GWR IET (UK)

ShowMeTheJourney has anticipated what questions are most often asked about travelling on GWR's IET trains and answered them below.

If you can't find the information you are seeking, you can ask a question by using the Travel Planning Service.

These trains travel at up to 125mph / 200kmh - on the routes between London and Bristol / Cardiff, around 80% of the journey can be at this speed.

Seats are automatically allocated when booking Advance tickets online at station ticket offices and ticket machines,
However, when booking other types of ticket, reservations will only be included when booking before 18:00 on the day prior to travel.
Advance tickets will not be available after this time.

No this facility is not available on the GWR website.
Though when booking, you will be given an option of requesting forward facing seats and these will be assigned IF they are still available.

No, but opting to reserve does not incur additional charges and the GWR website allows reservations to be made online, without including any booking fees.
Note that if you do want to reserve you need to do so before 18:00 on the day prior to travel.

An at seat catering trolley offering drinks and snacks should be taken through the entire train - in First Class the items selected are complimentary.

An on-board restaurant is available on Monday to Friday, except Bank Holidays on 2 x trains per day on the London ↔ Plymouth route and 1 x train per day on the London ↔ Swansea route.

Yes, they are available at all seats.

Yes, discover how to connect.

Yes, you can opt to choose a seat located within the Quiet coach when making a booking.

There is a limit of up to three items per passenger with a max size of 30 x 70 x 90cm
Bags up to 25 x 40 x 70cm will fit on the luggage racks.

Yes, and travel can be booked with GWR.

Spaces for non-folding bikes must be reserved ahead of boarding and these bike reservations can be added when booking your travel tickets on the Great Western Railway website.
Or you can book at a later date by calling 0345 7000 125.
ShowMeTheJourney doesn’t recommend booking at stations, as spaces are limited and non-folding bikes can’t be stored anywhere else on the train.

The bike storage areas for non-folding bikes are in coaches B and/or H and it is your responsibility to load and secure you bike on to the rack.

Yes, up to two dogs can be taken on board without any need to book a ticket(s) for them.

These swish, very new trains, which travel at up to 125 miles per hour/200 km/h, are now used on all of the services provided by Great Western Railway on its long-distance routes:

On some departures two IET (Intercity Express trains) can be joined together, usually so that towards the end of the route, the train at the front can leave the other behind and reach more distant and therefore less popular destinations.

So take care when boarding, particularly if you haven’t reserved, but the on board information and train conductor will help ensure that you’re travelling in the correct part of the train.

• London Paddington <> Bristol/Weston S. Mare via Bath
• London Paddington <> Swansea and West Wales via Cardiff and Newport
• London Paddington <> Penzance via Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth and stations in Cornwall
• London Paddington <> Paignton via Taunton, Exeter and Torquay
• London Paddington <> Hereford via Oxford, Worcester and Great Malvern
• London Paddington <> Cheltenham via Stroud and Gloucester

Each 1st and Standard Class coach on the train offers a mix of table seats and airline style seats, and you can specify a preference for being sat at a table seat when booking tickets.

When booking tickets on the Great Western Railway website, you can also request forward-facing seats when adding a complimentary seat reservation.

Some seats in both First and Standard Class have restricted views from the window, but when making a reservation you have to leave this to chance, as there’s no means of checking whether you have been assigned these seats.

(A somewhat odd aspect of the reservation process on the Great Western Railway website, is that you will be informed that you have been assigned a seat in a non-smoking coach/carriage, but like all British trains, smoking is not permitted anywhere on board).

If you have a seat reservation:

At London Paddington the number of the platform (track) that a specific departure will be leaving from, normally appears on the information screens 10 -15 minutes prior to departure.
This will signal the start of a race to board the train, but if you have a reservation, you can take your time as your seat(s) will be waiting for you to occupy them.

If you will be boarding at a station at which the train will be calling during a journey, there are now usually signs on the platform (track) which will show you where to wait for boarding into each coach/carriage.
Don’t just check the coach/carriage numbers by the doors, also check the seat number info that’s on the outside of the train, all coaches will have two doors, one at each end and the other door may be nearer to your seat.

Worth knowing is that you don’t have to occupy the seat you have been assigned, in order for your travel ticket to be valid, the train conductor will check the ticket, but not the reservation.
So if for any reason you want to travel in a different seat, you can do so, as long as you check that the alternative seat(s) you want to move to haven’t been reserved, so will be available for your journey.

If you don’t have heavy luggage, then after departure it can be worth having a walk through the train, to see what seats are available in other coaches.
On some departures some of the coaches on the train tend to be relatively busy, while others will be comparatively empty.
Though it will be fairly obvious if you are travelling on a busy train, if that is the case persevering with remaining in your allocated seat(s) will be the best option.

If you don’t have a seat reservation:

When entering the seating saloon initially target the seats with a green light on the info strip above the windows, these indicate which seats haven't been reserved, though they may already have been occupied by other travellers.
If you can't find any free 'green' seats, take a second look at the reserved seats indicated by red lights, they may not have been taken up by the traveller which booked them, or they may have been reserved until the station at which you have just boarded,

Though don’t despair if no seats are initially available, many travellers make short-distance journeys by these trains, so it’s often likely that seats will become available at the next station call.

Booking online in advance so that you can access complimentary seat reservations is particularly recommended by ShowMeTheJourney if you will be:
(1) travelling in either direction between London and Bath, Bristol and Worcester between 16:00 and 19:30 on Mon-Friday as these routes are particularly popular with commuters.
(2) Any journey after 14:00 on Fridays and Sundays.
(3) On summer Saturdays when travelling before 14:00 to/from destinations in Devon and Cornwall .

A positive feature of these new Intercity Express trains is that more space has been provided for luggage.
Though Great Western Railway understandably recommends that only larger items of luggage are placed on the racks, the maximum suitcase size permitted is 25cm x 45cm x 70cm.

Among the items which can't be taken on board as hand-luggage are surf boards.
More information is available here.

These Intercity Express trains have both wheelchair spaces and seats with additional leg-room available on all departures, but even if you don’t require these specific services, you can book assisted travel, the information is available here.