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Author Topic: Infrastructure problems in Thames Valley causing disruption elsewhere - ongoing, since Oct 2014  (Read 1244151 times)
bobm
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« Reply #885 on: August 17, 2015, 19:20:00 »

Interesting article in the Swindon Advertiser featuring Mark Hopwood

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ON the evening of Friday, August 7, PAUL JONES was among thousands of commuters who faced long delays getting home on the trains after a power failure brought services to a halt.

On August 14, he went to meet managing director of First Great Western, Mark Hopwood, to talk about such delays - and the next stop for the rail industry...

"SOMEONE got hold of my mobile number and rang me late at night and early in the morning. That wasn't great."

On the evening of Friday, August 7, Mark Hopwood was probably the most reviled man in the south west.

For Mr Hopwood is the managing director of train operator First Great Western (FGW (First Great Western)), which had seen a power failure between Reading and London Paddington bring about the cancellation of a raft of services, leaving thousands of commuters facing long delays getting home for the weekend.

I was among commuters that night, getting a train home two hours after I was due to, putting the key into my front door at around 10pm - long after my six-month-old daughter had gone to bed.

This was not the first time I had faced delays when using First Great Western, as anyone who follows me on Twitter (@PogalJoners) would be aware of, so I was keen to meet Mr Hopwood when he agreed to my interview request.

However, I discovered the ire of commuters like me is something the man in charge of Swindon's trains is used to - and prepared to face.

"It doesn't particularly bother me," he says. "If people have paid a lot of money, they expect a good service.

"But because I know we are doing so much I feel quite comfortable about fronting up in the debate and saying 'look, we're doing this, this and this'.

"The reality is, we are addressing most of the things people are concerned about, it's just whether it is happening fast enough."

Mark Hopwood is a man of the railways and seems almost unaware of the size of his own job - managing a billion-pound rail company which moves millions of people every year.

"It's a big job, but you get used to it," he says when I ask about the weight he must feel on his shoulders.

His passion for the industry cannot be denied.

As a child, he was not allowed access to his grandfather's house until he recalled the stations he passed through on his journey, and he memorised the signal numbers on the route from his Thames Valley home to Reading station ("they have changed them now, so I don't know them anymore").

He started working on the railways in 1989 and rose through the ranks, becoming managing director of First Great Western in December 2008.

Now, with a family of his own, he doesn't impose the same memory tests on his own children, saying he would support them working in the industry, but not pressure them to do so. 

He does have a Twitter account ("I don't really use it") but says many of his most ardent abusers have refused to meet him face to face to discuss their complaints - which he does understand.

"Reliability and punctuality isn't where we want it to be," says Mr Hopwood, who commutes by train himself from his home in Didcot to Swindon or Paddington.

"It has got slightly better, by about one per cent, but that's not the type of improvement we want to achieve."

He pointed to the recruitment of more drivers and train managers, as well as the doubling of the line between Swindon and Kemble, as reasons for hope among commuters.

"If you look at why trains are late, look at the causes and break it down, it centres on two things; infrastructure, which Network Rail maintains, and reliability, which we control," he says.

"When you look at disruption, most of it comes down to the reliability of the infrastructure between Swindon and Paddington.

"We have had a number of problems in the sections between Reading and London Paddington.

"The particular problem is the infrastructure between Swindon and London.

"From Didcot to Reading, the reliability has been pretty challenging and for Swindon, that makes a big difference.

"Last Friday (August 7), there was a catastrophic loss of the power supply, with power supply issues between the provider and Network Rail's supply. 

"Those type of events, they don't mean people are a little bit late, they mean trains are not travelling."

He added: "The answer is that there have been some improvements but they are not of the scale we would have wanted to see."

Projects such as the electrification and the Crossrail scheme (which will boost capacity and cut journey times in London) will also improve the experience for Swindon people travelling to the capital, he says.

And he nods acceptingly as I explain that many of us can't see any changes - our trains aren't any earlier, or more comfortable, and we still see delays - even though we are told of investment and improvements. 

"There is a lot going on," he says. "And the investment that is committed - and it is committed - is going to make a big difference.

"We are asking customers to bear with us through some challenging times while that's done. But we are trying to give people improvements now."

For Swindon, where First Great Western has its headquarters and employs around 250 people, the outlook is good, he says, as links are boosted between the south west and London.

"People in this area are going to see more investment probably than any other part of the country, in terms of more capacity," Mr Hopwood says.

He also says things are set to improve after the completion of the electrification of the western mainline, with the new Hitachi electric trains increasing capacity when they reach our stations some time between late 2017 and early 2018 - although he admits things may be delayed after a government report into Network Rail's working timetable.

"What you will see is more seats, journey time improvements and for a number of routes, frequency improvements," he says, clearly excited by the changes.

"A lot of the problem with railway improvement is that it takes a long time and I think that is a challenge.

"We're seeing more people travel. We're growing as a business, growing a lot faster than the economy is growing.

"Didcot and Swindon have seen a growth in house building, with people commuting into London.

"People want to see improvements and want to see them quickly, but these are the timescales involved when you are building and re-building a network."

And later this year, people will no longer use First Great Western trains, but instead board new-look trains operated by the Great Western Railway (GWR (Great Western Railway)), the new name for FGW. 

"We thought with all this investment, now was a good time to think about what we mean, as a business, to our customers.

"Having the trains is interesting to some people, and how we run the service we provide and how we present that to our customers.

"Originally, GWR was built by a guy called Brunel, who was ahead of his time.

"Brunel proved that he was right and we want to show people we are taking forward Brunel's legacy today.

"The whole point of the new GWR, we have dropped name First. Essentially, we are giving the railway back to people."

But what of the future?

When talking of possibilities, Mr Hopwood doesn't see it as impossible to return to a railway featuring halts, offering more localised journeys.

"The traffic in Didcot, which you wouldn't think is bad, can see a journey taking 30 minutes that we could do in six or seven minutes," he says.

"So, in the future, why not? But it would mean a lot of work, as main lines don't mix well with local lines." 

However, talk of renationalising the railways has been rife in recent years, with the subject becoming a major talking point in the election of a new Labour leader, for example.

But unsurprisingly, the possibility doesn't phase the man at the top, who shrugs with that ever-present calmness.

"There was talk about it at the last election, talk about it at the election before that, but it never happened," he said.

"At the end of the day, I guess the politicians will decide how they want to run the industry.

"We believe we have put a lot in but we will have to deal with whatever the government of the day decides to do.

"The railways were initially built by private companies, but there is no doubt we are providing a public service and the government controls the service very tightly.

"There is a very strong public input into the railways, but we are delivering it through a private company.

"If you go back to BR (British Rail(ways)) days, which some people tell us are better ... there has been an increase in trains."

But back to August 7...

What would Mr Hopwood's message be to those commuters stuck on the cold platforms enduring delays like those of that evening?

"I think I would like to talk about the investment in the future," he said. 

"We have been listening to what people have been saying and there is a lot of investment coming that will make your journey a better journey in the future.

"It's not happening as quickly as we would like, but it is happening, and people will see the benefits of that fairly soon."
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NickB
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« Reply #886 on: August 17, 2015, 19:39:25 »

So he's going to declare a void day and compensate those customers he cares so much about?

Nah, didn't think so. Talk is cheap.
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johoare
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« Reply #887 on: August 17, 2015, 20:48:41 »

In a marvellous feat of decision making someone (network rail I am told) took most of the stops out of the 18.57 Paddington to  Reading service to speed it up as it was delayed due to the signalling issues tonight.. Then someone else (the signallers I've been told) stuck it behind a stopping train to delay it even further.. You couldn't make it up! And we got to see both the 19.05 and 19.18 departures which are first stop Maidenhead sail past us quite early on in our journey  Angry Huh
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NickB
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« Reply #888 on: August 17, 2015, 21:09:14 »

Oh dear. I was on that 18.57 service but jumped off to join the 19.05. I was convinced I would be stranded but looks like it was the right choice. My condolences.
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« Reply #889 on: August 17, 2015, 21:59:30 »

You definitely made the right choice.. A lot of other people jumped off too so it was a nice empty (but very slow) train.. We got back to Maidenhead about 20.12 I think but at least the 19.48 from Paddington had the decency to still be at Paddington and not be the third fast train to overtake us!
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« Reply #890 on: August 27, 2015, 00:31:08 »

It's quite a long thread but as both Network Rail and FGW (First Great Western) seem to accept that its been particularly poor service has there been any mention of compensation? In particular for annual season ticket holders?

Looking at the figures it seems I might get a 5% discount when I renew in November but this assumes I want to renew (I really don't but may not have a choice) and doesn't seem to represent the additional level of delays and disruptions we've had this year. If I do find another job without the same commute presumably I get nothing?
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ChrisB
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« Reply #891 on: August 27, 2015, 11:15:47 »

Correct. Blame Her Majesty's Government.
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eightf48544
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« Reply #892 on: August 27, 2015, 15:08:15 »

Yes i was caught by the non renewal discount scam in 2005 when I retired and stopped commuting.

Up until then I had enjoyed several years of cheaper Annual Season tickets due to the 5% discount and low inflation rises. However despite the compensation being against the past years performance I got nothing for a year's poor punctuality.
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« Reply #893 on: August 27, 2015, 18:42:32 »

Problems this evening and for once it's nothing to do with network rail. 25mins to reach Ealing on a 'fast' turbo and still crawling after that. Apparently an on-board assault at Ealing has caused every train to have to crawl past at 5mph as a mark of respect. Naturally Ealing station platforms are empty/functioning as normal but the rest of us have to suffer.
No news from driver who has probably fallen asleep.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #894 on: August 27, 2015, 20:27:36 »

No comp for that one....
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NickB
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« Reply #895 on: August 28, 2015, 18:00:52 »

Signal problems at Ealing this evening. Everything on the go-slow out of Paddington. #mustbeadaywithayinit
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« Reply #896 on: September 01, 2015, 13:39:55 »

August 7th has just been declared as a void day. It seems as if some parliamentary intervention may have led to the change of heart..

Cheers,
Alex
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« Reply #897 on: September 01, 2015, 13:49:38 »

.... or just some parliamentary members claiming it was their intervention!   Grin
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« Reply #898 on: September 01, 2015, 16:23:09 »

August 7th has just been declared as a void day. It seems as if some parliamentary intervention may have led to the change of heart..

Cheers,
Alex

Whatever the intervention (if indeed any was needed), it's the right decision.
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Jason
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« Reply #899 on: September 01, 2015, 17:46:17 »

Stationary in the Hanwell area on my way out of London. The main line is closed due to problems with the execrable signalling system  and 30 minute delays are to be expected, according to twitter.
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