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Title: THANK YOU, Ben ... Post by: grahame on July 13, 2015, 20:18:42 A big "Thank you" to Ben Rule - and the team in Swindon backing him up - for all their answers this evening. Although Ben's only been with us for a limited period, he's done a sterling job of answering questions, and I celebrate that the directors of First Great Western are here and available to passengers to help discuss, explain and clarify the company's products / services / position.
P.S. And, Ben, welcome to the "Frequent Posters" club in record time! Please do come back and visit us - and feel free to pass on follow ups and other interesting snippets via your colleagues. First Great Western feels - where I live - like a very different company to the one we knew in the last decade, and I look forward to others seeing changes of the same positive magnitude with Electric trains, SETs and the rest. Edit note: Minor typos in last sentence corrected, to improve clarity. CfN. Title: Re: THANK YOU, Ben ... Post by: broadgage on July 14, 2015, 16:06:00 Agree a most interesting evening and I thank Ben for agreeing to take part.
As I have stated previously I have reservations about the new trains, but just to demonstrate that I don't JUST whinge, I agree that there is a lot to be proud of in FGW, in particular- I am a great fan of the Pullman services and until a year ago was a fairly regular customer. A true fine dining experience, and AFAIK now the only proper silver service restaurant on any UK train. The first class lounge at Paddington is very enjoyable, and again I was a regular customer until a year ago. And as regards FGW customer facing staff, in general they seem to me to set a far higher standard than those of certain other TOCs. Improvement is always possible, but most FGW staff are more polite and better informed than those of other operators. Title: Re: THANK YOU, Ben ... Post by: Chris from Nailsea on October 04, 2015, 00:15:59 I met Ben Rule at the TravelWatch SouthWest meeting in Taunton yesterday, and passed on your collective thanks to him for making this particular event such a success.
Ben was delighted with the very positive reaction to his 'on-line meet the director' session (which apparently he enjoyed as much as we did!) and he then suggested that I/we should arrange another such event. :D I shall therefore look into setting up another opportunity for us to engage with GWR directors directly - watch this space for further developments! :) Title: Re: THANK YOU, Ben ... Post by: grahame on October 04, 2015, 09:58:25 As you gather, we met Ben "IRL" (In real life) yesterday) ... a very interesting talk; here are the notes I made, E&OE!
Quote 20.9.15 - 1.4.19 + 1 up to 1 year possible extension ^68 million premium aims 1. buid on experinace 2. Work in parnership 3. coming infractsruce station and stock in major timetable changes 5.17 and 12.18 - major capacity iprovement New trains More direct trains to Devon / Cornwall more local seats SLC1 as at present 5.17 SLC2 - some cascade benefits 12.18 SLC3 - faster journeys more seats "Generally" run 2x5 cars as 10. May be run as 5 "but only at edges" May 17 - addintional 06:37 ex PAD to the South West Dec 18 - 2 hourly stopper to Exeter "enhanced services TW and Paignton secured" Marsh Barton and Edginswell support / new stations 143 and 153 to leave by December 2018 but signifcantly more vehicles Other pland Sleeper Add a cl 57 for relibiality Canopy at PNZ on sleeper platform Enhanced facilites PNZ, TRU, PAD Overhaul / upgrade Brand - symbolise high standards and crysatlise jouney back to greatness Station invers ^50m in frahcnise ^2.3m community fund Very clearly my rough notes / interpretation on what Ben said - my spelling mistakes, his slides were right - and my choice of what I managed to note down! Title: Re: THANK YOU, Ben ... Post by: John R on October 04, 2015, 10:27:52 Thanks for the notes Grahame.
So, does the comment about enhanced services for TW secured mean a) the existing service is now secured, or b) the lengthening of rolling stock from May 17, or c) an increased frequency? This page is printed from the "Coffee Shop" forum at http://gwr.passenger.chat which is provided by a customer of Great Western Railway. Views expressed are those of the individual posters concerned. Visit www.gwr.com for the official Great Western Railway website. Please contact the administrators of this site if you feel that content provided contravenes our posting rules ( see http://railcustomer.info/1761 ). The forum is hosted by Well House Consultants - http://www.wellho.net |