Dear Sir / Madam,
In the "bad old days" ... Wessex Trains ran services from Swindon to Westbury and beyond. They got a reputation for being un-reliable and often cancelled, and there was a feeling that they were interlopers in First territory at Swindon, with staff there directing customers for Melksham to travel "via Bath" ... a First train, followed by a First Bus, rather than putting them on the competitor TOC▸ ^s train even when it was at the platform!
I thought those days were over, but I see worrying signs.
** On reliability
Last Wednesday, the 20:12 to Westbury was cancelled. (Train fault)
Last Thursday, the 20:12 to Westbury was cancelled. (Train fault)
Last Friday, the 20:12 to Westbury was cancelled but then re-instated (Train fault)
Yesterday (Sunday) the 20:19 to Westbury was cancelled. (Lack of train crew)
There were no line or weather issues, and virtually every other line^s service was running near-perfect as far as I can make out. Other Swindon <-> Westbury services were cancelled, though!
It looks like we're bottom of the priority list / first to cancel, even though a cancellation on the TransWilts has severe knock-ons on customers - it's the last train of the day, services are infrequent so there isn't just a 30 minute wait, and it's a newish service with a high proportion of people trying it for the first time, and likely to be put off (and telling friends and family) if it doesn't work. Why is this service being treated as expendable before others?
** On customer information
I run a business in Melksham. Yesterday (Sunday) I was meeting customers off the 20:19 when it arrived at Melksham, and I was aware well ahead of time of the cancellation. These are overseas visitors, arrived in the last few days from China and with a just-workable understanding of English (their English is a lot better than my Chinese!). Bright business people though - here for a major meeting in Melksham.
I asked on Twitter what arrangements were being made so that I know where to go to get them; initially, I got an apology for the cancellation(thank you), but no answer to the actual question. I persisted and was told they would be put in a bus or taxi from Swindon or Chippenham and asked to let them know this is they phoned in to me. They phoned in (probably from the HST▸ between Didcot and Swindon), but I was driving at the time and I was passed a message that they would be at Melksham station at around 20:42. Sounded feasible (taxi from Chippenham).
At Melksham station when the train / taxi was due, and another phone call to say they were getting off the train at Bath Spa. Talking with them later to find out why they had gone to Bath, they told me they were advised to do that by the official lady at Swindon Station (I am guessing one of the customer service desks or barriers?) ... and I can't doubt them, for why else would they go to Bath?
There is no Sunday evening bus service from Bath Spa to Melksham ... there is a limit to what I'll put my customers through, and I collected them.
I asked on Twitter why they were sent to Bath (there may have been a reason I do not know) and was given an apology, but no explanation.
Can you explain, please? It looks like an incorrect guess by staff at Swindon, or back to the "bad old days" of trying to route people via First services, or simply a way to pass on the problem / work to someone else. I'm just thankful they weren't charged extra or penalty fared between Chippenham and Bath ... but then tickets weren't checked and the barriers were unmanned and open ... there's another story in there.
I appreciate that what happened in the last few days can^t be undone, but I would welcome your explanations so that we know for the future, and your help in fixing any systemic issues it reveals so that other customers of yours and our don^t get caught / mislead in the same way in the future.
Thanks
Graham
Answer:
Dear Mr Ellis
Thank you for your email of 16 June 2014 explaining the disruption that has affected the Swindon to Westbury line.
I would like to sincerely apologise for the problems you have experienced, to the best of our ability we try to run reliable services and in no way prioritise certain services over other ones. When unexpected disruption to services occurs we do our best to minimise this as much as possible so would
focus available trains on routes carrying the highest volume of passengers and would provide alternate transport where necessary.
Alternate transport is arranged by the internal control department, when disruption happens information is fed from ground teams to control and control feed information back out to the teams. Sometimes whilst things are still being arranged by control it is not always possible for staff to confirm the new arrangements to the public until the information has been provided. During this uncertain period it can be difficult for both staff and customers and I apologise that you felt frustrated finding out where your customers would be diverted to.
As you explained that you collected your customers this sounds like an abandoned journey circumstance, if you can send in to me the journey tickets they travelled with or evidence of this such as the booking confirmations or a bank statement showing the amount I will be happy to send you rail travel vouchers to the value of the ticket in compensation.
The easiest way to do this is by PDF/JPEG email attachment to
fgwfeedback@firstgroup.com quoting your case reference number above. The freepost address is also above if you would prefer to post this information (please take a copy for yourself to keep before posting).
I understand that this isn^t the first delay you^ve experienced recently and I^m genuinely sorry you feel so let down. The delays that occurred on 11 and 12 June 2014 were due to the driver reporting a mechanical fault and the cancellation on 15 June 2014 was indeed due to a colleague shortage problem.
At the start of the year, our Managing Director Mark Hopwood set up a Performance Task Force with colleagues from Network Rail to look at the root causes of common delays within our control. We have been looking at all areas of our operation including our timetable, fleet availability and reliability, train crew availability and traffic management.
This initiative is delivering good results and we are seeing a sustained improvement to the punctuality and reliability of our services, but we know there is still much more work to do.
As you may be aware First Great Western signed an agreement with the Department for Transport on 2 October 2013 to continue operating the franchise until 20 September 2015. This agreement reflects the Government's revised franchising policy, maintains all existing timetabled services and consolidates the improvements we have worked with our stakeholders to deliver over the past seven years. We^re delighted to have this opportunity to continue to work on our plans for service improvement and we^re absolutely committed to using this time wisely and delivering on our promises.
Thank you again for contacting us about your journey experiences. I trust that you will soon start to notice an improvement in the performance of our trains.
Yours sincerely
Well - I say "answer" but I don't see any explanation of why my customers were sent to Bath (which I asked for) ... really much of it's telling me what I know, and not answering what I don't know. Top marks for politeness, good marks for speed of response ...
The bit I have highlighted indicates a worrying change in policy back to what it used to be ... at one time TransWilts was first to go, rather than splitting a multiple unit train elsewhere (e.g. taking a 153 off the back of a Bristol service) or leaving a 30 minute gap on a busier line. That changed when it was realised that a TransWilts cancellation, because the service is so infrequent, causes much bigger problems for those customers caught.
This reply seems to say that policy has changed back, and that would seem to be a reasonable explanation of why we saw a leap to a 15%+ cancellation rate over the five day period I wrote about, yet I'm informed that "we are seeing a sustained improvement to the punctuality and reliability" when I ask.
