Petition to get FGW removed from the Franchise

[whole diary]

[vacman]

Central cancelled PLENTY of trains because of staffing issues! There are TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) that are worse than FGW^▸ (First Great Western), National express East Coast are usually the only company below FGW for performance!

I doubt theres any figures out for National Express East Coast yet!

Really I was referring to GNER^▸ (Great North Eastern Railways) who have recently been taken over by NX!

[Timmer]

Stagecoach?

SWT^▸ (South West Trains): Handing back perfectly good 442 units (effectively a 3rd rail unit version of the HST^▸ (High Speed Train)), and cascading 3+2 seating commuter units onto Portsmouth to London mainline expresses, so that the express trains from the Portsmouth routes could be used to on the Weymouth line, in order to save a bit of money.

With you on that one. 442s were great units because they were MK3 rolling stock. Great shame they were pulled off the Weymouth-Waterloo service which as you say led to 450 commuter stock being used on Portsmouth-London services.

[Doctor Gideon Ceefax]

But at least OTHER TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s including First ScotRail etc, are running most of their services correctly, and not cancelling them like flies around a jam jar
[/quote]

As another poster as pointed out, Central trains and to a lesser degree Silverlink and Midland Mainline have done exactly just that. Great Western certainly is nowhere near perfect, but it's a myth that other operators are much better.

[swlines]

Stagecoach?

SWT^▸ (South West Trains): Handing back perfectly good 442 units (effectively a 3rd rail unit version of the HST^▸ (High Speed Train)), and cascading 3+2 seating commuter units onto Portsmouth to London mainline expresses, so that the express trains from the Portsmouth routes could be used to on the Weymouth line, in order to save a bit of money.

I will not defend SWT on this one ... the 444s were procured on the basis that when Weymouth 2tph happened, the 442s would still be in service - and that alternative stock would have been searched for when the time for renewal occured. FWIW^▸ (for what it's worth), it goes to show that Southern are keeping the current traction motors and only replacing one connector that old technology WORKS.

East Midlands Trains: Removal of buffet cars, replacing HST's on London to Sheffield services with Voyager derivative trains.

Things aren't always as perfect as they might seem!

That I will defend. EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about) is very much a different market to say, NXEC^▸ (National Express East Coast) or FGW^▸ (First Great Western). While they may have HST stock, they also have DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit). Meridians accelerate faster than HSTs, and as such are better equipped for services that go longer distance as it aids cutting journey times. The HSTs will be put on shorter distance services, such as Nottingham - which do not require buffets as much as Sheffields do. The replacement for the buffet car being removed is a trolley, and there is a galley being fitted to an FO at the opposite end to each rake (TGS being the other end). ATM^‡(resolve) though I believe they have run into problems with stock availability to do this, oh and that age old money.