So Alison Forster, Managing Director of First Great Western, has moved on to a new role, I read, where she won't be so involved with the regional or commuter trains.   Some are saying "scapegoat" and others that she is moving from a tricky current situation and future that is of her own making.  And it could also be that it was always the plan for her to move or move sideways once the Greater Western franchise had gone through its initial teething pains - either as a natural progression, or as a calculated "do the dirty work and move on" arrangement.

Whatever ...  I wish Alison all the best for the future if we see less of her - she was always personable, polite and we will miss her.

When the First Group took over the the "TransWilts" train service, there were five trains a day operating each way from Swindon - mostly to Southampton, but some early shorter workings and and one very appropriatly to Frome. Four trains each way on Saturday and three on Sunday completed the schedule.  All services were hampered by a lack of publicity and the weekend trains were replaced by buses more often than not, and yet traffic groth had been dramatic - anywhere between 10% per annum and 35% per annum depending on which measure you took.  Trains that had, in all honesty, been fairly empty in 2001 were getting distinctly busy on 1st April 2006.   

What a GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY.

A growing service.   A growth corridor.  A public enthusiatic to travel. A lot of people who could be sold on train travel, as outlined by Alison Forster's talk at Taunton to Travel Watch South West shortly thereafter.   So what happened?

Most of the train were withdrawn

The remaining trains were rescheduled in "marginal time" - i.e. run at times that were operatioally convenient, NOT when the prospective passengers wanted them.Passenger number have shrunk (my estimate) by 95%.

What a GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY squandered!

We told 'em ... really we did ... but it seems that First and the DfT knew best. You do still have direct public transport from Trowbridge to Swindon during the day - it's a bus and takes 95 minutes, not a train taking 35.  The direct daytime train from Melksham (population 24000) to Swindon has gone; instead of 25 minutes in a single, comfortabkle vehicle, anyone who needs to go hospital in Swindon, or is called up for Jury service there, is faces with a journey of between an hour and an hour and a half, with changes on the way - perhaps a walk across Chippenham in the pouring rain ...

I'm not for a moment suggesting that this sorry state of affairs be laid at Alison Forster's door.   Far from it; she was acting as part of a system that puts the Franchise payment to the government, and the payment to her employer's shareholders, ahead of the travelling public and the economic good that's generated by efficient public transport in Wiltshire.   And she / First group have listened to us much more that I would have dreamed when I first got involved with this.

A very large number of inputs were made to First for DECEMBER 2006 and timetables were adjusted ... largely for the good.  BUT FOR THE TRANSWILTS, the only last minute changes screwed up the service even more.

Further inputs were made looking for the return of an appropriate service from DECEMBER 2007, and inded a lot of work was done in the background - a Freedom of Information response received in the last few days has quantified this, but in the end of the day we have NO IMPROVEMENTS AT ALL on the TranwWilts on Weekdays; there is (thank goodness) the return of a Southbound train on Sundays.

And we are now told that we need to make a case for DECEMBER 2008 ...

The Cynical reader will think that the First Group may just be playing along with us - keeping us busy and with no real intent of providing any improvement. It certainly looks like that from the outside.   But actually I think that the majority of player DO want to see the return to an appropriate level of service.

I met for 2 hours over breakfast with two of the directors of FGW (neither of them being Alison Forster) last month, where they went to a great deal of trouble to fill me in on what they had attempted for this December, and where they suggested we could go from December 2008 .... and I'm working to provide them sith further traffic flows / inputs, etc.

Also last month (seeing a feather in the wind) I dropped a note to Andrew Haines - the new man in charge at FGW I understand - and received back a much more positive response that I would have expected a year ago from a First director.  We have come a long way.

It may be that the plan all along was to play "nasty guy, nice guy" with Alison Forster pruning back services to set up a leaner and meaner network from which the nice guy Andrew could then re-grow an appropriate service.  Even if that is the case, as far as I can see it's in the interest of people in Wiltshire to be very supportinve of Andrew and his team in such developemnts, and I welcome him to the role.

Here's the current Northbound service on Monday to Friday from Melksham:
07:17 and 19:50

Here's what was proposed from this coming December (ex FOI)
07:17, 08:20, 11:20, 14:20  and 19:50

And here's what we feel is an appropriate service ...
07:17, 08:20, 10:20, 12:20, 14:20, 17:20 and 19:50

I understand that the PROPOSAL failed very much at the last minute, perhaps due to an oversite on platforming at Swindon of that 11:20 Train.

Dear Andrew,

The TransWilts line connects 6 towns in 40 miles that are all going to have major growth in the next 20 years (Strategically Significnat Towns and Cities) and the other transport provision between then is dire.  And people DO want to travel the route.

Please act as soon as you can.  Even if there's a problem with the 11:20 from Melksham, please add in those extra trains at 08:20 and 14:20 from December.  You'll find that an 08:20 to Swindon in the morning will generate you a substantial return traffic on the 18:45 return ... and you won't be adding but be multiplying traffic.

And please work with us towards a full appropriate service in December 2008.  It's not just a question of planning - passengers cannot travel on plans - but of achieveing - and I look forward to seeing youc achieve for us with FGW.

Graham

The BBC reports ...


I don't believe everything I read, but I'm inclined to believe this one.  Other sources quite a few weeks back had given me Andrew's name as a new man who was going to be at, or very close to, the helm so as far as I'm concerned it's not totally out of the blue.   But as ever, reports can be a little incorrect in their early reporting to I stand willing to make further corrections.

Here is the FGW view on this (link below.)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/NewsItem.aspx?id=542

Well, it remains to be seen as to whether the departure of Alison will make much of a difference, or whether the apple is rotten a bit further into the core. One thing's for sure, and that is that there will be intense scrutiny as to how the new fella performs from both staff and stakeholders (to use a FGW buzzword) - I don't envy him at all!

One of her last bits of propaganda thanked the staff of Castle Carey (that's how she spelt it) on the fact that the station had been awarded best small station at the National Rail Awards in her weekly internal staff memo- no mention of the fact that we didn't get a sniff of any of the more important awards on offer. Perhaps it did so well because Castle Cary is quite a small little place and well away from the attentions of the management that has presided over the farcical situations that have arison since the start of the franchise.

As for the official statement from FGW - you could almost have guessed it word for word...

Coming from First Group, Mr Haines is very 'bottom line' driven.  However, I happen to know that he is aware of the Melksham issue and I'm told requested a paper on the background and what could be done in the future ...