First / Worst Great Western

I had to go up to London for a meeting on Friday the 15th November. I was just in time to catch the 15.51 Paddington to Oxford train home. I had to walk the length of the train until I reached the First Class carriage to even be able to get on. Every aisle & lobby area between carriages was full of people standing.

I resigned myself to standing until Reading. There were 19 people plus their luggage in the space between first class & second class. There was no space for even one more body. I lent against the wall with the toilet door in it. Big mistake. The stench of urine was overpowering, especially when the train was moving. Two men used the toilet during the journey. One was nearly gagging when he came out & said it was really dreadful inside.

There were 2 drop down seats occupied by a young man & a young woman. Neither offered me their seat. By the time we got to Reading I was really struggling. There was no respite. A couple of men decided to go into the first class compartment, but more people got on & no one got off. No British Rail employees made any attempt to stop anyone else getting on the train despite the obvious level of overcrowding.

Trying to retain my balance with nothing to hold onto was difficult. It got unbearably hot, so I had to try to remove layers of clothing. The noise was deafening & if I lent my head against the wall there was also a horrible buzzing vibration.

I can't stand for long at the best of times. This was torture. By the time we reached Oxford I could barely get off the train my legs were so stiff and painful. When I got into the station I asked at the information desk why the train was so overcrowded. Naively I thought there must have been a problem. The man behind the desk just said there were a lot more people travelling nowadays! Indeed, the station was heaving.

When there are so many petty Health & Safety restrictions how can a public transport carrier get away with this complete disregard for passengers comfort & safety. All the passengers paid their fare to be transported from A to B. It is not unreasonable to expect a seat to be part of the contract. Why don't First Great Western put more carriages on at peak times. They surely know when there is going to be this level of overcrowding. Needless to say there was no sign of a guard. He wouldn't have been able to walk down the train!

If there had been a crash the death & injury toll on that train would have been horrendous. There would be a public enquiry. First Great Western & British Rail would have wrung their hands & said it must never happen again. Heads might roll - maybe.

It isn't good enough. They must know what the problems are at peak times. This should not be allowed to continue. It's literally like playing Russian Roulette with your health / life on a train. Or "Murder on the Oxford Express"