Great Western Coffee Shop

Post from the Farce Great Western Forum (link below.)
http://farcegreatwestern.com/qsilver/index.php?a=topic&t=4

Totally agree, we were almost proud to work for Wessex trains, when they seemed to listen to staff and passengers by doing things like putting 3 cars on cardiff pompey and running more trains on the Cornish branch lines, i'm sure if Wessex had had more money at the time then a load more improvements would have come, were just stuck with crappy First who don't give a f**k about their staff or customers.

well you will be pleased to see that if all goes according to plan many of the major players in the management team are going to be replaced on tuesday, and that includes directors!

they are parachuting in a set of new faces from Trans Pennine Express

word is they have been given 6 months or the franchise is to be stripped from First Group 8)

the god awful cleaning company ISS is to be a casualty as well but they are a scapegoat of the internet auction way of getting a job not done for the cheapest price that was the product of the bean counters of First Group

hats

Good to see at last how serious First are taking this franchise. BUT I suppose if its true that they have 6 months or they lose it that they have to take it seriously and that means getting your top people who have a good track record within the company to sort things out.

It would seem Andrew Haines has been given serious power and been told to use it and do whatever it takes to make things work. He can't do it all by himself and needs a team around him that he can trust to bring about the changes needed to make this franchise work.

I wonder if these changes at the top of the company includes Andrew Griffiths who is due to speak at Wilts Rail Users Group that very evening?

but all this doesnt get away from the fact there is a very large financial hole stemming from not enough money being allocated for vehicle maintanance in the original bid which is why they have been carving the franchise up from day one

all the problems stem from the business being run by accountants who have no feel for the business

customers will find a more touchy feely approach but the staff will have to get used to seeing more disaplines being contracted out such as dispatch which has just started on TPE

a lot of the non PC managers who really cared about the service, and I will name one now who was the group station manager for Reading, Mike Robinson, were binned as part of the new franchise cull, I really hope if they are still willing they get them back

hats

Don't know where you got this from :o

In his first time of writing in Connect ( weekly staff newsletter) Andrew Haines said there would no changes immediately. Reading between the lines though there will be some at a later date.


Y...A...W...N >:( >:( >:( As an employee I've heard this statement time and time again. Keep the word is "they've got six months to turn it around or they will lose the franchise" going for another six or seven years and you'll be right. Thats because it will be at the end and up for grabs again. :'( :'(

Well twohats, did it happen.

Yeah! come on twohats do tell, was the latest "the word is" true?

If it did happen it happened very quietly !!

As for staff being non motivated and first not giving two hoots about its staff or customers - thats a very sweeping statement. I think there is room for improvement (bit of an understatement) but its not ALL bad.

Its a shame some people always look for the bad in every situation but at the same time have no sensible suggestions on how to improve things - I honestly feel that some people wouldnt be happy if they didnt have something to bitch and moan about.

Welcome to the forum, 125guard.  Yes, there are indeed people who will look for the bad  in every situation, and who will consider any change to be a backwards one. And you will probable find a few who are that way inclined around here  ;)

Leaving the staff - most of whom do an excellent job in some sometimes difficult circumstances - aside for one moment, the difficult part of your comment for the customers is how to make sensible suggestions.. Running a train service is complex - horribly complex and more so because of the commercial framework - and it's so easy for us to come up with impractical suggestions.

I'm personally not a great one for bitching and moaning unless I feel it will help the case for a forward looking appropriate service that carries passengers where and when they want to go, on trains that are clean and comfortable, at appropriate fares and crewed by staff who work in an environment such that the enjoy their jobs.

Have been told that there are now 6 FTP (First Trans Pennine) personnel now in the management team at FGW.

well they are keeping their 'appointments' very quiet if they have.

twohats doesnt seem to want to respond.

Remember this, with todays technology, you dont have to be based in Swindon to be seconded to FGW, you can have a brief and be based elsewhere keeping your eye on things for the new boss from a distance.