The driver already releases the doors on Turbo trains. We don’t have any plans to change dispatch methods at this point in time.

I agree. If we have procured a taxi we should try and provide it with further business but sometimes taxis do have other work booked already.

I don’t think I am suggesting the Pullman should be delivered at the expense of other aspects of catering delivery.

There are still too many occasions when the delivery of catering at seat is not as good as it should be. We can see from our reports this is getting better but there is more work to do and we are focused on getting this addressed and recruiting more colleagues.

Thank you!

I have to keep business and pleasure separate!

I agree we need to do more. Please let us know when you think we’ve got it wrong. You can also use Twitter to talk to us real time if you want. I’m happy to try and encourage Train Managers to talk to passengers about this.

I can’t promise to hold connections as some of these will cause further delay especially if on a tight turnround or using single line sections.

1. I’d like a long term (25 year) investment strategy for our network.
2. I'd like our government, colleagues, customers and society as a whole to think of railway as they do in Switzerland and Japan.
3. I'd like mild weather all year and I would also like to eliminate some of the difficult external events we face, like fatalities. 
4. I would like to exercise my prerogative as MD to add a fourth wish, which is to have a Class 50 and a rake of suitable carriages in the fleet for special occasions!

I’m not sure there is a suitable train ready to trial yet. The experience of Class 230s on Marston Vale has not been a happy one so I only want to put trains into service where we have confidence they will work.

Having noted the reference to GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) on Trip Advisor I would note that our Pullman catering operation scores 4.5/5 and is ranked in Top 1000 restaurants in London out of c20,000.

Also worth noting that over half of catering complaints in recent weeks have been from first class customers rather than standard where the trolley service remains in first.

Yes. We have given undertakings to the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) that remains our position.  Fundamentally though we want on board staff to focus on the customer and allow drivers to undertake the operational tasks where possible.

We value our Train Managers and Conductors who perform a variety of valuable roles on trains. It is of course important in any job in any industry to evolve and work flexibly in order to demonstrate a long-term and continuing value to customers and the company. We work closely with our on board staff to develop their skills and competencies, to help them improve the way they work, their effectiveness and efficiency and if that continues, we see the value of Train Managers and Conductors being an essential element of the train service.

We are keen to work with NR^» (Network Rail - home page) to explore the options as well as looking at battery. I don’t expect immediate movement on this but we want to ensure we have options under development.

I agree. The technology needs some development but we are watching with interest.

I would also add our own research shows greater customer satisfaction with the at seat service as opposed to the buffet service amongst customers with varying journey times.

While I accept we had complaints from customers about lack of catering during IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) introduction these have fallen substantially since introducing the trains.

Finally, there is no inability on Network Rail’s account to electrify branch lines but they have to be specified by government and funding provided.

I agree we should look after people in such situations although our ability to do so is often limited by the availability of resources such as buses and taxis and our own people as well as how much other disruption we are managing at the time. Our Passenger Charter sets out a framework for this -  https://www.gwr.com/about-us/our-business/passengers-charter

a.   We have a contract in place with First Transport Solutions for buses and they will enquire about availability on our behalf with dedicated companies who already comply with the required safety standards. 

Customers are encouraged to inform the Train Manager of any connections so arrangements can be made as far in advance as possible by contacting the Control Centre and arrange a possible hold or where the connection cannot be held, we know to arrange road transport in advance.

The Contact Centre answering our station help point calls will contact our Control Centre to arrange replacement road transport for connections that have been missed and there is no train service for 60 minutes.

Our taxi sourcing company (Cabfind) has been taken over recently by a larger taxi sourcing company (CMAC) which now has the combined resources of both companies, creating the largest network of corporate ground transportation solutions in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). Already we are seeing improvements, with a newly developed road transport tool, which has simplified the booking process and provides our Control team with the real-time status of the taxis, confirmation when they have picked-up and dropped off.

CMAC Press release: https://www.cmacgroup.co.uk/blog/cmac-acquires-cabfind-creating-the-largest-network-of-corporate-ground-transportation-solutions-in-the-uk/

b.   We aim to provide replacement transport where there is no alternative train service in the next hour. Where a cancellation is known about hours in advance it is much easier to have road transport in place on time at the origin station.

There are challenges, even when the road transport is requested hours in advance, which can include;

-   Road transport is much slower than a train service, and whilst it may have departed its origin station on-time, it is unlikely to keep up with the train timetable when stopping at the following stations.
-   Availability of the driver, who may need to travel to the depot to collect the bus.
-   Bus/Coach/Taxi availability in the area, at peak times when most of our passengers travel, these are also the times when our road transport suppliers are their busiest, especially the buses which are used for school transport.

c.    Often, we do not receive a contact number for the customer when calls are taken through the station help point by National Rail Enquiries and we are unable to close the loop on this.   When road transport has been requested at staffed stations, we will provide an estimated time for the arrival to our station staff, however, currently we are not able to track the road transport as accurately as our train services and the estimates can move if the road transport is delayed in traffic. 

However, we are working with our road transport suppliers (First Travel Solutions: 16 seater to coaches and CMAC: taxis) to develop GPS tracking of road vehicles and make this available to our Control Centre teams.