Where Will FGW Be In A Few Years Time?

[whole diary]

[Lee]

What does the future hold for FGW^▸ (First Great Western)?

Will we still be discussing the same kind of problems as we have been in the first period of the franchise, or will they have been largely resolved, along with improved/restored services in Devon & Cornwall, TransWilts, Thames Valley/Cotswolds, Gloucester-Worcester corridor, the Greater Bristol area and other such places?

In what direction would you like to see FGW go forward, and what steps should they take in order to get there?

[Btline]

I know it is mainly out of their control, but a press for electrification of their HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) and Thames Valley commuter services needs to happen.

BEFORE HST2/IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.).

[Electric train]

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will suffer the same way all railway companies have suffered over the last 200 years 

change of government = change of policy direction

i. e. lap of the gods

[Chris from Nailsea]

Well, I'm rather optimistic about what the future holds for FGW^▸ (First Great Western), personally.

Firstly, I'm often impressed with the quality of their staff.  Here on the forum, for example, we have several FGW staff members who are clearly very passionate about their company, the service they are trying to provide and the reasons why they are sometimes prevented from delivering it.

I've said before, I also rate Andrew Haines and his team very highly: they have already achieved improvements that the previous regime just couldn't seem to grasp.

That said, FGW are indeed a bit prone to dropping the occasional rather large brick. The difference now, however, is that they own up to it, and put it right: increasing compensation for delays, honouring Exeter tickets, and running another Severn Beach day, for example.

From my own perspective, I'm fairly happy with my daily commute these days. Yes, it would be nice to have staff instead of machines at Nailsea & Backwell, but the trains are much more reliable (still crowded, but that's life!) and most of them have been refurbished to provide at least a reasonable travel experience.

However, what does make me cross is the political interference in what FGW can do: the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) have a lot to answer for, in creating the problems which, I think, FGW have done quite well to (at least start to) resolve. I think that, provided the politicians and civil servants can be kept away from interfering in the detail, FGW are quite capable of continuing to improve their service for the remainder of the current franchise. And if they do, I'll be quite happy to see them win a 'second term', when the time comes.

Erm, that's all from me, for the moment: just a reminder, I'm not FGW staff, just a humble passenger! 

[Lee]

That said, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) are indeed a bit prone to dropping the occasional rather large brick. The difference now, however, is that they own up to it, and put it right: increasing compensation for delays, honouring Exeter tickets, and running another Severn Beach day, for example.

I think what is annoying to me (and surely must be annoying to the many excellent members of staff that FGW undoubtably have) is that the kind of mistakes that marred the Exeter promotion and Severn Beach Line Sunday Free Travel really shouldnt happen in the first place :

Exeter :

A spokesman for First Great Western said: "The offer was never meant to be made to the general public.

"Our marketing department was working with Exeter City Council and its travel plan department. They were contacting a target group of people to try and get them to look at alternatives to car travel.

"Each submitted application had to be authorised by our marketing department. It was supposed to be password protected. The form should have been hidden.

"We've now had to pull out of the scheme."

Severn Beach Line Sunday Free Travel :

I have sought explanations for the cancellations.  In short, two of the services were cancelled for unit failure.  This raises questions about resilience and contingency plans as I would expect there to be spare rolling stock available on a Sunday; we are pursuing this point with FGW.  The third cancellation was altogether more bizarre with a staff member going out with the wrong train leaving the Severn Beach train short.

Ensuring that a promotion is password protected and making sure your staff go out with the correct train is not rocket science, and when things like that happen (along with the resulting bad publicity), then it does lend weight to the view that FGW can sometimes be its own worst enemy.

That said, I do think that FGW have improved in several respects, and I am not alone among my fellow cynics 

See quote below :

I think its mainly a case of that "bad news" will always sell papers, and "good news" (although featured more than people realise) will not always get the level of coverage that perhaps it merits.

From my perspective, one of the things that has greatly improved is that, if I raise an issue of importance to the Coffee Shop or CANBER^▸ (Campaign Against the New Beeching Report), Andrew Haines will always ensure that I get a speedy and detailed response, either from him personally or the person responsible for the matter. Frankly, this is in stark contrast to how things were before he came along.

There have also been welcome moves towards improvements on several lines/services (TransWilts being a notable exception.)

However, FGW remain gaffe-prone, and when things do go wrong, they tend to go wrong in spectacular fashion, the debacles over the Exeter ticket promotion and the Free Severn Beach Line service cancellations being good examples. Errors like this could be avoided, and FGW still (in my opinion) have work to do on this front.

Here is a view from the I Hate FGW blog author, in which she notes (with caution) that things have improved (link below.)
http://www.canber.co.uk/?q=node/29

[eightf48544]

I think it depend on the economy.

If petrol gets too pricey but unemployment stays reasonably low then FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will suffer from even more complaints about too few or not long enough trains. They are unlikely to get any more stock in the next year or so.

If both petrol and unemployment both rise then I think FGW could well be in difficulty paying their premium because of loss of traffic. So cut backs in services.

By and large in the Thames Valley things have improved since the December 2008 timetable off peak services seem to work well and on on time most days.

Twford, Maidenhead and Slough passengers are still upset at losing their fast trains and we still have the absurbity of running the fast Sloughs on the Relief line during the peak.

Airport Junction is still a bottle neck on the Up Main.