Decline of the experience

Many articles have been published regarding how trains using modern technology have improved through the years, but no one mentions how the actual travelling experience has declined.

Can someone (and there must be plenty of well-informed people) please explain to me the obsession outside the London area with running five-coach trains on all types of services - some very long-distance? They may couple together, but do not join.

Has any design thought - as with the view out of the window in some cases - disappeared?

There is also the so-called trolley service (you can’t complain about the service itself as there is none). It works on planes where everyone is seated and the walkway is clear, but not on these five- and even three-coach abominations.

I often travel between Oxford and London, and there is nothing better in the evening then boarding a proper train (HST), going to the buffet bar and having a drink and a chat to pass the time. All that will soon end with these new trains, as it has on other routes.

Thank goodness that for now we

still have the GWR Pullman service to dine in comfort on good food. Other companies have just lost the plot regarding catering, along with the journey experience.

The sooner we get back to proper trains that enhance the travelling experience, the better. John Worth, Sutton Weaver