Indeed.
It will be hard to convince the average passenger that "IETs are more reliable than GWR HSTs" with these numbers of short formations. I do not recall EVER seeing a half length HST on a long distance service.
And yes I know that HSTs failed and that some shorter routes then got Turbos instead. That however is no consolation to the Bristol or Cardiff passenger who used to get a full length train but now gets 5 car only all too often.
Have you really got nothing better to do with your day than have a sulk that a 42 year old train, funnily enough, has had to leave us one day and GWR didn’t give you infinite money and paid for your Microsoft Office subscription to design your such perfect train?
I read and am a member of the forum you also like to paddy on, the GW Coffee Shop forum where you on a daily basis blame the design and/or reliability of the train for the reasons of short formation. May I start by saying that Customer Satisfaction is the highest in years, and truth be told I do not think these statistics are completely fair however it proves some point that a decent amount of people have no issue with them as they have more to do on them than worry about the buffet car and more about getting a seat and being able to het home on time.
Reservation system is still not very reliable, but when it does work it is amazing. The train reliability is statistically better than the HST and the reason for so many short formations at the moment is due to the amount of additional services being ran for Glasto which leads to trains being in difficult places to get to. Other reasons can include the fact that they still need to fit the new trains with the new signage and seat cloths, wash the windows and await 800001/800002 to join the fleet.
We don’t see half length HSTs and 9 car IETs as it is technically impossible. What is the result of an issue on these services? Full cancellation. Your very last paragraph suggests that those who had it bad before should be used to it and that if you are a lucky sod who lives in Bristol or Cardiff then god hope you don’t cry because of the one short formation that you have experienced which in your eyes is a reason to bring back buffer cars or whatever rubbish you come out with..