THANK YOU, Ben ...

[whole diary]

[grahame]

A big "Thank you" to Ben Rule - and the team in Swindon backing him up - for all their answers this evening.  Although Ben's only been with us for a limited period, he's done a sterling job of answering questions, and I celebrate that the directors of First Great Western are here and available to passengers to help discuss, explain and clarify the company's products / services / position.

P.S. And, Ben, welcome to the "Frequent Posters" club in record time!  Please do come back and visit us - and feel free to pass on follow ups and other interesting snippets via your colleagues.  First Great Western feels - where I live - like a very different company to the one we knew in the last decade, and I look forward to others seeing changes of the same positive magnitude with Electric trains, SETs^▸ (Super Express Train (now IET)) and the rest.



Edit note: Minor typos in last sentence corrected, to improve clarity. CfN.

[broadgage]

Agree a most interesting evening and I thank Ben for agreeing to take part.

As I have stated previously I have reservations about the new trains, but just to demonstrate that I don't JUST whinge, I agree that there is a lot to be proud of in FGW^▸ (First Great Western), in particular-

I am a great fan of the Pullman services and until a year ago was a fairly regular customer. A true fine dining experience, and AFAIK^▸ (as far as I know) now the only proper silver service restaurant on any UK^▸ (United Kingdom) train.

The first class lounge at Paddington is very enjoyable, and again I was a regular customer until a year ago.

And as regards FGW customer facing staff, in general they seem to me to set a far higher standard than those of certain other TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company). Improvement is always possible, but most FGW staff are more polite and better informed than those of other operators.

[Chris from Nailsea]

I met Ben Rule at the TravelWatch SouthWest meeting in Taunton yesterday, and passed on your collective thanks to him for making this particular event such a success.

Ben was delighted with the very positive reaction to his 'on-line meet the director' session (which apparently he enjoyed as much as we did!) and he then suggested that I/we should arrange another such event.

I shall therefore look into setting up another opportunity for us to engage with GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) directors directly - watch this space for further developments!

[grahame]

As you gather, we met Ben "IRL" (In real life) yesterday) ... a very interesting talk; here are the notes I made, E&OE!

20.9.15 - 1.4.19 + 1 up to 1 year possible extension
^68 million premium aims
1. buid on experinace
2. Work in parnership
3. coming infractsruce station and stock in major timetable changes 5.17 and 12.18 - major capacity iprovement

New trains
More direct trains to Devon / Cornwall
more local seats

SLC1 as at present
5.17 SLC2 - some cascade benefits
12.18 SLC3 - faster journeys more seats

"Generally" run 2x5 cars as 10.  May be run as 5 "but only at edges"

May 17 - addintional 06:37 ex PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) to the South West
Dec 18 - 2 hourly stopper to Exeter

"enhanced services TW and Paignton secured"
Marsh Barton and Edginswell support / new stations
143 and 153 to leave by December 2018 but signifcantly more vehicles

Other pland
Sleeper
Add a cl 57 for relibiality
Canopy at PNZ on sleeper platform
Enhanced facilites PNZ, TRU, PAD
Overhaul / upgrade

Brand - symbolise high standards and crysatlise jouney back to greatness

Station invers
^50m in frahcnise
^2.3m community fund

Very clearly my rough notes / interpretation on what Ben said - my spelling mistakes, his slides were right - and my choice of what I managed to note down!

[John R]

Thanks for the notes Grahame.

So, does the comment about enhanced services for TW secured mean a) the existing service is now secured, or b) the lengthening of rolling stock from May 17, or c) an increased frequency?