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Which begs the question why haven't SWR done anything about it?

They will need them all in service by then so they can start withdrawing the early ones for mid life overhaul.

I would be astounded if 10 more units were in service next month. They can't reliably deliver the handful of diagrams that are currently meant to run.

How long have First been running the GWML? 20+ years? That's how long they've had to bring Sunday in to the working week and not done it. Seems fair for the government to blame the private operators in this case. Not expecting anything to change quickly with GBR, but at least it is a change...

Incredible that we are still at this point so many years after the trains were supposed to be introduced. The introduction of these units should be the textbook of how not to do it. Presumably this doesn't actually matter or (further) delay the introduction given there are no plans to move to...

Hounslow loop is all labour MP's I think, so more chance than there was under the previous govt. Still can't see anything happening until at more 701's are in service - SWR simply don't have the staff or the stock.

It amounts to the same thing though as far as passengers are concerned. If SWR can't reliably deliver the service yet they need to scale back the rollout and get more people trained. Frustrating as that is for all involved a train is better than no train.

Exactly - conveniently hiding behind falling passenger numbers (are they really lower than when the 2004 timetable was introduced?) but ignoring that SWR couldn't reintroduce the missing services even if they wanted to because they've left themselves so short of stock. It's no wonder passengers...

16-17 would be more beneficial to OP wouldn't it? Does the maths actually stack up on this for OP? Will you travel enough to get your money back on the cost of the Gold Card?

Management don't appear to have cared for the last 5 years so I doubt anyone will notice. They could hardly introduce them more slowly if they tried. I'm not under any illusion that GBR will magically fix everything SWR have done, but I do feel we're in 'it can't be any worse' territory.

Totally agree. COVID bought them some time. If we were still at 2019 passenger levels the situation would be much worse than it currently is.

I mentioned in another thread that the whole SWR era has had the feel of managed decline. Whatever the excuses, ultimately all that's happened since they took over is they've cut services and made their trains shorter. COVID has served as a useful excuse for them, because had it not happened I...

What services off Windsor are these? Apologies I'm not familiar with headcodes - is there a site these can be searched (RTT?)

If you were genuinely going back to Feltham there would presumably be an exit scan for each of the tickets - so OP should only be on the hook for the £8.40 anytime day single from Sunbury to Clapham Junction rather than the £16.80 day return, given they would have had a valid ticket for the...

Snap. Very generous... who is making money out of that?

No weekend services at all with 701's currently, with the exception of a few rugby specials.

I hope for better too... but I wonder how much First/ SWR actually care? Their entire tenure has had the feel of managed decline and they know they are on their way out. Is there much incentive to get things moving - presumably they are collecting their management fee anyway, and any targets...

There are on train announcements that 'Oyster/ Contactless without a suitable extension are not valid beyond the next station' around Feltham. Although it's too late by then.. Nothing at Waterloo or Reading (as far as I can remember - not been for a while now) to indicate contactless not valid.

At a guess a pause on training to avoid stretching limited resources any further over the festive period with increased annual leave/ sickness etc. Or from a more negative point of view, they don't have enough 701's fit for service...

A passenger knows contactless is valid between Reading and London, it's not unreasonable to assume it's valid via both routes. The average passenger does not know or care about the railways silly reasons for not accepting it. As far as I am aware there isn't any prominent signage at Reading...