Travel Woes

Dear First Great Western,

I am currently stood in the vestibule end of carriage B, next to the toilet, on the 10:25 from Salisbury to Bristol. I couldn’t help noticing your polite customer services feedback sticker on the wall next to me, as my face has been squashed against it for the last eight minutes. On it you state that you would welcome comments on how my journey is going, so here it is.

I am stood here because your train is crammed full. Full of people, baggage, buggies, newspapers, iPads and headphones. Yes, it is a bank holiday, and we all love travelling on a bank holiday, but it seems odd that the first train of the day isn’t until 10:25, and only contains three coaches.

In the vestibule area with me are eight other people, three bikes (one collapsible), two suitcases, a dog and an axe. I have no idea why the lady in the black top is carrying an axe, but in our close proximity it makes me nervous. At least in the event of an accident we can use it to make our way to freedom. As a result, things are a tad cramped in here. There is very little air as the train doors are those ‘modern’ ones with no windows in, and there seems to be no air conditioning. That is particularly noticeable as the toilet is out of order, and some sort of dampness is creeping out from it onto the carpet, causing the two teenage girls stood there to move away into the busier section, and a moderately unpleasant smell to pervade the vestibule area.

I must say that, considering this situation, everyone seems in quite high spirits. It is a bank holiday after all, and the chap in the green jacket is chatting away to other passengers merrily enough, but I can’t help thinking everyone might have a slightly better journey if they could find a seat that they didn’t have to share in an area that didn’t smell of wee. I assume that is roughly what we paid for, though in fairness my ticket made no promises of urine-free seating arrangements.

The journey itself ran relatively to time, with the only major annoyance being that I was stood in the doorway that opened at every station. This necessitated me removing my bag from the floor and trying not to damage the elderly lady or rotund gentleman who were stood next to me, whilst I made space for those leaving the train to de-train, and those boarding to join us in the vestibule area. It was an unfortunate irony that, when the time came for me to get off, the platform was on the other side of the train for the first time, resulting in another battle through the crowd, over the bikes, to freedom.  

Finally, I applaud your braveness in locating the customer services sticker in the vestibule area. I suspect that a sticker located adjacent to a comfortable seat in the carriage is unlikely to generate much response, but one stuck at eye level in a cramped standing-room-only part of the train adjacent to a broken toilet is masterful.

Many thanks for listening to my feedback, and good luck with the rest of the bank holiday.

Yours sincerely,

Mildy perturbed commuter