High marks for SWR

I needed to attend a meeting near Waterloo on October 21, and decided to make the journey using South Western Railway from Exeter to Waterloo. I was interested to see how SWR would perform instead of Stagecoach.

The first noticeable difference was the correction to on-board announcements with Crewkerne being correctly announced instead of Unkern (something that became increasingly annoying the more it was incorrectly announced under Stagecoach management).

I was also very impressed by how train staff dealt with a very aged and infirm old lady who should never have been travelling on her own - they were most courteous with her, arranged for her to be met at Waterloo with a wheelchair, and ensured that all members of staff who needed to know were informed of the situation.

On the return journey, it was very obvious that all the trains travelling between Salisbury and Exeter were struggling to keep time on the single line, and failed to hit the double-track passing places on time due to wet conditions and slippery track as a result of Storm Brian.

By Exeter the train was 15 minutes late, and passengers were advised that the train for Barnstaple was being held at Exeter for those who wished to make the connection. I wondered if the same level of co-operation would have taken place between First and Stagecoach. On a difficult day, SWR did well. Jim Wigmore, Dawlish