FGW 1st Class - ongoing discussion of the benefits and their apparent reduction

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

More worryingly I have seen inconsistent information on this on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Twitter feed - one saying that refunds would be paid to 1st class season ticket holders in these circumstances, another saying only if you had a reservation but were unable to use it because the seat was taken.

I'd be interested to know how refunds are going to work in these circumstances, where 1st class ticket holders have been unable to get a seat and the TM^‡(resolve) is unable/disinclined/can't be bothered  to travel through the train to check tickets?

None of these issues (along with others ad nauseam) seem to have been considered in the race to convert 1st class to standard class.

[NickB]

I'm having no problem securing refunds, but I'd prefer a seat.

Customer Charter states:
"If you hold a First Class ticket and there are no seats available we will offer compensation in
National Rail Travel Vouchers or as an e-voucher credit to your online FGW^▸ (First Great Western) account, based
on the cost of your ticket. This will be the difference between the corresponding First and
Standard Class ticket and for Season Ticket holders we will work out the proportional daily
rate* for the affected journey. To claim please contact our Customer Relations team with your
journey details and your original ticket / Season Ticket details."

So no mention of seat reservations at all there.  FGW have in the past tried different types of exclusions such as 'does not apply to Turbos' but that wording was removed in the Oct13 version.

[broadgage]

I have only claimed once recently and received a prompt refund of the difference between first and standard.
This was on an afternoon service from Paddington, and despite the downgraded first class I was rather surprised that it was full.

[johoare]

I think the 7.59 Maidenhead to Paddington this morning must have been one of the services with reduced First Class judging by the amount of people without seats in First Class (after Maidenhead)

[John R]

1730 Swindon to Taunton had 1.5 FC^‡(resolve) tonight. Standard appeared rammed, possibly because of a rugby match in Bath this evening.

It was notable for the 4 beer swigging men shouting in the vestibule between the two FC coaches. (Though the TM^‡(resolve) did kick them out after I asked him to, to be fair.)

And the rest of the FC accommodation appeared to have a high proportion of passengers who didn't appear consistent with the normal type of passenger I see on the 1730. I appreciate that one must be careful not to judge individuals by how they look, but the sheer volume on this service made me suspect that some may not have held first class tickets. TM walked through first after Chippenham, but didn't do a ticket check.

So, what happened to the promise that once reduced to 1.5 vehicles, there would be more effort to keep the remaining accommodation solely for those who have paid for the enhanced amenity of first? (Or did I dream that bit?) 

[grahame]

The 17:30 from Paddington (an hour behind) was also very busy and picked up a lot of custom - especially at Chippenham.  And - off to Rugby - the look and feel of those customers was rather different - leisure as opposed to business tonight.   I don't know what First / Standard mix you would expect; I know there are some folks who splash out when they go out for the night, and that may include a bit more space when travelling.   I went "scruff clad" to Lancaster 2 weekends ago, but chose to go first class on the way up.    You're very likely right, John, that some were in first with standard tickets tonight, as I know it's not uncommon. But I wouldn't want to make a sweeping generalisation.

So, what happened to the promise that once reduced to 1.5 vehicles, there would be more effort to keep the remaining accommodation solely for those who have paid for the enhanced amenity of first? (Or did I dream that bit?)

Did they say "more effort" as you suggest ... or did they say "check every train"?   "More" could be up from 30% to 60% of journeys checked.

There has been, and remain, revenue protection issues from my journey tonight. But there also was extra revenue collection in place at Chippenham at least, and there are more steps I've reported on this week.   Work in progress, and perhaps an evening when the importance was highlighted.

[John R]

An interesting configuration tonight on the 1733 Swindon to Taunton. 7 x standard class, 1 x first class. No buffet car. (Two trolleys, one for each class.)

Result was that one of the standard class vehicles was reserved for first class passengers. From what I can gather earlier in the journey this resulted in irate first class pax upset at having to sit in standard, and irate standard class pax having to stand when there was a standard vehicle with relatively few people in it. Though it did mean that the customer host knew which pax she could serve, and probably more importantly that every first class passenger at least got a seat.

But it made me wonder, would 1st class ticket holders be entitled to a refund if they were sitting in a vehicle that was standard configuration but had been "marked up" to first class?   

[bobm]

Our esteemed colleague Bignosemac caught this set on its previous working from Cardiff where, despite numerous announcements from the Train Manager, there was still one person a bit miffed about the lack of coffee.

It was one of those days as far as set allocations went with one with no kitchen being allocated to one of the up WoE breakfast trains and the mid morning South Wales brunch train.

[JayMac]

I did say to bobm, I wonder if this set (the 1355 from Cardiff) would work the 1633 (vice 1630) PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-TAU^» (Taunton - next trains) later in the afternoon. Seems my prediction was right.

Glad to hear that they got a couple of trolleys on board for the peak Down service. There was diddly on the Up journey. Was the trolley in Standard Class static with announcements? I can't imagine it would have been easy to pass through the train.

It was a 2+7 set. 6x STD and 1x 1ST. First time in all my travels with FGW^▸ (First Great Western) that a set has not had a buffet in the consist. There are times when the buffet has been closed, but never completely missing!

[John R]

The standard trolley was static in A, with announcements made accordingly.  I hadn't spotted that the set was one short, which makes it clearer why standard pax would have been annoyed, since effectively the reduction in accommodation was translated from first into standard.

[BBM]

The 1706 PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains)-BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) tonight had 7 Standard coaches and just 1 First Class. I can't remember the last time (apart from Christmas Eve) when there was so much available space in Standard, and even more remarkable when you consider it's half-term week! (It did have a micro-buffet.)

[JayMac]

Not sure how long it's been there, but there is a short video on the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website of the refurbished 1st Class:
https://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Your-journey/On-board/First-class

Direct youtube link to the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kB4ZtBzOFfc#t=18

[Oxonhutch]

Well it^s finally happened before the start of the early morning rush. 1A02 BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) had only one first class carriage which was more than half full by Didcot.  I got a seat in an unused Chippenham reservation.  After Reading it was full and after Slough the few regular pick-ups from there could not get a seat.  The TM^‡(resolve) made an apology over the PA^▸ (Public Address) and invited the standing first class passengers to take a seat in the free seats that were available in standard. She further advised that the buffet attendant would help her in marking the tickets for the purpose of obtaining a refund.

 ^I am sorry.^ she said, ^I know this is not how you intended [read: or paid] to travel today^. The pendulum appears to be over swinging.

[IndustryInsider]

Well it^s finally happened before the start of the early morning rush. 1A02 BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains) to PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) had only one first class carriage which was more than half full by Didcot.  I got a seat in an unused Chippenham reservation.  After Reading it was full and after Slough the few regular pick-ups from there could not get a seat.  The TM^‡(resolve) made an apology over the PA^▸ (Public Address) and invited the standing first class passengers to take a seat in the free seats that were available in standard. She further advised that the buffet attendant would help her in marking the tickets for the purpose of obtaining a refund.

 ^I am sorry.^ she said, ^I know this is not how you intended [read: or paid] to travel today^. The pendulum appears to be over swinging.

Would you say that one-and-a-half carriages of 1st Class would be adequate for this train though?  That is what the formation will be for all trains when the refurbishment program is complete, not just the one carriage.

[NickB]

As an aside, due to earlier delays at Maidenhead today, we managed to fill 2.5 carriages + standing today.
TM^‡(resolve) came through and threw out some interlopers but all 2.5 were still heavily standing.  I had counted >100 looking to join the 1st Class section on the platform.