'BETTER OFF WITHOUT FGW'

[whole diary]

[woody]

 The South West would "very definitely" be a better place if First Great Western was kicked off the railways, the head of the region's transport board said last night.

In the latest high-profile attack on the beleaguered firm, Julian Johnson told MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) he was "very concerned" about FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s performance and he would be "happier" if a different company was in charge of train services in the region.
 http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=181429&command=displayContent&sourceNode=229968&home=yes&more_nodeId1=133174&contentPK=20195511
 What do you think?

[WashuChan]

I don't think kicking them off entirely is the right idea, perhaps the line's they truely *are* screwing up instead or giving them one last chance to improve before kicking them swiftly off the network and finding someone who *can* run a service. But again, with change comes problems, I await the "X Company is rubbish, bring up FGW^▸ (First Great Western)" within the first months of a new company running.

[Lee]

Julian Johnson is the chairman of the South West Regional Assembly's Regional Transport Board and was appearing in front of the Transport Select Committee on the same day as Tom Harris (link below.)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=2132.msg16047#msg16047

[devon_metro]

Under FGW^▸ (First Great Western):
HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) have more seats
fares are lower
trains are being refurbished to much higher standard than Distressex!
there are improved HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) across the region

I honestly think that things are looking much, much better and its a pretty decent service nowadays.

[smithy]

Under FGW^▸ (First Great Western):
HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) have more seats
fares are lower
trains are being refurbished to much higher standard than Distressex!
there are improved HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) across the region

I honestly think that things are looking much, much better and its a pretty decent service nowadays.

cannot comment on the fare issue.

but i agree sets are refurbished to a decent standard shame the 150's are not as good as 158 and 153 but that is probably because it is pullman and not wabtec doing them.
although i would say it is about time dmu services were taken more seriously instead of hss always being the main concern.

[Conner]

Under FGW^▸ (First Great Western):
HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) have more seats
fares are lower
trains are being refurbished to much higher standard than Distressex!
there are improved HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) across the region

I honestly think that things are looking much, much better and its a pretty decent service nowadays.

cannot comment on the fare issue.

but i agree sets are refurbished to a decent standard shame the 150's are not as good as 158 and 153 but that is probably because it is pullman and not wabtec doing them.

The 150's were very extensively refurbished by Wessex and they needed very little work done on them hence the samll scale refurb and if you want cheap fares just come to Cornwall and get a CDR^▸ (Off Peak Day Return [ticket type] (formerly 'Cheap Day')).

[gaf71]

although i would say it is about time dmu services were taken more seriously instead of hss always being the main concern.

This was the main problem when First took the franchise.....they weren't interested in the 'local' services whatsoever. But thanks to a lot of bad press, forums and blogs like this, and MP^▸ (Member of Parliament)'s chunterings, things are changing. I think credit should be given to Mr Haines and his new(ish) team, they certainly do seem to be trying to address the main problems.

[Chris from Nailsea]

What do you think?

As I've posted elsewhere, I am a passenger, I don't work for First Great Western, and I don't think FGW^▸ (First Great Western) losing the franchise is a realistic option. I'm becoming a bit of a fan of Andrew Haines and the team he's brought in: I think he's the right man for the job of turning FGW around, and I'd like to see him being given a chance to produce even better results!

I honestly think that things are looking much, much better and its a pretty decent service nowadays.

I agree, d_m: I'm not half as grumpy on the platforms at Nailsea or BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI)) as I used to be! 

[dog box]

So Julian reckons the South West is gonna be a better place if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) got booted out...never heard of the bloke.
What i want to know is who is going to run it and make the massive improvements Julian wants??

[vacman]

Under FGW^▸ (First Great Western):
HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) have more seats
fares are lower
trains are being refurbished to much higher standard than Distressex!
there are improved HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) across the region

I honestly think that things are looking much, much better and its a pretty decent service nowadays.

cannot comment on the fare issue.

but i agree sets are refurbished to a decent standard shame the 150's are not as good as 158 and 153 but that is probably because it is pullman and not wabtec doing them.
although i would say it is about time dmu services were taken more seriously instead of hss always being the main concern.

Local fares in Devon and Cornwall are FAR cheaper than Wessex days, and bear in mind that more people travel off peak in Devon and Cornwall so the cheap CDR^▸ (Off Peak Day Return [ticket type] (formerly 'Cheap Day'))'s are a real benefit!

[Lee]

For cry sake, they have a clause in the franchise that states that no blame should be given to DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) for franchise problems;

thus suggesting that they either predict the franchise to go balls up or that they are not railway professionals and instead accountants...

Are you referring to a clause in the franchise agreement itself, or one of the other related documents, devon_metro?

So Julian reckons the South West is gonna be a better place if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) got booted out...never heard of the bloke.
What i want to know is who is going to run it and make the massive improvements Julian wants??

If FGW were to be stripped of the franchise, then it would initially be run by the DfT's "Operator Of Last Resort", First Class Partnerships, who previously fulfilled the same role with South Eastern after Connex were stripped of the franchise (link below.)
http://www.firstclasspartnerships.com/operator-of-last-resort.php

First Class Partnerships would also give advice on the issues surrounding any potential removal of the franchise in the first place.

As for potential "massive improvements", I make no judgement as to whether any would be forthcoming or not......

[grahame]

Under FGW^▸ (First Great Western):
HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) have more seats
fares are lower
trains are being refurbished to much higher standard than Distressex!
there are improved HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) across the region

I honestly think that things are looking much, much better and its a pretty decent service nowadays.

It depends on where you look at if from.  Here's my local picture

Under FGW:
60% of trains have been withdrawn
Buy-on-the-day cheapest weekday London fare up from 38 pounds to 115 pounds
Cancellation rate up from 2.7% of trains to 7% of trains
Longest daytime service gap up from 4 hours 23 minutes to 11 hours 54 minutes

When the passenger - the customer - is looking for a reliable service, running at appropriate times, and a price that's reasonable, I think that in our neck of the woods that at present First Great Western appear to have failed on all counts.

P.S.  Gaf71 wrote:
I think credit should be given to Mr Haines and his new(ish) team, they certainly do seem to be trying to address the main problems.

Yes, and Mr Haines specifically mentioned Salisbury to Swindon - the line I refer to - in a speech I heard him mae to representatives from all across the South West at the beginning of this month.  The problem is that we were asked for inputs for the December 2006 timetable, and changes directly opposed to those we asked for were made betwene draft and final. We were lead to believe that a major improvement - back to something closer to an appropriate service - was planned for December 2007, but that melted away. And here we are in 2008 with more promises along the same lines.

I wouldn't want Mr Haines' job - and it's really hard to know just what he can say / do at this point after two previous letdowns from the same company. The words are right, and the ifs and buts Mr Haines and others mention seem honest.  The track record is abysmal, though.  First would do well for the people of Wiltshire who are currently disenfranchised from the train by announcing that they WILL run the service that they currently have in draft from next December, even is it means that they have to spend 1/60000 th (one sixty thousandth) of the money they're paying for the franchise on it.

[vacman]

I appreciate your comments on Melksham and you are right in that instance, but improvements elsware are coming thick and fast, for example, Hayle on the Cornish main line gets a far better service from May, bear in mind that the origional franchise spec was for something like 6 trains per day with a 7 hour gap westbound! from May it has an almost hourly service all day in both directions, it was only two hourly under Wesssex, not to mention that it will have 6 direct services to London per day, about time really as there are two major holiday parks within a mile of the town! Saltash and St Germans are also faring well from may with the same amount of trains as they previously had even though the franchise spec was pathetic, also, both have direct services to London now, and you do see one or two people with through tickets from St Germans/Saltash to London, people who may previously have driven to Plymouth or Liskeard. Personally speaking I don't like HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s stopping at these small stations as it slows journey times down, but it's great for the people in those villiages.

[Lee]

Saltash and St Germans are also faring well from may with the same amount of trains as they previously had even though the franchise spec was pathetic, also, both have direct services to London now, and you do see one or two people with through tickets from St Germans/Saltash to London, people who may previously have driven to Plymouth or Liskeard. Personally speaking I don't like HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s stopping at these small stations as it slows journey times down, but it's great for the people in those villiages.

I do wonder whether the improved services to Saltash are more down to the intense lobbying from Saltash Rail Users Group, rather than simply being an example of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) benevolence.

I agree that FGW listened to the area's passengers in that instance, though. Time for a bit more listening to Melksham/TransWilts customers as well, methinks.

[Lee]

Julian Johnson is the chairman of the South West Regional Assembly's Regional Transport Board and was appearing in front of the Transport Select Committee on the same day as Tom Harris (link below.)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=2132.msg16047#msg16047

More on the SWRA/SWRDA^» (South West Regional Development Agency - about) submissions to the Transport Select Committee (link below.)
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=231771&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231774&contentPK=20203846&folderPk=108867&pNodeId=231888