Paddington delays and "Information"

[whole diary]

[bobm]

Good to see them making more use of the website again. That's the first apology I've seen on there for a while. There was also a news story added last week. Be good if they could add the Summer Sunday Swindon-Weymouth service as a story too.

As an aside on an iPhone Mark Hopeood's letter is chopped off at the bottom and you can't tell who it's from.

[ChrisB]

All basically saying that none was the fault of the operator.

However, I shall be exploring with FGW^▸ (First Great Western) what more / better info could hsve been imparted on a more timely basis. A very good point was made earlier about Reading, for example.

[JayMac]

Mark Hopwood's apology is welcome, as it his desire to identify, "...what more could have be done to prevent these incidents from happening."

I would also suggest that he looks at the information relayed to passengers. This is one area that gets regularly commented on and criticised here on the forum and elsewhere when these major problems occur. These incidents are never going to be totally eradicated, so whilst it's admirable to re-double efforts in that direction, I'd like to see some of that effort directed toward improving the communication to passengers when things do go belly-up. And front-line staff, let's not forget them. They are often left as in the dark as the passengers!

Cancellations for example: They were all there in the 'staff eyes only' Live Departures, but not all listed on FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s website or, it would appear, communicated to Customer Services. I know, I called them regarding the 1330 BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) on Saturday. They assured me it was running. It didn't.

Then there's the contradictory information which I highlighted earlier in this thread. Customer Services told me the front page message was the correct one with AP tickets only being valid either side of a cancelled service and not for the rest of Saturday or all of Sunday as was communicated to passengers looking at FGWs 'Live Updates' page. CS Advisor told me she would bring this to the attention of the relevant person so that the contradictory information was removed. It never was - it stayed there for the rest of Saturday.

Now, I only used the information sources available online and via the 'phone to monitor the situation. These left a lot to be desired. I can only imagine how much worse it was on the ground.

Oh, and the 0845 number to FGW Customer Services gave up on Saturday lunchtime. All you got was a recorded message saying, "Due to unforeseen circumstances we are unable to take your call at present, please try later." Funny that the direct 01 numbers were still working......

[Brucey]

I would also suggest that he looks at the information relayed to passengers. This is one area that gets regularly commented on and criticised here on the forum and elsewhere when these major problems occur. These incidents are never going to be totally eradicated, so whilst it's admirable to re-double efforts in that direction, I'd like to see some of that effort directed toward improving the communication to passengers when things do go belly-up. And front-line staff, let's not forget them. They are often left as in the dark as the passengers!

In the last five weeks, I have made 14 individual journeys with FGW^▸ (First Great Western).  Three of these have experienced a cancellation, two have been delayed.  I thought perhaps my expectation of information relayed to passengers was too high, but fortunately plenty of other people were moaning.

Common complaints at Temple Meads and Bath Spa were: no staff on the platform, no announcements apart from the automated "please wait for further information" and information on the website being different from information on the station CIS^▸ (Customer Information System).  I thought this type of issue had been addressed in the last 24 months, with new customer service training and investment in passenger information systems?!

At Clifton Down, myself and another person tried using the help point but no-one answered!  Intending to travel up to SVB then back to BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains), I ended up walking down to Temple Meads and postponing my SVB trip yet again!

I lost my cool which resulted in me shouting at a dispatcher on Thursday (which is very unlike me) when he came out with stupid comments like "if you weren't standing in the doorway, I might be able to dispatch the train on time" and "there's plenty of room, move along the train" when we were already squashed in like sardines.  He (being the only staff member on the platform) was trying to fit all the Portsmouth AND Weymouth passengers onto a 2 coach 150 despite a Weymouth service (terminating at Westbury) being due within 10 minutes.

As you can probably tell from many of my recent posts, I've not been very impressed with FGW's handling of customer service issues in the last two months.

[Timmer]

Is this an industry wide problem and not just FGW^▸ (First Great Western)? Too much reliance on automated system which are absolutely useless when things go wrong.

We seem to be hearing this everytime there is a problem on the rail network that the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) can't seem to handle things. East Coast took some stick for their handling of things last weekend when the knitting got snagged up.

Maybe having a central control is good at certain times but not at others.

[jdw.wor]

My wife's experience of a weekend trip from Worcester to London confirms further the communication problems that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) seem to have.
She caught yesterday's 08.39 Worcester Shrub Hill to Paddington (via Cheltenham) which left WSH seven late. By Cheltenham it was approx 30 late with announcements onboard saying this was caused by signalling problems in the Kidderminister (sic) area. This apparantly caused a mix of confusion and hilarity. For those who do not know the train goes no where near the Kidderminster signalling area nor is there acrew change which it could have affected.
The service continued late losing a few minutes on the way to Reading. From there, of course, it suffered considerable more delay. My gripe, as an ex BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)) Operational Manager, is that all FGW staff involved knew this train was going to suffer much further delay (the trains were queueing up to be given verbal permission to pass reds) and no one thought to tell the passengers this was the case. Do FGW not think? People are travelling for a purpose and if they are given some semblance of accurate information (even if it is no more than " You will be further delayed") they can try and reduce the negative impact the delay will undoubtedly cause. All they got was the on board staff at regular intervals apologising and announcing that the train was now 40mins then 50mins and so on, late. I suspect they knew that
Unfortunately her return trip shone a poorer light on our railways (accepting that the cause of yesterday's problems was out of Network Rail and FGW's hands.)
Arriving at Paddington at 14.10 the train to Hereford (via Cheltenham) was showing as "being prepared". At 14.15 it came up as departing Platform 2. She went over to the platform, showed her ticket to a member of staff at the gate (she did not go through the ticket barriers) and got on the train. At about 14.25 a few passengers around her became concerned and asked others where the train was going. Answer Swansea!!. By now the Hereford train had gone and when the group spoke to staff they received unconcerned and inaccurate information. One said "if it was on the board it must be right" and another said the next train for Worcester would be the train via Oxford and the bus. My wife phoned me at that time and I told her to get back on the Swansea train and change at Bristol Parkway. She advised the others with her of this but, unfortunately, they were told they could not do this and if they did they would be surcharged. My wife thinks she was the only one to "have the bottle" to ignore this completely wrong information. The only mitigating circumstances in this sorry tale were the two on board staff who inspected her tickets who were both aware of the easement and were polite and helpful.
For those of you still reading, this experience has convinced my wife that she does not want to travel by rail again on her own.

[paul7575]

Is this an industry wide problem and not just FGW^▸ (First Great Western)? Too much reliance on automated system which are absolutely useless when things go wrong.

There are a few reports around that go into some of the reasons for IT systems (such as the PIS^▸ (Passenger Information System)) collapsing when extreme problems arise.  This report is about the last major snow problems but still has some interesting points about what goes wrong behind the scenes...

http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/pidd-interim-report-feb11.pdf

Hope it is of some interest.

Paul

[hornbeam]

Well I was trying to get between Reading and Burnham. These things happen, and cable theft far too often. However, lack of information, rude staff and the general bad attitude from them also happens far too often. I watched them being rude to many people including myself. I asked a question ( after 40mins of no information) in a very polite manor as I appreciate the stress they were under, only to be barked at ^ I HAVE NO INFOMATION^. When I asked him to use his radio to contact control and ask for me and the fellow 30+ passengers waiting, again politely, I was told in a rude manor ^dont tell me how to do my job^. To cap it all off the guy at slough tried charging me extra as my ticket only covered me to Burnham- where no trains were stopping. The quicker we get rid of First the better and I hope they take most of the staff with them. The whole company is rotten as far as I^m concerned.

[jester]

Well that will be brilliant, all the trained First staff will lose their jobs and several thousand new people can step straight into their shoes and do the job a lot better !!!!

[ChrisB]

hmmmm - that training that they've had obviously made little impression on some. If they can't, or are unable to apply that, then yes, they are unfit for their job & should be replaced.

[hornbeam]

I realise what I said may have been a little rude. I know of no other industry where this would be allowed to happen. It^s not the first time I^ve had to deal with rude staff, and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) seem worse than most. There are some good ones, but mostly they really are bad. I have never been made to feel like a customer and at points even a human being! If I was rude to start with id say I get what I deserve but I^m not.

[Electric train]

Looking at the real time PPM^‡(resolve) (Public Performance Measure) on the internal system FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are at 93% for the day and at 95% for the last 2 hours (16:03)

It is SET^▸ (Super Express Train (now IET)) SWT^▸ (South West Trains) FCC^▸ (First Capital Connect) that are having a bad day today all under 85%

[Ollie]

Can you try not to put all First staff in the same basket as people worthy of losing jobs please, hardly a nice thing to say.

Thanks.

[ChrisB]

He did correct himself before you posted, Ollie

[Ollie]

hornbeam did - a little bit (have highlighted the bit stands out in bold)

I realise what I said may have been a little rude. I know of no other industry where this would be allowed to happen. It^s not the first time I^ve had to deal with rude staff, and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) seem worse than most. There are some good ones, but mostly they really are bad. I have never been made to feel like a customer and at points even a human being! If I was rude to start with id say I get what I deserve but I^m not.

jester hasn't and this is what I was mostly referring to:

Well that will be brilliant, all the trained First staff will lose their jobs and several thousand new people can step straight into their shoes and do the job a lot better !!!!