A colleague of mine related the following story which goes to re-enforce all of my opinions and thoughts about FGW:
Travelling from Reading to Slough I caught an HST which promised faithfully that it would be calling at Slough and London Paddington. About 14 mins after the train left Reading, it started to brake quite hard and I looked up, out of the window to see Slough Station sailing past at about 100 mph. I also saw lots of people waiting on the platform and panicked faces of my fellow passengers who also wished to alight there.
The "Train Manager" was seen to make his way through the carriage talking quickly into his phone - presumably to the driver. 5 mins later there followed an announcement that the train had not stopped at Slough due to a security alert.
There are a number of problems with this explanation:
1. During a security alert, people have to leave stations, they do not stay on the platform.
2. During a security alert, trains are not allowed to carry on through the station.
3. The train had already started slowing down.
4. There were people waiting for the train to arrive.
So, a bunch of lies by the look of it.
The truth later came out - apparantly it was a trainee driver who forgot about Slough. He is now the talking point of the entire network.
What I can't believe is that they lied about it when they'd made the cock up. Gives you an insight into the way these people think and why their service is as bad as it is.
TTF.
7 comments:
IN FGW's defense if you are going to forget anywhere exists then it has to be Slough.
You can imagine the fear in the poor L drivers eyes as he sees Slough station approach, and then realises that he is meant to stop here... nope as he hurtles through...
You've brighten a dull afternoon of racing. Cheers!
If it was a trainee driver, he should have had an instructor in the cab with him, what was instructor up to to let him forget.
The again I dont think trainee drivers are allowed to drive trains with passengers onboard but only a qualified person can answer that though.
My guess it was a newly qualified driver, yes just out of training, and he forgot due to the concentration needed in the job and normally Slough is not normally a stop for HSTs until the recent timetable change.
FYI if a security alert has occured it is possible to pass through the station, but, this would have to be permitted by whoever is currently in charge of the scene.
I was at Axminster once and the driver forgot to stop.At least he/she had the courtesy to reverse back to the platform.
If a train passes through when it should be stopping, a giant 3foot wide pillar of titanium should burst out of the ground in front of the train and really STOP the train.
The absolute guarentee of immediate death should convince every trainee to think "do I have to stop at this station y/n?"
Small trains have the ability to 'reverse back' but the HST is too long and much time would be lost as the driver would have to go to the other end of the train. This would cause a knock on delay with other trains up the line.
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