Oldfield Park Train Blog

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2010-12-06T11:26:00.001-08:00

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First Great Western has most overcrowded trains

2010-11-13T10:28:00.000-08:00

No surprise that FGW has the worst overcrowding. See this article

Puntuality and reliablity seem to have fallen off a cliff in the past 2 months.

Is this why you voted Lib Dem in Bath?...thought not

2010-06-04T08:08:00.001-07:00

Extra train carriages to ease overcrowding on First Great Western’s rail services face the chop after ministers ordered an “urgent reappraisal”.

The last Labour government promised an additional 1,300 carriages across the country three years ago, of which 647 have already been brought in or are on order.

The remainder have now been put on ice after the Department for Transport was told to slash £683 million from its budget as part a raft of in-year savings totalling £6.2 billion.

New timetable

2009-12-14T09:41:00.000-08:00

We seem to have acquired an additional early eveing train from BTM in the new timetable. There are now services leaving BTM at 1649, 1705, 1711 and 1723 that call at Oldfield Park.

Seems too good to be true. Anyone spotted any downsides with the new timetable?

First Great Western to lose 30 carriages

2009-12-02T05:21:00.000-08:00

First Great Western has lost out on 30 carriages dubbed "Boris Johnson's hand-me-downs" to two northern Integrated Transport Authorities in the north.

The company had hoped to receive the carriages next year, to replace 24 that are due to be returned to other train operating companies at the end of June.

Instead, passengers in the Merseyside and South Yorkshire areas will benefit from the carriages, following a decision by the Department for Transport and rolling stock companies that provide them.

Prepare for more overcrowding

Sweeping it under the carpet

2009-11-16T04:56:00.000-08:00

Oldfield Park station has been without a ticket machine for 2 months and is staffed only irregularly. So, arriving this morning I was pleased to see a member of FGW staff on the station. Maybe today I could buy a ticket before I boarded the train and would not have to join the long queue at the barrier at BTM.

The ticket office was shut, so customers asked the man, who was swepping up rubbish, whether he was selling tickets. To which he replied Yes, but he had to finish sweeping up the rubbish. This drew an amused and frustrated reaction from those wanting tickets, since with several dozen people of the platform it seemed that selling tickets ought to take priority. But no, he continued sweeping and then eventually...VERY slowly, opened the ticket office and prepared to sell tickets. By which time my train had arrived and it was too late. Excellant customer service FGW!

The Metro

2009-10-01T04:36:00.000-07:00

We can now get a copy of the Metro at Oldfield Park station. Can't buy a ticket but we can get a newspaper!

Response from Passenger Focus re ticketing

2009-09-15T03:01:00.000-07:00

Yes i am aware of teh issue and have spoken to FGW a number of times.
The machines in the area have been broken into for their money and so severely damaged that they have to go back to germany for repair which can take up to three months! Similar problem at keynsham and the staff shortages at temple meads is not helping. I am satisfied that issues are being addressed as quickly as possible.
I will speak with the station manager at bath re staffing the booth at keynsham more often but his ability to do so may be hampered by having to bolster staff at temple meads.

No ticket machine, no staff at Oldfield Park Station

2009-09-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

We have had no ticket machine for several weeks, and no staff for at least 2 weeks. Make buying a ticket at the station rather tricky and usually means having to queue up at BTM.

Chaos tonight

2009-07-27T11:45:00.000-07:00

Took 2 hours to get home tonight due to the "signalling/power" problems at Bath.

One coach an hour to Keynsham and Oldfield Park...

The Emperor's New Carriages

2009-05-16T02:20:00.000-07:00

Once again Bristol Temple Meads is awash with posters promising new, extra carriages on First Great Western services.

Seeing is believing. My service home, which was always 3 carriages until last December, was reduced to just one carriage last night. I suspect these "extra" carriages are an illusion.

Pledge your support for an appropriate TransWilts Train service

2009-04-09T05:23:00.000-07:00

Please help support this campaign by signing the petition at http://www.transwilts.org.uk/pledge.html

1707

2009-01-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

What IS going on with the 1707 from Bristol Temple Meads?

Reduced to 2 carriages since the timetable change it is regularly late and for the past 2 nights has been joined to the 1722. Tonight there was confusion as the dricer announced the first stop was Bath. We got off, thenn we got on again. Unlike last night the combined train did not call at Keynsham, so not sure what happened to those passengers.

The evening service from Bristol Temple Meads has degraded significantly since the December timetable change

Buying a monthly season ticket

2009-01-17T03:13:00.000-08:00

For the first time I attempted to buy a monthly season ticket on-line via the FGW web site. I applied a week before I needed the ticket and was not worried because delivery was by First class post.

The ticket did not arrive. I contacted FGW Customer Services and was given a number for their On line Booking department, who in turn gave me a number for the Season Ticket section!. Despite numerous attempts and hanging on forever I never got through to anyone.

So I sent an email via the Customer services web site, detailing the above. What did I get back a few days later? An email telling to ring the same number that had failed to respond previously. I emailed this fact back and got another email apologising and stateing that it was their understand that someone had now spoken to me, that the ticket had been posted and the matter was resolved. Despite the fact that no one had spoken to me and no ticket arrived.

The ticket eventually arrived yesterday (Friday 16th, 2 weeks after I ordered it and a week after the tickets Start Date). The covering letter was dated the 14th of January. I now have to go through the refund system to reclaim the lost days, will will extend to the end of the weekly ticket I bought in the meantime.

What are other people experience with buying Season tickets on-line?

Station manned at last

2009-01-17T03:08:00.000-08:00

It looks like First Great Western have completed their recruitment process and Oldfield Park Station was manned for the first time in months on Friday. This SHOULD be a permanent arrangement.

I am still awaiting feedback from Passenger Focus with regard to the loss of a carriage on the 1707 from Bristol Temple Meads. Since the December time table change this service has been 2 carriages only, instead of 3. This has resulted in a lot of overcrowding of the "How the hell am I going to get off this train at my stop?" type.

Tuesday 6th January

2009-01-06T04:22:00.000-08:00

Chaos this morning due to a loss of power and signalling problems between Bath and Bristol.

The only information available at Oldfield Park(because the station is unmanned in contravention of FGW's franchise commitments) was that from the automated information system. This very helpfully told you that "no trains were scheduled to depart from this station in the next 99 minutes".

I gave up and got the bus. Single to Temple Meads was £4.60 by the way.

New timetable less carriages...again

2008-12-16T10:57:00.000-08:00

We seen to have lost a carriage from the 1707 from Bristol Temple Meads since the timetable changed.

Has anyone else noticed any trains with fewer carriages since last weekend?

Staffing of Oldfield Park Station

2008-11-29T04:18:00.000-08:00

I have recently been in regular contact with Mike Greedy of Passenger Focus on the subject of the staffing of Oldfield Park Station. Since the installation of the unreliable ticket machine, staffing of the station has become extremely irregular.

Mike has now held meetings with First Great Western to remind them that they have a franchise commitment to staff Oldfield Park and Keynsham at peaks times. First Great Western have now agreed to recruit staff to man these 2 stations.

Just 8 new carriages for FGW

2008-11-17T11:23:00.000-08:00

Only 52 of the 1,300 carriages to be introduced nationwide in 2010 will be allocated to First Great Western, which operates services across the South West and to London.
But the real number of carriages dedicated to the South West will be in single figures.
Twenty carriages are destined for First’s operations in London and the Thames Valley while a further 24, currently on hire from other train operators, have to be returned in 2010.
That leaves just eight new carriages to serve a network which has seen a 15 per cent increase in passenger numbers in the past 18 months.

Bad week

2008-09-11T03:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a bad week to be travelling between Bristol Temple Meads and Oldfield Park.
Along with not being able to buy a ticket because the ticket office is unmanned and the ticket machine is not working because of the rain, the fire near Trowbridge caused chaos on Wednesday evening at Bristol Temple Meads. As hundreds of passengers milled around on Platform 9 wondering which trains would run when and to where, there was a complete lack of communication from FGW staff, (apart from an inaudible announcement on the train I was sat on, which caused more confusion). The incident also caused cancellations on Thursday morning.

This is turning out to be the worst week for a long time.

Ticketing at Oldfield Park

2008-09-09T07:00:00.001-07:00

It is becoming very difficult to but a ticket at the station. The ticket offfice is raely manned nowadays and the single ticket machine is in adequate. And it doesn't work in the rain and the screen is unreadable in bright sunshine.

Ken Livingstone's Rejects

2008-02-18T11:17:00.000-08:00

The guard on the 0731 this morning referred to the ancient carriages as "Ken Livingstone's Rejects"

Get closer on Valentine's day

2008-02-14T10:55:00.001-08:00

Perhaps First Great Western were in a romantic mood today, and the shortforming of the 0731 from Oldfield Park and the 1707 back were a deliberate attempt to get people closer?

Friday 18th January : Back to Reality

2008-01-18T12:42:00.000-08:00

Chaos at Bristol Temple Meads this evening with the 1707 cancelled. I guess they decided it was the turn of the Parkway service to have the carriages. Some crowded onto the 1622(which does not call at OLF), which was still at BTM at 1700 due to mechanical problems.
I presume the 1722 was also grossly overcrowded.

2nd January 2008

2008-01-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

1722 Bristol Temple Meads to Portsmouth Harbour will now be formed of 2 carriages instead of 4; this is due to an earlier train fault.

1749 Bristol Temple Meads to Weymouth will now be formed of 1 carriage instead of 2; this is due to an earlier train fault.

F****d Great Western

2007-12-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

Customer Services at First Great Western appeared to be in meltdown today as FGW staff struggled to cope with the pressue of the new timetable. I was treated to an astounding display today at Bristol Temple Meads. Arriving to find the 14:49 posted as Cancelled on the screens in the foyer I asked the optimistically Information Desk on platform 3 how I could get to Oldfield Park. They said that they had no information that it was cancelled and that it was showing as On Time on their screens. Despite a number of phone calls they were unable to clarify whether it was running or not and I was told tom come back later when they might have more information. When I did the cancellation was confirmed, I asked to see a Customer Services manager. "We don't even know who the Customer Servces Manager is" I was told. I then asked if the Portsmouth service could stop at Oldfield Park, but was told "WE have no control over trains here, that is all done in Swindon. If you can find anyone at Swindon with an IQ in double figures let us know, They know nothing but the're all graduates so thats OK". In the absence of any management, he said, he was taking it on himself to autorise a taxi for me to Oldfiled Park, which he did.

24th December

2007-12-24T00:22:00.000-08:00

0731 15 minutes late

Friday 21st December

2007-12-24T00:20:00.000-08:00

1707 20 minutes late leaving Temple Meads. I suspect that the sevice to Parkway is being sacrificed to provide carriages for the 1707 since the Parkway service seems to be cancelled everyday.

Performance Bulletins

2007-12-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

Please subscribe to FGW Performance Bulletins using the link on the right. It makes interesting if depressing reading. What it does make clear is that nearly all the delays, cancellations and shortformings are due to causes within FGW control, such as staff shortages and train failures.

Here is an examle from this afternoon for Bristol

Date: Friday 21 December 2007
Service: Afternoon peak services out of London Paddington and Bristol
Details:
First Great Western is sorry to report:
1430 London Paddington to Weston Super Mare has been cancelled; this is due to a member of train crew being unavailable.
1511 Weymouth to Gloucester will now terminate at Bristol Temple Meads; this is due to a member of train crew being unavailable.
1518 Taunton to Cardiff Central has been cancelled; this is due to a member of train crew being unavailable.
1549 Bristol Temple Meads to Avonmouth has been cancelled; this is due to a member of train crew being unavailable. Replacement road transport has been arranged.
1621 London Paddington to Oxford will now be formed of 5 carriages instead of 8; this is due to an earlier train fault.
1649 Bristol Temple Meads to Avonmouth has been cancelled; this is due to a member of train crew being unavailable. Replacement road transport has been arranged.
1708 Weston Super Mare to London Paddington will be started from Bristol Temple Meads; this is due to a member of train crew being unavailable.
The Information TeamFirst Great Western
______________________________________________________________________

First Great Western say "Sorry". Well sort of...

2007-12-21T04:10:00.000-08:00

"UNDER-fire train company First Great Western (FGW) is offering regular passengers a Christmas bonus in the form of compensation for its shoddy service.
Andrew Haines, FGW’s chief operating officer, has said sorry to disgruntled commuters by offering vouchers, worth the equivalent of two days’ travel, to all season ticket holders.
In an open letter to customers on the company’s website, Mr Haines said he knew that passengers “will judge us on our results” and promised FGW journeys would improve soon.
He said: “I know from my own experience just how frustrating it can be when your train is late and I want to say sorry for our recent poor performance and the inconvenience it has caused.
“Signalling and track problems, overrunning engineering work by Network Rail, freight and passenger train failures, trains without enough carriages and crew shortages have all caused problems.
“I want you to know that I am committed to getting these problems sorted.”
Mr Haines said Network Rail would spend £750 million over the next 18 months to make the region’s track and signals more reliable, and promised FGW would recruit an extra 40 drivers and 60 guards to reduce crew shortages.
He also said train reliabilty would be a priority in 2008 as the company’s programme of installing new engines in its high-speed fleed nears completion.
Season ticket holders can claim their free travel vouchers by sending a copy of their ticket to MPR10368: Customer Services, Freepost SWB40576, Plymouth, PL4 6ZZ.
Emailed claims can be made by sending a scanned image of your season ticket to fgwfeedback@firstgroup.com."

20th December

2007-12-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

1707 from BTM was only 2 carriages . Its going to be interesting to see what happens in January when everyone goes back to work and the obvious shortage of carriages really bites.

19th December

2007-12-19T00:21:00.001-08:00

0731 was formed of 2 carriages again instead of 4, due to "an earlier train fault".

This was the service that provoked so much anger last December/January because of overcrowding and if it continues to be shortformed in the New Year then there will be a return to the angry scences of last December and January.

18th December

2007-12-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

1707 15 minutes late leaving Bristol Temple Meads due to having to adopt 2 carriages from the Bristol Parkway service.

17th December

2007-12-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

magiccycle wrote

17 December: Update on journey Keynsham-OldfieldPk1656 to Weymouth didn't appear at Keynsham. Suspect that since the livedepartureboards had been reporting the first section of this train (originating in Malvern) as cancelled for the Malvern->BristolTM stage all afternoon; i rapidly concluded that it had been cancelled......with no announcement...1. the passenger (dis)information button gave the wrong time and 'sorry we cannot give train info at this time msg' (as per normal, time hasnt been right since at least BST end?)2. the 484950 text service gave 'no report' on it at 1656, and then just forgot about it altogether when i requeried at 1657.Service, what service?Had to cycle home instead. Bl*** annoying since was late for a nursery pickup. Do you think FGW will reimburse me the £10-£20 latepickup fee? I doubt it - even though i bought a ticket for their service this morning on the way to work.... and hence entered into a provision of service contract with them (surely something like that?)...

14th December

2007-12-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

17:47 Bristol Parkway to Westbury will be formed with 2 carriages instead of 3 carriages this is due to a shortage of units.

West MPs call for First Great Western to be renationalised

2007-12-14T06:23:00.001-08:00

MPs in the West have called on the Government to consider the renationalising of First Great Western because of its poor performance, poor punctuality and use of old rolling stock.An Early Day Motion, which criticises First Great Western has been tabled by Stroud Labour MP David Drew and has been signed by 19 other MPs. The motion expresses alarm that FGW has replaced existing trains with "inferior rolling stock which could result in slower, less-comfortable and more-crowded conditions for passengers". The motion also calls on the Government to consider bringing the Great Western franchise back into public ownership. Earlier this week it was revealed that only the East Coast Main Line had a poorer punctuality record than FGW which ran only 83.0% of trains in summer 2007 compared to a national rail company average of 90.8% on time. The Commons' motion was welcomed today by Bob Crow, general secretary of transport union the RMT. He said: "This is yet more evidence that the franchising system simply cannot deliver the railway we need "Since the timetable changeover (earlier this month) there have been more delays and serious overcrowding on commuter trains in and out of south Wales and Bristol and, as usual, it is our members who are left to pick up the pieces and face the public's anger." He went on: "It is only a few months since massive passenger and union pressure forced FGW and the Government to bring mothballed trains back into service after the last rolling-stock cock-up. "First may not have chosen these inferior trains, but they will be getting a big discount for leasing them, which they could even end up making bigger profits as a result. "And there's more bad news in the pipeline, because the franchise deal allows First to axe buffet cars from high-speed services under 200 miles.That would leave all services to Cardiff, Exeter and Bristol without proper catering facilities, so we need the biggest possible protests now." An FGW spokesman said: "We are investing £200 million in trains, stations and customer services. Our high-speed train fleet which serves Mr Drew's Gloucestershire area - as well as South Wales - has been fitted with new engines and new interiors to enhance safety, comfort, capacity and reliability in a major refresh programme. "Our west fleet of local trains which also serve Gloucestershire, are also being upgraded in a multi-million pound project and have begun to enter service." The spokesman added that Mr Drew had agreed to speak to FGW "to clarify the basis of his position, particularly in terms of his claims about 'inferior rolling stock' being deployed in our new timetable

14th December

2007-12-14T00:32:00.000-08:00

More delays this morning....

More Train Less Strain are holding a brainstorming and planning meeting Saturday 15th December at the am Green Park brasserie.

Tony Ambrose says

"See you in Green Park station this Saturday at 10:30
Momentum is fast building for us to do something, and FGW is very vulnerable at the moment as anyone will know who currently takes their trains. They are under a lot of pressure from the media and 14 MPs have moved an emergency motion that they have the franchise removed and the FGW trains are taken into national ownership"

10th December

2007-12-10T09:56:00.000-08:00

Another relaxing journey home with First GreatWestern. The 1507 was 17 minutes late and the carriage had no lights.

See comment for news of other chaos today

Friday 7th December

2007-12-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

Trust First Great Western to bugger up your day. I attempted to leave work early and catch the 1638 from Britaol Temple Meads, only for it to never depart. No explaination, nothing, Just didn't move. So evetually decided to cut my losses and catch the 1704.

God knows when the 1638 finally departed, if ever.

Bloody useles First Great Western

Comment on Passenger Focus post

2007-12-07T00:02:00.000-08:00

Lee Fletcher said...
I have some questions on this :1) Mike Greedy says that 8 units are going back but Andrew Griffiths (FGW Regional Manager for the Severn / Solent area) says that 10 are going back. Who is correct?2) How can it be that FGW "will have more than enough carriages" if they are trying to divert Bath - bound passengers away from the local services and onto HST's in the evening peak?3) I am most interested in Mike Greedy's "intervention" which (apparently) has ensured that "a ‘spare’ unit will be stabled at Westbury from next Monday onwards to cater for breakdowns or shortages which may occur during the morning peak."Is his obviously growing influence anything to do with the fact that Passenger Focus is funded by the Department for Transport , I wonder?Recent comment from Rail minister Tom Harris :"The Department continues to listen to the representations of Passenger Focus and has invited them to take a greater role in commenting on the specification of future franchises."Wouldnt the next logical step be for the DfT to "invite" Passenger Focus to "comment" on rolling stock allocation?Lee Fletcher said...
I have some questions on this :1) Mike Greedy says that 8 units are going back but Andrew Griffiths (FGW Regional Manager for the Severn / Solent area) says that 10 are going back. Who is correct?2) How can it be that FGW "will have more than enough carriages" if they are trying to divert Bath - bound passengers away from the local services and onto HST's in the evening peak?3) I am most interested in Mike Greedy's "intervention" which (apparently) has ensured that "a ‘spare’ unit will be stabled at Westbury from next Monday onwards to cater for breakdowns or shortages which may occur during the morning peak."Is his obviously growing influence anything to do with the fact that Passenger Focus is funded by the Department for Transport , I wonder?Recent comment from Rail minister Tom Harris :"The Department continues to listen to the representations of Passenger Focus and has invited them to take a greater role in commenting on the specification of future franchises."Wouldnt the next logical step be for the DfT to "invite" Passenger Focus to "comment" on rolling stock allocation?

Update from Passenger Focus

2007-12-05T04:18:00.000-08:00

The additional carriages leased in to ease the capacity problems created by the timetable change last December are being returned to Northern Rail at the end of this week. Eight units are going back but FGW have leased in an additional 12 units to replace them so they will have more than enough carriages to service the new timetable which starts next Monday.

I have been concerned at the amount of short-forming of trains that has been occurring in this area over the past couple of months and have taken this matter up directly with the new Chief Operating Officer in the company. He is fully aware of the issues affecting our part of the route particularly the Cardiff/Portsmouth short-formings which have a significant impact on cross-Bristol routes during peak times. As a result of my intervention, I am hopeful that a ‘spare’ unit will be stabled at Westbury from next Monday onwards to cater for breakdowns or shortages which may occur during the morning peak. This will provide the facility for the ‘spare’ to in-fill if there are problems with the allocated train heading towards Bristol.

I have also managed to persuade the company to strengthen its contingency plan in respect of stopping High Speed trains at Oldfield Park and Keynsham during the morning peak IF local services have failed and passengers are left stranded at those stations. This contingency has been used a lot more this year and I will be monitoring its use as the new timetable unfolds.

What would be extremely useful for me would be if you could report back occasions where you have been left stranded at Oldfield Park due to the cancellation of a local service and then suffered the frustration of seeing a High speed train flying past on its way to Bristol. A short e mail would suffice and would then allow me the opportunity to make an early challenge to the company as to why the contingency plan was not used.(Note : readers please post a comment on the blog and I will forward to Passenger Focus)

Sometimes they may decide not to stop as there may be another local service a few minutes behind it. This is fine as long as there is sufficient capacity on the following train to pick up the total number of passengers waiting at Oldfield Park. If there are occasions where this happens and passengers are left behind then please let me know asap.

Mike Greedy
Passenger Focus

5th December

2007-12-05T00:15:00.001-08:00

10:06 Cardiff service Cancelled.

Leased rolling stock not to be replaced?

2007-12-04T11:56:00.000-08:00

moretrainlessstrain posted the following :

Bad news, First Great Western are going for the maximum fare incerase on this line on 2nd Jan. A return from Bath to Bristol TM is going up from 6.20 to 6.80.
This suggests that the fare reduction in Sept was nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt.
In addition 12 coaches of the better sprinter stock are being sent back to the leasing company and then on to Northern rail att the end of this month. These are the coaches that FGW leased in response to the Fare Strike. Unfortunately, FGW only took on a 12 month lease. It is uncertain how or if they will be replaced, as FGW have made it clear they have been unable to find an equivalent replacement.
More Train Less Strain is sensing that appetite may be building for another demonstration early in the new Year. Suggstions so far are another fare strike ( difficult with the barriers at Bath) or rebranding a train as it pulls into Bath or Oldfield Park.
If you would like to be kept informed of plans please email me at: tambrose31@yahoo.co.uk

4th December

2007-12-04T00:28:00.000-08:00

Yet more chaos this morning at Oldfield Park as the First Great Western 07:31 broke down at Bath and turned up 15 minutes late at Oldfield Park with only 2 carriages instead of teh usual 4. About 100 people at Oldfield Park were unable to board and had to wait for the 0737 South West trains service(itself delayed by the FGW service). Needless to say that was standing room only too.

There as a First Great Western "Service Deliver Manager" on the platform at Oldfield Park train station who obtained a good understanding of how angry passengers are at the level of service provided.

What with leaflets being handed out by staff at Bristol Temple Meads and Service Delivery Managers turning up at Oldfield Park it looks to me like FGW are preparing for the impact of the new timetable....the omens are not good.

3rd December delays

2007-12-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

Chaos at Temple Meads this evening as both the 17:04 and 17:22 First Great Western services were significantly delayed. Everyone had to crowd onto the 17:30 Paddington service which arrived at Oldfield Park at 17:50.

New timetable : FGW warn of overcrowding

2007-12-03T10:32:00.000-08:00

The new First Great Western timetable is due to start next weekend and already FGW staff at Bristol Temple Meads are handing out leaflets stateing that local services between Bristol, Keynsham, Oldfield Park and Bath are "expected to be extremely busy"(i.e grossly overcrowded) and advising Bath passengers to "consider catching alternative services", i,e the Paddington services which "will have additional capacity". Why, if they know the local services will be "extremely busy", do they not add the "additional capacity" to the local services that need it rather than the Paddington services which do not call at the local stations?

See the full leaflet here

Tuesday 6th November

2007-11-06T09:43:00.000-08:00

I really must try to post every day because reliability has dropped off a cliff in recent weeks. Tonight the 17:04 was posted as 21 minutes late, so in order to avoid the chaos that thee late arrival of ths service always causes, I caught the 17:00 Paddington service to Bath and changed there for the 17:17 service to Oldfield Park.

Monday 15th October

2007-10-15T08:29:00.001-07:00

Chaotic start to the week. The 0706 was 30 minutes late and there were long delays on other services.

What made it worse was that the 0731 turned up approx 15 minutes late with only 2 carriages instead of 4, which meant I could not board due to the crowding.

Things seem to be going down hill again.

Services to Weymouth to suffer in new timetable.

2007-10-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Travelling to Weymouth will be more difficult with the new timetable to be introduced in December. The first service to arrive at Weymouth will be 8.05am, but the next will be at 11.05am and 12.06pm, with the first train running only from Westbury.
The only viable late afternoon return train moves back to 5.11pm, and the gap to the next and last departure from Weymouth extends to almost three hours.
The new timetable also terminates direct services from Weymouth to Cardiff which were introduced last December.

Ticket machine

2007-04-17T08:06:00.000-07:00

The ticket office was unmanned today so tried to buy my weekly season from the ticket machine. Unfortunately there was a coin jammed in the credit card slot. Not sure if this had been done accidentially or on pupose, but the machine does eeem very vunerable to vandalism, being situated on the open platform.

Someone managed to remove the coin but the card reader would not accept my card. Others had the same problem.

The delayed 07:27 service was too crowded to buy a ticket on board so had to wait till I got to BTM.

Back to Chaos

2007-04-16T00:48:00.001-07:00

We seem to be back to the square one with the Oldfield Park serveices at the momemnt with cancellations and major delays becoming a daily occurrence.

Today the 07:31 was cancelled. The delayed 07:37 South West Trains service was so crowded I could not board so I eventually boarded the 08:06 service.

Local train travel is a local government election issue and I hope that during the forthcoming local election campaign that you will make your Labour party candidate aware of how you feel about government rail policy. And of course, vote accordingly.

And also, please start sending those letters and complaint forms again.

That Penalty fares sign

2007-04-02T04:54:00.000-07:00

A number of people have expressed concern about the brightly coloured penalty fares sign that has been erectedon the road bridge at Oldfield Park on the Bristol boundside. It is red and yellow and black and seems inappropriate and garish.

Having contached BANES planning department I am told "I can confirm that this sign is excluded from control and has deemed consent so therefore it does not require the benefit of Advertisement Consent". However a request will be made to FGW to resite the sign.

By the way...how many of you have used the new ticket machine?.

How many of you have boarded trains without a ticket?
I found it interesting that the South West trains guard is still willing to sell tickets on board and on the platform at BTM, even though the ticket office at Oldfield Park was open.

1000 more carriages

2007-03-14T05:36:00.000-07:00

The government have today announced an additional 1000 carriages across the entire network by 2014 that would be leased to the operating companies at a cost of £130m a year.
That works out at £130,000 per carriage per year that will be paid to the government by the train operators.
How much does it cost to build a train carriage for God's sake?
Of course, with passenger numbers growing at 10% a year, 1000 extra carriages by 2014 means more overcrowding, not less

Current state of service

2007-03-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I've needed to post. Anyone got any comments on the current state of the service?

Tuesday February 20th

2007-02-20T00:42:00.000-08:00

The 07:31 was 20 minutes late today so we all had to crowd onto the South West trains service.
To add to the wonderful experience the ticket seller at Oldfield Park was unable to sell me a ticket because his machine at the OldfieldPark ticket office was broken again so I had to join the long queue at Temple Meads barrier to buy a ticket, the train being too crowded to but a ticket on board. This is the 2nd week in a row this has happened.

Friday 16th Febraury

2007-02-16T11:58:00.000-08:00

First Great Western got my weekend off to a great start tonight with an horrendously overcrowded 17:22 service from Bristol Temple Meads. It was only 2 carriages and I spent the journey on one leg in a very warm corridor. Thankfully someone volunteered to sit on the toilet to give us a little bit more room. Poor chap had to keep opening the toilet door to find out where we were.

Completely unacceptable service from First Great Western. What a contrast there is between the First Great western services and those from South West trains. FGW have overcrowded trains consisting of a motley collection of filthly(inside and out) and creaky carriages. The South West trains service is like an upmarket airline. Shiny new, clean carriages, lovely seats. If only they had been given the franchise.

This week

2007-02-06T00:38:00.000-08:00

Services seem to be falling apart again this week with delays Monday and Tuesday so far this week. The 07:31 was 30 minutes late yet again.

Your carbon footprint

2007-02-03T03:40:00.000-08:00

The reason many of us use the train to commute to work(FGW permitting) is to reduce the environmental impact, or carbon footprint, of our journey. However despite our good intentions our priviledged lifestyles still result in high levels of carbom being generated.

There are many schemes available whereby we can calculate our carbon footprint and donate money to environmental projects to mitigate this. However many of these projects are overseas and it is difficult for individauls to see the impact of their donations.

An alternative is to donate to local projects. One such is the Primrose Hill Community Woodland Trust in Bath. This is a new woodland of 24 acres and 20,000 trees of 45 different varieties on the northern slopes of Bath.

Please visit the website, the wood and consider making a regular donation to offset your carbon footprint.

Queuing to pay at Bristol Temple Meads

2007-02-02T13:13:00.000-08:00

The Chronicle tonight featured a story from a lady who had been unable to buy a ticket at the unmanned Keynsham station. When she complained about the huge queue to pay at the barrier at Bath she was told by station staff that she should have bought a ticket before boarding a train.

This highlights an issue which has annoyed me since the ticket barriers were introduced at Bristol Temple Meads. Many smaller stations are unmanned or, as at Oldfield Park, there is one man with a painfully slow ticket machine. Queueing for a ticket often means missing your train. Overcrowding makes it impossible to buy a ticket on the train and then when you reach Bristol Temple Meads there is a huge queue, often 40-50 people, waiting to buy a ticket at the barrier. It's yet another thing that make travelling with First Great Western such a painful experience.

It would help if it was possible to buy season tickets on-line, but according to National Rail Enquiries, many operators provide this service, but First Great Western is not one of them.

I understand that Oldfield Park is to get a ticket machine, but given the lack of security at the station, I wonder how often it will be out of order.

Thursday 1st February

2007-02-02T13:06:00.000-08:00

17:04 failed at Bristol Temple Meads. We waited at platform 9 for the replacement but it whizzed by and stopped at platform 8 causing much confusion as herds of desperate passengers pursued it down the platform. It was only 2 carriages so I gave up and waited for the 17:22. Since it arrived unannounced at the end of platform 11 behind the failed 17:04 we all had to tramp en masse down platform 11 looking for it.

Train Watch

2007-01-28T12:38:00.000-08:00

The local campaign group has launched a ‘Train Watch’. The details follow:

“TRAIN WATCH

We need to keep up the pressure on First Great Western to deliver the improvements they promised on Fare Strike Monday. So for the next four weeks, with your help, we are mounting a TRAIN WATCH. We are going to record exactly what is happening on our daily commute.

So that we are not completely overwhelmed with information we are going to stick to Monday to Friday, peak times only (Leaving Bath Spa and Oldfield Park between 07.30 and 08.45 - returning from Bristol Temple Meads between 16.30 and 18.30)

Starting tomorrow Thursday 25th January we would like each of you to email us, on a daily basis, just five pieces of information.

1. Which train you travelled on
2. Was it on time? Was it late - if so by how many minutes, was it cancelled?
3. How many carriages?
4. How crowded was it? Please use a scale of 1 - 4 see below
5. Any stories that we can use in future publicity campaigns - for example people forced to travel in the toilets; people left at the station unable to board the train; falling onto the track; feinting; delivering babies in the carriage; and so on - these stories are vital to our publicity machine as they add human interest to our cause. Names and contact numbers would be an added bonus.

Send your emails to: worstlatewestern@yahoo.co.uk

How crowded was your train?
1 not crowded - seats for everyone
2 moderately crowded - some standing
3 crowded - many standing
4 packed in like sardines - discomfort experienced”

This week

2007-01-27T12:54:00.000-08:00

This has been a really dramatic week, beginning with the Fare strike and ending with public apologies from the Prime Minister and First Great Western.

Congratulations to the More Train Less Strain group for such achieving such amazing publicity for the cause. I hope this blog helped in a small way. Thanks also to the Bath Chronicle for their extensive coverage.

I am still not happy with the apology from FGW. Having initially blamed the overcrowding on temporary maintenance issues and teething problems(and the passengers for not wanting to catch the right trains) they have now said that they understimated demand and withdrew too many carriages as a result. Utter crap, of course. They surely did not think there was overcapacity on the network. The reason they withdrew the carriages was to save money, pure and simple. Customers were a second consideration.

As far as my own journey is concerned the 07:31 is now 4 carriages and the 17:04 is three carriages. How long this will last I do not know. Watch this space.

Transcript from Hansard

2007-01-27T12:49:00.000-08:00

Below is the transcript of a recent discussion in the Commons on the subject of FGW services in the Bristol and B Bath area.

As you can see our M.P. really kicked ass. Not.

FIRST GREAT WESTERN TRAIN SERVICES - 24/01/07
Mr. Don Foster (Bath) (LD): I congratulate the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr. Vaizey) on securing the debate, and I thank him for his honesty in his reference to the botched privatisation, which drew attention to failures of the previous Government that added, in part, to some of the current problems.
In July 2000, when the Deputy Prime Minister was in charge of the railways, he said that
"we shall deliver a railway system that is better for the passengers, better for freight, better for the economy and better for the environment".—[Official Report, 20 July 2000; Vol. 354, c. 550.]
Sadly, he and the Government have failed to deliver on that pledge. Railway services in the south-west are simply not fit for purpose. So great is the anger of people in the Bath and Bristol area, to which the hon. Member for Bristol, East (Kerry McCarthy) referred, that thousands of rail commuters, including many of my constituents, took part in a fare strike. Although I cannot condone the breaking of the law, I fully sympathise with the anger that my constituents and many in the area have about the appalling services being delivered by the Government and First Great Western.
Roger Berry (Kingswood) (Lab): The hon. Gentleman will be aware that, according to First Great Western, rail passenger numbers have increased by 41 per cent, in the Bristol area, but it cut the service in December. Does he accept that those of us in the Bristol area appreciate the difficulties that that poses for our constituents, as well as his constituents in Bath?
Mr. Foster: I do indeed, and I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making that point.
It may interest hon. Members to know what was written on the ticket handed out at the protest on Monday. The rail company was described as "Worst Late Western". The class was described as "cattle truck", the ticket type, "standing only", the route, "hell and back", and the price, "up 12 per cent." In a sense, that sums up the issues of real concern to my constituents and others in the wider area. That protest, organised excellently by More Train, Less Strain, brought real concerns to the fore.
People's concerns fall into four categories. They are concerned by the inadequacies of the timetable, which no longer meets the working patterns of many who wish to commute by rail. They are also concerned about the inadequacy of the number of carriages. We are told by First Great Western that it needs 94 carriages per day to operate the commuter services—what we used to know as the Wessex trains—and, indeed, until Monday, it did not have that full number running on any one day. We have been assured that we will get that full number, but as has already been pointed out, even if a full complement is run, fewer carriages are operating than used to. There is also the question of where those carriages come from—it is quite amazing simply to look at the signage on them.

24 Jan 2007 : Column 468WH
There are deep concerns about excessive delays and cancellations and at the height of all those concerns, ludicrous fare increases were imposed. The fare from Bath to London on the high-speed train is one of the highest priced train journeys per mile in the entire world. Many of my constituents have suffered in massively overcrowded carriages and many have not even been able to get on to the trains.
We have heard about passengers, but in fairness, I should point out that many of the staff working for First Great Western are equally concerned about what has happened. A letter sent to my local paper by a ticket officer who, unsurprisingly, wanted to remain anonymous, read:
"The person selling you your ticket is appalled at the price and embarrassed about the service.
We've voiced our opinions repeatedly, to no avail. We're on your side, so please, please, don't take it out on us."
He went on to point out that no one gets admonished for arriving late at work at First Great Western because very few of those who now work there travel to work by train. Another anonymous letter was sent by a train driver, who wrote:
"Like all the others at the moment, I am appalled at what is happening with the 'service' we are supposed to be providing for our customers... reduced services, lack of units, late running or just plain cancellations of services".
The staff are appalled about the level of service as well.
The Government must take some of the blame. Over a year ago, I wrote to them detailing my concerns about the planned new timetable, and I received a letter on 9 August from the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport, the hon. Member for Halton (Derek Twigg), about Keynsham and Oldfield Park, and another letter on 13 September relating to Freshford. I had written to him expressing concern about a reduction in the frequency of trains to those stations. I got a letter referring me to table 6.112 of the franchise stakeholder consultation. My attention was drawn to the fact that the table clearly states the intention to retain an hourly frequency at both stations, and that there would also be additional hourly calls, giving two trains an hour at the stations concerned during peak periods. Those promises from the Government were not delivered. Those trains do not exist and there are greater gaps at those stations than were promised.
As I said earlier, rail services in the south-west are simply not fit for purpose, and the Government must take some of the blame for that. The hon. Member for Wantage is right to say that the buck passing has to stop. I join him and all hon. Members who have spoken in urging the Minister to agree to a meeting that will bring First Great Western, the Government and concerned Members of Parliament into one room, in which we will stay until we have sorted the matter out.

Wednesday 24th January

2007-01-24T00:06:00.000-08:00

I think I got the delayed 07:31 today(6 minutes late, 3 carriages), and presume everyone else got onto the preceding South west trains service?

The 06:56 service from Bath was nearly an hour late I believe.

If you have any more info please post a comment.

Tuseday 23rd Normal crap FGW service resumed

2007-01-23T00:12:00.000-08:00

Back to normal crap First Great Western service this morning with the 07:31 36 minutes late.
Everyone had to cram on to the 2 carriage o7:37 South West trains service. Some people unable to board at Keynsham where the press were able to get some good photos of the overcrowding.

This is what happened according a comment posted :

Here is an update on this morning's workings. The 0535 Weymouth to Filton AW (0747 from Bath) was cancelled from Weymouth due to a "shortage of servicable trains". The 0647 Frome to Cardiff(07:31 from Oldfleld Park)- formed of 4 coaches comprising a 2 coach class 158 and 2 coach class 150 instead of the normal 2 x class 143 "bus" units - was delayed to run in the time of the cancelled Filton train from Frome. This train was further delayed at Westbury requiring fitters attention, which I understand was ultimately terminated, although a replacement train may have been substituted from Westbury. The 2 coach SWT 0640 Salisbury Bristol service from Westbury was a little busy picking up passengers waiting for the Cardiff. The 0700 Westbury Cheltenham was replaced by a bus to Swindon (again), and according to the FGW Live Updates, started from Swindon due to "shortage of traincrew due to sickness". The 1600 Cardiff Weymouth (1704 from Bristol)was only 2 coaches and was full and standing from Bath. As usual, it was late in arriving, and lost more time by the time it got to Frome.

Monday 22nd January : Fare Strike

2007-01-22T00:32:00.000-08:00

First Great Western seem to have backed down from their threat to fine those taking part in the fare strike today, with passengers showing the protest tickets simply being waved through the barriers at Bristol Temple Meads.

Saturday 20th January

2007-01-21T06:14:00.000-08:00

Posted by Whistleblower :

Saturday. St Phillips Marsh causing problems. Several morning trains up to an hour late from the depot. Fareham delayed, Southampton cancelled, Weymouth one coach to Westbury etc. etc. Can't see it all being fixed by Monday!

Interesting post from Whistleblower

2007-01-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

I have whipped this out of the comments so that you can see what Whistleblower has to say.

I am very grateful for this and any other "insider" information.

"The Frome - Cardiff (0731 from Oldfield Park) had four carriages again this morning. Thanks to your protests and complaints this service now has a high priority. Even though it only had two carriages when it left Frome, a four coach train was sent empty from Bristol to meet it at Westbury where everybody was transferred to the four coach train. This wouldn't have happened without the pressure and publicity so keep it up.FGW have announced that they have leased 6 to 8 carriages to strengthen the fleet. This may be a bit misleading as we think these are trains that will be going back to the leasing company, but the return date has been extended to cover the maintenance problems. They are NOT additional trains. They will have to go back before long. This is a question for you to ask FGW management. So basically, FGW now has more trains than it had planned for at this time but when the pressure dies down and the maintenance problem is 'solved' the fleet will be smaller and any failed trains will cause serious disruption.Please be aware that front line FGW staff are fully behind yours and the 'more trains less strain' campaigns as we want the same outcome as you but obviously cannot protest against our employers. "

Getting better?

2007-01-18T11:30:00.000-08:00

Not much time to blog this week but I've generally been much happier this week, with the 07:31 having more carriages and the 17:04 having 3 carriages some times at least. But of course the media spotlight has really been on First Great Western this week so I remain concerned as to what will happen when the media spotlight moves on.

Please take time to look at the comments on the blog...there are some excellent contributions.

Any problems Tuesday and Wednesday?

2007-01-17T04:17:00.000-08:00

I have not been travelling peak time Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning so could you please add comments if you experienced any problems. How many carriages on the 07:31 today and the 17:04 and 17:22 yesterday?

Chance to heckle FGW and Dft

2007-01-16T03:38:00.000-08:00

Pete Drummond has commented

"Its shame we'll all be at work as tomorrow from 10:40 to 11:10 FGW will be introducing their new look refurbished High Speed Train to the media in platform 11 at Bristol Temple Meads. Senior management and DfT officials will be in attendance"

Can anyone be there to heckle?

Tuesday 16th January

2007-01-16T00:06:00.000-08:00

So the much heralded 4 carriages on the 07:31 lasted...1 day. Today we were down to 3...and the train was late. How long before we are back down to 2 again.

How do our local M.P.s feel about being lied to so blatently?

Monday 15th January

2007-01-15T00:29:00.000-08:00

The much heralded additional 2 carriages materialised this morning and I had a good journey into work. Of course something had to give and the o8:06 service to Cardiff was cancelled at Bristol Temple Meads, stranding passengers for Filton Abbey Wood, Patchway etc.

Please report any problems and information by adding a comment.

12:08 Bath Spa to Cardiff : Cancelled
14:04 BTM to Westbury(14:18 at Oldfield Park) Cancelled

Both the 17:04 and 17:22 services from Bristol Temple Meads were only 2 carriages again this evening, resulting in another unacceptably overcrowded journey home.

Thanks to Virginia for commenting that "Not everyone was able to get on the 1722 at Temple Meads, which was also trying to accommodate Bath-bound passengers who'd hoped to be on the delayed 1700 train. "

In her letter to Don Foster(below) Alison Forster of First Great Western has stated that these services have been increased to 3 and 4 carriages respectively. I will be writing to Don Foster at the end of the week to point out that he is being lied to.

From todays Observer

2007-01-14T07:28:00.000-08:00

"Added to this, cuts in government subsidy to the rail companies mean they have reduced their services. First Great Western, serving the West Country and the Thames Valley, has removed 700 services over the last month and added to passenger discomfort by leasing fewer carriages. It turns out this was part of the company's new contract with the Department of Transport, which has also demanded a premium of more than £1bn. Money is being taken out rather than invested."

Protest planned for 22nd January

2007-01-14T03:52:00.000-08:00

From the BBC website :

Angry commuters plan fare boycott

Angry commuters have threatened to refuse to buy tickets or show rail passes on First Great Western trains in a row over overcrowding.
Pressure group More Trains Less Strain is planning a day of protest against a cutback in services and poor conditions after a new timetable was introduced.
Spokesman Tony Ambrose said it meant passengers had no idea how long they had to wait for trains.
FGW said once a backlog of maintenance was sorted the service should improve.
The company also said it had put on extra early morning services.
'Cattle class'
The group's day of action is planned for 22 January.
Campaigners plan to hand out tickets at Bath Spa, Oldfield Park and Keynsham - which look like the standard rail tickets - but have the words 'cattle class' printed on them.
Mr Ambrose said he hoped the protest would embarrass First Great Western into addressing the overcrowding issue.
At least when animals are transported they have their own cubicles
Rail commuter
Mr Ambrose said some of the worst trains ran out of Bristol Temple Meads.
"You have no idea whether you will be waiting a quarter of an hour or two hours on the platform waiting for a train.
"Trains come along and they are full.
"If you are on any of the smaller stations you haven't a hope of getting on. I've been on trains and seen hundreds of people left behind at stations."
Some passengers told the BBC it was a "real lottery" how many carriages were put on the trains.
"At least when animal are transported they have their own cubicles," another said.
Richard Hope, consulting editor of the Railway Gazette said: "Cities like Bristol and Plymouth have always had rather poor rail community services.
'Maintenance backlog'
"FGW has taken over these services as from April under a new franchise.
"They've bid for very low subsidy and very high premium paid back to the government.
"They've got to save money and they see this as the appropriate way to save money."
However FGW said it would continue to review the new timetable introduced in December.
Managing director, Alison Forster, said: "Recent capacity problems in the Bristol and Bath commuter areas have been caused by a backlog of maintenance work required on our fleet of local trains.
"We are pulling out all the stops and have recruited additional staff at our Bristol maintenance depot to get this work completed as soon as possible.
"I'm confident that this will improve the reliability of our services and therefore seating capacity over the next couple of weeks," she said.
Additional services are due to start on 15 January.

Email from First Great Western

2007-01-14T02:49:00.000-08:00

First Great Western Customer Services Team
FREEPOST
SWB40576
Plymouth
PL4 6ZZ
Tel: 08457 000 125
Fax: 08456 008 363
fgwfeedback@firstgroup.com www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk
Ref: 2747762/FGW

Dear Mr Dunn
Thank you for your email of 21 December 2006. May I firstly take the opportunity to apologise for the delay in responding to your email. We are currently experiencing an unusually high level of customer contact and I am sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused.

As you may be aware through Station posters and recent media reports we have listened to customer feedback, and sought approval from Network Rail and the Department of Transport to make early revision to the new timetable. We recognised that there was a problem with capacity on some services and whilst we have not been able to make all the revisions suggested, the changes listed below will be operational from January 15th.·

Capacity on the 06.47 Frome to Cardiff Central service will be doubled with two additional carriages providing more than 100 extra seats for customers travelling between Frome, West Wiltshire, Bath and Bristol.·

An additional train service will run between Exeter St Davids andHighbridge, departing 06.52 and calling Tiverton Parkway at 07.06 andTaunton at 07.22. This service continues to London Paddington, leaving Highbridge at 07.40.

Capacity problems in the Bristol and Bath commuter areas have been exacerbated by a backlog of maintenance work required on our fleet of local trains. We are pulling out all the stops and have recruited additional staff at our Bristol maintenance depot to get this work completed as soon as possible. And we are confident that this will improve the reliability of our services and therefore seating capacity over the next couple of weeks. We are also continuing to gather information for the further review of the 2007 timetable and will keep monitoring the situation.

Thank you again for contacting us and I trust that the changes listed will be of help.
Yours sincerely
Collette Griffin
Customer Service Advisor

Summary of weeks travel

2007-01-13T12:08:00.000-08:00

Monday 8th January

07:31 Oldfield Park to Temple Meads 2 carriages, crowded but I was able to board and stand

17:04 Bristol Temple Meads to Oldfield Park 2 carriages, crowded but I was able to board and stand.

Tuesday 9th January
07:31 Oldfield Park to Temple Meads 2 carriages. Unable to board due to overcrowding

17:04 Bristol Temple Meads to Oldfield Park. 2 carriages. Service was 20 minutes late and I was unable to board due to overcrowding. Guard threatened to cancel the service if some people did not disembark because level of overcrowding was unsafe. Dozens of people left behind. I boaded the delayed 17:22 service(2 carriages) and arrived home 30 minutes late.

Wednesday 10th January
07:06 train failed at Oldfield Park and all pasengers had to disembark. No other train arrived until 08:00 when the delyed 07:31 arrived with 2 carriages. Approx 100 people at Oldfield Park unable to board as train was already overcrowded. Many passengers were also unable to baord the following Abbey Wood service. I was finally able to board a service at approx 8:12

17:04 2 carriages. 30 minutes late on arrival at Oldfield Park

Thursday 11th January. A good day for me
07:31 3 carriages!
17:04 3 carriages!

This is what we want! Unforntubately I understand that the 17:22 from BTH was only 2 carriages again and very overcrowded.

Friday 12th January
A repeat of Wednesday this morning. The 07:31 was back to 2 carriages again) and was 20 minutes late after apparently failing at Westbury. Hardly anyone at Oldfield park was able to board and the guard had to ask people to disembark just so that he could get back on the train!

I caught the delayed 07:36 South West trains service at O7:55 but some people were still stranded at Oldfield Park(and of course at poor old Keynsham). The guard on the South West trains service was at pains to explain that the delay to that service and the gross overcrowding was entirely due to the failure of the preceding First Great Western service.

Homeward bound... 17:04. 3 carriages...for the 2nd day in a row. Reason for optimism?

Light at the end of the (Twerton) tunnel?

2007-01-13T00:05:00.000-08:00

It was not a good week to be travelling to and from Oldfield Park, but there was one cause for optimism. On Thursday and Friday the 17:04 from BTM was 3 carriages. Certainly an odd collection of carraiges(those manual dividing doors REALLY confused us), with some apparently coming from the Trans Pennine route, but carriages all the same. However the down side is that the 17:22 seems to be 2 carriages more often. Lets see what happens next week.

Letter from Department of Transport

2007-01-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr Dunn,

Thank you for your letter of e-mail of 5 January to Rail Group at the Department for Transport about cancellations and overcrowding on the Bath to Bristol line.

I am very sorry to hear about the recent problems you have experienced travelling on this route and can confirm that these problems have indeed mainly been caused by lack of rolling stock. The teething problems you mention will have been caused by First Great Western’s (FGW) introduction of their new timetable on 10 December.

Franchise agreements include an obligation to plan the timetable to ensure, as far as possible, that overcrowding is not unduly concentrated on any particular Route or Passenger Service. The franchise agreement under which FGW operates, requires the Train Operator to use reasonable endeavours in planning its timetable and the rolling stock diagrams needed to implement it, to provide passengers with a reasonable expectation of a seat off peak and within twenty minutes of boarding during the peak period.

This does not mean that there is an absolute obligation to provide this capacity on the day of service, as the franchise agreement acknowledges that problems can occur in provision of rolling stock. We have been informed that FGW, and Wessex Trains before it, has suffered from problems with reliable provision of rolling stock from the depot in Cardiff. A number of problems with the rolling stock have also been identified which reduce its availability for use in service.

These sorts of problems can frequently result in trains being displaced from the services on which they should run and shorter trains than planned being used. They can also result in cancellations. In the past, FGW performance has been somewhat below the rail industry average and the Department is determined that appropriate action is taken to improve performance.

Much of this improvement will need to be achieved by Network Rail. However, the new franchise agreement commits FGW to two areas of significant investment in response to the problems which have been identified. Firstly, FGW is committed to establishing a new maintenance and servicing facility for the former Wessex Trains fleet of diesel multiple unit trains adjacent to the existing FGW depot in Bristol. Secondly, the franchise agreement commits FGW to implementing reliability improvements to the former Wessex Trains fleet used on services in the Bristol area. The improvements, which vary according to the type of train, include modifications to the electrical systems, doors, underframes, engines, transmissions, couplings, air systems, engine cooling systems and brakes.

First Great Western has discretion to vary its timetable where there is commercial justification and operational practicability. Its franchise agreement specifies the minimum level of service that FGW has to provide. It is free to make additional station calls, and operate additional services, provided that maximum journey times are not exceeded, and that network capacity is available. I can confirm that the question of sufficient train capacity on these routes will remain a priority, as improving train performance is a key objective for the Department. We are determined that appropriate action is taken to ensure that the performance of these train services improves.

The Department is now developing the High Level Output Specification (HLOS), to be published in July 2007, which will set out the railway the Government wishes to procure for the period between 2008/09 – 2013/14. Increased passenger capacity is one of the three key outputs that will be sought through the HLOS, the others being safety and reliability.

Yours sincerely,

Judith Shepherd
Rail Customer and Stakeholder Relations

Friday 12th January

2007-01-12T00:38:00.000-08:00

A repeat of Wednesday this morning. The 07:31 was back to 2 carriages again) and was 20 minutes late after apparently failing at Westbury. Hardly anyone at Oldfield park was able to board and the guard had to ask people to disembark just so that he could get back on the train!

I caught the delayed 07:36 South West trains service at O7:55 but some people were still stranded at Oldfield Park(and of course at poor old Keynsham). The guard on the South West trains service was at pains to explain that the delay to that service and the gross overcrowding was entirely due to the failure of the preceding First Great Western service.

Thursday 12th January

2007-01-11T05:29:00.000-08:00

Quite a good day for me, though not for others. The 07:31 and 17:04 services botb had 3 carriages! And they were on time! I had my ticket checked for the first time in weeks because the FGW staff could actually move through the train. A return to the 3 carriages on peak time services that Wessex used to provide....thats all we ask. And a return to the Wesssex levels of reliability and puntuality. Wesssex were not perfect but a million times better than First Great Western.

But elsewhere I am aware of ...

14:04 BTM to Oldfield Park Cancelled
14:06 from Oldfield Park : 36 minutes late
17:22 from BTH 2 carriages only and very crowded I understand.
If you have information on any other problems today, please leave a comment

First Great Western own up

2007-01-11T04:32:00.000-08:00

This blog is mentioned in the Bath Chronicle today, but more importantly in the same article First Great Western have finally owned up and admitted that the chaos on local train services is not due to temporary maintenance issues, as they have previously claimed in numerous interviews and letters, but due to a 20% reduction in capacity.

So adding 2 carriages to the 07:31 service from next week is not going to help much is it?

You can now add comments

2007-01-11T03:38:00.000-08:00

You should now be able to add comments to this blog...please feel free to add details of your experiences on First Great Western services in thee Bath/Bristol area

Save The Trains Meeting

2007-01-11T00:35:00.000-08:00

Following the chaos yesterday morning(see photos and entry below), the 17:04 from BTM was 20 minutes late on arrival at Oldfield Park last night.

A representative of a group called Save The Train was present at the station this morning inviting people to visit their website and attend a meeting on 16th January at 18:15 - 19:15 at the United Reform Church, Grove Street in Bath "to discuss getting a protest properly organised"

"How much time has First Great Western stolen from us so far this year?" they ask in their flyer

Breathe in...but not out!

2007-01-10T13:53:00.000-08:00

Look, there's room in the luggage rack!

2007-01-10T13:51:00.000-08:00

Room for one more?

2007-01-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

10th January : passengers remonstrate with staff

2007-01-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

10th January Oldfield Park : unable to board

2007-01-10T13:45:00.000-08:00

Stranded passengers unable to board 1704 9th January

2007-01-10T13:43:00.000-08:00

1704 BTM January 9th

2007-01-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

1704 Bristol Temple Meads 9th January

2007-01-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

07:31 Oldfield Park 9th January

2007-01-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

More Chaos from First Great Western

2007-01-10T02:25:00.000-08:00

Chaos at Oldfield Park this morning.

The 07:06 Cardifff service was cancelled as the train broke down at Oldfield Park.

There was no further service from Oldfield Park until the delayed 07:31 arrived at 08:00. However it was already full and standing and passEngers at Oldfield Park were unable to baord. This was also true of the next service, bound for Abbey Wood. I was eventually able to board a VERY crowded service at 08:12.

This follows last night when the 17:04(2 carriages) from Bristol Temple Meads was 20 minutes late and I was unable to board due to overcrowding. The guard had to threaten to cancel teh service if some people did not leave the train!. I boarded the 17:22(2 carriages) which was 5 minutes late.

Oldfield Park passenger numbers

2007-01-10T01:55:00.000-08:00

Below are the passenger numbers for Oldfield Park as logged by the annual BANES survey.

It will be interesting to find out what the 2007 figure is but I suspect that we will see a drop due to the appalling service being provided by First Great Western.

I am trying to find out from BANES when the next survey is.

1981 162
1982 138
1983 158
1984 164
1985 213
1986 202
1987 281
1988 260
1989 319
1990 249
1991 247
1992 269
1993 192
1994 221
1995 220
1996 411
1997 495
1998 551
1999 540
2000 540
2001 804
2002 623
2003 610
2004 739
2005 741
2006 837

Letter from First Great Western

2007-01-06T03:53:00.000-08:00

Received a copy of a letter today from Alison Forster Manageing Director at First Great Western which was sent to Don Foster MP.

The text is below.

The reality of course is that the number of carriages has not been increased. They have in theory simply been restored to what Wessex provided. And of course on most days these "extra carriages" fail to materlialise and we end up with fewer carraiges than Wessex provided.

The letter also says that First Great Western inherited overcrowding problems from Wessex trains, which is ridiculous. Whilst there were occassional problems with Wessex when trains were cancelled, the service they provided to commuters was far more reliable and had far more carriages then the First Great Western service.

To say that "the trains that have lost out are outside of peak time and are not been too badly affected in terms of overcrowding." is just a great big lie.

Dear Mr Foster
Thank you for your letter of 28 November 2006. I am sorry that Mr Dunn has experienced overcrowding when using our Cardiff to Portsmouth route (travelling between Bristol and Bath).
There have been problems with overcrowding on some of the services we inherited when we took over the Wessex franchise in April. As you know we have made a commitment to improve this for the future and we have introduced four more class 158 trains with the advent of the December 2006 timetable. These trains are being used to augment existing services on our network.
We have also split two of the proposed 3-car class 158 sets into three 2-car class 158 sets. Although this has resulted in the loss of a carriage from some trains, the trains that have lost out are outside of peak time and are not be too badly affected in terms of overcrowding.
The major benefit has been the ability to strengthen key peak and off peak services as well as creating standby sets in case of train failure. They are mainly being used on the line from Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff, and I have provided a list of the trains that have received stock increases below and highlighted the two particular services that Mr Dunn has mentioned:

1230 Cardiff to Portsmouth Harbour 2 extra carriages (2 to 4)
1600 Cardiff to Westbury 1 extra carriage (2 to 3)
1630 Cardiff to Portsmouth Harbour 1 extra carriage (3 to 4)
2030 Cardiff to Portsmouth Harbour 2 extra carriages (2 to 4)
0600 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff 2 extra carriages (2 to 4)
0650 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff 2 extra carriages (2 to 4)
1222 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff 1 extra carriage (3 to 4)
1622 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff 2 extra carriages (2 to 4)
The new carriages have also provided other benefits, including enabling us to strengthen the summer services next year from the winter fleet, albeit in a limited fashion.

First Great Western 4th January 2007

2007-01-06T03:48:00.000-08:00

17:04 Bristol Temple Meads to Oldfield Park was only 1 carriage resulting in severe overcrowding and people unable to board.

Over the PA the train guard apologised for the "crap service". "I have no idea where the other 2 carriages are and neither does the driver" he told passengers and assured them them they would stop longer at stations to allow pasengers pinned down in the middle of the crowded carriages to disembark.

Of course this service, which used to be 3 carriages under Wessex trains, is now usually 2 carriages, which is not enough. It now looks like we will be lucky to get 2.

First Great Western 2nd January 2007

2007-01-02T04:53:00.000-08:00

07:31 Oldfield Park to BTM : 1 carriage....
17:04 BTM to Oldfield Park cancelled

22nd December

2007-01-02T04:51:00.000-08:00

07:31 Oldfield Park to BTM 30 minutes late
14:04 BTM to Oldfield Park...cancelled

Letter from Department of Transport

2006-12-18T03:42:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr Dunn,

First Great Western Services In Bath And Bristol Area

Thank you for your e-mail of 12 December to Rail Group about crowding on FGW local train services in the bath and Bristol area. I have been asked to reply.

The FGW franchise agreement requires it to use reasonable endeavours, in planning its timetable and the rolling stock diagrams needed to implement it, to provide passengers with a reasonable expectation of a seat off peak and within twenty minutes of boarding during the peak period. This does not mean that there is an absolute obligation to provide this capacity on the day of service, as the franchise agreement acknowledges that problems can occur in provision of rolling stock.

I have been informed that FGW, and Wessex Trains before it, have suffered from problems with reliable provision of rolling stock. A number of problems with the rolling stock have also been identified which reduce its availability for use in service. These problems frequently result in trains being displaced from the services on which they should run and shorter trains than planned being used. They can also result in cancellations.

The new franchise agreement commits FGW to two areas of significant investment in response to the problems which have been identified. Firstly, FGW is committed to establishing a new maintenance and servicing facility for the former Wessex Trains fleet of diesel multiple unit trains adjacent to the existing FGW depot in Bristol. I am told that this new facility came into operation over the weekend of 9/10 December. Secondly, the FGW is committed to implementing reliability improvements to the former Wessex Trains fleet used on services in the Bristol area. The improvements, which vary according to the type of train, include modifications to the electrical systems, doors, underframes, engines, transmissions, couplings, air systems, engine cooling systems and brakes.

I can confirm that the question of sufficient train capacity on these routes will remain a priority, as improving train performance is a key objective for the Department for Transport (DfT) We are determined that appropriate action is taken to ensure that the performance of these train services improves.

Yours sincerely,

Judith Shepherd
Rail Customer and Stakeholder Relations 1