First 'could be better' Western (First Great Western)

Member Name: Virtuoso

Product:	First Great Western
Date:	19/02/09 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Relatively cheap

Disadvantages: Overcrowded and unreliable

To get to work by car is an absolute nightmare, my journey is about 10 miles, and depending on the weather and time of the journey this has taken anywhere between half an hour and nearly two hours! Then on top of that there are petrol costs, parking costs, and wear and tear, and running costs of the car. Using a car to commute is therefore entirely ridiculous. However, using First Great Western is nearly as bad as I shall explain.

Reliability:
My first gripe is that they are just plain unreliable, it is impossible to be certain that the train will turn up on time, and there seems to be a myriad of excuses. Waiting for other trains to move out of stations seems to be the most popular, faulty signals, obstructions on the track, mechanical problems with the train, and even staffing issues! I realise that this is not unique to FGW Ironically however during the recent period of arctic weather they were as reliable as clockwork, so I must give them some credit.

Room on the carriages:
At rush hour periods the train I travel on is absolutely jammed to the hilt. Sardines would even feel like they were packed a little too tightly if they were to get on a First Great Western Service at rush hour. A friend of mine has enquired why it is that the service has the same number of carriages in the middle of day, when there are maybe ten people on the whole train, as it does at rush hour, when there are several hundred on it. Apparently they are only allocated a certain number of carriages due to some bizarre Government ruling, and First Great Western are entirely blameless. I have my doubts about that, it's easy to pass the buck.

Condition of the carriages:
Pretty good in general, of course with heavy use there is the odd issue but I don't expect public transport to be as clean as a dentist surgery. There is quite a mix in the types of carriages used, ranging from cattle truck types with tiny narrow hard seats to carriages that seem almost as good as the Virgin Cross Country services I have been on.

Fares:
I pay £4.80 for a return, it's a 20mile round trip. Compared to the car this is enormously cheap, and considerably cheaper than the same 'FirstBus' journey which would cost over £6. However prices are steadily going up in an annoying drip. 20p here and 20p there. I wouldn't mind if the service was good, or improving, but it seems to me that my money is disappearing into the FGW profit mountain and not into finding an extra carriage or removing the chewing gum from seats.

Summary: Lots of room for improvement, I wait with baited breath