Hi, Please can you summarise - I read this at work & this website is barred!

MEETING OF OXRAIL AND FGW: 27TH FEBRUARY 2008

Present:
FGW: Andrew Haines, Mark Hopwood, Mike Hogg, Richard Rowland, Sue Evans
ORA: Zahra Akkerhuys, Paul Mylrea, Simon Eaton, Stanley Skoglund, Carol Sweetenham

Update and announcement of 26th February

Ah explained the background to the announcement of 26th February. Cancellations had been a particular issue; delays less so (although an issue for the West Country and Oxford). The misreporting issue had been raised by FGW itself as soon as discovered: it was “poor practice” which had now been ended, not a deliberate attempt to mislead.

FGW had agreed three things with DfT:  (i) that cancellations were at an unacceptable level, (ii) a remedial plan and (iii) a further passenger dividend for under-performance. The remedial plan included recruitment of additional staff, a new HST set in 2009 and in the interim retention of 3 Adelantes.

The £29m package included the £4m previously allocated to doubling compensation for performance in 2008. The other £25m was new money. This was split between:
An additional £7m on customer information
An additional £5m on refurbishing Turbos
£4m on customer service training, prioritising gateline staff
£2m on compensation of 7.5% if needed for 2009
£6m on the Cardiff-Portsmouth route
Money towards additional discount fares

2. Operating problems from Oxford

Mark Hopwood explained that 100 additional train crew were being recruited and training to convert Turbo staff to HST working was nearing completion. FGW would restrict use of Turbos where HSTs were available but could not be staffed.

Mike Hogg had been reviewing operating practices at Oxford, where FGW acknowledge problems with punctuality persist. FGW would:
by 5 April raise speed in the sidings from 5mph to 15mph: this would make it faster to transfer trains across lines;
a new siding on platform 2
by the end of March opening the down freight line to passenger traffic.
By the end of the year they hoped to carry out signalling work to separate Bicester traffic from other station traffice, and to reintroduce permissive working (i.e. two trains being allowed on one platform, not permitted since 1999).

Mark Hopwood added that:
it remained a long-term aim to double the existing single track Cotswold line. In the short term he was looking at changing the operating of the 5.50 a.m. from Moreton;
FGW was also looking at deprioritising freight at morning and evening peak.
ORA commented that it was encouraging to hear about focused short term measures. However there were regular issues with the punctuality of the 7.30 a.m. and the 8.07 a.m., both of which were currently on average 15 minutes late. FGW said that the delay to the 7.30 was a knock-on of it ceasing to stop at Didcot and therefore catching up with a preceding slow service. They agreed to look at both.

ORA raised the issue of quality and reliability of refurbished HST stock. AH explained that FGW had refurbished 53 sets in 20 months and he recognised this had had some effect on quality, e.g. taps working. However reliability was satisfactory.

AH asked for views from ORA on a further proposed change to Oxford station. This would involve losing car parking space in exchange for a new bay platform at Oxford which would be used by stopping services. This was scheduled for 2011. He would however welcome feedback from Oxford commuters on whether the loss of some car parking space was a price worth paying for greater punctuality.
Action: ORA to feed back views.

Oxford station

The treble provision of information screens remained confusing. It would not change for at least a year: a tender was about to be let for a complete overhaul of info systems. In the meantime the plasma screens were the most reliable.

The refurbishment would be finished in around two months. The final stage was to instal an M&S store on the site of the old toilets, and to move the AMT bar a few feet.

Timetable changes

ORA said that, whilst they recognised the May changes were very minor, they were surprised not to have been consulted or even alerted. FGW said they would do so in future.

FGW said that they were starting to consider the December timetable. ORA asked to be fully involved in the process as on previous occasions.
 
Role of ORA

AH agreed that:
ORA should send a representative to the customer panel
ORA should have its own poster site in Oxford station
ORA would receive written permission to leaflet Oxford station, though this would be withdrawn if leaflets were defamatory or misleading about FGW.

AH asked whether ORA would be willing to work with FGW on an information session at Oxford station.
Action: ORA to consider and respond.

Date of next meeting

ORA said they were compiling a report on punctuality which they would present at the next meeting. Both sides agreed this should be in six weeks’ time, in mid-April.
Action: FGW to trawl for dates.

ORA
February 2008