By God’s Wonderful Railway to Bristol
To many, the Great Western Railway from Paddington to Bristol, Wales and the West is a cut above all of the other lines radiating from London.
As I was brought up close by the main line out of Kings Cross to the North and could hear tha A4 Pacifics and later the Deltic as they picked up speed through New Barnet, my affections are generally towards that route. One of my most memorable railway journeys happened on that line.
The Great Western Main Line differs from the other major lines in the UK as it was built on a grander scale and virtually straight for most of the way to Bristol. In other words, Brunel got his engineering right. In many ways it was the first high-speed line to be built anywhere in the world. (In fact as much of the line speed between London and Bristol is 125 mph., it meets the European definition of a high speed line.) Today the workhorses of the line are High Speed Diesel Trains, like the one where I rode in the cab from Edinburgh to Inverness.
But in some ways the line is showing its age.
Renovating the Roof at Paddington
Finally, as the picture shows they are doing something with renovating Paddington. It is long overdue and it’s not much better now, than when I used the station to go to visit Plessey in the 1970s. It has also been announced that the line will be electrified as far as Cardiff. Why this wasn’t done years ago, I have never understood. Perhaps the reason it hasn’t been electrified is that the High Speed Diesel Trains have outperformed even the most optimistic expectations. But even then it took them so many years to name a power car after the man behind the project, Terry Miller, as good engineers are so undervalued by politicians.
Yesterday, I went with a friend to Bristol to see Ipswich play at Ashton Gate. We left on time at 10:00 from Paddington and just 99 minutes later we arrived in Bristol Temple Meads. The distance is 118.5 miles, so the average speed was a shade under 72 mph, including stops at Reading, Swindon, Chippenham and Bath. Not bad for a nearly forty year old train, but it did have the advantage of two men of vision; Brunel and Miller. I have a feeling that the last High Speed Train in regular service might be well in the second half of this century.
M1 Closed on Busiest Sporting Weekend
The M1 is closed on the busiest sporting weekend of the year, with two FA Cup semi-finals and the London Marathon.
But it probably won’t be as bad as it could be, as Manchester United fans won’t have much trouble getting up to Wembley from Surrey.
It does though illustrate the folly of not allowing an extra rail route into London from Manchester via the East Midlands.
Do Bendy Buses Encourage Cheating?
I tend to avoid bendy buses, but sometimes they are the first to turn up and I’m in a hurry. When you get on a normal bus, where you touch the Oyster reader by the driver, you never see people get on without doing it. On the other hand a couple of weeks ago, I was in the middle of a bendy bus and at least half who got on at the middle and rear doors didn’t touch the reader.
It will be interesting to see the increase in revenue on a route like the seventy-free, when they change to normal buses in a couple of months.
Stirrings At the Dalston Junction Station Southern Entrance
I went past the entrance yesterday and took this picture.
A New Fence at Dalston Junction
Could they be getting ready to open the entrance, as they have put up another barrier fence to create a walkway alongside the wall of the station?
A helpfl member of the station staff, thought that they might be waiting for the CCTV to be installed.
Incidentally, I did complain to London Overground about the non-opening and have not had a reply yet!
Let’s hope so.
Is There A Need For An Evening Football Rail Ticket?
When I’ve gone to football at Ipswich evening matches lately, I’ve had to go by Cambridge for other reasons, so I’ve had to buy a ticket from Cambridge to Ipswich and then one from Ipswich to London. I’ve never had a problem buying the last ticket and the ticket has been reasonably priced. Last night, I booked a seat on the 18:10 to get to Ipswich, as I was travelling in the rush hour. I didn’t want to go earlier as Ipswich is a gluten-free desert. But I was unable to buy a reasonably priced ticket in either London or Ipswich. I then thought, that this might be due to the hour change and there were no late trains, so I left the match at half time and then got a ticket to Colchester for £6.20, where I duly arrived at about nine o’clock on a train that was returning to London virtually empty. At Colchester, I bought a ticket to London for under a tenner and then caught the 21:30 to Liverpool Street. Again the train was virtually empty. So the trains were running and I could have seen the whole match. But the machine wanted to charge me £24 for the ticket, as against the £19.80 I paid to get to Ipswich in the rush hour.
Next Thursday, it’s the Norwich match and I’ll be going. I can get up for £19.80 in the rush hour and back for £5.30 after the match on any train.
It all just blows my head in.
Why couldn’t I get the £5.30 ticket last night and in the end travelled in an empty train?
What is needed is a special football ticket, that applies to evening matches outside London, at places like Ipswich, Norwich, Reading, Watford, Milton Keynes and Brighton.
If you travel out by train, you should be able to buy a much-reduced ticket for the journey home on production of a valid match ticket. After all the return will probably be on an empty train.
Incidentally, some Ipswich fabs don’t buy season tickets because of the difficulty of getting to evening home games by train. So both the train company and the football club are losing out.
Open House for the Olympics
I’ve been thinking about doing this for some time, but I’m now declaring a sort of Open House for the Olympics. With the ticket sales, a lot of friends have said they will be buying tickets, but they have nowhere to stay, if they are outside London.
So on a first-come, first-served basis anybody who has a direct link to me is welcome to stay for a night. By direct link, I mean, relatives, except the black-sheep, Alfred, ex-Metier and others who I’ve worked with and those who are my e-friends outside London. I am convenient for Stratford and will actually be going today, by taking a bus or train a couple of stops to Hackney Wick and then walking along the Greenway. To walk all the way takes 90 minutes along the Regent’s Canal and Hertford Canal via Victoria Park. There will also be a good bus service from just up the road at Dalston Junction during the games.
I suspect it will get chaotic, but we’ll only see one Olympics in London in our lifetime, so why not have a two-week party?
The house is fairly small but I do have a spare double-bedroom and a single one, but then I do have a warm living room with a large carpet, so kids could camp indoors on the floor. It’ll probably be the only Olympics they see, so a bit of roughing it wouldn’t matter.
I also suspect that there will be a big party in Victoria Park for the Olympics, as they are setting up large screens there. It might be where the real East Enders hold their Olympic celebration!
How To Annoy Customers
I’m going with a friend to see Ipswich at Bristol on Saturday.
The aim is to go down on the 10:00 from London in Standard and return on the 18:00 in First.
I have a Senior Railcard and my friend has an Annual Gold Card Railcard.
When trying to book on-line, I couldn’t seem to get a discount for the Gold Card. Shown is a chat I had on-line with one of First Great Western’s customer service agents (FGW).
FGW: Hi, my name is FGW. How may I help you?
Anonymous Widower: I am travelling to Bristol from London on Saturday and have been trying to purchase tickets. I have a Senior Railcard and my travelling companion has an Annual Gold Card. Is it right that they get charged more than me, and the discount doesn’t apply. We aim to travel down standard on the 10:00 and return on the 18:00 in First.
FGW: Please give me your journey details including the journey dates and the train times selected.
Anonymous Widower: I already have.
FGW: Are the times mentioned the exact train times ?
Anonymous Widower: Yes
Anonymous Widower: I haven’t booked yet, but I know seats are available.
FGW: Is it Bristol Parkway ?
Anonymous Widower: No Temple Meads
FGW: I have checked for the journey and would like to confirm that the discount for the annual gold card discount will be available only if you book the tickets at the station.
FGW: Online the discount will only be available for the Senior Railcard.
Anonymous Widower: Why can’t I get it on-line? My companion does not live near me and won’t be in London until Friday. I know that if you buy on the web you get a better fare. I have also had a stroke and feel that buying tickets on-line is easier for me.
FGW: There are some policies that are set by the company. I am advising you as per them.
FGW: You need to book tickets on the station for the Annual Gold Card discount.
Anonymous Widower: Thanks for your help.
It should be simple and easy to buy tickets without too many petty rules.
In the end I bought the other ticket without the discount.
The Non-Arrival of a Refund from East Coast
On the 3rd of February, I travelled down from York on the 19:35 East Coast train from York. The train was about ninety minutes late into King’s Cross and forms were given out to claim a refund. I filled the form in the next day and posted it to Newcastle in the envelope provided.
I have not heard anything since.
It could be a malfunction of the postal service, but since I have moved, I regularly send letters to my old house in Suffolk and know that they arrive the next day, when I put them in the box opposite my house here.
On Sunday, I tried to report this non-arrival of the refund through the East Coast web site. I got a server error, asking me to submit it again. I didn’t as it was quite a long form and after all, it’s not that much money in the greater scheme of things.
But I tried again to submit the e-mail and still got a server error.
I also tried to send a simple e-mail saying that I was getting server errors and got another server error.
It really isn’t good enough!
So I put a letter in the post.
Picking Up Rail Tickets Bought On-Line
Sometimes this can be difficult, as you have to have the right card and type in an eight character code. I usually text my phone, so I’ve got the full details in an easy to read form.
Today, though, I picked up my tickets for Ipswich tomorrow as I was passing through Euston and a card was all I needed. It was much easier!
The Anonymous Widower 