We received a similiar tip - off last December / January , around the time of the temporary bustitution of the Looe Valley and St Ives branchlines due to "a shortage of serviceable trains" (in fact , they had been nicked by Andrew Griffiths in order to "safeguard" Bristol services.)
Some more on the Looe & St. Ive's Branch Closures
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=111I notice this is not posted on the front page like the last letter was...
Rail replacement transport on the Looe Valley and St Ives branchlines.Below is a letter from Glenda Lamont, Customer Services Director, apologising for the withdrawal of the train service and replacement road transport on the Looe Valley and St Ives branchline.
Dear Customer,
I regret to inform you that services on this branchline will be replaced by road transport up to and including Friday 12 january.
We have had to withdraw train services on this line due to a shortage of serviceable trains.
I would like to apologise for the fact that we have had to introduce this alternative service. I assure you that this issue is receiving our urgent attention and that customers will see a continual improvement in the provision of First Great Western services.
Glenda Lamont
Customer Services Director
Anyone have any sense of their long-term plan?
To save money.
Quote from elsewhere:
"Simply look at the buses parked outside the stations as the 158s go to store at Eastleigh. I also refer you to Mr. Armitt's public statement made to the Guardian just before Christmas, made at the same time as we were being told to plan in buses on certain routes. This was also mentioned by the current
DfT» head of the Rail Department.
The bus replacement started last Thursday. The
GW▸ Franchise is seen as the testbed for all the others. It also suits the Governments aim in curbing the leasing companies if they can force their assets into periods of non-earning storage.
Some 60 lines across the
UK▸ were seen as prime candidates for trains being replaced by buses. These 60 routes include Exmouth-Barnstaple via Exeter, The Looe Branch, Gunnislake Branch, Newquay Branch and even the St. Ives Branch (This last one even in Winter is well loaded). It is simple economics according to the Whitehall crowd. Even with packed trains every day, buses and even taxis are cheaper in terms of pounds spent. No train leases to pay, no track to maintain (and repair after flooding), less staff to employ, less safety regulation to enforce, and no risk to Labour seats, as most of the areas affected have no Labour
MPs▸ .
Either someone else pays or it shuts.
It is then cheaper to subsidise buses for a year or two, until ridership on those becomes so low, that they too can be withdrawn on the grounds of no demand."
So there you have it. Of course it doesn't have to be like this. In British Rail days the annual rail subsidy was approximately ^1 billion but since privatisation this has soared to somewhere in the region of ^5 billion. Hardly surprising really when you split one organisation (
BR▸ ) into 100 pieces. In a nutshell the current organisation of the railways is expensive to run and always will be. What the politicians need to be doing is coming up with an alternative organisation that costs less money to run. If they could do that then all the threatened lines could probably stay open. Instead they've decided to try close some lines and leave the expensive-to-run organisation in place. Welcome to Britain.
no they really are that stupid, they bid far too much for the franchise and are now panicking. that wasn't from customer services, it was from management.
I know this isnt the quiz section , but here's a question for you all :
Who said the following in November 2005?
"We^ve put in a stunning bid for Greater Western. I^d be gobsmacked if we don^t win it, but I guess somebody might have come in with a crazy bid."
