Susan, delighted to have you here.   Although the peak flows / metrics of the issues vary from area to area, line to line, many of the underlying causes and players involved in decisions and changes are the same ones, on the same game board. 

We can learn from each other and by talking we can try to co-ordinate / ensuring that we're not working against each other's interests.  I'm minded of a situation where a certain resident of [Somerset Town] suggested that a Wiltshre service be withdrawn and the train that was freed up used to provide him with a service, and another incident where one of our own "TransWilts" people suggested a train be freed up from Devon ....

I'll look at / carry on under other topics ... just wanted to say "Hi" and Welcome.   With the intrinsic network nature of the whole railway system, perhaps you already know Max and Penny and some of the others ...

I couldn't resist some crunching .. 2 hours per month from 1st April last year as a whole, rising to 5 hours per month since 10th December.   All the more shocking seeing as I've not made any allowance for the Christmas holiday period when, I suspect, Mike, you didn't travel every day?

"The remaining services will be more reliable once we start the new timetable, so although you'll have fewer trains, some things will improve ....".   I must go back and find that quote, in an email to me from a senior FGW^▸ (First Great Western) person, last Autumn.  Seems a little hollow.

Any evidence of "teething troubles" Mike, or is it too early to look at the figures month by month?

Hello, and welcome to the forum.   We very much appreciate all perspectives / all views, and there's so much that (my view) can / could be gained from seeing things from "the other sides". Actually, I have huge admiration for the majority of front line railway staff struggling through the system as it is now constituted, and also (but very much more patchily) for certain of the senior staff - even those who's task it has been to give us the "no - we will NOT provide an adequate service because ... message".

I'm in agreement with you that, yes, a private company can provide a good railway service. Also that the current woes are very much caused by the system and how it's operated rather than uniquely by the private company.  But I don't think you'll find that any party is completely faultless if you look to aportion fault.

The big question is not "how did we get here" but "how can we move forward to an appropriate situation for all the interested parties, including but not limited to the customers of the railway" and much of the answer relates to how the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) / DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) balance short term financial and long term development goals.   

Strategy one: Take off peak hour trains now to save money outgoing, raise fares to generate money incoming, and withdraw / render unusable by condition changes cheap fares that sell well.

Strategy two: Ensure good capacity for popular services in order to grow those services, look after customers with excellent trains and responsive and helpful staff, and if there's a case where a customer is morally right but has acceidentally got caught by the complex fare system (for example) don't charge a penalty fare, have him pay again, or have the police march him off the station like a criminal.

I fear I mighht get bored if every day was the same 

[Please - anyone reading my slightly flippant comment who's also reposnible for running trains - we would much appreciate it iy you can make it so boringly reliable that we've nothing to talk about]

Yes indeed, thanks, Chris ... and also for others who may have wondered an who, perhaps, haven't had met / talked with panel members and may be a bit "woolly" about it.

I've split this topic off the original thread it was in, by the way ... do I'll just re-add that I'm very much supportive / wanting to work with the train operator too, for the benefit of them, the taxpayer, and the traveller.

First told us that a lot surveying that was done after their 1st April takeover of the Cornish branch lines, through which they were establishing the details of the traffic requirements and flows on what they had taken over.   I wonder if one option being floated at a high level within FGW^▸ (First Great Western) at the moment may be to replace (some?) Cornish branch line trains by buses. I'm not suprised that the option would be looked at - a business such as First should consider a wide range of possibiities for the future.

I'm adding the word option onto this post - I've not got any substantive direct evidence (I think I may have smelled some smoke, but I've seen no fire), but I've decided to post it up here so that readers can make what they will of it / so that anyone from those parts who happen upon this post can start asking questions if they feel it is worth asking. 

It has other very personal memories for me too.

Back in 1996, I was just divorced and re-single. Parent with son at home, living in Swindon, working full time too to keep up payments to the "ex" with whom daughter continued to live for a while, and who had chosen not to work full time.  Lots of other things going on too an a new romance was - err - last thing on my list.

However, a get together of an Internet news group (old fashioned equivalent to forum, I suppose) of people of similar interests / philospohy to mine  was being held near Tintern in South Wales, and I met up with a handful of the people the prior weekend, and went along the the meetup for some of the week.  Yes, met a lady over from the USA - her first trip out of country since her youth, and coming to the AGM^▸ (Annual General Meeting) (alt.good.morning) meeting as a way to see part of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), alone and yet with friends.

I was at home on - gosh - Monday night and the event was due to finish on Wednesday.  Big "last supper" on Tuesday, but I was giving a course at Silicon Graphics (Theale) that week and unable to make it - I had said my goodbyes already.  Then the phone rang.  "How can I get from Tintern to Gatwick on Wednesday morning in time for my 10:45 flight?" .... ah, now there's an interesting question.  It seemed that the group had been down the pub and discussing their travel plans, and all hell had broken loose when Lisa announced that she would be at the supper, but needed to catch the flight too.  Advise ranging from "you can't do it" through "no way" to "that's not possible" from all sides, I understand.  Ah - what better to do that to call a local.

Lisa went to the ball (and so did I). She came back to Swindon with me afterwards, and I took her into Reading the following morning ... an early North Downs line train.  I can recall which platform, I can recall stealing a kiss as the doors on the Thames Turbo^▸ (Class 165 and 166 trains used on Thames Valley services) closed.  And that was to be the end of it ...

Ah, yes. Well that wasn't the end of it. Lisa's now my wife.

Have you heard of the saying "don't shoot the messenger".  Regrettably, Mike, by reporting something like this you (and I had I done so) are likely to be looked on as a suspect.  Not necessarily just an FGW^▸ (First Great Western) problem ... I've stuck my head above the parrapit (ick, I can't spell) with regards to some issues on my local service and people look and me with a degree of suspision and say "ah - so how is HE involved - how will HE profit if it get's sorted".

In response to another message this morning, I wrote a piece headed Passengers or Customers ... and I think you had a guard (and refer to a station crew at Weston) who see you as the former not the latter.

Split topic - following on from Chris's intro

P.S.   Chris - I would REALLY like to start up a further discussion on the Customer Panel(s).  If you can follow up here in answer to my first comments, I'll split this into a separate thread

I have concerns at their geographic nature in some cases . For example, living in Bridgwater, I have to question how well you know the issues effecting Tiverton Parkway, e.g. recent stuff I was hearing from there about restaurant car services from London.

I also have concerns as to whether you might feel you have a conflict of interests between being loyal to the company who, I think, provide you with a number of outings / interesting perks.   I'm happy to see, though, that you're not averse to taking a balanced view.

Please forgive the concerns - from a personal (TransWilts) service viewpoint, none of the customer panel members uses it, so I'm somewhat disjoined from it and have found myself (on one noteable occasion) having to tell a panel member about a service of 68 trains a week that ran in his zone.

Hi, Chris, and welcome to the forum.

We're very new - "The new kid on the block" - so visibility isn't great yet. However, the board's an offshoot from the Save the train website and forum that I've been running for some 18 months which concentrates on the TransWilts service (Swindon to Westbury and Salisbury) and has managed to get the service reduction from being a single line on page 52 of an SRA^» (Strategic Rail Authority - about) report into something that's been and being looked at as a serious transport issue.

There are many issues that we on the TransWilts in Melksham, you in Bridgwater, Roger in Cornwall,  Penny in Pangbourne and Ivan in South Wales have to raise with the same players - the Department for Transport, First, Network Rail ... and as a result of some requests for space on "Save the Train" we set this up.  To cover lines / sections / services that don't have their own local groups / active boards, and to discuss common issues.  "Save the Train" wasn't quite the right URL or place - there's a big danger there of issues that effect huge groups of passengers - such as Paddington commuters - drowning out the important local case.

I'm 100% in agreement with you, Chris, in working with the operator (and appreciating that they're a private company, motivated by profit).   Without a dramatic shake up of the system - something beyond my personal remit / thought - that's far and away the best way to come up with an appropriate solution for everyone.  I would argue that it's naughty of First to claim completely to be a powerless victim of the situation - I understand they would still have won the franchise with a bid of 1.05 billion rather that 1.1 billion, and the extra 50 million pounds would have given them the money to retain every single cut service for the 10 years duration.  And at the same time, I'm not a Luddite and I'll say I probably wouldn't have WANTED them to have retained certain historic oddities but rather to revamp for the future.    Actually, at the moment I'm rather encouraged by some aspects of a December (2007) timetable draft from the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) under FOI^▸ (Freedom of Information), and concerned at other aspects.

Looks like all those changes may be due to a single person's illness. Shows how close to the edge the system is run?

Trowbridge, the county town of Wiltshire, is one of the major stops on the Heart of Wessex Service ...

Weymouth, Dorchester, Yeovil, Frome, Trowbridge, Bradford-on-Avon, Bath and Bristol.

So why are there no signs at all at Trowbridge telling you about the trains that leave there every couple of hours for Weymouth?   Is someone discouraging use of the service?

Come to think of it ... why no signs about the trains to Melksham (1 stop, 10 minutes), Chippenham or Swindon either?

Just a note to remind us that other operator face difficulties too ... here's an apology from a carrier that we use in another of our 'lives'

Dear xxxxxxx Customers,

We are sorry and embarrassed.  But most of all, we are deeply sorry.             

Last week was the worst operational week in xxxxxxx's seven year history. Following the severe winter ice storm in the Northeast, we subjected our customers to unacceptable delays, flight cancellations, lost baggage, and other major inconveniences. The storm disrupted the movement of aircraft, and, more importantly, disrupted the movement of xxxxxxx's pilot and inflight crewmembers who were depending on those planes to get them to the airports where they were scheduled to serve
you.

With the busy President's Day weekend upon us, rebooking opportunities were scarce and hold times at 1-800-xxxxxxx were unacceptably long or not even available, further hindering our recovery efforts.  Words cannot express how truly sorry we are for the anxiety, frustration and inconvenience that we caused. This is especially saddening because xxxxxxx was founded on the promise of bringing humanity back to air travel and making the experience of flying happier and easier for everyone who chooses to fly with us. We know we failed to deliver on this promise last week.

We are committed to you, our valued customers, and are taking immediate corrective steps to regain your confidence in us. We have begun putting a comprehensive plan in place to provide better and more timely information to you, more tools and resources for our crewmembers and improved procedures for handling operational difficulties in the future. We are confident, as a result of these actions, that xxxxxxx will emerge as a more reliable and even more customer responsive airline than ever before.

Most importantly, we have published the xxxxxxx Airways Customer Bill of Rights ... *** our official commitment to you of how we will handle operational interruptions going forward^including details of compensation. I have a video message ***  to share with you about this industry leading action.

You deserved better^a lot better^from us last week.

Nothing is more important than regaining your trust and all of us here hope you will give us the opportunity to welcome you onboard again soon and provide you the positive xxxxxxx Experience you have come to expect from us.
     
Would I use them again?   Yes - and I would use a carrier that delayed us 36 hours too. Why - because, as the guy says here, it's about trust.  Trust comes from keeping people informed, for admitting fault where it's fair and just, and about not creeping services back down from 4 to 3 and 2 coaches and reducing your staff levels so you've no sickenss cover when you think the media's not watching and you can save a few quid - short term - for your shareholders

Hi, Max ... welcome to the forum.

I work in Oxford from time to time ... we've never met (I don't think) but I've used the same services - I used to travel direct from Chippenham to Oxford and there was even one service that didn't reverse at Didcot. Alas - things got seriously worse when the direct trains went and it was ...

Chippenham (on train for one stop) Swindon (on next train for 1 stop) Didcot (on next train for one stop) Oxford.

And I could never work out the reason for the odd Didcot stopping patterns - unless it was to do with discouraging long distance commuters from buying shorter journey tickets secure in the knowledge that all their trains stopped there. 

These days ... a week in Oxford is no longer a daily commute. I know this nice hotel which costs slighly more than commuting, but is much kinder to my weary ole body.