Questions and answers from Members sent to First Great Western – 20 March Extraordinary Council Meeting

From Cllr Malcolm Rosier:

Q1   Does First Great Western (FGW) not agree that the Cardiff to Portsmouth route is its “Cinderella” service?

A 1   We would agree that the potential of this route has not been fully recognised for many years - and this is why we have started an internal analysis exercise to understand that potential more fully.  We then intend to set up a Line Working Group to involve all key stakeholders on the route, and agree a Line Development Plan for the next three years.  The natural springboard for this will be the refurbishment of the class 158 fleet which starts this summer, and which will make a real difference to the comfort of travelling on the route.


Q2   What is FGW doing to improve the reliability and punctuality of its service from Trowbridge to Salisbury, particularly trains timetabled to depart before 7.00am? Can FGW give the council figures, since the beginning of the year, for the percentage of scheduled trains that depart Trowbridge on time and the percentage of 06.25 and 06.43 trains that have departed on time? Can FGW comment on these figures and the implications of them for their fare-paying passengers?

A2   The data you request can be extracted, but not in time for this evening’s meeting.  We are very conscious that train performance is not as good as either we or your customers want - the target is for 90% of services to run on time.  An improvement programme has been initiated to drive up performance, largely focussing on behind-the-scenes aspects, but with additional staffing and customer service resources being deployed.  The fruits of this are already beginning to show through.


Q3   What is FGW doing to alleviate overcrowding on the evening services from Southampton and Salisbury to Trowbridge and beyond?

A3   We have already doubled the number of seats on a key morning service (0647 Frome -  Bristol), where it was quickly apparent that a 2-carriage train was not enough.  A comprehensive review of capacity provision on services in the new timetable which started in December is underway.  This could not be done earlier due to the short-term problems we had where the correct number of carriages for each services was not being delivered on a regular basis, thus distorting the true picture of demand.


Q4   I am sure that FGW surveys its passengers and collects attitudinal data. Can FGW give the council the results of its customer satisfaction surveys on its network as a whole and those from the Cardiff to Portsmouth line and comment on the absolute numbers and any differences between them?

A4   The ‘National Passenger Survey’ is a twice-yearly exercise and provides a clear picture of customer opinions on a wide range of subjects.  The overall satisfaction rating for First Great Western was 77% - which is not good enough, and a result we strive our utmost to improve.  The major investment we are undertaking in rolling stock, stations and customer service is only now starting to come through, but will undoubtedly improve experiences and perceptions.  A breakdown on Cardiff-Portsmouth results will be provided for the Line Working Group.


Q5   What is FGW doing to improve the cleanliness and appearance of the trains and stations along the Bath to Salisbury section of the Cardiff-Portsmouth line?

A5   Improving station and train cleanliness is a high priority for us.  A programme of additional deep-cleaning and painting of stations is now underway, and regular cleaning will be more frequent and more thorough.  To assist with this a new cleaning contractor is being appointed from the end of April.  The new £8m servicing depot in Bristol for the local trains fleet includes a wash plant, which has just come into begun operation.  Until now washing can only be done by hand, or by cycling the trains to other depots, which can result in inefficient working.  We are confident that by the summer both the trains and stations will look better than they have done for many years.


Q6   Is FGW not perpetuating the policies of its predecessors – the Great Western Railway and BR Western Region – by running down the services on “competitor” routes that cross its territory to force passengers to use its services to Paddington?

A6   No.  Competitor routes are just that - operated by competitors, and we cannot influence their actions or anything not within our franchise specification.  We presume you are referring to the Bristol-Waterloo service, but this would seem to be thriving.


Q7   I travel regularly from Trowbridge to London Waterloo. Can FGW explain why the identical 158 units operated by SW Trains appear quieter, cleaner and more comfortable than those of FGW?

A7   After our refurbishment (which includes ‘under the bonnet’ work as well as refreshing the passenger saloons) we intend our fleet to be better than those ran by other operators.

 
Q8   The morale of your staff on the Cardiff-Portsmouth line seems pretty low. They frequently discuss the shortcomings of the FGW services openly with their passengers. A high employee engagement and satisfaction score is recognised, today, as being key to high performance organisations and, in my experience, generally forms part of the senior management team’s objectives. Can you tell the council what is FGW doing to engage its staff and improve their apparently low levels of satisfaction?

A8   We do recognise that our staff are our biggest advocates, and also that with the merger of three companies into one some staff have not yet engaged with us as much as we would have liked.  There is a wide range of improvements in particular to help frontline staff, which includes increasing job satisfaction.  We also recognise that one of the best ways of improving morale is by ensuring that the trains punctual, clean and have adequate capacity.



Glenda Lamont, Customer Services Director, First Great Western.
Andrew Griffiths, Regional Manager, First Great Western.

20 March 2007.