Great Western Coffee Shop

Am I the only person that feels that High Speed is getting more investment than Local?
Am I the only person that feels they are running a minimun of local, just doing what the DfT tells them to do, not more?
Am I the only person who thinks that Local is just something they dragged along to keep High Speed?
Am I the only person who noticed High Speed staff got new ticket machines before Local?
Am I the only person that has run out of psitives about FGW!

No ;)

This is a touchy subject.

Does FGW favour High Speed vs Local. I think the answer is neither. It favours profit and colludes with the Dft to transfer investment resources to other areas of the country.

FGW has the distinction of running the worst local train service and worst high speed service in the country, both services need significant investment.

First, and Dft, are quite happy to replace all of Trans-Penine's stock and provide new stock for their Hull service and Scottish services, but they are unwilling to do anything for FGW other that re-livery the coaches and pack the seats closer together. The government and FG are treating FGW and it's customers as cash cows!

On the subject of ticket machines, barriers etc, FGW will install them initially in manned stations and as teething problems and procedures are ironed out, they will be progressivley rolled out to more statiions.

The seats aren't actually packed closer together ;)

There is more leg room but it is decieving.

Its also intersting to see they are scrapping some local services in place of HS.

No Jim, you are far from alone in feeling that FGW doesn't really care about the 'West' part of their operation. Thats because in the main it's a drain on their financial resources unlike the cash cow that is the main ex-IC services that brings in the money that makes them their profit. Soon, what little subsidy they receive to run local services will dry up and what money they make from London services will have to be used to top up the local operation which does'nt make enough money to fund itself unless harsh cuts are made to it.

On another rail related website, I was told in no uncertain terms that I was wrong to say that FGW didn't want the Wessex part of the franchise by a FGW employee. I say why would anyone take on a loss making organisation that Wessex was and be expected to provide a minimum service specified to them AND pay a premium to run it unless they had to in order to keep their IC and Thames part of the franchise!?!?!

I know someone has posted on this site that FGW asked if they could bid without Wessex but was told all or nothing but can't find that post anywhere. If you are reading do please comment on this.

Why was it reported (in RAIL admitly) that National Express walked away from this franchise before it was announced who won? Something clearly wasn't adding up for a company just to throw in the towel and give up it's franchise (Wessex) without a fight for the other two.

There is some hope in all this however in that I believe FGW and DaFT under estimated the depth of feeling towards the cuts in services and length of trains and know there is real anger out there ready to take action if they go to far again. People must not get complacent however just because things are all right at the moment. You can't tell me that there isnt someone at FGW/DaFT desperately trying to come up with more ways to make another cut here and another there to save money before the premiums kick in. Once this happens things could get interesting.

As an employee please allow me to answer some of the above but please note this is not me defending FGW but me just trying to address a couple of the above which simply not 100% correct.

There is considerable amount of investment going into the 'local' fleet. ie engine and gearbox refurbishment, rewiring and complete re-newal of the interiors to undertaken shortly.

The new on-train ticket machines were in fact given to Westy conductors whilst they were still a part of the National Express group while the Train Managers on FGW used the old SPORTIS machines uo to about Seotember/October last year The newer update bluetooth version of the modern ticket machines were issued to FGW Train Managers before being rolled out to the West conductors although the only difference with these being the long wire between the credit card terminal and the machine itself.
Hope this helps
Please keep positive and lets all hope that the good times are just around the corner.

The Credit Card machines with Bluetooth were what I was actually getting at.

Keeping positive, I see where you are coming from, but even my paitence is running out now

actually the engine and gearbox refurbishment is just routine maintainence they get changed every 500000 miles,they are not getting rewired they are just having repairs done when on depot (most of which have been needed for ages)
the only money being spent is on the c6 refresh programme which starts in august on 158/150 with all seating being re designed,interior trim ang carpet change,reliability mods to doors,air system etc and fgw corporate colours to exterior.
fgw have their faults but they are trying to improve the poor fleet they inherited but all this takes time,surely regular passengers must of started to see some improvement in cleanliness and reliability? because believe me the depot staff are flat out trying to get on top of the long running faults that were left on them by canton

Hi, Smithy.  Yes - we are seeing improvements in some areas;  the 40% cancellation rate of January on the TransWilts line is much reduced - perhaps 5% to 10% only are cancelled now.  Problem is that we were given false expectations.  "It will be right when the December timetable comes into effect" from FGW managers, and that was a promise that failed to materialise.   "We have a crisis and a lot of old crocks - it may break badly and take a year to fix" would have been more realistic and would have kept the customers much more on side.

I have suffered, quite harshly, in the past from the overselling of products - being the technical support guy chraged with delivering unrealistic expectations and impossible results marketing by a PR, Marketing and Sales team who should have known better.  Perhaps there are parallels ...

i totally agree,everyone who worked for fgw knew come timetable change,moving maintainence to spm and several units going off lease all together knew it would go pear shaped,but management seemed oblivious.
passengers should have been made aware to expect it to get worse before it got better.
but i really do think we have finally turned a corner and things are on the up,the fleet is more reliable and the first refurbished sets will be in service very soon.
fgw are even getting all the 158 air con running again something that never happened when units were at canton,although benefits will not be felt fully until next summer as the programme is still ongoing

Thats ok, I dont think we are going to need it this summer! Good to hear it fgw are working on it. After all its there, just needs some work on it.

In truth, First Group had no real interest in acquiring either Wessex or Thames Trains. Unfortunately, it was the politicians who 'bolted together' the three former TOCs into the larger Greater Western franchise, and it was simply a case of "If you don't like it, don't bid for it!"

Lumped with it as they are, it's hardly surprising First are more engrossed in the more lucrative part of the franchise (the former FGW routes and services) than the more 'bread and butter' services provided by the two former TOCs, Wessex and Thames Trains.

I'm also sorry to say, if you use these local commuter services and are currently dissatisfied with the level and quality of service, it's unlikely to improve very much for the remainder of the franchise (five and a half years).

Timmer, I just noticed that comment in your post of a while back - sorry I missed it the first time around.  I know I posted the original you refer to; came from what I regards as a reliable source (that they wanted to bid, in essence, for just the services that they used to run) but were told it was all or nothing and if they wanted the expresses they had to take the regional services along too.

It has been pointed out to me very much more recently that the branch line services of The West bring in only 4% of the revenue of FGW, but exact from them a far higher percentage of board level employee's time in administration and other activities.   Notably, a list of "West" counties was given to me as part of that statement; it started at Cornwall and came up as far as Dorset, but did NOT include Wiltshire.  So I guess that the the "TransWilts" is either not regarded as a nuisance in this way. or that it and its users have made so little input that they're not even on the FGW radar yet!

Thanks Graham. Just goes to show why local services just arent a priority for FGW which I partly understand but don't support. You bid for the whole franchise then you should do it justice. Passengers are passengers no matter which service they use.

Not totally true, at Penzance, Exeter and Bristol Avantix Mk 2 (the bluetooth machines) were introduced to West and HSS crews at the same time.

And Westbury, Fratton and Par...

Penzance went live on Avantix 2 on 30th Nov last year, Bristol I think was just before and exeter was last September, Par only recived these machines in August 2007 and I believe Westbury and Fratton only recieved them earlier this year.