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[whole diary]

[Network SouthEast]

It's ridiculous, there is no excuse for poor air con. Chiltern's Turbos are fine and now have NO openable windows - why can't FGW^▸ (First Great Western) do the same?

I travelled on a Chiltern 165 earlier in the week, followed by a FGW 165 later on in the day.  The difference was so noticeable that they hardly felt like the type class of train!  Although the air con was switched on, the FGW was still hot enough that I felt uncomfortable.

FGW class 165 trains don't have air conditioning, it's only the 166s that do.

One of the reasons why Chiltern's 165 air conditioning work is because it is a modern system that was custom designed for the trains it was fitted and has been maintained thoroughly since installation.

[Fourbee]

A bevy of 165's on the North Downs Line yesterday on the semi-fasts (usually 166's). Very comfortable with all the windows open.

Think there must have been a unit failure or two.

[ChrisB]

It's ridiculous, there is no excuse for poor air con. Chiltern's Turbos are fine and now have NO openable windows - why can't FGW^▸ (First Great Western) do the same?

Because Chiltern were required to do the work by their franchise agreement?

[johoare]

It's ridiculous, there is no excuse for poor air con. Chiltern's Turbos are fine and now have NO openable windows - why can't FGW^▸ (First Great Western) do the same?

Because Chiltern were required to do the work by their franchise agreement?

That is a (poor) excuse but not a good reason in the slightest.. FGW should be ashamed of themselves.. They've had approximately 10 years to do something and they've not done much other than trying the easiest options..

I'm sure they make a hefty profit and really need to use some of it to sort it out..

I was on a train tonight that made me hotter (whilst sitting very very still) than walking 20 minutes home when  I got off that train..

I think they won't do anything about it and I know they're not bothered.. But still they take my money 

[Southern Stag]

I'm sure they make a hefty profit and really need to use some of it to sort it out..

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) make some quite substantial losses. The government also pays out a net subsidy on the FGW franchise, as it does on all franchises other than First Capital Connect. If the government agreed to subsidise FGW more then they could install a decent air-conditioning system. That's what happened on Chiltern, by including a more expensive refurbishment in the franchise agreement the government agrees to take a smaller premium or pay a greater subsidy.

[johoare]

I'm sure they make a hefty profit and really need to use some of it to sort it out..

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) make some quite substantial losses. The government also pays out a net subsidy on the FGW franchise, as it does on all franchises other than First Capital Connect. If the government agreed to subsidise FGW more then they could install a decent air-conditioning system. That's what happened on Chiltern, by including a more expensive refurbishment in the franchise agreement the government agrees to take a smaller premium or pay a greater subsidy.

Well that surprises me..Seeing the amount of people per train in peak and the cost of tickets...

[IndustryInsider]

Well that surprises me..Seeing the amount of people per train in peak and the cost of tickets...

That's the reality and the rather perverse way the railway is financed.  Thames Trains and its heavily commuter based operation was just about breaking even when it was absorbed by First Group, but a package of improvements (including bringing the 180s onto the route) meant a subsidy was required for the LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) routes - I think it was around ^100m over two years?  I'm not sure how much of a profit the LTV routes currently make, if any, but it's counterbalanced with the loss making routes at the western end of the franchise.

As for the air-con, as I said before, let's give it another year - we're not yet out of one of the most prolonged heatwaves of recent years.  The contractors who installed the original system will have no shortage of faults to fix, but it remains the case that a few carriages in the fleet are still cooling very nicely - for some reason it seems to often be the middle carriage, so (unlike the first system which never really worked) at least there's a fighting chance that by next summer faults will have been resolved.

[Electric train]

As for LVT profitability if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) were to actually carry out travelling ticket inspections and more gate line checks they might actually get some revenue; the amount of people who blatantly travel between Burnham and the Marlow branch stations and places like Hayes and Burnham and even to Windsor (provided they don't exit at Slough) is farcical even at Maidenhead all the dodgers know they can get away with walking through the Shoppenhangers Road entrance most of the time without being challenged.  And then there is the total disregard of sitting First Class.

The air-con on the 166 needs removing and a full set of opening windows installed.

[johoare]

Indeed.. I can only remember one ticket check in the last few months in the morning.. And I've got a good memory..

There are slightly more in the evenings as I tend to go for one of the two HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) to Maidenhead (to avoid death by being fried) and they do tend to check tickets more on them in the evenings (but not in the mornings)..

[BerkshireBugsy]

Indeed.. I can only remember one ticket check in the last few months in the morning.. And I've got a good memory..

I recently did a week of daily travelling between Thatcham and Brentwood Essex . Ignoring the tube segment this involved 3 journey segments between Thatcham and reading, reading and Paddington ad Liverpool street and Brentwood (a total of 6 journeys per day)

Whist I accept that most platforms at Paddington are gateline protected at no point during my week of travel was my ticket checked once.

[TonyK]

Whist I accept that most platforms at Paddington are gateline protected at no point during my week of travel was my ticket checked once.

Mrs FT, N! has beaten a path to and from Swindon regularly, and reports likewise. Not only that, but the gateline is often open when she gets back to Temple Meads.

[Southern Stag]

As for LVT profitability if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) were to actually carry out travelling ticket inspections and more gate line checks they might actually get some revenue;

The reason that there are no ticket checks is because the trains are DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)). When DOO is introduced it is largely as a cost saving exercise, so NSE^▸ (Network South East) must have believed at the time it was introduced that it would cost them less in loss revenue that it would to employ guards. The unprofitably of FGW is at the level whereby collecting extra revenue would make little difference anyway. The cap and collar regime doesn't incentivise FGW to collect more revenue anyway. The DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) covers 80% of revenue below the crazily optimistic targets FGW set when they won the franchise but the DfT won't cover 80% of the cost of employing more RPIs^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)).

[BerkshireBugsy]

As for LVT profitability if FGW^▸ (First Great Western) were to actually carry out travelling ticket inspections and more gate line checks they might actually get some revenue;

The reason that there are no ticket checks is because the trains are DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)).

I partly agree with the observation regarding DOO but some legs of my journey are defiantly not DOO and on occasions have arrived at Paddington  on platforms where there is no gateline

[Southern Stag]

By and large if the train isn't DOO^▸ (Driver-Only Operation (that is, trains which operate without carrying a guard)) there should be ticket checks, but there are still lots of reasons why they might not take place. And ticket checks between Reading and London in that direction on HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) are certainly rather scarce.

[grahame]

The cap and collar regime doesn't incentivise FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to collect more revenue anyway. The DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) covers 80% of revenue below the crazily optimistic targets FGW set when they won the franchise but the DfT won't cover 80% of the cost of employing more RPIs^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)).

In other words, if it costs 200 pounds per day in salary and other costs of employment and provision of what's needed to do the job for each, then each RPI would have to collect 1000 pounds just to break even.

It goes wider too.  If it costs 400 pounds to enhance a particular train, then the farebox has to take an extra 2000 pounds more for that enhancement to break even, unless there's another non-revenue funding source available.