s pretty simple training, which makes me believe that he’d had no training at all. She continues;
He was however correct not to compensate for a delay under an hour. I appreciate that this contradicts Alison Forster’s [FGW Managing Director] letter. I have spoken to her office and I regret that an error was made in her reply. The 30 minute delay compensation period relates to previous Thames trains services and not to previous Wessex Trains. We adopted the policy that the companies had in place when we took on the areas they covered previously.
So my questions to my fellow commuters is thus: Is this true? Was Wessex trains compensation policy to pay out for delays of 30 minutes or of 1 hour? I don’t know, I was only commuting with Wessex trains for about two weeks before FGW took over. Also if you’re a former Thames Trains commuter do you get compensation for delays over 30 minutes? Sounds like many of you in the Maidenhead area are experiencing these kind of delays every day. Are you getting your money back? Or is this FGW trying to explain the cock-up with yet another lie? If you want a copy of my letter to post off with your complaint forms let me know.
Finally, Sue finishes with;
In view of the error, and the mistakes in our response, Alison has asked that we forward Rail Vouchers to the full cost of this journey leg as a goodwill gesture and these are included.
Except that this is another mistake. She actually sent me rail vouchers for the full return price. Twice the amount I was asking for. Idiots.
The basic gist of this is that no-one at FGW knows what’s going on, and someone has been telling lies. The Managing Director doesn’t know when compensation should be paid. The man in the office makes up the reason that trains are delayed. Basically it’s just a big farce, and it is clear to everyone with the exception of the DfT that FGW is not fit for purpose.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Wear them with Pride?
Our friend over at I Hate First Great Western, has the eponymous badges ready. You can get yours by e-mailing your details to IhateFGW@yahoo.co.uk .
I'll probably start by wearing it all the time, but if FGW can run, I dunno, lets say, three consecutive days without delays to my journey, then I'll take it off 'till the next delay. Can't say fairer than that. Wont happen though.
To the majority of FGW front line staff, I'd like to say, this protest is not directed at you personally, but you can tell your managers how many people you see wearing them. And besides, it's better that I sit with my badge on, than give you an earful of bile-fuelled rant, right?
In a service update, last night's return service was 10 minutes late leaving Cardiff, due to
"the late incoming workings of a previous train."
Now that doesn't even make sense. And besides, the train had pulled into the platform, appeared to be ready to go 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time. What made me laugh though, was following the reason for being late, the train manager then optimistically announced that
"this lost time will be made up before we get to Bristol Temple Meads."
Guess what, he was wrong. He must be new, bless him.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Fun With First Great Western
Given the almost daily torment of travelling with FGW, you might think I'd avoid them at all cost during my down time at the weekend.
You're generally right, but if you want to get from Bath to London to visit your fiance's brother, who's back in the country for a few days, then you don't have a lot of choice.
Due to planned weekend engineering works, the usual 1 hour 30 minute journey is now over two hours, and there is only a train every hour. This is supposedly "off-peak" travel, but lunchtime on a Sunday is very much "on-peak", and we were very lucky to get a seat. There were a great number of people standing (or sitting on the floor) all the way from Bath to London. I'd imagine First class was empty though, so anyone who's company was buying their ticket for them could have sat down no problem.
On the way home we arrived at Paddington ten minutes before our train home, but decided against rushing to buy drink and a bite to eat, and instead would jump on the train and guarantee ourselves some seats. We'll get something from the buffet car, we thought.
Wrong. Despite the scrolling electronic sign reading "A Buffet car serving snacks and hot and cold drinks is available on this service" on the concourse and the platform, the buffet car remained shut for the whole journey.
An announcement, was made by the train manager, but only as the train pulled out of the station. He then - obviously already stressed by a number of passengers asking the dame questions - got the raging arse with me when I asked him why it was shut, and more importantly why the signs had said it was open. He said that due to the new timetable (eh? what's that got to do with catering?) there was no catering past 21:00 at the weekends.
As to the signs saying there was catering? The train manager said, "We've asked for those notices not to be up, and instead a sign saying no catering on this train, but every time we ask, no-one listens to us."
I know how he feels. If FGW management wont even listen to it's front line staff, it's no wonder they don't listen to their customers.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
More Lies From FGW
Received a letter yesterday from FGW saying that I wasn't due any compensation for a half hour delay on the 9th of March
Our passenger's charter explains that the compensation you have requested is only available when you are delayed by more than 59 minutes
This however is not true, since on February 21st I received a letter from Alison Forster (FGW, Managing Director) which said
Compensation for ex Wessex train services should be paid for delays over 30 minutes.... The restriction of compensation for an hour's delay relates to previous First Great Western journeys only... you should have received compensation and I am sorry you did not.... I have also asked for all operators to be reminded of the distinction in compensation arrangements and I apologise for the error.
But this error has happened twice since I received this letter. I don't believe customer services agents were told about this distinction in compensation payments. So I've written back telling them. See what happens next time.
Also of interest is the excuse for my delay on the 9th March
I regret that your journey was disrupted due to the Driver being taken ill.
Which is strange because I was standing at the front of this train, and was chatting to the driver as he explained to me that the train had failed. He seemed pretty well to me. Yet more lies.
Finally, an interesting point, I have received around 20 letters from FGW customer service agents since January. I've not had the same agent sign a letter twice. Are there that many people dealing with customer complaints? Possible, I'd imagine they're getting a lot. Is there a high staff turn over down there in Plymouth? Also likely, I'd imagine there were lots of temps in dealing with the major problems of Jan/Feb. Or is it that every letter is sent off has a randomly generated name of someone who doesn't exist, so that we can't pin down our complaint on any one person? Maybe I'm getting too cynical.
Monday, March 26, 2007
More FGW Incompetence
I was an hour late for work this morning. And no, it wasn't because I forgot to put my clocks forward.
This morning someone decided to throw a brick at my train sometime on it's journey between London and Bath.
At this point I'd like to point out that I in no way condone random acts of vandalism, but this was no random act. I feel it's unlikely that this attack was carried out for kicks by hooded "yoofs", since it occurred before 6.30 am, and I'd imagine they're all asleep. No, this attack was deliberately targeted. Some commuter venting their anger? Maybe, and if so, understandable, but not excusable.
Upon pulling into Bristol, the train manager announced that we would be delayed briefly while fitters would be attempting to patch up the broken window before we continued our journey to South Wales. 20 minutes later and an announcement is made that since both panes of glass had been broken it was a health and safety risk to continue, in case it "imploded"! So we have to all get off the 8-car high speed train, and wait 25 minutes for the next 2-car "trolley-bus"-style train to Cardiff.
It's not directly FGW's fault that someone had vandalised the train, so FGW have done nothing wrong so far, right? Wrong. Here's where the brain cells should have kicked in:
1. Why weren't the fitters told before we got to Bristol that both panes were broken. Someone could have just looked. It's not rocket science. Though, upon gettinig to Bristol, it still took 20 minutes to work out that both panes were broken... maybe it is rocket science.
2. If the train was unsafe, why was it allowed to continue from the attack site to Bristol, surely everyone should have been off-loaded at the next safe place? If it was safe to get to Bristol - why couldn't it continue to it's destination?
3. And this was the thing that really got me angry. Why did it take 20 minutes to tell us? Was it deliberate that we were told to get off just one minute after another train to Cardiff left Bristol? Was it to avoid overcrowding on that train? If so, it didn't work. It just delayed the overcrowding to the next train.
Was it done to antagonise as many passengers as possible? Because if so, it worked.
My guess is that it was plain stupidity on the part of the train manager who, as usual, wasn't thinking about the needs of the passengers. And I told him what I thought.
I tell you, if I'd have had something to throw....
This morning someone decided to throw a brick at my train sometime on it's journey between London and Bath.
At this point I'd like to point out that I in no way condone random acts of vandalism, but this was no random act. I feel it's unlikely that this attack was carried out for kicks by hooded "yoofs", since it occurred before 6.30 am, and I'd imagine they're all asleep. No, this attack was deliberately targeted. Some commuter venting their anger? Maybe, and if so, understandable, but not excusable.
Upon pulling into Bristol, the train manager announced that we would be delayed briefly while fitters would be attempting to patch up the broken window before we continued our journey to South Wales. 20 minutes later and an announcement is made that since both panes of glass had been broken it was a health and safety risk to continue, in case it "imploded"! So we have to all get off the 8-car high speed train, and wait 25 minutes for the next 2-car "trolley-bus"-style train to Cardiff.
It's not directly FGW's fault that someone had vandalised the train, so FGW have done nothing wrong so far, right? Wrong. Here's where the brain cells should have kicked in:
1. Why weren't the fitters told before we got to Bristol that both panes were broken. Someone could have just looked. It's not rocket science. Though, upon gettinig to Bristol, it still took 20 minutes to work out that both panes were broken... maybe it is rocket science.
2. If the train was unsafe, why was it allowed to continue from the attack site to Bristol, surely everyone should have been off-loaded at the next safe place? If it was safe to get to Bristol - why couldn't it continue to it's destination?
3. And this was the thing that really got me angry. Why did it take 20 minutes to tell us? Was it deliberate that we were told to get off just one minute after another train to Cardiff left Bristol? Was it to avoid overcrowding on that train? If so, it didn't work. It just delayed the overcrowding to the next train.
Was it done to antagonise as many passengers as possible? Because if so, it worked.
My guess is that it was plain stupidity on the part of the train manager who, as usual, wasn't thinking about the needs of the passengers. And I told him what I thought.
I tell you, if I'd have had something to throw....
Thursday, March 15, 2007
I Hate First Great Western....
...is just one of many blogs I've recently found written by angry commuters. It's the name that best sums up my feelings. Though i might have slipped in a stronger word or two.
I've created a new separate link list of angry commuters. We need to share information, as, reading the various posts, people get given lots of different information. Our voice will become much louder if we co-ordinate our efforts and shout louder.
Cardiff Central to...? tells the story of John Shipston's efforts to get to places from South Wales (where I have to get to everyday). There are two (three if you count the occasional Virgin train) operators out of Cardiff, yet John only seems to have problems with one of them. Can you guess who it is?
Commuter blog is Max's story of trying to get from Bath to Oxford, made more difficult by having to change trains at different stops in the evening and morning! My favourite story of Max's is the driver not knowing the way to Chippenham from Swindon.
The now infamous, I Hate FGW blog is the tale of a government-friendly London commuter. Not that this means FGW run her train any better mind. She tells us there'll soon be badges for us all to wear, not the loudest of protests, but a very visual one none-the-less. I look forward to wearing mine.
More Train, Less Strain is not so much of a blog as a collective. It has a good forum to post your horror stories. They also seem to be our official spokespeople, and have such been granted an audience with Alison Forster (FGW managing director).
Oldfield Park is where I used to catch my train to work. But since all FGW timetables should be taken with a ±1 hour warning, I now need to catch an earlier train, so I cycle to Bath Spa. Our blogger here updates delays (and overcrowding) at this commuter station, which now has the most bizarre of timetables. (Though not as bizarre as the poor guys down at Melksham who have a gap in the timetable of nearly 12 hours without any trains)
Tehmina is a frustrated commuter between Salisbury and Southampton, proving that FGW are crap everywhere. I've pinched the nice picture on this site for this blog entry. It's also now my screen saver. Thanks Tehmina.
The Truth About First Great Western is a very professional looking blog. Carter Harrison's main argument is that the government are mostly to blame for the problems we have. Although I agree with a lot of what he says (see elsewhere) I believe he's trying to shift a bit too much blame away from FGW. Maybe he has another agenda? I dunno, read it (and the two associated mini-sites) and make up your own mind. I believe that FGW could, after all, run more, cleaner carriages, on time, and at cheaper fares to try and boost their profits by attracting more custom. There is another way.
Finally I've stuck Train Delays on the list. It's not a blog, but it is a good site for listing your delays, finding out if compensation is due, reading the crap excuses that are given and seeing where FGW falls in the league table of incompetence.
Let me know if you know of any others. Maybe the guys at MTLS should put up a more up-to-date list.
Don't forget to keep writing to your MP, keep writing to the DfT and keep claiming back the money your entitled to. I'll keep you updated. Maybe we all need to get together for a gathering outside the DfT at some point. Actions, after all, speak louder than words.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
To Fight or Not To Fight?
I've always cared a bit too much about public transport. I think this has come about for a number of reasons.
First Great Western, to their credit have usually responded quickly to my letters, often with rail vouchers (or bribes, as I call them) and I've even had a reply letter from the Managing Director (with more bribes). I suppose FGW are good at dealing with complaints because they get so bloody many.
The Department for Transport are a different breed though. Here you are dealing with bureaucracy, secrecy, people who wont answer the bloody questions I ask them. Here you are dealing with Civil Bloody Servants. How can it possibly take 3 weeks to reply to my letters? Especially given that I seem to get the latest automated "somone's complaining about FGW" letter. I think they are hoping I will have calmed down and gone away by the time they reply.
This democratically elected government is supposed to regulate certain fares for commuters, such as weekly season tickets. They are also supposed to protect fares in areas where one company has a monopoly on public transportation. In Bath, First group run every train and every bus. If that's not a monopoly on public transport, then I don't know what is. And yet in my last letter from the DfT;
So, having had my rant, should I continue to send fruitless letters in the hope that someone somewhere will listen? Or should I calm down, let my blood pressure normalise, and realise that the world is a shit place where the man will continue to fuck us over.
To fight or not to fight - that is the question.
- I don't drive, so it's the only way I can get around.
- I like to get around; my mates live all over the country and I work 60 miles from where I live.
- My father worked in the Rail Industry, and as young kids we used to go on holiday by train.
- There is no way we'll tackle climate-change in the UK until people get out of their cars, and they wont get out of their cars until there is decent alternative.
- And finally, I think I have some deep-rooted socialist principles that are fighting to show themselves above my very white-middle-class background.
First Great Western, to their credit have usually responded quickly to my letters, often with rail vouchers (or bribes, as I call them) and I've even had a reply letter from the Managing Director (with more bribes). I suppose FGW are good at dealing with complaints because they get so bloody many.
The Department for Transport are a different breed though. Here you are dealing with bureaucracy, secrecy, people who wont answer the bloody questions I ask them. Here you are dealing with Civil Bloody Servants. How can it possibly take 3 weeks to reply to my letters? Especially given that I seem to get the latest automated "somone's complaining about FGW" letter. I think they are hoping I will have calmed down and gone away by the time they reply.
This democratically elected government is supposed to regulate certain fares for commuters, such as weekly season tickets. They are also supposed to protect fares in areas where one company has a monopoly on public transportation. In Bath, First group run every train and every bus. If that's not a monopoly on public transport, then I don't know what is. And yet in my last letter from the DfT;
I should like to confirm that the fares regime is consistent with government policy. The majority of passengers continue to travel with tickets where increases are limited by government regulation.So that's alright then. The majority of commuters get their regulated, inflation +1% rise, and in the South West we are shafted. And just to rub our noses in it, we are shafted by the worst performing franchise in Britain. For January-February, FGW missed all their performance targets for reliability and punctuality. The have also fallen below all their rolling annual averages for reliability and punctuality for all five service areas they run. They are, in short, fucking crap, and fucking expensive.
So, having had my rant, should I continue to send fruitless letters in the hope that someone somewhere will listen? Or should I calm down, let my blood pressure normalise, and realise that the world is a shit place where the man will continue to fuck us over.
To fight or not to fight - that is the question.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Mindless Stupidity
If you stick with me on this blog you’ll soon realise that one of the things I hate more than anything else is stupidity.
Stupid people exist. They are everywhere. And worse… they are allowed to breed – thus populating our planet with even more stupid people.
Two incredibly stupid people made me late for work this morning and I am bloody furious about it. People make mistakes of course, they are, after all, only human. But when people are so bloody stupid that the right answer is staring them in the face and they just don’t get it, then I propose – sterilization. Or at the very least, moving them to a job in which their mindless stupidity wont make me late for work.
First is the case of the bus driver. He works for the company “First” (Slogan: Transforming Travel – they are not wrong!). The buses in Bath are bloody expensive, so generally I cycle around, but it was raining this morning so I decided to get the bus to the station.
“£1.60 to the station please” I said and dropped two pound coins onto his tray.
He took my coins, printed my ticket, and then scratched his head for what seems like an eternity. He then proceeded to fumble around in his change tray for about a minute before finally dropping two 10p coins on to the tray for me.
“I gave you two pounds” I say.
“Ug”
“I gave you two pounds, that should be 40p change, not 20p”
“Ug”
“£2 minus £1.60 is 40p. – You owe me another 20p” I say, thinking this must be some kind of joke.
“Ug” came the standard reply again, only this time more scratching around in the change before producing four 5p coins.
“Thank you” I say
“Ug”
So there you have it. I’m bloody glad there was little traffic on the road. Frankly I doubt he’d have stopped in time if anything had pulled out in front of him.
A bit of luck though, arriving at the station, my normal train was late – Excellent the thicko hasn’t made me late….. oh no, another thicko is gonna do that….
A rushed turn-around at Bristol Temple Meads and the late running 7:15 fast service to Cardiff pulls out of the station two minutes ahead of the slow all-stopping 7:33 to the same destination.
Then thicko number two ruins my morning. The face-less signalman. How I’d love to smash his face in. Mr (or Mrs – to be fair) signalman decides to hold our train outside Bristol while we wait for the slow service to overtake us.
What? This is madness! We could build up some speed, catch up a little time, and make Cardiff maybe just 10 min late. But no. Some moron has decided that we should follow the slow service, extending our delay from 15 to 35 minutes.
Having left the station ahead of the slow service, surely it was a more complicated signalling manoeuvre to put us on the “wrong track” for 5 min while the other train passed? Mindless Stupidity.
And who are the train company that run the railways in this corner of Britain? Yep – you guessed it.
First – No qualifications required!
Stupid people exist. They are everywhere. And worse… they are allowed to breed – thus populating our planet with even more stupid people.
Two incredibly stupid people made me late for work this morning and I am bloody furious about it. People make mistakes of course, they are, after all, only human. But when people are so bloody stupid that the right answer is staring them in the face and they just don’t get it, then I propose – sterilization. Or at the very least, moving them to a job in which their mindless stupidity wont make me late for work.
First is the case of the bus driver. He works for the company “First” (Slogan: Transforming Travel – they are not wrong!). The buses in Bath are bloody expensive, so generally I cycle around, but it was raining this morning so I decided to get the bus to the station.
“£1.60 to the station please” I said and dropped two pound coins onto his tray.
He took my coins, printed my ticket, and then scratched his head for what seems like an eternity. He then proceeded to fumble around in his change tray for about a minute before finally dropping two 10p coins on to the tray for me.
“I gave you two pounds” I say.
“Ug”
“I gave you two pounds, that should be 40p change, not 20p”
“Ug”
“£2 minus £1.60 is 40p. – You owe me another 20p” I say, thinking this must be some kind of joke.
“Ug” came the standard reply again, only this time more scratching around in the change before producing four 5p coins.
“Thank you” I say
“Ug”
So there you have it. I’m bloody glad there was little traffic on the road. Frankly I doubt he’d have stopped in time if anything had pulled out in front of him.
A bit of luck though, arriving at the station, my normal train was late – Excellent the thicko hasn’t made me late….. oh no, another thicko is gonna do that….
A rushed turn-around at Bristol Temple Meads and the late running 7:15 fast service to Cardiff pulls out of the station two minutes ahead of the slow all-stopping 7:33 to the same destination.
Then thicko number two ruins my morning. The face-less signalman. How I’d love to smash his face in. Mr (or Mrs – to be fair) signalman decides to hold our train outside Bristol while we wait for the slow service to overtake us.
What? This is madness! We could build up some speed, catch up a little time, and make Cardiff maybe just 10 min late. But no. Some moron has decided that we should follow the slow service, extending our delay from 15 to 35 minutes.
Having left the station ahead of the slow service, surely it was a more complicated signalling manoeuvre to put us on the “wrong track” for 5 min while the other train passed? Mindless Stupidity.
And who are the train company that run the railways in this corner of Britain? Yep – you guessed it.
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