FGW Canceled Trains

[steve74]

You can but hope .....

[enotayokel]

Well BTP lines at Southhall today isn't really FGW's Fault. There is only so much they can get through on 1 or 2 out of 4 lines

[INTERCITY]

When I'm working(Ticket Office) usually I just ask myself,what sort of hassle do I want?
100% of the time it's none,so if someone comes in having over travelled I simply say jump back on the next train and change at Basingstoke(Or wherever).

At the end of the day 95% of cases are geniune and if I think they aren't I'd rather just let it be and live an easy life,sometimes staff do not help themselves as they tend to let their own personalities get in the way.

[ashgray]

15:30 London Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads due 17:15
This train has been revised.It will no longer call at: Didcot Parkway, Swindon and Chippenham.This is due to congestion caused by earlier delays

Not quite non-stop London-Bristol. But would have liked to been on that train earlier. Reading-Bath Spa non-stop!

This has happened to me quite a lot recently, so much so that it prompted me to complain about this scurrilous practice to FGW head office, as I commute daily between Nailsea & Backwell (Somerset) and Bristol. Even the FGW staff I've spoken to about it think it is outrageous. I eventually received a reply after a month, in which FGW confirmed that it is now policy, where a train is "sufficiently" late, to run it non-stop until it has caught up the lost time, sometimes with no notice whatsoever and without the change aoppearing on information monitors.

FGW's rationale sounds similar to Mr Spock's - "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". The fact that passengers are left stranded at stations whilst a train rushes past without stopping is, in their view, more acceptable than the inconvenience that might be caused to other passengers on the route whose journeys may be affected for the rest of the day. Logical I suppose, but it totally fails to explain why this happens on occasions where a train is just ten minutes late, yet there is a built-in waiting time of 8 minutes at Temple Meads, etc....

Ash

[enotayokel]

Well I do have some news. They are getting 5 Class 150s from ATW (probably the ropey ex-central ones) to release 5 158s for spliting and reforming as 3 coach sets for the Cardiff-Portsmouths

[superdrive1]

Have a look at this.......http://firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=95
and at the bottom.....
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.

Additional High Speed Train, turn for the better or turn for the worst?????

[BR7MT]

I see that the DfT forced FGW to come up with this strategy to improve their performance...

... about time too!

Regards,

Dan

[wertyuv]

Who do you think is better though? NE can't handle it because when they did mml they had really bad performance ratings. Go-via could do it but i am not sure. They do more commuter stuff then long distance. I thing that stagecoach might do a good job but we will have to wait for performance figures form East Midlands Trains before i say that

[AlistairW]

NE can't handle it because when they did mml they had really bad performance ratings.

MML was the top performing inter-city operator for many years in a row, the company did go through a bad patch around the middle of the franchise as some HST's were out for refurbishment and a number of power cars suffered major failures/were involved in accidents which meant the remaining HST's were worked a lot harder which lead to more failures, but they did improve - a lot.

I think NX also do a fair job with 'one' as well.

Cheers,
Ali

[wertyuv]

they are getting better. They have rebranded ONE into NE east anglia. The BBC said no one would miss ONE

[gblandford]

Interested story on the Rubish Service of FGW

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/displayNod ... K=19995867

Guy

[wertyuv]

that is funny

[bgstrowger]

Interested story on the Rubish Service of FGW

http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/displayNod ... K=19995867

Guy

The reader's quotes at the bottom were very interesting, especially these two:

"Blaming FGW for running late when Network Rail gets things wrong is like blaming Ford for being late when there are roadworks... Hardly anything has been spent on the railway into Paddington or Bristol since Brunel - that is the scandal (and the fault of this gvt and the last) not FGW's performance.
David, Torbay

This seems to be turning into a witch hunt. I regularly use FGW and in my experience they are quite good. Most of the delays are due to Network Rail, and the shortage of trains in the Bristol area is a direct result of the deal agreed with the Government. For Ruth Kelly to act like this all First's fault is disingenuous.
Oliver, Exmouth"

Seems to sum up the situation.

I rarely use FGW to travel to Wiltshire, preferring SWT, but when I've used FGW, the service has generally been good. My only gripe is having to invariably wait for and consequently getting stuck behind a Heathrow service, but that's poor pathing.

[wertyuv]

i take FGW every weekend to see my dad in london. Every four weeks there seams to be a problem. Sometimes it is cancelations to the train being delayed up tp 30 mins. SWT are so much better and i would love to start taking them insted