First Great Western has most overcrowded trains

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.

First Great Western to lose 30 carriages

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

Station manned at last

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.

Just 8 new carriages for FGW

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.

19th December

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.

Update from Passenger Focus

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

Leased rolling stock not to be replaced?

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

New timetable : FGW warn of overcrowding

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