Staff Make My Journey (First Great Western)

Member Name: LAZYGIRL

Product:	First Great Western
Date:	17/10/09 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It will be over in 3 and half hours

Disadvantages: Everything

I am a regular traveller on the First Great Western service from Penzance to London Paddington. I get on at Plymouth and have been travelling this route for the past 4 years every 2 - 3 months.

I usually travel on a Friday evening after 4pm and return a Sunday evening or Monday morning. So i travel at peak times which is the worst time to travel on this service.

Every time i use this service there are people standing in the aisles. You must made a reservation to enjoy this service (i say enjoy lightly) as it takes 3 and a half hours. So you dont want to start the service standing i promise you. This train i usually 6 or 7 carriages long but this never seems enough seats and you can understand why, when it travels through cornwall, devon, somerset, berkshire and arrives in london. Staff are always helpful looking for seats but theyre is nothing they can do at peak times.

Luckily this train usually has a buffer carriage which is a must as you cannot last the journey without a drink and sweet.

I pay £63.20 for this journey and this is with student discount but i booked the night before my journey this time. Otherwise it can be as low as £35 if i book early enough.

The biggest problem on this service is luggage as each carriage has a carriage unit which holds about 8 suitcases which is not enough for the amount of passengers. You can use the rails above the seats for hand luggage but they cannot hold a suitcase which means the aisles are taken up with cases.

On a positive I say the staff are usually helpful, knowledgable, friendly.

Summary: Long harsh journey