FGW named Rail Business of the Year in 2015 and subsequent ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

No - no one is going to pay for something they're not going to get....or get something different from what they're expecting to purchae

[TeaStew]

That is what I was aiming to intimate through the medium of irony. As it happens I agree with you, I will try to keep such outbursts to "the lighter side" in future.

[TaplowGreen]

In which case, neither should they have to take the flack at all for NR^» (Network Rail - home page)'s infrastructure failures or DfTs^» (Department for Transport - about) incompetence....but they do. So I'm adding my name to others giving them so leeway in taking this credit....

Interesting change of tack from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) on this subject on their Twitter feed - whereas whenever there were questions along the lines of "when are the improvements coming?" there were soothing noises about massive investment and new trains running in 2017, questions are now re-tweeted to NR with a comment along the lines of "NR can tell you about progress on electrification"...............putting a bit of distance between themselves in view of what appears to be an inevitable lengthy delay/overspend?

[grahame]

I noted this old topic being viewed in my logs - and this post struck me as worth "bumping" and asking "where are we now?"

If I thought the company was useless, I would happily say so.  I've worked for two other TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) in my time on the railway and I know people aren't going to believe it when I say so, but FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have honestly got there heads screwed on, it's just a shame they haven't got a reliable infrastructure to run and the full support of the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about).
The other TOCs I worked for were happy to sit back and just run the franchise meeting the bare minimum requirements set down by the DfT, the only effort they made was to continually cut costs.  We watched as the good parts of the service were slowly axed, the state of the trains declined and morale plummeted. 
I've had former colleagues travel down to visit and they'll tell you my former TOC and FGW are worlds apart. 
Once again, if I thought the company was rubbish I'd happily tell you exactly the reasons why.  The only criticsim I have of FGW is that they could sometimes do with listening to suggestions from staff on the frontline a bit more when it comes to service disruption.

I'll start - actually, I don't think they're useless / rubbish - but they have allowed themselves to slip back recently, and at a time when external issues such as delayed electrification and so delayed cascades, coupled with new contracts meaning that trains have to be cascaded out, this slippage is noticed two times over.

Living and using a station that's been the fastest growing in England (percentage wise over the last 4 years) but has suffered (I believe) the highest cancellation rate of any GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) station over recent months, the slippage is noticed here 3 times over.

[broadgage]

I do not think that GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) are "rubbish" but I feel that they could do a lot better.

As I have said previously, I have considerable misgivings about the design of the new DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) about to enter service. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) as they were known at the time, claimed that they had input into the design, so responsibility for mainly short units, for no buffet, and for largely airline seating, must rest largely with FGW, now GWR.

And I find it hard to forgive Mark Hopwood for stating in public that DMUs with underfloor engines were not suited or wanted on inter city routes. So what are we getting ? DMUs with underfloor engines ! great !

GWR have not IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) responded as well as they should have done to the various network rail failures. Co-operation with bus operators is very lacking, unforgiveable when they are both First group companies.

The Pullman restaurants are the main redeeming feature of GWR in my view, though it remains to be seen how well that will work with the downgrade to DMU operation.

And for the far West routes where it was originally proposed to retain proper inter city trains, another batch of DMUs are on order, "custom designed for longer distances" but still without a buffet.

[ChrisB]

The DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) will have told Mark H what he could have. He had zero choice, without paying astronomically just to keep you & a few others happy

And boy, you do need to get over that buffet fixation.

[TaplowGreen]

Useless/Rubbish are of course highly subjective terms.

If however FGW^▸ (First Great Western)/GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) were to be considered for Rail Business of the Year in the current climate, it would be against the background of (to name but a few);

-20% of LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) services late
-What must be record numbers of short formed services due to "more trains than usual needing repairs" (the word "usual" implying that this doesn't happen/won't happen for long)
-Weekend travel becoming a lottery across the region depending on whether or not enough drivers/Guards are available, with the same problem increasingly creeping into weekday services
-Genuinely appalling levels of customer service, ongoing for a year now, where customers wait months for replies to basic correspondence, complaints, and compensation.
- Increasing levels of ticket office closure and malfunctioning TVMs^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine)
- Self evident lack of management/leadership throughout the whole organisation

.................so if FGW/GWR win it again this year, God knows how bad the competition must be.

[Chris from Nailsea]

.................so if FGW^▸ (First Great Western)/GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) win it again this year, God knows how bad the competition must be.

Well, they're up against Southern, for example. 

[TaplowGreen]

.................so if FGW^▸ (First Great Western)/GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) win it again this year, God knows how bad the competition must be.

Well, they're up against Southern, for example. 

Southern are up against ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about).

Maybe Least Worst Rail Business of the Year would be a more realistic aspiration? And let customers have a say in who "wins".