Can the rail regulator get trains on track?

My service is Hourly BUT is not a clockface – ie memorisable timetable with services Exeter bound at 0813,0845, 0859, 0943, 1031,1051,1058, 1140,1157 – the service is usually a 2 car Railbus [Pacer] unless a Cardiff/Bristol – Plymouth/Paignton in which it’s 1 carriage with space for 1 bicycle or luggage (not both). The ticket machine – if working only takes OLD round £1 coins and the ticket office though advertised by GWR as open 0715- 1815 Mon- Fri and 0830- 1400 Saturday has to close everytime an 8 or 7 car HST or 4 car voyager leaves for beyond Exeter or Newton Abbot for passenger assistance and safety meaning that if you need a ticket you need to arrive at least 30 minutes before unless you have round pound coins or are prepared to pay a penalty fare and dispute it later. – more people are now driving to Exeter and using the Park & Ride. – yet had holiday time the Rivera Line is still rammed with passengers and can be as cramped as the Northen Line during evening peaks. GWR need to come up with a solution and soon.

I can’t really comment on other peoples’ problems, as I’m retired and have not had to commute into a city for the last 46 years . A friend and I regularly take long day trips and with sourcing advance singles to (sometimes) obscure stations, and knowledge of various day rangers, we rarely spend £60 (with railcard) for our trips from Ludlow or Kidderminster to places as distant as Dundee, Stranraer, Sunderland, Cleethorpes, the Felixstowe – Harwich ferry, Dover and Penzance – not to mention many other closer destinations. We have only twice had serious problems, which were adequately compensated. Arriva Trains Wales fares on the Cardiff – Manchester route are relatively high and the trains often crowded, but their franchise was let 15 years ago on the basis of no growth, during which time passenger numbers have more than doubled. Our main trains (class 175s) are good quality but unique and (one of the many problems of the stupid breakup of the rail system on privatisation), cannot be directly coupled to other types of train, which makes adding extra coaches impossible (even if they were available and the government were prepared to pay!). I agree that fare structures are completely illogical; when I checked the fare for a simple return trip on the Heart of Wales line for tomorrow, I was quoted two day return rates and three period returns, the most expensive being over six times the cheapest! We normally purchase at the privately run Ludlow station ticket office and we have always been offered the cheapest option.

Services, generally, year-on-year get gradually worse; dirty trains (especially toilets) and overcrowding (e.g. needing to stand for an hour/hour+ on a journey to Ebsfleet or London) just becomes the norm;and we stop complaining because no action appears to be taken (email apology does not constitute action in my mind) . Compared to travelling in EU, where services are cleaner, usually less crowded and trains run much closer to time/on time, and where the cost is so much less (if we are in the EU how can their Govt subsidise the service where ours doesn’t ?? – Political choice). We should be in a much stronger position to complain and have action taken. An Ombudsman does appear to be one way forward.

arriving for your train to go to liverpool for a hospital appointment with a spinal surgeon then told train is cancelled and will have to wait for next one is not funny then next train is late due to vandalism re electric cables stolen
having to phone hospital to explain and be told if your not here by a certain time then appointment is lost what a waste of money on tickets that you have no claim back on

My husband and I use the Northern Rail service to Liverpool, and sometimes there is litter on the floors, but on the whole, they are reasonably clean, though the windows could do with a clean, although they are supposed to go through the ‘wash’ process each day I always thought. Mostly they are on time, though should there be delays, it is always announced over the tannoy. Also, we have the occasion to use Virgin Trains when visiting my sister who lives down south, and these are clean and comfortable, and have always been able to get the tickets we book in advance for, so, yes, we are quit happy with the services we use on the occasions that we do, otherwise , most holidays are on the coaches.

Many correspondents claim that fares are much lower on the Continent. I am not convinced that is generally the case but it would be good to have the facts. It would very helpful if Which? could do a small amount of useful research and get the fares for typical continental journeys that are roughly the same time of day and distance as a sample of Great Britain standard-class journeys. Articles and comments with no background information don’t get us very far.

This Conversation does not apply to Northern Ireland since the Province has its own separate state-run railway system which is not regulated by the ORR. Once again, in its London-centric way, Which? neglects to inform readers of this.

Train from Taunton to London is often so full, many people have to stand (or sit on the floor) for the whole journey. Why can’t GWR simply add a carriage to the train. Surely those who have to stand should get their money back.