Graham has sent me the questions that we didnt have time to do and my comments are:

G) We have seen an increase in leisure travel and a fall in daily commuting.  How quickly can is the railway adjusting to meet the new challenges, and do you have examples of new good practice which can adfantageuous be rolled out wider? (3)
RESPONSE - The railway is adjusting with less commuter services and a focus on returning leisure trains such as Newquay and Pembroke Dock. We need to do more and its under review - I have meeting this afternoon looking at this.
Edit to add - Discussion at http://gwr.passenger.chat/27712

H) Cost-cutting rumours in recent weeks have suggested that on-train WiFi and on-train catering will be withdrawn, in addition to the closure of all ticket offices. Is there any truth in these rumours, and are there any other upcoming cuts we should be aware of? (11)

RESPONSE Nothing that fits your category of things you need to be aware of but the financial challenges faced by the railway are real, serious and unlikely to go away. I would prefer we try and solve them through revenue growth....
Edit to add - Discussion at http://gwr.passenger.chat/27713


I) Through trains from Bristol via Salisbury to London were very popular, but were withdrawn as "duplication" in December 2021.  But then in May 2023, GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) started running 5 new services a day from Bristol that terminate at Salisbury, and SWR^» (South Western Railway - about)» run services onwards from Salisbury to London, many of which start from or gain extra carriages at Salisbury. Could the two First companies please join up their trains to restore a viable through service from the likes of Keynsham, Bradford-on-von and Trowbridge to London, and offer passenger from Bristol, Bath and Westbury direct services to the South Bank, just across the river from the cities of London and Westminster? (

RESPONBSE I understand the desire for such services but they also bring complexity and the risk of moving service disruption between routes. No plans to do so but not to be ruled out forever
Edit to add - Discussion at http://gwr.passenger.chat/27714

J)When trains are disrupted, why can't all registered bus services accept passengers who are being delayed, with local ticket office staff (!) providing local knowledge?  Would beat hands down waiting up to 90 minutes for a taxi or special bus! (9)

RESPONSE - We are doing that on many routes and will try to do more. In the future Google Maps transit functionality tells you everything you need and its transformed my ability as an individual to use bus services in places I am not familiar with
Edit to add - Discussion at http://gwr.passenger.chat/27715

K) With buses and trains all supported by government funding, why can't tickets across the whole GWR territory be interchangable, and with journey planners giving  the best option whether it's road, rail or a combination thereof? (6)

RESPONSE - that is more a national transport question than a GWR matter but noted
Edit to add - Discussion at http://gwr.passenger.chat/27716

L) Our local trains in the South West all date back to the last century. When will we see modern trains with level platform access and an ability to run on electricity (battery, catenary, third rail or solar panel), hydrogen and perhaps other technolies serving stations such as Exmouth, Falmouth, Avonmouth and Melksham? (7)

RESPONSE - When we can make a business case work and there is funding available., Nobody wants that more than I do!
Edit to add - Discussion at http://gwr.passenger.chat/27717

M) "Plans have been in place for some time, funding has been approved by the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)» and paths added to the timetable for the GWR Barnstaple to Exeter Central services to be extended out to Pinhoe station. Why has this not been implemented yet?" As a supplementary question to the above.... "The once daily Barnstaple to Axminster service in the evening that was introduced to replaced the two SWR» evening local services is caped at Exeter St Davids more often than it runs throughout. Why is this?"

Your second point answers the first to some extent - with the industrial action going on we have not been able to comlete driver training. Plus,  Turbo trains are not route cleared. Both need addressing before more services can run but we are working on this and support the ambition.
Edit to add - Discussion at http://gwr.passenger.chat/27718

N) Can we ask him to extend 1B20 to Carmarthen instead of 1B21? It would result in a useful extra westbound departure in the evening peak at Cardiff and avoid a prolonged stop at Swansea on the Carmarthen service. The trade-off of cancelling the extremely lightly loaded 1L29, which is swapped for a set that goes into North Pole Depot at Paddington, and duplicates 1L86 all the way in from Swindon, is a price worth paying for getting the trains operating predominantly in the peak direction in the evening peak in South Wales.

RESPONSE - I am investigating this with the Train Planners but there are issues it creates but worth a look!
Edit to add - Discussion at http://gwr.passenger.chat/27719

Thanks Graham - your comments noted.

The 17:36 has just left 17 minutes late as the unit built up air (we are investigating!) and it is approaching WB Jct - a Class 158

As we edge closer to the hour of 18:00 can I thank everyone for their questions and the number of people who have watched as the responses have been posted.

Mark

At this stage I am not sure - but will find out. The stations without access are often the more difficult and challenging but I want us to make progress quicker - if funds can be found.

On the wider point of Ticket Offices I think its important we encourage everyone to respons to the consultation.

My key points are that (a) we have to reduce our costs, (b) customers themselves are buying more and more tickets online, (c) other businesses have adapted to the new world of digital commerce and the railway must too. But I want to listen to what is said and I think the wider industry will too.

Some time since I have been to Emerson Park - I will have to take a trip out! But seriously, we are working on this!

Our revenue teams strategically plan when to deploy a full revenue block, with full consideration given to each individual location and the impact that this activity might have on safety at the station. Revenue blocks are a useful tool in ensuring that passengers are paying the appropriate fare for journeys being made, but we must ensure it is safe to do so.

We don’t have any news on step free access at the station, the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) are yet to make any announcement on the Access for All awards for the industry, and we don’t have a date when we can expect them to be made. 

And obviously we don't want Northern outperforming us at GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) - we will take a look at what they offer.

Personally, I think buying online is better than a TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) option for these tickets but we will investigate how quickly we can roll out such things.

I agree we want to sell more of these tickets and make them easy to buy.

As you know, the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) recently announced a consultation into proposals that will change the way tickets are sold, across the industry as a whole. These proposals look in to moving staff out from behind the windows, closer to customers and offering a wider range of help, which will include helping passengers to buy tickets, and making sure that passengers are aware of the ticket that most suits their needs. 

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) ticket office sales account for around 15% of our total ticket sales, in 1996 this figure was 82%, which is why these proposed changes have come about. Any stations that are staffed now, will continue to be staffed and their opening hours will not change.

As an industry, we are looking at how we can make more ticket types such as rangers and rovers, more widely available. We have seen a change in our customer travel habits, and we must make changes that focus on the customer. 

We already sell some ranger and rover tickets through the website, and we are looking at ways we can make them available through smart collection.

That I think is a question for government that is above my pay grade - but everyone seems to agree with you. Hopefully progress will be made soon.

Things are tight and we certainly don't have "slack" in our fleet - it's a reflection of the times we find ourselves in.

Overall, we do have enough trains, but it is very tight and can be impacted by unplanned maintenance issues, or any damage or faults that are experienced. We are also impacted by the challenges of having trains in the right place due to infrastructure damage, and industrial action.

All fleets are being worked harder (there is little resilience). The May 23 timetable alterations (some services taken out) have freed up some IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))'s/west units to cover the 255 workings/additional metro west services. We also created 3 x 158 2 cars from 2 x 158 3 cars and with more 4 car 158s working Cardiff to Portsmouth services, vice 5 car Turbos which give us more 2 car and 3 car Turbos for metro West. In addition, there are several LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) 165 3 cars now in Central/West to bolster the West Fleet. We will monitor this closely to see how performance is or isn’t affected.

We are continuing to work hard to address reliability issues and to get units stopped back into traffic - one of our Class 150s has been away at Wolverton for some time (150202 for those who collect the numbers!) and we hopoe to see that back very soon. Equally, one of our IETs 800026 has been out of traffice since 2021 after crack issues and a portion of the bodyside was cut away - that should return soon.

I would also add that we have been increasing the number of trains we run on strike days and the ending of the Network Rail action has made a real difference. Trains are now much busier on strike days and we are exploring what else we could run.

Quite possibly but we have to recognise there is an expectation we will develop stronger links into the local communities through our funding which will repay over the longer term.

In simple terms - it must have had a real impact!

We know that the industry suffers when customers don’t have confidence that we can deliver a service that they can rely on, and ultimately that benefits no one in the long run. Customers have to change their plans; staff lose money, and the taxpayer misses out on the revenue those journeys would have created. Despite the challenges, we have been able to progress with some exciting projects in the past 12 months, such as West of England Combined Authority (WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about)) funded enhanced services on Severn Beach Line (commenced December 2021) and additional Bristol – Gloucester and Bristol – Westbury services commenced in May 2023, station projects, and integrated transport solutions. We will continue to deliver the projects we have set out to do, that will improve the railway for our customers.

We want this resolved but in a world where costs and revenue are scrutinised separately it has to be resolved in a way we can afford and that helps us run the railway more effectively for passengers in the future.

I have to agree with regards to lineside vegetation - I have my own photographs of Class 50s from the 1980s with much less vegetation on the lineside.

Equally, we had much more contaminants on the line back then and BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) was allowed to use weedkillers that were close to radioactive (exaggerating for effect ...!) and today the environmental issues have had an impact.