First Great Western Disinformation Website Options

[Andy Capp]

I just tried to find out when I need to pick someone up who had the misfortune to use 'our' train service. Can I find out, can I fu....

I just need to find the arrival time, I don't need to buy a ticket, and it will be a bus as as always; there's the perpetual engineering works! Bloody third world standard train service, and indeed, website!

[motormad]

trainline.com

[Strafin]

I always use the network rail site, the FGW and trainline sites are really difficult to navigate for that kind of information. Plus trainline is usually out of date!

[Biker1]

There you go!
Took me 3 clicks!!

[Claude]

I'm with Andy on this one. The site used to be relatively intuitive, and you could quite easily find train times & associated details without having to look at an 'old-fashioned' timetable, but for some reason that functionality seems to have been removed yet it still exists on competitors' sites. Bizarre.

[Biker1]

I'm with Andy on this one. The site used to be relatively intuitive, and you could quite easily find train times & associated details without having to look at an 'old-fashioned' timetable, but for some reason that functionality seems to have been removed yet it still exists on competitors' sites. Bizarre.

Sorry, I don't see the problem.
Home page, scroll down to "Live Departures", enter your station name, hit "go" and it's all there!

[Andy Capp]

Sorry, I don't see the problem.
Home page, scroll down to "Live Departures", enter your station name, hit "go" and it's all there!

Well the PDF takes an age to load (I found it last night), then it doesn't help with the revised timetable dues to a replacement bus service. Rail timetables are an esoteric nightmare for infrequent users. All I wanted to know is the arrival times at Newbury. I didn't know what train was caught, nor what bus was caught.

Put simply, I have no confidence that I have read a timetable correctly. A website should be able to offer a better way of doing it than a link to a pdf. The way that flight information is delivered via the web is much easier than our crappy offerings.

[Biker1]

Well the PDF takes an age to load (I found it last night), then it doesn't help with the revised timetable dues to a replacement bus service. Rail timetables are an esoteric night mare for occasional users. All I wanted to know is the arrival times at Newbury. I didn't know what train was caught, not what bus was caught.

Put simply, I have no confidence that I have read a timetable correctly. A web sight should be able top offer a better way of doing it than a link to a pdf.

There was no "revised timetable".
The times are clearly shown if you look at the timetable under "Sunday"
Because it was in the past I am unable to confirm if it was shown in "Live Arrivals" (Similar to that used by airlines!)

[Andy Capp]

There was no "revised timetable".
The times are clearly shown if you look at the timetable under "Sunday"
Because it was in the past I am unable to confirm if it was shown in "Live Arrivals"

It had red writing that the service was disrupted and sent you to another page that was equally uninformative.

[Biker1]

It had red writing that the service was disrupted and sent you to another page that was equally uninformative.

Ah right!
You first said "All I needed was an arrival time" which is clearly shown on the timetable.
I didn't realise that there was "red writing".

I don't understand the problems folks have with timetables.
They have been in use for 175 years!
And the older ones were much more complicated!!

[Andy Capp]

Ah right!
You first said "All I needed was an arrival time" which is clearly shown on the timetable.
I didn't realise that there was "red writing".

I don't understand the problems folks have with timetables.
They have been in use for 175 years!
And the older ones were much more complicated!!

You don't have a problem because you are a rail enthusiast and therefore are fully conversant with them. Many are not, and while they might be the only way to deliver the information on a train platform, a website should be able to deliver the information much more easily.

Why can't the website just offer a simple html table of departure and arrival times for the day or time rather than the PDFs of timetables? That way, when buses (frequently) replace trains, it can be dynamically updated.

[On the edge]

Come on Andy, in 175 years they haven't even worked out how to make signals work properly and consistently, or how to make trains stop reasonably quickly, or how to actually seat customers comfortably, or how to add extra coaches when traffic demands or (cont. page 98) ...computers; what are they?

[motormad]

Well the PDF takes an age to load (I found it last night), then it doesn't help with the revised timetable dues to a replacement bus service. Rail timetables are an esoteric nightmare for infrequent users. All I wanted to know is the arrival times at Newbury. I didn't know what train was caught, nor what bus was caught.

Put simply, I have no confidence that I have read a timetable correctly. A website should be able to offer a better way of doing it than a link to a pdf. The way that flight information is delivered via the web is much easier than our crappy offerings.

Again, why not look at Trainline.com
Very easy to use...lists return journeys as well as singles and all the times/stops/changes that may need ot be made. Or you know, go to the train station and look lol

[On the edge]

I think Andy C's issue is with the temporary replacement services, not the every day stuff. These 'services' seem to be very ad-hoc and information provided via bits of paper. Given that the disruption occurs to a strict project timetable and that has been known about for ages, it would not have been unreasonable to expect a better and online method of communicating information.

Yes, we know they are 'investing millions' and some inconvenience can be expected. However, they should be giving some consideration to paying customers who are forced to remain. The temporary arrangements for passengers at Reading are non too bright in that regard either.

[Andy Capp]

Again, why not look at Trainline.com

Because it doesn't exist?

Very easy to use...lists return journeys as well as singles and all the times/stops/changes that may need ot be made. Or you know, go to the train station and look lol

The complaint wasn't about how do I find out, it is the way the information is presented on our 'esteemed' rail service website.

[MontyPython]

I was going to post the thread to the Live arrivals board last night,

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Your-jo...station/Newbury

but it wasn't working last night so I didn't bother at the time. Hopefully next time you need it it will be working OK

[Andy Capp]

I was going to post the thread to the Live arrivals board last night,

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Your-jo...station/Newbury

but it wasn't working last night so I didn't bother at the time. Hopefully next time you need it it will be working OK

That's great, although it is not in my view very easy to find unless you know what you are looking for. My guess is that it is linked with the train service, so if the buses are running instead, they cannot tell where the bus is.

[On the edge]

Spot on! Railway IT people haven't heard of the cloud or mobile technologies yet. Welcome to public transport!

[user23]

I find the National Rail app very useful, in fact it sometimes shows which platform a train is departing from before they show it in the station.

[Biker1]

or how to make trains stop reasonably quickly,

Eh?

or how to add extra coaches when traffic demands or (cont. page 98) ...computers; what are they?

They used to be able to do that but the progression? towards fixed formation trains in order to make things less labour intensive have changed all that.