Wednesday, February 27, 2008

On the Wrong Lines

Thankfully I am among the millions of travellers who don't have to make use of the services of First Great Western and their railway. If reports in the British media are to be believed (and who would doubt them?) on some days the service appears to resemble a Bombay commuter train.
No doubt the directors award themselves a bonus (does everyone in the UK get a bonus?) for the number of passengers who have to stand in the toilets multiplied by the number of miles they have to travel. If so, they must do themselves pretty well.
Unusually for Britain today, it has come to the notice of the authorities that this is an unsatisfactory state of affairs. I can only assume that a government Jaguar must have broken down somewhere, forcing the hapless official to have to slum it on the railway and thus raise the matter.
There is talk of First Great Western losing their franchise and unless one of the board can come up with a big enough contribution to the Labour Party, this may well happen.
Personally, I think the company should be sued for trading under false pretences.
It is not the first Great Western and I think someone should go to Kensal Green cemetery and have a quick check of the grave of Isambard Kingdom Brunel as it has probably just turned over.
When Brunel built the Great Western Railway it was a staggering example of British engineering, so much so that it was known as God's Wonderful Railway.
That First Great Western should have the temerity to play upon the reputation of one of Britain's finest achievements, seems to me to be reprehensible and probably flies in the face of the Trade Descriptions Act.

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