Official statistics don't tell the whole story, partly because they're fudged by the industry and partly because the timetables are defined by the industry to suit the fudged statistics. If you use real-world data then a different story, more in line with customer experience, emerges. Here's a typical commute (times from RTT):
2C18 08:02 BCE-SNS
Tue 30 Jun, 2L BCE, 2L SNS
Wed 1 Jul, 3L BCE, 6L SNS
Thu 2 Jul, 3L BCE, 3L SNS
Fri 3 Jul, 2L BCE, 2L SNS
Mon 6 Jul, 2L BCE, 2L SNS
Tue 7 Jul, 3L BCE, 5L SNS
2S18 08:33 SNS-AFS
Tue 30 Jun, 1L SNS, 1L AFS
Wed 1 Jul, 5L SNS, 5L AFS
Thu 2 Jul, 2L SNS, 2L AFS
Fri 3 Jul, 2L SNS, 2L AFS
Mon 6 Jul, 2L SNS, 2L AFS
Tue 7 Jul, 5L SNS, 5L AFS
2C91 17:07 AFS-BCE
Tue 30 Jun, 8L AFS, 16L BCE [1]
Wed 1 Jul, didn't run [2]
Thu 2 Jul, 1L AFS, 1L BCE
Fri 3 Jul, 1L AFS, 6L BCE
Mon 6 Jul, 6L AFS, 6L BCE
[1] This is misleading as it was so late it ran fast ACT-RDG and customers were dumped at ACT to wait for the following train, eventually arriving 24L BCE.
[2] Ran fast CLJ-VIR so there was no service
In other words, every train was late or didn't arrive.
To this can be added the late-notice cancellation of the 1st May 06:50 BCE-RDG which caused me to miss a connection and pay for a taxi instead of the planned bus to arrive at my meeting on time.
And the twice recently when SWT ran no trains at all for the above commute during the evening peak, meaning that I had to drive thirty miles to collect someone. What did SWT do on those two occasions? Did it provide good customer service by giving useful information and arranging alternative transport? No, it did absolutely nothing.
And finally, SWT takes two months to reply to emails; not that the reply says anything helpful.
Perhaps one can see why I hope that another company will take over this franchise; a company that will run a reliable service and, when things go wrong, provide excellent customer service.
