First Draft Train Service Petition Copy---Feedback welcome

Thu 1 Mar 2007, 11:08

Richard: I submitted it last Friday.

I was hoping it would be live by now.

Igor

Wed 28 Feb 2007, 17:03

Has this appeared on the No. 10 website yet, Igor? I can't see it.

Mon 26 Feb 2007, 11:38

Version Posted to Number 10:

Regular users of the FirstGreatWestern London to Hereford service have endured an inordinate frequency of delays and cancellations on this line. It has profoundly impacted on commuters working lives as thousands of users can no longer depend on FGW to get to work on time. Efforts to get FGW to respond have proved futile. We have had to endure increasing ticket prices, a cutting back of the actual scheduled train services, an elimination of discounted ticket periods and a downsizing of train carriages resulting in overcrowded, unsafe trains during rush hour periods. The result of the negligent managing of this train service has been to increase the road congestion on this route. The situation is now serious enough to warrant action on the part of the minister of transport. We believe that a train service that adheres to its published train schedule is the least we can expect for the price of our tickets and that a reliable train service is not a privilege but an entitlement we pay for.

Thu 22 Feb 2007, 16:45

I gave up regular commuting on FGW to London some years ago because of nightmare journeys and general unreliability; but I am amazed to hear that the service is still so bad. It's outrageous that a company could maintain such a level of negligent management over such a long period and still have licence to run the service.

Is it lack of ability to run a rail road or unwillingness because they have such contempt for their customers that they just can't be bothered to run the trains on time?

I don't really know if just complaining is enough to do anything; people have been complaining about the service since I moved here and evidently nothing has changed.

Thu 22 Feb 2007, 14:08

No FGW havent applied for permission...it is nothing to do with them. But Network Rail are funding a study into possible redoubling of three sections of line.

Thu 22 Feb 2007, 13:56

Like Caroline, I too was stuck on the 5.52 last night, which eventually crawled into Charlbury at gone 7.30. Having crept along at a snail's pace all the way to Oxford, without any announcement as to why we had adopted a funereal pace until we were almost at Oxford (signal failure at Maidenhead apparently) we then had to wait ten minutes for the single track to clear. At the end of a slow, tedious journey this waiting around at Oxford is always the final straw. I had heard a rumour that FGW had applied for permission to reinstate the double track - does anyone else know about this?

Thu 22 Feb 2007, 13:50

I agree with Susie that we must keep pestering everyone involved in FGW if we are to get results. The straw that broke this camel's back was a train that was one and a quarter hours late into Paddington, thus forcing me to pay for a taxi to Waterloo in order not to miss a Eurostar connection to Brussels. My letter of complaint received a standard response with no apology, explanation or compensation. I wrote again, this time to Alison Forster with copies to David Cameron MP and Douglas Alexander Sec of State for Transport. Last week I persuaded the station manager at Oxford to pay for my coffee and cake by complaining vociferously about the cancellation of the 1727 Oxford to Charlbury. I requested vouchers for all travellers but he refused to implement that. I believe we must keep on writing, blogging and complaining until the service and situation improve.

Thu 22 Feb 2007, 11:20

Yes FGW do keep statistics but not very helpfully. They report punctuality and reliability figures every 4 weeks, which from the poster at Oxford shows that the last four week period punctuality has dropped from 71% to 61% less than 5min late. This sort of backs up the anecdotal evidence but is not the whole story, the FGW statistics are broken down into regions (the numbers quoted above are for the Thames valley former FGWlink area). All other regions on the FGW poster include all trains, the ones for our line only include trains departing at Paddington in peak time (0600-1000) and leaving at peak times (1600-1900) so some of the worst trains for Charlbury to Oxford travel (morning 0920, evening 1648) are not included. Both of these trains are very busy and important if you are dropping off children at the school or trying to get back before 1800 in the evening to pick children up.

As well as logging train times here, I would encourage commuters to keep a diary of all times (on time as well as late, incorrect train type, overcrowding) and post them to the CPLG train monitoring campaign, (email address on their website). I have been doing this weekly for some time now so I wont duplicate it all here.

regards

Ian

Thu 22 Feb 2007, 11:08

Despite being on time last night, the 1648 Oxford to Charlbury was an Adelante rather than the advertised HST, I cant imagine that many passengers getting on at Oxford would have found a seat.

Thu 22 Feb 2007, 09:02

Didnt think the recent punctuality would last - today the 7.27am train was over 20 minutes late arriving in Charlbury and Oxford - cant say about what time it will actually arrive in Paddington. Today I went up and down the station urging everyone to put something onto the computer blog. Here's hoping our efforts will come to something.

Thu 22 Feb 2007, 03:29

I agree that it's important to establish credibility thru evidence and corroboration. For anyone to take individual complaints seriously enough to actually respond, the fact that there is a problem has to be obvious and observable.

Do the recent timely arrival and departure of trains within reasonable margins (5-10 minutes) represent a fluke, or a repeating, cyclical pattern?

Does FGW keep stats on its own punctuality? Looking at the punctuality over a period of time would give some insight.

Or is that too optimistic a consideration?

Thu 22 Feb 2007, 00:08

I agree Derek - I think it should be how late the train is at the station you were intended to travel to. So, if the 7.27 departs from Charlbury say 5 minutes late, but somehow makes up 2 minutes time, between Charlbury and Oxford (which is where I get off) then I suppose it should be recorded as being 3 minutes late than the timetabled time it should have arrived in Oxford (my destination). I know from bitter experience that although the train my only be 10 minutes late when it gets to Reading, it could well be 30 minutes late by the time it gets to Paddington. This is why we will all have to be pests and get everyone to add to the blog. Tell everyone you see/meet on the train the web address and get them to join in. Perhaps we should design a flyer, which we could all then distribute along the train - on various ones. Any suggestions?

Wed 21 Feb 2007, 21:20

Richard, Susie, Caroline et al.: it occurs to me that perhaps we ought to standardize the way in which we record these delays. If we eventually submit our findings to FGW then I'm sure they will do everything in their power to discredit our figures, claiming that they were reported by amateurs who didn't know what they were doing and that their own punctuality figures were more accurate.

Take this hypothetical example. I catch the 09.20 train from Charlbury to Paddington and it arrives at Charlbury 12 minutes late. It makes up a little time, arriving at Reading 10 minutes late. However, I have 10 minutes to make a connection at Reading and despite my best efforts I just miss it because it is operated by an efficient railway company (i.e. not FGW!) and happens to leave on time. The FGW train proceeds towards London and makes up more time (I told you this was a hypothetical example!), arriving at Paddington just 3 minutes behind schedule. How late should I record this train as having been - 12 minutes (which it was when I joined it), 10 minutes (which it was when I left it) or some other figure? I seem to remember that train companies only consider services to be late if they are more than 5 minutes behind schedule when they reach their destination, and so FGW would probably consider my example to have been on time. However, I would have suffered the inconvenience of having missed my connection and other people commuting to Oxford, Reading, etc. would have been made late for work, appointments, etc.

I think we should record the delay as the maximum amount behind schedule that we observe a train to be whilst we are onboard it but I appreciate that other people may have different opinions on this point. I just feel that we need to be consistent and to ensure that we all use the same method for recording these delays.

Wed 21 Feb 2007, 20:50

If you are missing the delays, may I suggest that you take 17.52 back home...!!!!

Wed 21 Feb 2007, 16:38

Must admit its amazing - but will it last? I dont think so! Just watch this space!!

Wed 21 Feb 2007, 16:15

Well I caught four FGW trains on Monday and Tuesday and the COMBINED delay was less than five minutes - is this a record? Looks like FGW are so terrified of the wrath of the Charlbury angry squad that they've been forced to pull their socks up. The petition and commuter log lie in tatters tonight thanks to the pesky punctuality of our glorious railway company. How long will it last though?

Wed 21 Feb 2007, 12:45

This has to be some kind of Red Letter day - the 7.31 to Paddington ACTUALLY ARRIVED ON TIME!! This must be the first time since the new timetable was introduced. I wonder if this signals the start of a new era of punctuality and efficiency??

Tue 20 Feb 2007, 11:40

Agreed. We've started driving to Swindon when we want to go to South Wales. The fares are much cheaper from Swindon, and you don't have to wait 45 minutes in the cold at Didcot or pay through the nose for the "privilege" of going via Reading.

Tue 20 Feb 2007, 11:39

Is that because the connection in Reading is from FGW to another rail company?

What exactly do mean by 'illegal routes'?

Surely, if you're permitted to purchase a ticket to Wales in the first place, the contract for provision of service is established at the point of purchase.

IOW, FGW is in as much contravention as you are by selling you the ticket to the destination in the first place.

Tue 20 Feb 2007, 11:22

There's so many points in this that you may not wish to add more, but I also get really annoyed by the fact that journeys to Wales via Reading get classed as illegal routes - even when there are no other sensible alternatives!
Not only do these options not show up on the Great Western or National Rail on-line timetables, it's also then necessary to pay for 2 tickets instead of one. This is also something that has only become illegal in the last few years.

Mon 19 Feb 2007, 16:25

We the undersigned are commuters and regular users on the First Great Western London to Worcester and Hereford services. Over the past 5 years we have tolerated a dramatic deterioration of the transport services in terms of extreme delays and cancellations on this line.

This has had a profound impact…

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