Oh First Great Western, what shall we do?

[whole diary]

[Btline]

Something has to be done! What do you think?

[devon_metro]

Any other company would have the same problems of massive and somewhat stupid franchise payments if they had been the winning bidder, not to forget the appauling infrastructure!

[12hoursunday]

Any other company would have the same problems of massive and somewhat stupid franchise payments if they had been the winning bidder, not to forget the appauling infrastructure!

CORRECT

Some people think it will all change overnight with a change of franchise ownership. How wrong they are. Better the devil you know!

[Tim]

Any other company would have the same problems of massive and somewhat stupid franchise payments if they had been the winning bidder, not to forget the appauling infrastructure!

CORRECT

Some people think it will all change overnight with a change of franchise ownership. How wrong they are. Better the devil you know!

You are right in theory but I am not sure that that is what woudl happen in practice.  If FGW^▸ (First Great Western) got booted off, I doubt any new franchise would be as poorly specified or as greedy on teh part of the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) as the FGW one.  If you think about the connex franchise things did improve (and more money was spent) when SET^▸ (Super Express Train (now IET)) took over.  On teh other hand when GNER^▸ (Great North Eastern Railways) couldn't keep up with teh payments and gave up teh francise was transfered to NX on teh back of a bid with even larger payments to DfT

[Lee]

The main problem (whatever your view of who is to blame) is public perception. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) need to turn things round quickly PR^▸ (Public Relations)-wise and on the ground, otherwise things will just (in the mind of the general public, who vote) get worse for them.

The DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) wont stand back forever, even if ultimately stripping FGW of their franchise would come across as a partially hypocritical act.

[Conner]

If the franchise changed hands nothing would happen. If it split in two, like it used to be, it might change for the better.

[Btline]

I personally believe that removing the First Great Western franchise would be good.

Remember, it was THEIR fault that they introduced an abysmal timetable!!!!!!!!!!

It was THIER fault too much capacity was removed.

It was THEIR fault that they did not revert to the old timetable.

They give a poor customer service- THEIR fault.

I also think that the franchise is too big. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are obviously only interested in the InterCity (minus the Cotswold Line) services and the London commuter services. That's why they axed services on the branch lines and at Ivybridge.

I am fed up of Alison Forster/Andrew Haynes/any other person saying "we are sorry...blah...blah... we are trying very hard to improve x....blah....blah. "

Rubbish- they have had over a year, and several timetable changes. And yet they are still disgraceful. I also cannot believe they are getting rid of the Class 180s. Ok, they were unreliable, but we are talking about 1000s of seats here being magiced away from a company with critical overcrowding, on some services, and some lines with a poor level of service.

As George Osbourne said recently to Gordon Brown: "Forget your 'vision.' Get a grip ... and deliver a basic level of competence!"

[devon_metro]

1)Remember, it was THEIR fault that they introduced an abysmal timetable!!!!!!!!!!

2)It was THIER fault too much capacity was removed.

3)Rubbish- they have had over a year, and several timetable changes. And yet they are still disgraceful. I also cannot believe they are getting rid of the Class 180s. Ok, they were unreliable, but we are talking about 1000s of seats here being magiced away from a company with critical overcrowding, on some services, and some lines with a poor level of service.

1) The D(a)fT specifies the timetable that is to be run and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have actually INCREASED the amount of services that were in the specified timetable, as a matter of fact, FGW are running too many trains and the infrastructure is often able to cope.

2) The D(a)fT specifies who has what stock and it was their decision that a number of 150s/153s/158s were lost at the start of the franchise

3) The 180s are actually being replaced with higher capacity HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) with far more seats. There may be a lack of stock at the moment as the refurbishement is still on going and not all the HSTs are in service.

[dog box]

well said Devon Metro!!! at times people on here need to get a grip of the facts ..and refrain from fgw bashing because its the in thing to do........and whoever said 180s are OK should spend 8 hrs a day on one

[vacman]

Well said old pal! The DFT^▸ (Department for Transport) are the real villians in all this! FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have 12 more units than the franchise spec, are running more trains etc etc, what IS FGW's fault is that fact that they won't publicly criticise NR^» (Network Rail - home page) or the DFT!

[Superwang]

Would Sir Richard Branson do any better if he had the chance to take over the franchise?

Yes he would still have to encounter the same daily operating problems as now but at least moral of the staff would be raised and Sir Richard would listen to his staff for suggestions

Perhaps moral is a good place to start with management talking to its staff who listen to the passengers comments and problems daily..........a few new fresh ideas would help things along to improve matters

After all, no staff no company, but more important the passenger is king and should be treated as such

[Btline]

Would Sir Richard Branson do any better if he had the chance to take over the franchise?

Hmmmmmm, "Virgin Great Western," maybe.

He would certainly order some new trains to replace HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) on long distances. Then the HSTs would relieve overcrowding on local lines.

But would this be good (HSTs are better than those awful Voyagers).

He might do really well (like Virgin West Coast).

Or maybe, he would muck it up even more (like Virgin Cross Country).

Personally, anyone could do better than Worst Late Western!

[Shazz]

Personally i think he did a damn fine job on CC!

Doubling the passenger figures over the length of time he had the franchise i no mean feat...

I'd love to have seen virgin take over FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s routes, but unfortunatly i cant see it happening for the forseable future.

Also i don't see what all the fuss is about voyagers/super voyagers, as from the 7 hour trip i made on 1 a year or so ago they were no worse than a HST^▸ (High Speed Train)!

[Jim]

I find Voyagers horriable - unless the engine in the carrige I am in is switched off - I find 180's a lot better, in comfort - vibrations - noise - legroom.

[devon_metro]

And HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) even better. I couldn't imagine sitting on top of an engine for 5 hours from somewhere like Penzance - Paddington