[Anonymous]

[MrMichael]

Southwest Trains, Hell.

[Charles-P]

This caught my attention as I completed that very journey yesterday. GBP45 for a First Class ticket and simply appalling. Dirty seat, stale old sandwiches offered as food, filthy lavatory and non working power in the carriages.
Not acceptable

[seanyjmuclhr]

Ah yes, the great benefits of rail privatisation. Worst thing that ever happened as you have train companies who have a complete monopoly on the lines and can charge what they want and deliver the service (or lack thereof) they want.

[andystock]

SWT trains to Portsmouth are modern seimens units, wait until you try First Capital Connect on the Thameslink route!

[Bath_VIP]

seanyjmuclhr

They can’t charge what they want. The anytime & offpeak fares are regulated and price rises determined by the regulator. In effect these become maximum fares. They are free to determine fares below those maximums such as advance fares and of course they are free to determine the quality of service you receive.

So you get operators like CrossCountry who only offer a handful of advance fares and make you jump through 25 hoops to get them and other operators such as FGW who are quite generous with their advance fares.

[MrMichael]

The issue is not the train but the number of seats they have crammed in. Five abreast is too much for a railway carriage. We often hear that people are getting bigger, so SWT make the seats smaller! It does not actually mean more people get a seat, as the side with three on it generally has two, and the side with two on it just has one person sitting. Ultimately it ends up like First, 3 abreast, but not as comfortable.

The whole Portsmouth – Waterloo fiasco is a disgrace. Slow uncomfortable trains, often overcrowded. It takes average over 90 minutes to do the 68 odd miles, inter city….more like hell on wheels. Expensive too if not off peak, over seventy quid in standard class.

[Author]

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