First to spend ^29 million BBC News

[whole diary]

[tramway]

This was announced on Radio 4 this morning, rumours appear to be correct.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7264262.stm

First Great Western is to pay for more trains and better passenger compensation after poor service on lines to Wales and the West Country.
The Swindon-based train operator agreed the ^29m investment package after discussions with the government.

[miniman]

First Great Western is to pay for more trains

Arriving at a station somewhere between Portsmouth and Cardiff soon:

[Lee]

Official press release from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) (link below) :
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=95

Message from Andrew Haines, Chief Operating Officer, First Great Western (0800 Tuesday 26 February 2008):

First Great Western (FGW) has announced a comprehensive investment package designed to improve the performance of its services.

The ^29m plan has been put together to address poor performance, particularly in relation to cancellations and the subsequent contravention of our Franchise Agreement.

We know our performance has fallen short of our own standards and the expectation of our passengers.  We are committed to take the action needed to minimise cancellations and delays.

In discussions with the Department for Transport, we have offered additional investments to enhance our service to passengers, and put measures in place to improve operational performance.

A further commitment has been made to increase the amount of compensation available under the Passenger^s Charter by 50 per cent for claims arising between 27 January 2009 and 26 January 2010.  This is in addition to the doubling of the amount of compensation available to customers during 2008, announced in January.

The package will fund an increase in capacity on some of the company^s busiest services. This includes leasing five additional Class 150 units to release Class 158 trains to strengthen the Cardiff-Portsmouth service from May 2008, which will increase capacity by 40% on most services on this route.

The plan will also extend our commitment to a light refresh of the London and Thames Valley regional train fleet.  A total of ^6.1m will now be invested, including ^1.1m already committed.

We will recruit new drivers, guards and technicians, to improve customer service and reliability.

Also, as part of the plan, more money will be spent to improve our Customer Information System (CIS^▸ (Customer Information System)) at stations providing extra ability to keep customers up-to-date in times of disruption.
 
We are already investing more than any other train operator - ^200m over the life of the First Great Western franchise.  The additional ^29m investment package will be spent where it is most needed ^ on extra resources, more rolling stock and improved customer service.

Combined with the new senior management team we now have in place, this investment in comprehensive and robust passenger benefits is a fundamental change in the way we do business. It represents a fresh start for First Great Western and we want to be judged on our results.

At-a-glance guide to extra investment package


Increasing rolling stock by leasing five additional Class 150 units to release Class 158 units for use in strengthening the Cardiff-Portsmouth service from May 2008 which will increase capacity by 40% on most services on this route.

A further ^7m investment to enhance our Customer Information System (CIS) at stations. This will bring our total investment in CIS to ^15 million and provide improved consistency of systems, coverage of more stations and a greater capacity to provide information during times of disruption.

A further commitment has been made to increase the amount of compensation available under the Passenger^s Charter by 50 per cent for claims arising between 27 January 2009 and 26 January 2010.  This is in addition to the doubling of the amount of compensation available to customers during 2008, announced in January.

Additional investment of ^5m on improvements to the London and Thames Valley fleet. A total of ^6.1m will be invested in the London and Thames Valley fleet, including ^1.1m already committed.

The provision of an additional 500,000 FGW tickets at the most discounted rates to popular destinations for off peak travel.  We will actively participate in the study and development of fares simplification proposals involving single journey pricing.

A ^4m enhanced customer service training package for FGW^s passenger facing employees.

In addition, we have developed and agreed a comprehensive plan to improve performance and minimise delays and cancellations, including:

Recruit new drivers, guards and technicians to improve customer service and reliability.  In addition, we have established a new performance directorate to improve management of disruption alongside Network Rail.

A package of additional fleet and depot improvements to enhance reliability.  In addition, to ensure resilient operating performance, we will provide an additional High Speed Train in April 2009.

Hats off to vacman for the prediction, good news for FGW & its passengers and bad news for Wales by the look of it.

[Lee]

More on the announced Thames Turbo refurb, and the news of an additional High Speed Train (link below.)
http://www.oxfordmail.net/display.var.2072806.0.29m_upgrade_from_first_great_western.php

[mada]

Excellent... although when I read the headline I thought they'd put in an order for some 172's! (Chiltern recently ordered a few piggy backing on the existing bulk order) I take it the Welsh will now take the 180's!

[polonia]

Interesting the way this is being spun, read the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) sites you'd almost think FGW were doing this out of the goodness of their heart rather than as a last ditch attempt to save the franchise in response to the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport)-mandated Remedial Plan Notice and Breach Notice for exceeding the threshold on cancellations in the second half of last year and then misreporting the cancellation rate (although FGW claim this was more "cock-up" than "conspiracy" .

Still, that isn't to say that this is welcome news...lets hope Andrew Haines seizes the opportunity to  demonstrate he can deliver what his predecessors have failed to. 

[Lee]

Interesting the way this is being spun, read the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) sites you'd almost think FGW were doing this out of the goodness of their heart rather than as a last ditch attempt to save the franchise in response to the DFT^▸ (Department for Transport)-mandated Remedial Plan Notice and Breach Notice for exceeding the threshold on cancellations in the second half of last year and then misreporting the cancellation rate (although FGW claim this was more "cock-up" than "conspiracy" .

Still, that isn't to say that this is welcome news...lets hope Andrew Haines seizes the opportunity to  demonstrate he can deliver what his predecessors have failed to. 

The Guardian takes a similar line on this, with Ruth Kelly claiming that she imposed the package on FGW (thanks to mojo for the link) :
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/26/firstgroupbusiness.travelleisure

Britain's least popular rail service, First Great Western, is close to being stripped of its franchise after it misled the public over service standards.

Transport secretary Ruth Kelly today ordered FGW to buy more carriages, increase passenger compensation payments and hire more staff or else the franchise will be terminated. The Department for Transport found that FGW, voted the worst service in Britain last month, misled passengers by under-reporting the number of service cancellations last year.

"First Great Western has breached its franchise agreement by exceeding the limits on cancellations, and also by misreporting those cancellations," she said.

FGW's reputation among passengers and ministers has reached a nadir after the company admitted that it had miscalculated the number of train cancellations between August and December last year. After blowing the whistle on the error, FGW subsequently accepted that it had breached the cancellation threshold in its contract.

Kelly effectively issued a yellow card to FGW, saying that failure to comply with a series of service changes worth ^29m "could lead to the Government terminating First Great Western's franchise".

She added that instead of fining the franchise, which operates throughout the west country as well as the London-to-Cardiff route, she had imposed an improvements package including higher compensation for commuters affected by endemic punctuality problems.

"Any penalty would be paid to central Government. Having considered this carefully, and given that a penalty would not, itself, help passengers, I have opted instead for passengers to receive a better benefits package," she said.

[DanielP]

But, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) were forced into that level of service by the terms of the franchise!!!!!

Good lord! Someone needs a kick here!!

Daniel

[Lee]

But, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) were forced into that level of service by the terms of the franchise!!!!!

Good lord! Someone needs a kick here!!

Daniel

...which they bid for and agreed to, making some cuts above and beyond what they had to do (see Insider link below.)
http://indefenceoffirstgreatwestern.blogspot.com/2007/11/answering-some-questions.html

But I agree that this is getting silly, and a charitable analysis would be that we are in uncharted territory here.

[Timmer]

Excellent news! At last some good news for FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s long suffering passengers.

[Lee]

Watch out for an interview with Charles Howeson tomorrow....
http://thisisplymouth.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=181429&command=displayContent&sourceNode=229968&home=yes&more_nodeId1=133174&contentPK=19989562

[swlines]

I'm not convinced one bit ...

[tramway]

Don't suppose that we'll ever find out if Moir had an invitation to beer and sandwiches at No 10. in the past 6 months

[Lee]

Don't suppose that we'll ever find out if Moir had an invitation to beer and sandwiches at No 10. in the past 6 months

No idea...but i've got a quote (link below) :
http://thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=180730&command=displayContent&sourceNode=232315&home=yes&more_nodeId1=163047&contentPK=19987741

Today's announcement demonstrates our commitment to improving performance and customer service in our FGW^▸ (First Great Western) franchise. We have already put in place actions to address performance at FGW. We are encouraged that during January, performance improved and cancellations were at their lowest level for 18 months and this trend has continued during February. We are committed to the long-term development of railways in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) and look forward to sustained performance improvements at FGW in line with our other three rail franchises.

Quote from Bath MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Don Foster :

"First Great Western services have been a disgrace in recent months and the Government is right to take action. The company can in fact think itself fortunate that it has not had its franchise removed entirely, particularly as it has now admitted to misreporting figures.

"The remedial plan which has been agreed with the Government represents a final warning for the company and any breach of this will qualify as a default and the contract will indeed be terminated.

"I welcome the passenger benefits included in this package. But the company must now deliver on these promised improvements. They have a last chance to get it right."

[grahame]

Today's announcement demonstrates our commitment to improving performance and customer service in our FGW^▸ (First Great Western) franchise. We have already put in place actions to address performance at FGW. We are encouraged that during January, performance improved and cancellations were at their lowest level for 18 months and this trend has continued during February. We are committed to the long-term development of railways in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) and look forward to sustained performance improvements at FGW in line with our other three rail franchises.

Indeed they have improved - for the first time since I started monitoring late last year, my moving performance average showing the percentage of train calling at all stations they are supposed to went over 99 for the first time last week.   And my system is very generous to the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company), not counting planned cancellations that are notified well ahead and failing to capture all short term cancellations too, I suspect.   But "better" does not mean "good" necessarily.

Current figures can be seen at:
http://www.savethetrain.org.uk/running.php
and (just before I wrote this reply) I note we were back down to only 94.81% of trains calling at all scheduled stations.  There were some exceptional circumstances yesterday, but I though the idea was that these balance out and at times of "no unusual problem" the figure should be more like 99.8%