Wifi On Trains

[mikey4444]

I took a rare journey up to Town by train, yesterday, from Swansea. The GWR Wifi was surprisingly good ! And free !

And it seemed to me that there wasn't anybody on the train, up to Town and back again that didn't have a tablet, laptop or smart phone !

[murraymints]

how did interview go ?

[-Talbot-]

Including yourself, obviously.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with this information though?

[mikey4444]

Talbot...I thought it might be useful for people to know that there is now wifi available on trains. Which is why I made the post !

Not terribly difficult to understand I would have thought ?

[mikey4444]

Very good MM !...thanks for asking ! I expect to get offered work by Mori in early January, which is a great weight off my mind.

[murraymints]

that's great Mikey xx

[marval]

I haven't been on a train for ages, gone are the days of people sitting on a train reading a paper then. Pleased to hear your news Mikey.

[mikey4444]

Thanks marval !

[Stephen_G]

They've been doing it for a couple of years, mikey. Most of the big companies offer 15 minutes free, then you've got to pay for the privilege - it's complimentary in First Class, of course. I managed to get a couple of ebooks downloaded to my Kindle on Grand Central's wifi, between York and Kings Cross, last Saturday.

[mikey4444]

All praise to GWR then, as it appeared to be free and limitless.

[Hopkirk]

Blimey Mikey, will you be moving to England?

[mikey4444]

If I thought it never rained there I might !

No...the job interview was up in Town but the work will be based locally in South Wales.

[Hopkirk]

Good luck, I hope you get it if you want it.

I hope they paid your travelling expenses if they expect you to travel to the smoke for an interview.

[mushroom25]

//as it appeared to be free and limitless. //

free, yes. limitless, no. if you start watching catch-up tv, you use so much bandwidth that it limits the ability of everyone else to do anything. and it's not so clever when peeps are downloading books either, stephen_g.

[mikey4444]

Hoppy...yes, all paid for ! Train ticket alone cost them over £200 pounds.

[Hopkirk]

They wuz robbed.

[New Judge]

I once worked for a guv’nor who was located in Swansea and I used to go down there occasionally. The trains were always packed – completely packed to Bristol and not much better on to Cardiff with the reverse being so on the way back. The surprise for me first time was just how far Swansea is. I thought I was “nearly there” after passing through the Severn Tunnel – some hope! Of course when I looked from the 9th floor office window and saw Ilfracombe across the Bristol Channel I realised how far I had come.

Always like Great Western (even back in steam days with their Kings, Castles, Halls, Manor and Granges). They were always different to the other railways – even their diesel locos were completely different to all the others having hydraulic transmission where almost all the others ere diesel-electric. When "Inter City 125s" were introduced in about 1975 Mrs New Judge and I went fromPaddington to Swansea and back for £1.25 (you had to collect 3 coupons from packets of Persil). No WiFi then. Land lines and Snail Mail was all there was. Bet you paid a little more than £1.25, Mikey !!!

Good luck with the job, BTW.

[mikey4444]

NJ...nice post !

Swansea to London is only 3 hours now, compared to when I first moved to Wales in the 60's when it was 4 hours plus. What amazes me is the sheer volume of people that get on and off at Bristol Parkway. I am lucky as most trains up to Town start at Swansea, so getting a seat is relatively easy.

But those poor souls at Bristol Parkway have to stand all the way to Paddington most mornings and probably all the way back at the end of the working day ! The journey time for them is only about 90 mins, so I suppose the commute is worth while, especially given the much cheaper housing out of the south east.

This new job, with Mori sounds interesting and will be a new challenge that I am looking forward to.

[Buenchico]

We have to pay for Wi-fi on the mainline services here. It's £2.95 per journey or £19 for 4 weeks. (Only those in First Class get it free).

On a typical Autumn weekday, Bristol Temple Meads has about 17,500 passenger movements between 7am and 10am, with 8,000 arriving and 9,500 departing, so I'm not surprised that it seemed busy!

[mushroom25]

//What amazes me is the sheer volume of people that get on and off at Bristol Parkway.//

the catchment area for stoke gifford station (i refuse to call it "bristol") is enormous, because of its proximity to the m4 and m5, including large areas of bristol itself, where it's easier to reach by road than temple meads station. a friend who lives in chepstow commutes to london via stoke gifford, even with congestion on the m4 and the bridge toll, it's a better journey than going via newport or gloucester.

[Buenchico]

^^^I wrote 'Temple Meads', rather than 'Parkway' through simply thinking about the station which I've normally arrived at. I now see that Mikey was referring to Parkway. However I'm not sure which station my figures actually refer to because the document I derived them from simply says 'Bristol':
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/466412/rail-passengers-crowding-2014.pdf