At TravelWatch SouthWest yesterday, I listened to a very upbeat talk from Anthony Smith, Chief Executive of Passenger Focus.
Passenger Focus states on its web site:
We are an independent public body set up by the Government to protect the interests of Britain's rail passengers.And Anthony talked about how they're doing this - showed us some impressive survery results, which I applaud. However ... their surveys and the data that they collect is taken on-train, and so it is strictly - as it says - a
Rail Passenger survey, and it takes no account at all of former customers who have been priced off the trains, or have had services withdrawn from under their feet so that they are no longer rail passengers. In my view, a survey would be of far more use in helping Government, Network Rail and Train Operating Companaies adjust and plan for the future is it was a
Rail Travel survey that took into aproproiate account all the groups, and did not arbitarily exclude those people who are so pi**ed off with the trains that they don't use them any more, and that it did not arbitarily abandon passengers that the Department for Transport and the Train Operating Companies have decided it's no longer worth serving. And in my view, a survey which excludes these groups is flawed.
Is the group I talk about a small one?
No - it isn't. Have a look at this chart.
This is one of Anthony's own diagrams, showing custromer satifaction levels this spring. The
FGW▸ line at the bottom is for the whole franchise area, and the upper lines are the old consituent parts for the same period.
It's noticable that the main factors of concern on long distance expresses are punctuality / reliability, followed by price - that accounts for nearly 4 out of 5. But in the old Wessex area, you're looking at different factors such as "is there room to get on the train" (28%), and "frequency of trains" (18%). That latter, remember, is heavily skewed by the fact that (as far as I can see) no account what so even is taken in the surveys of the people who would travel by rail if First Great Western (in this case) actually provided an appropriate service.
I asked Anthony about the basis of PassengerFocus and its surveys - and asked wether it should consider travellers as a whole rather than the narrower remit it has. I was disappointed that he considered my question an "astonishing" one, and that after the event one of his staff told me that he felt my question was a personal attack. It wasn't; rather, I suspect I hit a raw nerve and was very much closer to the truth of a flaw in the structure of the surveys than PassengerFocus would like to admit.
Here are two quotes (from the past) from PassengerFocus's local representative which - in my view - show the unfortunate limits of their remit and activity.
The current service level and reliability of FGW services across the region has not been acceptable since the introduction of the new timetable on the 10 December 2006. I can assure you that Passenger Focus has been dealing with this issue in a very pro-active way and will continue to do so until such time as we receive the levels of service as outlined in the current franchise agreement.
My comment - PassengerFocus does not question the level of service in the franchise agreement ... so it is truely the PASSENGER's representative and NOT the representative of those who WANT to travel but are prevented from doing so by the
DfT» (who, I think, fund PassengerFocus) of the train operator.
I do sense that there is sympathy for your case in respect of the proposed allocated timings which are seen as being unrealistic. We'll see if we can change that view.
This was in answer to the commonly held view that - with a limited service of 2 trains a day - 06:15 out (first train) and 20:20 back (second train) were unrealistic. I don't know how much of a role PassengerFocus played in getting the view changed, by clearly someone convinced the DfT, contrary to input from WANT TO TRAVLLers, that the times were appropriate, and that 20:20 arrival has been added in to the latest version of SLC2 (Franchise specification) ("Must arrive in Swindon between 20:00 and 20:30" as I recall).
I would like to make an unreserved apology to the people of PassengerFocus if they felt that my asking of the question was a personal attack on any of them. That was not my intent - I'm very sorry if it came across that way. What I am questioning is the basis on which their work and surveys are undertaken, in that they do not appear to be watertight, but rather include a massive exclusion that the DfT and FGW can (and have) walked right through, to the detriment of the people who would dearly like to use a train service.
Conclusion to the question in my subject line. PassengerFocus probably are doing a good job looking after all the people they're mandated to look after - but their mandate is flawed. I look forward to working closely and positively with them in the future, once we have an appropriate level of service again on the TransWilts line ...
