Campaign Aim: To ban high density suburban rolling stock from the Portsmouth mainline.

Hi everyone,

First of all a quote from Mr Anthony Rodriguez (Times letters 2 Apr):

 

ROLLING SHAMBLES.  ...Competition – the original argument for privatization – has never materialized, and constant re-jigging has awarded larger franchises to poorly performing operators. Paying privateers to mothball rolling stock is clearly bonkers. Labour is paying millionaires millions to provide a rip-off service.

 

In short, South West Trains have alienated a huge swathe of their customer base which only 9 months ago was full of positive feedback. The latest edition of Rail Professional magazine shows that the company’s satisfaction rating has dropped to 36%. Meanwhile their profits soar.

Petersfield Meeting. Thank you all who attended the Portsmouth Rail Users meeting in Petersfield on 22 Mar which was standing room only. Our insistence to remove the blue trains was firmly hoisted in by the SWT reps. Hants CC and East Hants DC are supporting our cause which made the lead headline of the Petersfield Herald (30 Mar). Interestingly, SWT reps publicly admitted that replacement of the more appropriate Wessex Electric trains with 450s was a cost saving measure, and therefore profit-related. This tallies with the views of many other SWT staff and was also exposed on television by Paul Clifton, BBC South Transport Correspondent, on 26 March.

New Campaigners. Welcome all newcomers to No 450 thank you for signing the petition. Please pass our message to your friends and fellow travellers - link them to www.no450.co.uk. Get them to sign up too.

SWT. It's now 4 months since Stewart Palmer, Managing Director SWT, promised us a review of passenger loadings. Customer Relations are refusing to tell us any details about the Health & Safety survey. I quote “this information is not in the public domain, but in-house, and once the findings are known, this information will be released”.  We are demanding more information. However, while senior management drags its heels local SWT managers and staff are optimistic that the "Rolling Stock Cascade" will eventually be reversed.

Overcrowding – The Facts. As you know, we have proved conclusively using the “Passengers In Excess of Capacity (PIXC)” figures, information in the Dept for Transport  document “Southern RPA Assessment for the Railway - Jan 07” and our own passenger counts that overcrowding is not an issue on the Portsmouth mainline. We sent detailed comments to Mr Palmer covering the 12 points he made in his open letter online (visit www.no450.co.uk, click on Forum/Announcements/Stewart Palmer’s Open Letter) but he subsequently failed to address the issues we raised. In a brief response he only mentioned his views on passenger consultation and I quote“I see no point in a sham of consultation if the course of action is already determined". This response defies the government's recommendations (House of Commons Transport Committee "Passenger Rail Franchising” 14th Report of Session 2005-2006, para 32), a point we have made to the Secretary of State for Transport. Senior SWT management are clearly not telling us the truth about the reasons for the 450 decision and we have asked Sec of State to investigate this allegation and to establish SWT's motives publicly. We await his response with interest.

Passenger Focus. As you know the "SWT Rolling Stock Cascade" remains a Passenger Focus top "Hot Issue" – visit www.passengerfocus.org.uk. I met Anthony Smith, Chief Executive, on 28 March. He’s very supportive and strongly contesting SWT management about both the 450s and the off peak fares hike. We have another meeting with PF and SWT on 18 April.

Reading Supporters. We have the full support of the Reading-Waterloo commuter group who have finally lost patience with their totally unreliable Junipers. These trains, brought back into service as a savings measure, have very long running and extensive failings. Travellers are demanding our 450s back – good news for us.

Action Now.  While we await DfT and SWT’s next moves, YOU must keep lobbying SWT, your MP, local council and Passenger Focus to explain your continuing distress with the 450s. Feel free to use the following questions. I’m sure you can think of plenty more. Do email them now

 

·        When will the promised passenger counts be taken? (Portsmouth re-signalling is no longer an excuse for delaying this important survey).

·        When will the H&S survey on the effects of spending long periods in a 450 train be undertaken? Which company have you contracted to do it? What extent of passenger consultation is planned?

·        Clarify the reasons for the change of trains – is it financial or for overcrowding reasons? We are getting mixed messages.

·        Commuters are getting wise to the schedules and increasingly adjusting their daily work patterns to match the 444 services. Thus white trains are busier and blue ones less so. Would you care to comment?

·        We are now seeing 8 and even 4 car 450 formations on the Portsmouth line which indicates that overcrowding is not an issue. Why can’t we have white trains back, as only 12x450 trains provide any more seats ?

·        The government say we need more trains. Why are the Wessex Electrics lying unused at Eastleigh when they should be in service?

·        Why weren’t we consulted before the rolling stock changes were made?


Here are the addresses to write to:

South West Customer Relations - customerrelations@swt.co.uk
Passenger Focus - hello@passengerfocus.org.uk

Gosport - Peter Viggers - www.peterviggers.co.uk
Fareham - Mark Hoban - www.markhoban.com
Chichester - Andrew Tyrie - tyriea@parliament.uk
Winchester – Mark Oaten - OatenM@parliament.uk
Haslemere – Jeremy Hunt -jeremyhuntmp@parliament.uk
Petersfield – Michael Mates - www.michaelmates.org.uk
Havant – David Willetts - www.davidwilletts.org.uk
Portsmouth South – Mike Hancock - portsmouthldp@cix.co.uk
Portsmouth North - Sarah McCarthy-Fry - mccarthyfrys@parliament.uk   (
North East Hampshire (Liphook) - James Arbuthnot - arbuthnotj@parliament.uk or james.nehca@pop3.hiway.co.uk

Thank you for your continued email reports and Forum contributions. We are particularly interested in dates and times of short formations and empty seats - all vital ammunition to fire back at SWT. Use the Forum or email support@no450.co.uk to keep us up to date.

Spreading the Word. There are hundreds of dissatisfied Portsmouth line passengers who still don't know about this campaign. We need willing volunteers to spread the word on trains and stations. If you'd like to help with leaflets please let us know soonest on support@no450.co.uk. 

Finally… Any queries or useful news, particularly about empty seats and short formations, don’t hesitate to contact us on support@no450.co.uk.