Hi, Jim .. and welcome.  Good to spot the errors, but let us know the good aspects too, eh 

Some notes on the agreement, and how it relates to www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop

1. Opinions are welcome, whether or not the operators of the board share them, but information which you know to be incorrect (or is misleading) is not.  Personal attacks on people / individuals are unacceptable and the moderators of the board will take appropriate action against anyone who violates these rules ... however,  we have a gentle moderation approach and you're likely to get no more than a gentle warning and a request to change your post if you go "beyond the mark" after a stressful commute from Pangbourne to Paddington one morning.

2. Please keep topics on stream; although we're looking specifically at First's Great Western franchise, other discussions such as the price that Arriva trains pay to rent a train may be appropriate but a site recommending pharmaceutical products probably isn't (travel sickness pills excepted?)

3. It's your responsibility as poster to keep it legal - and there's a whole raft of law from copyright through incitement to consider.   Please ask for advise if you need any - I'm happy to help.  And if you spot anything that you feel isn't appropriate, please met me or a moderator know.

4. Subject to higher legal authority, your identity (such as your email address) will be kept secret unless you choose to reveal it.   The board owners may choose to email you very occasional news updates concerning the board and / or main subjects covered, but it's not anticipated that we'll do this more than a handful of times every year.

If and when you sign up for this forum, you're required to agree to the following conditions, which are pretty standard across most forums.

You agree, through your use of this forum, that you will not post any material which is false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, adult material, or otherwise in violation of any International or United States Federal law. You also agree not to post any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or you have written consent from the owner of the copyrighted material. Spam, flooding, advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are also forbidden on this forum.

Note that it is impossible for the staff or the owners of this forum to confirm the validity of posts. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the posted messages, and as such, are not responsible for the content contained within. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information presented. The posted messages express the views of the author, and not necessarily the views of this forum, its staff, its subsidiaries, or this forum's owner. Anyone who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to notify an administrator or moderator of this forum immediately. The staff and the owner of this forum reserve the right to remove objectionable content, within a reasonable time frame, if they determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, please realize that they may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately. This policy applies to member profile information as well.

You remain solely responsible for the content of your posted messages. Furthermore, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the owners of this forum, any related websites to this forum, its staff, and its subsidiaries. The owners of this forum also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or any other related information collected on this service) in the event of a formal complaint or legal action arising from any situation caused by your use of this forum.

You have the ability, as you register, to choose your username. We advise that you keep the name appropriate. With this user account you are about to register, you agree to never give your password out to another person except an administrator, for your protection and for validity reasons. You also agree to NEVER use another person's account for any reason.  We also HIGHLY recommend you use a complex and unique password for your account, to prevent account theft.

After you register and login to this forum, you will be able to fill out a detailed profile. It is your responsibility to present clean and accurate information. Any information the forum owner or staff determines to be inaccurate or vulgar in nature will be removed, with or without prior notice. Appropriate sanctions may be applicable.

Please note that with each post, your IP address is recorded, in the event that you need to be banned from this forum or your ISP contacted. This will only happen in the event of a major violation of this agreement.

Also note that the software places a cookie, a text file containing bits of information (such as your username and password), in your browser's cache. This is ONLY used to keep you logged in/out. The software does not collect or send any other form of information to your computer.

It seems that the "against the flow" early morning service to Worcester gets cut off in its prime and "bustituted" all too often ...

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/wnnewslatest/display.var.1158188.0.ghost_train.php

Both these last two weeks, I've done drop off runs to Chippenham on Friday evening and the 16:55 to Paddington has been short.  "No Coach C" and then "No Coach G".   I've always thought that short formations were the exception ... wasup?

Thanks, Lee .... this shows the checks and balances that were being juggled .... with the original timetable and SLC^▸ (Service Level Commitment) being altered to favour the commuters in to Gloucester / Cheltenham over the commuters in to Swindon.   What should have happened was that both lines were given a decent service, of course.   But that's a story for another thread. on another section.

There seems to be quite a degree of confusion!   I'm posting this up to help clarify ....

"Save the Train" was started around 18 months ago (August 2005) with the main goal of providing an appropriate train service from Swindon to Westbury and beyond after December 2006, when it was threatened with reduction by over 60%, in spite of dramatically growing usage.  Although we had the support of hundreds of people who actively signed up, and produced evidence of ongoing growth that would have continued had the service done so, it was cut back last December. Worse than that, the 2 remaining trains are now timed such that they don't appear to meet the most important customer needs. The 06:19 leaves Swindon (largest town in Wiltshire) almost empty for Chippenham (4th largest), Melksham (5th), Trowbridge (3rd), Westbury, Warminster and Salisbury (2nd largest).  The 18:42 leaves long after the regular commuters from Swindon to these places have left by other means - primarily by private car.  The Train Operating Company hasn't provided me with any information as to the potential market they see for these new timings, but that have pointed to the need to re-use the same train on other lines to provide peak services there.

"More Train, Less Strain" was formed as a response to the December 2006 cuts in frequency and length of train services from Frome, Trowbridge, Bath and intermediate stations into Bristol, and the unreliability of the remaining services. The changes effect a large number of people and the highly publicised "fare strike" organised by the group appeared to win some respite - although it's very much 10 steps backwards and just 1 forward (a few carriages added back in where many were removed) and questions are being asked as to how permanent, or otherwise, the step forward will prove to be.

I am a resident of Melksham, Wiltshire, served ONLY by the Swindon to Westbury service which we have called the "TransWilts"; I host the "Save the Train" website at http://www.savethetrain.org.uk and I started the recent petition to the Prime Minister at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/wessextrains/ which gathered 1690 signatures in 3 weeks, making it number 8 out of 402 petitions on transportation and infrastructure.

The key players in "More Train, Less Strain" are Simon Carpenter of Frome, Tony Ambrose and Peter Andrews. Their web site is at http://www.moretrainlessstrain.co.uk .  Since this is a new group that "Save the Train", their web visibility is not as high and searches via Google on their name currently rank "Save the Train" higher. 

I've met with Tony and Peter, and we're in agreement that our groups need to liaise (at the least) as we're both looking for appropriate / decent services using the same pool of trains, with the same operator and regulation system involved. However, the distortions of the current timetable mean we have very different situations currently on the ground, with overcrowded peak hour trains on Peter and Tony's line, and no peak trains at all (passengers now on the road) on the TransWilts. 

Simon, Tony and Peter are your best contacts for the future direction of "MTLS^▸ (More Train Less Strain)", but I can tell you something of the future plans for "Save The Train".

At "Save the Train", we are very much in touch with all the key players and looking to work with them to sort out the current situation which, frankly, does no-one any good. It's pretty pointless running an empty pre-dawn train ... which is empty because anyone who wanted to use it for their daily commute wouldn't have an appropriate return service 8 hours or so later.  So we're working with First (who have been looking at the possibility of timetabling a round trip every 2 hours), the Department for Transport (from whom I've received an email overnight suggesting we might like to look at a community rail service initiative), our MPs^▸ (Member of Parliament) (supporting all along the line - right across Wiltshire), county, district and town councils, other rail user groups, rail trades unions and staff, etc.  We could well be at a "cusp" - though it's hard to tell - where we CAN continue the push to an appropriate service and get that running before the end of the year.

Even before I heard from the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), I was planning to call a co-ordination meeting in 4 weeks time and invite all the key players to look at the railway service and its provision from the community's viewpoint - to look at not only providing but also sustaining the service henceforth.  That meeting is scheduled for 5th March, in Melksham.

The "Save the Train" website has continued to monitor services and developments, and grow.  We have had a number of requests for forums in which services on other FGW^▸ (First Great Western) lines can be discussed by the franchise's customers, and we are now also hosting the http://www.firstgreatwestern.info site for that purpose.  There is merit in co-ordination.  We are very much aware that the stengthening of one servicve could lead to the reduction or abandonment of another - indeed, the 06:47 Frome to Bristol grew to 4 coaches in a blaze of publicity, in week that the 06:44 from Melksham was cancelled more often than it ran.

James, I have a similar thread running (sorry ... didn't realise the crossover).  Slightly out of area, but I see one of the worst is out from Southampron in the evening peak.   Same trains, of course!

Written by myself on 17th January, web site to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Customer service:

My wife and I travelled up to London with FGW yesterday evening from Chippenham. Ticket trouble (wrong ticket issues - 2 saver singles at 41 pound each rather than returns at 42).

Conductor on train says "go to ticket office to get it sorted at Paddington". Excess fares clerk says "Can't do that here" and lets me out through the
barrier, directing me to the ticket office. Seated behind bullet proof glass (I wonder why?), ticket clerk says "Too late - you've used it" and I've no option but to spend more money to get home.

Frankly, I feel cheated by FGW.

Can we put this right / get a refund of the excess money paid?

Response email, timed at 05:43 this morning (9th February)

Dear Mr Graham

Thank you for contacting us. I was concerned to hear that your journey was not as pleasant as it should have been as a result of a different ticket being issued than the one you asked for.

However I am unable to offer any compensation as the National Conditions of Carriage does specify that it is the customer^s responsibility to check that the correct tickets have been issued. It is also the customer^s responsibility to check travel restrictions beforehand so that the service they use is relevant to the ticket they have purchased (this is written on the front of the ticket). In these situations it is possible to obtain a refund from the station where you purchased the tickets but i regret that this can only happen if the tickets are unused. I regret that on this occasion this is not possible and i apologise for the inconvenience caused.

Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention, and I am sorry I cannot
be of further assistance.

Yours sincerely

Tara Francis
Customer Service Advisor

Written by myself on 17th January, web site to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Customer service:

My wife and I travelled up to London with FGW yesterday evening from Chippenham. Ticket trouble (wrong ticket issues - 2 saver singles at 41 pound each rather than returns at 42).

Conductor on train says "go to ticket office to get it sorted at Paddington". Excess fares clerk says "Can't do that here" and lets me out through the
barrier, directing me to the ticket office. Seated behind bullet proof glass (I wonder why?), ticket clerk says "Too late - you've used it" and I've no option but to spend more money to get home.

Frankly, I feel cheated by FGW.

Can we put this right / get a refund of the excess money paid?

Response email, timed at 05:43 this morning (9th February)

Dear Mr Graham

Thank you for contacting us. I was concerned to hear that your journey was not as pleasant as it should have been as a result of a different ticket being issued than the one you asked for.

However I am unable to offer any compensation as the National Conditions of Carriage does specify that it is the customer^s responsibility to check that the correct tickets have been issued. It is also the customer^s responsibility to check travel restrictions beforehand so that the service they use is relevant to the ticket they have purchased (this is written on the front of the ticket). In these situations it is possible to obtain a refund from the station where you purchased the tickets but i regret that this can only happen if the tickets are unused. I regret that on this occasion this is not possible and i apologise for the inconvenience caused.

Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention, and I am sorry I cannot
be of further assistance.

Yours sincerely

Tara Francis
Customer Service Advisor

Thanks - that would certainly be useful feedback;  there's a need to understand what's really happening. And - please - anyone else ... please email me (graham@wellho.net) on consistently overbusy morrning commuter services.

I'm looking for up to date information about which peak hour trains are consistently overcrowded into Bath / Bristol ... rather than ones which go up and down like yoyos depending on whether they're 1, 2, 3 or 4 coaches       Pointers from regulars would be much appreciated ...

You can call me an old cynic, but I wonder if the new service in December was made so AWFUL intentionally ... with the powers that be knowing that it would then get better and hoping it would be the getting better we woudl remember.  What do you think?

I've not forgotten the 07:45 Melsksham to Swindon, the 09:11 arrival, the 17:02 departure and the arrival at 18:09 from Swindon .... and I would rather like them, or something better, back!

Hi, Drew.   Do you think that the new times might be more conveninent for other people even though they're less convenient to you, or is the feeling pretty universal?

Hi, Welcome Chris ...

Have I seen some very odd patterns in the early morning with trains in quick sucession to Westbury (via Swndon) and London?

One of the questions that arose in my looking at the service was the timing of commuter jourenys rom the Stroud Valley in and out of Cheltenham and Gloucester .... are those service busy, do you know?  How are the new timings?   Were there any changes during the December '06 consultations on them?