September 27 - Commuter Broiler - again.

I just missed the Oxford train only to find that the 17:50 was delayed and delayed and delayed. Eventually a replacement service was offered. With cast iron predictability, only 3 carriage were offered up to accommodate 7 carriages worth of passengers. It got warm immediately. Then they sealed us in. By the time the first sop came I has unpleasantly moist. Another memorable First Great Western experience.

September 23 - 07:08 cancelled - what a surprise!

With a predictable inevitability the 07:08 was again cancelled despite the early warning system blithely stating at 06:45 "There are no disruptions reported at this time affecting services between your selected stations Maidenhead to London Paddington." I am now given to arriving in time for the 07:03. So, thank you First Great Western for taking even more time from my day.

September 6 - Rain

Yes, today it rained and the Metropolitan decided to flood. So we all had to decamp at Euston Square and catch the bus. Joy of joys. I honestly believe I could have covered the distance faster on foot. A half hour journey managed to elongate itself into an hour and a half. Still, who could have foreseen rain at the beginning of Autumn?

September 2 - a reply (of sorts)

Thank you for your email of 25 August 2011. I am really sorry for the problems you had on your journey with us from Maidenhead to London Paddington on 23, 24 and 25 August. Our 0708 service was disrupted due to over running rail improvement works on the North Cotswolds line and I apologise for the inconvenience this caused.

Network Rail are ultimately responsible for rail improvement works and they are working hard to renew the track, which is a massive project. So that the least inconvenience is caused to our customers, most of the work takes place through the night. Unfortunately sometimes this can over run, which can disrupt the performance of morning services. This is very frustrating and we are working closely with Network Rail to make sure it doesn't happen.

Where this happens if you held a daily or weekly season ticket you would be due compensation for delays of more the 1 hour. We compensate Season Ticket holders in two ways. A discount on renewal will be applied if we have failed to meet our targets for punctuality or reliability. Also, if our overall performance on any day falls below an unacceptable level we will declare a void day for the charter groups affected and refund the daily ticket cost. As we didn't declare a void day on this occasion, I am afraid no compensation is due.