South West Trains - London to Exeter line

Advantages: Clean, efficient, friendly staff
Disadvantages: not enough frequency to some stations

...I use the South West Trains service between Salisbury and Tisbury, and Salisbury, Tisbury and London Waterloo frequently. The old diesel trains have been refurbished, and are very comfortable. They are still quite loud, but quite smooth. They are always immaculate, and punctual, and the staff are great. There is always a buffet trolley, which is well stocked and is reasonably priced. The fares are quite good as well, especially if you've got a railcard and you book in advance. The return fare from Tisbury to Salisbury is much cheaper than the bus. The only problem is frequency of the trains stopping at Tisbury, as they only stop once an hour, which can be frustrating. However, trains running every half hour to London from Salisbury is great, as it means that you never have to wait too long....

vc-10 06.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of South West Trains

This train dont stop here anymore

Advantages: Acceptable when the service is running properly, new trains soon, new information system soon, frequency
Disadvantages: Delays, dated trains, peak hours, patronising, see stories section

...South West Trains (SWT) operate services between London Waterloo and the South West of England; reaching places like Reading, Exeter, and Southampton etc, it also runs a suburban network through south west London… I’ve been travelling one the “Reading” line for almost 4 years now, and this is what I think of them, I can only speak on behalf of this line, there is a chance I could mislead you on the general picture… ••The Consuming facts •The reliability of the service In one word, I think it has been awful, I have traveled on SWT for almost 4 years and the percentage of times I have been on time (i.e. no later than 3 minutes later than the advertised arrival time) about 75% of the time, is this acceptable? I think your opinion is as valid as mine. I have had my train cancelled 4...

Modena 14.02.2002 · Read review
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Review of South West Trains

Is South West trains improving?

Advantages: Getting better service, quick to London
Disadvantages: Less stops at smaller stations

...timetables smaller stations get far fewer trains, i recently had to travel from Portsmouth to Godalming, a journey which used to be direct and easy. I however, had to change at Haslemere and wait there for 40mins before the next train to Godalming. SO just check times before you travel! However, despite all these problems, i do no want to seem harsh on South West trains. Until 2 years ago almost all their trains were slam doors and they have invested huge amounts in bringing their fleet up to date. The idiocy still remains of last minute platform changes, short notice cancellations and big delays when the slightest thing goes wrong, but it does provide me with the quickest way of getting to London i can think of from my home in Guildford. The seats are comfortable, the trains are quiet and relatively smooth. The refreshments from the trolley...

ploddy100 20.07.2005 · Read review
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Review of South West Trains

Third world train company

Advantages: Absolutely NONE
Disadvantages: Exepensive, unreliable, filthy

...I'm not surprised to see that no-one else has good things to say about south west trains. I regularly communte from Camberley to Richmond and I used to brave the train but I find driving there must more comfortable, despite the boredom of sitting in traffic jams on the M3. Are all their stations as grim as the ones that I see? The facilities are generally limited (no news kiosk) and the stations are grimy. Then you have the joy of waiting for your train - you could be waiting some time. Generally in the morning I find the first train isn't too bad although they do seem to suffer from staff shortages regularly - trains are cancelled far too often due to waiting for train staff. You also have to queue for ages to get your ticket - the automatic machines never work when there is a queue. When your train pulls in you'll be in...

EmmaJ 17.01.2001 · Read review
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Review of South West Trains

Get your act together SW Trains...

Advantages: Good Staff, Gets you from A to B
Disadvantages: poor facilities and conditions. Very old fashioned and needs improving fast!

...After reading many opinions from other people regarding South West Trains, i have to agree with the people who havent given the SW Trains a good rating because they are very poor at the moment. From when i was a small kid (about 10 yrs ago) i hardly ever went on trains but when i did i used to love it and always wanted to be a train driver. Well havent those years changed my opinion drastically. Having been to a number of stations i feel that many train stations such as Southampton Central are becoming rather old fashioned and are really in need of a make over. With Southampton offering very few seating places for the public (such as around 2/3 benches for each platform) i feel that with many delays etc it would be better for the train users to have more seating facilities. Also the prices for coffee, food at several stations...

TYoung 06.07.2001 · Read review
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Review of South West Trains

PLEASE END THE STRAIN ON THE TRAIN

Advantages: None
Disadvantages: The worst mode of transport on the face of the planet

...I have to admit, writing this op is just a great way to let of steam and have a rant about the terrible state of South West Trains. I can hardly bring myself to pay for my train ticket nowadays when I know what type of journey I can expect. I use SW Trains to get into work everyday (early morning and evening), and travel from Guildford to Waterloo. My gripe lies not with the staff at SW Trains, I think they make the best of what they have and are usually polite and happy to help, but with the state of the trains which are absolutely disgusting. Everyday there is the usual battle with fellow passengers to get a seat on the train. As Guildford is at the end of the line most seat are taken from passengers earlier in the journey. So usually one is forced to either stand in the corridor for the 40 minute journey or at worst sit in...

Royston1 28.09.2001 · Read review
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Review of South West Trains

our trains how good are they

Advantages: you get to your to where you want quickly if you havent got a car and you can save petrol
Disadvantages: you dont know how relable they are

...I've been a train traveller all my life and as neither of my parents drive I have got use to what our trains were like but recently i feel they have been getting worse. For example i went to Southampton recently and the toilets were a total mess. There was no loo role as it was all over the floor, the tap water didn't run/flow properly, and the hand towels were non-existent. Also the door didn't close, as the lock didn't reach its fixing on the wall. It's not only the toilets that are bad. On a hot day you would like a drink if you were gonna be on a train for 2 hours. So you would think there might at least be a buffet service, well you'd be wrong. There was no buffet in any of the carriages; there wasn't even a trolley service. So are we meant to die of dehydration? … well I guess the train companies just might think that...

Cathy_Young 04.07.2001 · Read review
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Review of South West Trains

  Beware of "Strangers on a Train"

Advantages: Fabulous story, fabulous atmosphere and fabulous acting
Disadvantages: A very few irksome things but neglible

...Alfred Hitchcock?s Strangers on a Train - excellent movie! I could leave it that but of course I won?t. I?d had this 2 disk special edition in my DVD collection for a while before I got around to watching it. I really should have watched it as soon as I bought it. Not that I need an excuse to watch it all over again. There is no law that says you have to wait any given period of time before you can watch a film that you enjoyed all over again! WHAT?S IT ALL ABOUT? Guy Haynes is travelling on a train and get into conversation with a stranger Bruno Anthony. Guy is a semi-professional tennis player and is somewhat flattered that Bruno recognises him. During their conversation Bruno brings up Guy?s soon to be (hopefully) ex-wife Miriam and current girlfriend Ann Morton who is the daughter of senator. Guy is not very...

anonymili 23.09.2009 (09.11.2009) · Read review
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Review of Strangers On A Train (Special Edition) (DVD)

Are you a train Virgin?

Advantages: fast, few delays
Disadvantages: occasional delays, cost if booked late

...It's coming up for the party season again so I have recently spent rather a lot of time making travel arrangements, one method of travel I seem to utilise rather alot these days comes in the shape of the West Coast Mainline, between Manchester/Stockport and London Euston, while in a previous life time I was very familiar with the Manchester/Edinburgh section of this same line, this route is operated by Virgin Trains and has been for several years. Thankfully these days the booking process is somewhat easier than it used to be, having to go in to the train station to book tickets I always found a somewhat draining experience as there was invariably a queue of people apparently wanting to purchase tickets for the next train due and only one counter open, now you can book online at one of several sites, my preference is virgins own, but...

scuba_angel 02.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Virgin Trains

  The Wilder West

Advantages: Unspoiled wilderness, fascinating sights and sites
Disadvantages: Persistent rainfall, persistent sandflies

...Having crossed the Southern Alps and reached the coast at Greymouth, you may be tempted to head south straight away. This is, after all, the direction in which the highest mountains, the deepest rainforest and the remotest tracts of wilderness are to be found. And if you haven't come to see mountains, forest and wilderness, you've come to the wrong place. Resist the temptation. First, cross the Grey River and take a small diversion up the coast to the north, just an hour's drive to the Paparoa National Park. You will thereby ensure that your first taste of the west coast is not the relatively drab and developed stretch immediately south of Greymouth (only relatively, since nothing along this coast is drab or developed by European standards). North of the Grey River the country is hardly touched, and the drive takes you round...

torr 21.04.2005 (29.09.2008) · Read review
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Review of West Coast & Glaciers (New Zealand)