Ox Rail Action passenger group - merged topics

[whole diary]

[Lee]

Ox Rail Action update :

The new timetable we all pinned our hopes on arrived^ and First Great Western has failed to deliver.

 

OxRail Action has continued to tell FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s new Managing Director, Andrew Haines, of your mounting anger that a service already described as abysmal ^ not just by us. That was London Travelwatch! ^ has got even worse. If you've been reading the Oxford Mail, or listening to BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Oxford, you'll have seen and heard us giving FGW a hard time. And we've been keeping in touch with local MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament).

 

The first response from FGW is attached, in case you didn't see it on the train. FGW is offering compensation for lost time. Please use it and pass it on! We have also been promised a meeting with Andrew Haines soon.

 

We have to keep the pressure on FGW and we need your support. Several of the original organisers of OxRail Action are no longer commuting to London every day, so we need new people to join the organising group and to help spread the word. The time commitment is small; an occasional meeting and a few emails ^ much less than you're losing to FGW delays at the moment! But if we get a reliable service, it will be worth it.

 

So we'd like you to tell your travelling companions about OxRail Action and get them to join the mailing list by sending an email to this address. On Tuesday, January 8 th we'll be meeting in the Waterman's Arms, South Street, Osney Island (see http://oxford.openguides.org/wiki/?Watermans_Arms for a map) - at around 8pm. Do come along.

 

Have a great Christmas ^ and let's make 2008 the year the train takes the strain, not us!
 
OxRail ACtion

[willc]

Report on OxRail Action meeting this week

http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headlines/display.var.1954153.0.commuter_strike_on_agenda.php

[willc]

Report on OxRail Action meeting yesterday with Andrew Haines

http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.1971180.0.commuters_meet_rail_chief.php

[Lee]

From Ox Rail Action :

As you know, following our campaign First Great Western has offered double compensation to season ticket holders for their poor service. Andrew Haines, First Great Western's Chief Operating Officer, has also promised to meet OxRail Action regularly to discuss FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s efforts to improve the service.
 
To prepare for our next meeting with Andrew Haines later this month, we are holding an open meeting in the Waterman's Arms in Osney (map here: http://www.multimap.com/maps/?title=Waterman's%20Arms&hloc=GB^▸ (Great Britain)|OX20BE) to discuss passengers' views and the next steps for our campaign. The meeting will be at 7:45 pm on Tuesday 19th February.
 
Haines has said he realises he cannot take customers for granted and has promised to discuss future fare rises with us. But we will only have an impact if we show that passengers are united, so a healthy presence at the meeting on the 19th is important.
 
The meeting has been designed to make it easy for people returning from London to walk or cycle to the pub (or drive if you want!). It's a pleasant local hostelry with good food and beer, so come along, even if it's only for a few minutes.
 
Also, don't forget to tell your fellow travellers about the meeting and encourage them to register with our email list by sending an email so saveourtrains(at)googlemail(dot)com

[Lee]

From Ox Rail Action :

Just a reminder that we are meeting with Andrew Haines later this month to raise concerns about First Great Western's service between Oxford and London.
 
We are holding an open meeting tomorrow evening (Tuesday 19th February) in the Waterman's Arms in Osney to discuss your views and what we raise in our meeting with Andrew Haines. The meeting will be at 7:45 pm.
 
We can only hope to have our voice heard if we have strong support and OxRail Action is seen as truly representing a large number of you. That's why it's important to come along tomorrow night. You don't have to stay long - and we'll try to keep the meeting short anyway! - but turning up will show your support.
 
The meeting has been designed to make it easy for people returning from London to walk or cycle to the pub (or drive if you want!). It's a pleasant local hostelry with good food and beer, so come along, even if it's only for a few minutes.
 
Also, don't forget to tell your fellow travellers about the meeting and encourage them to register with our email list by sending an email so saveourtrains[at]googlemail[dot]com

[Lee]

Can be found in the link below.
http://oxrailaction.wordpress.com/2008/03/08/this-is-a-trial/

[Lee]

From Ox Rail Action :

Just a reminder that we are meeting with Andrew Haines later this month to raise concerns about First Great Western's service between Oxford and London.
 
We are holding an open meeting tomorrow evening (Tuesday 19th February) in the Waterman's Arms in Osney to discuss your views and what we raise in our meeting with Andrew Haines. The meeting will be at 7:45 pm.

Minutes from this meeting can be found in the link below.
http://oxrailaction.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/oxrail-action-meeting-19-feb-shortened-minutes.doc

[Lee]

Meeting minutes including some interesting info on future FGW^▸ (First Great Western) plans (link below.)
http://oxrailaction.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/meeting-of-oxrail-and-fgw-27-2-08.doc

[jane s]

Hi, Please can you summarise - I read this at work & this website is barred!

[Lee]

Hi, Please can you summarise - I read this at work & this website is barred!

MEETING OF OXRAIL AND FGW^▸ (First Great Western): 27TH FEBRUARY 2008

Present:
FGW: Andrew Haines, Mark Hopwood, Mike Hogg, Richard Rowland, Sue Evans
ORA: Zahra Akkerhuys, Paul Mylrea, Simon Eaton, Stanley Skoglund, Carol Sweetenham

Update and announcement of 26th February

Ah explained the background to the announcement of 26th February. Cancellations had been a particular issue; delays less so (although an issue for the West Country and Oxford). The misreporting issue had been raised by FGW itself as soon as discovered: it was ^poor practice^ which had now been ended, not a deliberate attempt to mislead.

FGW had agreed three things with DfT^» (Department for Transport - about):  (i) that cancellations were at an unacceptable level, (ii) a remedial plan and (iii) a further passenger dividend for under-performance. The remedial plan included recruitment of additional staff, a new HST^▸ (High Speed Train) set in 2009 and in the interim retention of 3 Adelantes.

The ^29m package included the ^4m previously allocated to doubling compensation for performance in 2008. The other ^25m was new money. This was split between:
An additional ^7m on customer information
An additional ^5m on refurbishing Turbos
^4m on customer service training, prioritising gateline staff
^2m on compensation of 7.5% if needed for 2009
^6m on the Cardiff-Portsmouth route
Money towards additional discount fares

2. Operating problems from Oxford

Mark Hopwood explained that 100 additional train crew were being recruited and training to convert Turbo staff to HST working was nearing completion. FGW would restrict use of Turbos where HSTs were available but could not be staffed.

Mike Hogg had been reviewing operating practices at Oxford, where FGW acknowledge problems with punctuality persist. FGW would:
by 5 April raise speed in the sidings from 5mph to 15mph: this would make it faster to transfer trains across lines;
a new siding on platform 2
by the end of March opening the down freight line to passenger traffic.
By the end of the year they hoped to carry out signalling work to separate Bicester traffic from other station traffice, and to reintroduce permissive working (i.e. two trains being allowed on one platform, not permitted since 1999).

Mark Hopwood added that:
it remained a long-term aim to double the existing single track Cotswold line. In the short term he was looking at changing the operating of the 5.50 a.m. from Moreton;
FGW was also looking at deprioritising freight at morning and evening peak.
ORA commented that it was encouraging to hear about focused short term measures. However there were regular issues with the punctuality of the 7.30 a.m. and the 8.07 a.m., both of which were currently on average 15 minutes late. FGW said that the delay to the 7.30 was a knock-on of it ceasing to stop at Didcot and therefore catching up with a preceding slow service. They agreed to look at both.

ORA raised the issue of quality and reliability of refurbished HST stock. AH explained that FGW had refurbished 53 sets in 20 months and he recognised this had had some effect on quality, e.g. taps working. However reliability was satisfactory.

AH asked for views from ORA on a further proposed change to Oxford station. This would involve losing car parking space in exchange for a new bay platform at Oxford which would be used by stopping services. This was scheduled for 2011. He would however welcome feedback from Oxford commuters on whether the loss of some car parking space was a price worth paying for greater punctuality.
Action: ORA to feed back views.

Oxford station

The treble provision of information screens remained confusing. It would not change for at least a year: a tender was about to be let for a complete overhaul of info systems. In the meantime the plasma screens were the most reliable.

The refurbishment would be finished in around two months. The final stage was to instal an M&S store on the site of the old toilets, and to move the AMT bar a few feet.

Timetable changes

ORA said that, whilst they recognised the May changes were very minor, they were surprised not to have been consulted or even alerted. FGW said they would do so in future.

FGW said that they were starting to consider the December timetable. ORA asked to be fully involved in the process as on previous occasions.
 
Role of ORA

AH agreed that:
ORA should send a representative to the customer panel
ORA should have its own poster site in Oxford station
ORA would receive written permission to leaflet Oxford station, though this would be withdrawn if leaflets were defamatory or misleading about FGW.

AH asked whether ORA would be willing to work with FGW on an information session at Oxford station.
Action: ORA to consider and respond.

Date of next meeting

ORA said they were compiling a report on punctuality which they would present at the next meeting. Both sides agreed this should be in six weeks^ time, in mid-April.
Action: FGW to trawl for dates.

ORA
February 2008

[Lee]

OxRail Action met Andrew Haines, Richard Rowland, Richard Cole (NR^» (Network Rail - home page)) and Dylan Bowen (NR) to discuss the proposed improvements between Didcot and Oxford, the impact on commuters of the redevelopment of Reading station starting in 2010, and Crossrail (link below.)
http://oxrailaction.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/08-08-06-meeting-of-oxrail-fgw-nr.pdf

[Btline]

http://oxrailaction.wordpress.com/

They've been rather quiet recently. Esp when you consider the proposals for the station and new lines etc.

[IndustryInsider]

I think it's due to a combination of the 'driving force' behind the group leaving the area, and the fact that Oxford-London commuters have never been so well served.

[ChrisB]

Yup - I'm even getting spam through their email newsletter now.

[Andymills]

Hello everyone,

Just to let Oxford commuters know of the existence of a group called OxRail Passenger Group.
Please see website: http://oxrailpassengergroup.wordpress.com/

OxRail Passenger Group was founded a few years ago, under the name of OxRail Action Group.

On 10 December 2006 First Great Western introduced a new timetable for their train services, and the quality of life of Oxford^s commuters took a dramatic turn for the worse. The new timetable reduced the number of fast direct services from Oxford to London in the crucial 06:00 to 08:00 period from 6 to 3. And to make matters worse the 3 cancelled services used to start empty at Oxford. Overnight the carrying capacity of the service was reduced by 80%, meaning a significant number of people had to stand all the way from Oxford to London.

Out of this chaos, the OxRailAction campaign was born. It started as a petition signed by over 250 people, which was then formed into a fully fledged campaign. The aim was to restore the previous capacity of fast direct train services from Oxford to London in the crucial period between 0600 and 0800.

In the last couple of years frequency of services has been significantly improved but reliability and punctuality of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) services from London Paddington to Oxford became the main issue of concern of this group.

Tired of suffering hours of delay each year, anxious about having an important appointment in the morning not knowing at what time the train will get you there, persistent signaling and train faults, radio silence from train manager or inconsistent messages as to the reason of the delay^ With annual season tickets above 4,000^ a year the current level of service is unacceptable.

Through regular dialogue with both FGW and Network Rail, this group of commuters is seriously lobbying for performance, reliability and punctuality improvements.

Please join us in this effort, we need you!
http://oxrailpassengergroup.wordpress.com/