Cotswold Line

Tue 22 Jan 2008, 17:45

Re: Cotswold Line public meeting – Corner House, Charlbury
Friday, 18th January 2008

Thank you for attending the meeting on Friday. I was glad to see so many of you there – it sent a very clear message to FGW. Given the unacceptable level of service we have all had to endure and the understandable frustration this has caused, I thought the meeting was positive.

As I said at the meeting, I was encouraged by the candid responses given by FGW to your questions. By their own admission, the Cotswold Line is the worst performing route in the FGW franchise – I sincerely hope that the commitments given by Mike Carroll mark the start of long overdue improvements to the service. I will be keeping a close eye on the situation and look forward to hearing about the progress being made when Mike Carroll returns before Easter.

In the meantime, below is a list of the commitments given by FGW at the meeting. I will of course update you with any further developments.

Yours,

David Cameron

FGW Commitments:

Charlbury Station:

•Improvements to train information at Chalbury Station, and in particular eradicate conflicting information between the two screens

•Clearly visible contact list for FGW’s chain of command

•Look into lengthening of opening hours for waiting room at Charlbury Station

•Canopy to be fixed to new ticket machine at Charlbury Station

•FGW to work with Town Council to secure investment for and carry improvements to Chalbury Station car park

Infrastructure:

•FGW to provide update on Network Rail plans currently being considered for redoubling along the Cotswold Line

Cycling:

•Improve cycle access and storage on HSTs

HSTs:

•FGW promised to revert to standard class selective door opening by the end of February

Stabling:

•Look into permanent stabling base for trains at Hereford (and possibly Worcester) to avoid difficulties over current arrangement of stabling trains in Bristol

Timetable:

•Mike Carroll (MC) believes the present timetable is ‘deliverable’, but in order to achieve this he gave an assurance that there would be:
- improvements to fleet reliability
- increase in driver availability
- better cooperation with Network Rail in order to improve the infrastructure

•Decision to be taken over possible timetable change on the Oxford to Worcester route in order to ensure greater reliability for the 8.33 service from Charlbury to London Paddington

Fares:

•MC admitted that he could not justify the recent fare increases, and agreed to consider further passenger benefits in wake of poor performance

General:

•Following the admission that FGW franchise expansion led to overly centralised operation, MC made a general commitment to ensure that the Thames route is given a greater priority - the fact there is now a Route Director for the line is a step in the right direction

•Enhance FGW decision-making at local stations, e.g. finding alternative transport for passengers in the event of delays/cancellations, avoiding unnecessary routing of decision via central control in Swindon