.........almost 7 weeks in we have some progress (well, sort of) - after being told it was likely to take another 3 weeks to get a reply, I emailed Hopwood directly and have just received this.........
Dear Neil
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your email to our Managing Director, Mark Hopwood.
Thank you for writing and we will respond to you as soon as possible.
Kind regards
Kellyann Steer| MD Correspondence |Great Western Railway
"MD Correspondence" is certainly a grand title, let's see if it carries any influence!!!
..............odds on a reply this side of 2017 anyone?
Still no reply................and I had an awful nightmare last night, I dreamed I was going to catch the 1903 to Plymouth tonight............can you imagine what it's going to be like???
I assume it's pretty futile to ask if any extra services to the Westcountry are being laid on tonight?
..............well, after almost 3 months, here it is folks!!!
Ref: GWRR161025BQJB
Dear Sir
Thank you for your email of 25 October 2016. I am so sorry for the delay in getting back to you. We recently migrated our call centre from one location to another and its created a bit of a backlog for us whilst the new work flows and processes settle down. We are all working really hard to get up to date. I also understand that you have written to our Managing Director about this matter.
I appreciate your frustration caused by regular crowding on our 1903 London Paddington to Penzance service on Fridays and I sincerely apologise for the discomfort you have experienced. I have contacted managers from the relevant departments to pass on your concerns and also asked that they answer your seven specific questions. Please find their responses below.
1. The service is supposed to be pick up only at Reading on Fridays. Why is this not enforced and why are Reading customers allowed to alight? What is being done to address this, in terms of programming the gateline and or instructing staff accordingly?
The service is booked to pick up only at Reading in order to try to reduce the number of people on board leaving Paddington. It is though, unfortunately the case that some customers will be aware that it stops at Reading and may catch it anyway. We do try to enforce this but there are only very limited actions we can take to do this. We do instruct gateline colleagues to advise customers not to board and our train managers are also advised to do the same. In practise we know that by not advertising Reading as a stop this reduces the number of Reading bound customers on board by more than 90% so it is very successful.
2. Why do you not use boarding management to ensure the safety and wellbeing of customers on such a service which is well known to be hideously overcrowded? (please do not cite regulations stating that there is no limit to the number of people who can be safely carried).
The application of full boarding controls would likely cause significant delays given the turn around times of trains at Paddington. Whilst trains on Friday evenings are busy we have amended the timetable in recent years to add additional capacity and changes to our rolling stick in the coming year will help this further.
3. Why not make this service reservation only, with perhaps a small number of additional people being allowed to board?
There is not a straight forward answer to this point. Making this service ‘reservable only’ presents a number of logistical challenges for operational colleagues to manage, this could lead to further disruption for customers trying to board and colleagues identifying who can/cannot travel. We do not place restrictions on overbooking, so in theory customers can still walk up and purchase a ticket on the day irrespective of the amount of advanced purchase tickets bought – this is linked to your fourth question.
4. Do you restrict the number of "cheap" Advance purchase tickets on this service? If not, why not?
Yes - Cheaper AP fares are restricted on this service Monday to Friday. Availability of advanced tickets is linked to customer demand, so on services such as this the more expensive fares are only available.
5. What consideration has/is being given to removing stops at Reading and Newbury on this service on Fridays? (Bearing in mind that there are numerous alternatives).
The Reading stop is required as per our “Service level Commitment”. The Reading stop has been made pick up only. The Newbury stop is used by customers who travel each day and a direct alternative would need to be provided.
6. Can the 1945 and/or 2035 services to Plymouth be extended to Penzance on Friday to relieve pressure on the 1903? If not, why not?
The line is closed after the passage of the last train in Cornwall. That having said, a service which would arrive at stations in Cornwall in the early hours of the morning is not likely to be attractive.
7. Where the last service of the day to Cornwall is cancelled as it was (at Reading) on the 21st October, what is your contingency plan for getting people home "Long distance"?
If the 19.03 is cancelled we will take people to Plymouth on the next available train and provide onward road transport from there.
Once again, I’m sorry for the problems you have experienced recently and thank you for contacting
GWR▸ .
Yours sincerely
