Ox Rail Action passenger group - merged topics

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

Many thanks for that information, Andymills - and a warm welcome to the Coffee Shop forum!

CfN 

[paul7575]

With annual season tickets above ^4,000 a year the current level of service is unacceptable.

Welcome.

But please don't lay it on too thick about your season ticket cost though, because that's quite a bargain. 

You pay about ^18 a day for your journey, about a third of the ^54 that a walk up passenger wanting to travel in the peak would have to pay.   That's about 14p per mile...

Paul

[ellendune]

And don't forget that for a mere 15 miles further the fare from Swindon is twice as much!

[IndustryInsider]

Good to see a little life being breathed back into this action group which had been pretty dormant for the last few years.

Though to just quote a couple of things from your latest update regarding the 07:31 service:

2) Hundreds of passengers at Oxford station are now obliged to wait up to 20 minutes in the cold because this service is now allowed to arrive late every day

3) Everyone pushing and squeezed like sardines trying to get on the train as we are now given 1,5 minutes to all jump on board

4) All passengers now having to wait at the platform generates concentration of people around the footbridge area resulting in people not being able to walk along the platform or doing it beyond the safety yellow lines as only option

^ and all of this for the benefit of a few dozen passengers from Charlbury ^ who, if I may say, already have 2 other services coming from Hereford in the morning that stop there.

Whilst I can understand the annoyance of the lack of punctuality that affects the 07:31 now it starts at Charlbury - I've also noticed that it is regularly 5-10 minutes late, I find it a little ironic and a little selfish that you should actively suggest the reduction of trains from other stations so that you're all OK.  As it was, the 07:31 provided Oxford commuters with a service that they were guaranteed to easily find a seat on, and still do with a fair chance they won't have anyone next to them until after Reading, and to be honest reasons 2, 3, and 4 above are pretty pathetic.  You wait in the concourse if it's cold, and with reasons 3 and 4 that happens every day on pretty much all the other services that don't start at Oxford and hundreds of times throughout the region at other stations.  Compared with the majority of stations on the commutable FGW^▸ (First Great Western) routes, Oxford has it bloody good - just ask 'Johoare'!

Looking forward though, I'm sure that FGW are taking the lack of punctuality of this service quite seriously (and it's right that you highlight it) - trouble is it can't easily start earlier as the stock can't get there as it has to fit in between other trains on the single line, so perhaps the timings of other trains need to be adjusted slightly earlier, or the 07:31 being advertised as a 07:36 departure with the same arrival time as now?

[ChrisB]

That last suggestion would be supported here.

Starting it from Charlbury does remove that nasty crossover from the down sidings that shuts all lines at a very peak time of day, and that itself used to generate delays to this train on occasion!

I don't think the Oxford fare is particularly high either - for an extra 18 minutes, the annual from Banbury is over ^1000 dearer, and as has been noted, the fare from Swindon is nearly double for just a further 15 miles. You need to bear in mind that the Oxford fares, like the cotswold Line fares, have historically been held down *because* the reliability is below par.

Come electrification, I think you can expect fares to rise towards the pence per mile charged elsewhere on the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) routes....so I'm not sure I'd be shouting too loudly right now....

Lastly welcome Andy - do you often use someone elses email address in your profile, rather than your own? :-) - and were you aware than the Manager at Oxford is about to / if not already has moved to Swindon Ops - he's pushing his way up quickly is Matthew Lee....

[Andymills]

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your feedback.
First of all, Andymills is only a nickname, not my real name...

I agree with you in that other routes are more expensive.
I think paying any more than ^4000 to get to work is outrageous, particularly when compared with the poor reliability and punctuality during the year. I hope the relevant action/ passenger groups are fighting for this in those areas.

I am part of OxRail Passenger Group so my responsibility is to defend the quality of service Oxford commuters receive. I have calculated that in 2011 I suffered above 36h delay, and I consider that paying ^4300 for that service is not appropriate.
I have lived in other European countries where those fare levels can take you between cities >200km away.
An 80km journey (Oxford-London) that requires 1h is already generous, to which they have added a 10 minute buffer until they call it officially late^ and to on top of that not being able to make it ^on time^ is ^ in my impression ^ a very poor level of service.
Agree that the blame is to be shared between Network Rail and the Franchise operator, but we, as customers of FGW^▸ (First Great Western), can only push them.

Going back to the 0731 that now starts at Charlbury, our group made it clear that we are not asking FGW to not serve Charlbury passengers (although I would like to bring to your attention that they have 2 other peak services coming from Hereford at around that time stopping there). We are simply asking for the 0731 to arrive and depart ON TIME to/ from Oxford. It is ridiculous that this train now departs systematically late! This obviously doesn^t work and we are trying to find a suitable solution.

You might not agree, this is only my (and my group^s) view of things and we will continue to have regular dialogue with FGW to improve this.

[ChrisB]

Let us know how you get on? Good luck.

For your fares concern, I think you ought to be talking to the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), as the operator has little legroom - see the threrad on Regulated (v unregulated) fares elsewhere. With Oxford & Didcot sharing the same fare levels, I can't see how any adjustment can easily be made to simply the Oxford fare?

btw - have you updated your noticeboard at Oxfotrd station recently? :-)

[Andymills]

Thanks.
Yep, notice board updated last weekend 

[IndustryInsider]

I notice it was bang on time this morning.  Bang on time as per its Working TimeTable departure time of 07:33.  Still, I managed my annual little moan about Working and Public schedules last week...

[ChrisB]

Going back to the 0731 that now starts at Charlbury, our group made it clear that we are not asking FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to not serve Charlbury passengers (although I would like to bring to your attention that they have 2 other peak services coming from Hereford at around that time stopping there). We are simply asking for the 0731 to arrive and depart ON TIME to/ from Oxford. It is ridiculous that this train now departs systematically late! This obviously doesn’t work and we are trying to find a suitable solution.

Just bveen announced on twitter that this train is retimed to 0733 from 20 February. Better chance of getting away on time.

[Andrew1939 from West Oxon]

Just a little counter comment about the change of the 07.31 from Oxford to 07.15 from Charlbury. The main reason for the change was the above average growth in use of Cotswold Line trains especially at peak hour as more and more people have been relocating from areas nearer London to places like West Oxfordshire. This, together with increased use from further west has meant that, people boarding at Charlbury and Hanborough often had little chance of getting a seat to London, although some standing travellers did sometimes get the chance to have a seat from Oxford when CL travellers left a seat at Oxford just before the Oxford boarding travellers try to get on quickly to get a seat. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) has changed the running of this train in response to changes in overall traveller use. Of course I sympathise with the Oxford people who have lost one of their Oxford starters but the ever increasing rail use is creating problems all over the network. Hopefully with extra carriages to be added to some trains this year the overcrowding can beased if not totally resolved.
With regard to prices, I was speaking a little while ago to one new Hanborough/London commuter who had relocated from Wokingham to Witney. He had wanted to move to a larger home to cope with his expanding family and had been commuting from Wokingham to Waterloo for work in the city. He said that he could not afford Wokingham prices and had discovered that West Oxon prices were much lower. He could make a major saving on his mortgage that more than paid for the extra cost of a season ticket for the longer journey (in miles). However he said that the actual commuting journey time from home to work was little different because the FGW service to London has faster trains with fewer stops than from Wokingham. So Oxford commuters although I think you are correct to raise your concerns about reliability and punctuality, you do have some advantahes over other commuters.

[IndustryInsider]

Just bveen announced on twitter that this train is retimed to 0733 from 20 February. Better chance of getting away on time.

Eminently sensible move.  It has around 4 minutes of recovery time between Oxford and Didcot North Junction, so they'd be no need to alter any other timings.  Having an advertised arrival time of 07:31 and a departure time of 07:31 is asking a bit much for a busy train!  I'll let you know if the WTT^▸ (Working Time-Table) departure time stays at 07:33, or now changes to 07:35! 

[Andymills]

Thank you for the info.
Sorry, I don't use twitter... how can I see this announcement and who is it coming from?

[paul7575]

Thank you for the info.
Sorry, I don't use twitter... how can I see this announcement and who is it coming from?

You can 'lurk' on FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s twitter feed without signing up using this if you want:  http://twitter.com/fgw

Paul

[Andymills]

Thank you!
IndustryInsider - would you like to join Oxrail Passenger group?