Great Western Railways: When It Comes To The Welsh Language Not So Great Or Western

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

When I need to travel from South Wales to London to see my mother, I mainly use the car, or a coach. The train being completely out of the question due to the need to take a multifaceted loan beforehand.

But the train company that operates the service from South Wales to London, Great Western has caught my attention by it's abject refusal to provide signage or on board announcements in Welsh.

Their logic is this. It's a service that includes stations in England and Wales. It isn't (I'm quoting from the GWR helpline Twitter feed here) " a dedicated South Wales fleet".

Now there are a few things that need to be said here. Firstly if a train that goes from London to Swansea is not a dedicated train to South Wales then what is it dedicated to? The Moon?

Secondly Not so Great Western don't seem to be bothered by just compromising and introducing signage and on board announcements in Welsh when the train is in Wales. Arriva trains in South Wales operate like this. And amazingly the Earth still revolves around the sun and no plague of locusts have ever appeared.

Their other logic is apparently that it's never been done before. Well many things have never been done before, doesn't mean that it won't be a good idea doing it.

And let's be clear. It wouldn't be something that would cost a lot of money to do. Certainly less than new "super" trains that have to put out of service because they're leaking.

If Great Western Railways would care to look around Wales they would notice many bilingual signs (including those for train stations) and other services in the Welsh language should it be required. There is no reason for them not to join the businesses who know that leaving aside the respect for the country they're conducting their business in it's also good customer service. Something it seems that GWR have left at lost luggage.

Until the next time.