Railway Week: First Stay Put

Bit of a rail theme this week as I attempt to catch up on some of the railway news from the last few weeks

First Great Western (FGW) is to be offered a new franchise which could last up to four-and-a-half years, the Department for Transport (DfT) says. The train firm currently has a short-term extension to its franchise which runs out in September 2015. The new franchise would cover the entire period of upgrades taking place on the Great Western network. It is also likely to include a replacement fleet of suburban trains for the Thames Valley. The deal means that the current FGW management team will remain in place throughout Network Rail's electrification programme, the new multi-billion pound fleet of intercity trains - to be built by Japanese firm Hitachi - and the launch of Crossrail services to Reading.
No financial deal has yet been agreed, but FGW's parent company FirstGroup, the leading transport operator in the UK and North America, will be the only bidder.
FirstGroup chief executive Tim O'Toole said "a period of detailed negotiation" would now follow but that the operator was "very pleased" with DfT's offer of a direct award of three-and-a-half years, with an option to extend for up to one year.
Tony Miles, of Modern Railways magazine, said having the same, "most experienced" team in charge of the upgrades would be most beneficial for passengers. "It's the most sensible decision to take while Great Western is undergoing this period of massive change," he said.
BBC News 10 October 2014

Photo credit: Lee Bristol under Creative Commons Licence.

FirstGroup’s continued tenure is controversial as the transport operator had cut short its contract in 2011 in order to avoid paying more than £800m in premium payments to the government. However, DfT plans to retender the contract had to be scrapped in the wake of the West Coast mainline fiasco. Instead, FirstGroup was offered an extension until 2015 on more favourable terms as the government kept the franchise system ticking over, with the DfT confirming a further extension until 2019 on Friday. The DfT argues that with a long-term programme of works on the route, including electrification of the track and the introduction of a new fleet of IEP trains, it would prove too disruptive to change operators. The uncontested deal will maintain some foothold in rail for FirstGroup, which has been beaten to a string of contracts, including losing its former First Capital Connect franchise to the new Thameslink franchise, and the shock loss of Scotrail for the Aberdeen-based group to Dutch firm Abellio.
The transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, said: “Throughout this period we will continually be looking at new ways to improve the service for passengers including developing proposals for a half hourly service between Plymouth and Penzance which could also serve Exeter.”
While the terms of the latest extension are to be negotiated, figures obtained by the shadow transport secretary, Mary Creagh, showed that FirstGroup’s payments to the government had plummeted from £169m a year in 2013 to £17m a year under the first direct award granted under the coalition, which sees FirstGroup run the line until mid-2016.
THE GUARDIAN 10 October 2014

Further Reading

• THE GUARDIAN 11 MAY 2011: FirstGroup to quit Great Western rail deal early FirstGroup is handing back its £1.1bn Great Western rail contract three years ahead of schedule after admitting that the deal, one of several £1bn-plus franchises struck at the height of the credit boom, had become unsustainable.
• THE GUARDIAN 31 JANUARY 2013: West coast mainline fiasco was caused by 'irresponsible decision' The west coast main line fiasco was rooted in an irresponsible decision to rush into a complex programme of railway refranchising with a depleted staff, a cross-party group of MPs has reported. The transport select committee found that civil service errors compounded this "recipe for failure", which eventually led to the award of Britain's most lucrative rail franchise to FirstGroup scrapped after Virgin's legal challenge.

Recommended Reading

• EAST NORFOLK: Need A Loan? Part Two ~ Syd To the Rescue! I see you gave poor Gemini 37146 YN06UPZ a poor write up, well I want to stand up for her! Lowestoft PBJ2F Update Another email from Syd Eade awaited me in my inbox this morning, updating the situation as regards Leyland PD2 PBJ2F
• STEVES BUS AND TRAIN PAGE: Ipswich Interrupted However, as interruptions go this was unexpected and rather good. Carters recent acquistion 915 was sitting gleaming in her all red paint job. A classic 1997 Volvo Olympian R915 RYO.

Time to put the Great back in to Great Western?

The current contract to operate the Great Western rail franchise is about to enter its last year. First Group are not taking up the option to extend the franchise will will now come to an end in March 2013. First are almost certainly among those operators who will have registered their interest in taking the new 15 year franchise. The deadline to register an interest has now expired so I am sure it wont be too long before we hear exactly who wants to run our trains for the next 15 years.

There was what first appeared to be an interesting development when the BBC claimed that “Passenger levels on railway branch lines are being grossly underestimated in documents given to firms bidding for a franchise” Reading into the story it appears to be one station (Lelant Saltings) on one branch line (St Ives) so isn't quite the scandal that the headline promises.

 

Another railway news headline that caught my eye recently was equally disingenuous:

Plymouth MP almost missed launch of £100million train campaign - because there was no train

She didn't almost miss the meeting because there was no train. She checked the timetables and realised there was no suitable train available so she made alternative arrangements to get there. This is no different to checking your local bus timetable and discovering there is no direct bus to where you are going. You look to see what other options are available and then make plans accordingly. That's life.

Many will agree that “It is ridiculous that I am unable to travel to Plymouth in time for a meeting starting at 10:30am.” Sadly her government when it was in power did little to make such a journey possible. The current government are spending a lot less on transport so are unlikely to achieve that much. This is not me trying to make a political point as neither party seems to have a clue when it comes to public transport. Transport is one of the very few areas that Labour have actually agreed with most of the current government spending cuts.

Apart from the sensational headline the rest of the story is straightforward enough explaining that "Leading rail industry consultants Steer Davis Gleave were jointly commissioned by the Chamber and the Council to look into the economic case for better rail connectivity and found that for an additional operating cost of £10 million a year, the economy stands to gain £94 million” This may well be the case but someone has to find that additional £10 million and Plymouth wont be the only area that will try and make such claims.

I am sure we will be hearing a lot more about the Great Western franchise over the coming months. The start of the new franchise in April 2013 is indeed a great opportunity to do something different and actually gain an improved railway service. I just wish I had the confidence in those in charge to actually take the opportunity…

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Recommended Links

Remember: an innocent fbb has asked the Metrolpolitan Transportation Authority's journey planner for a trip from Central Park Zoo to The Statue of Liberty Public Transport Experience

I read every single comment that comes through the Blogger comments system. The odd bit of spam creeps in (and I delete it as soon as possible) but generally Blogger is good at trapping spam Omnibuses

At least we now know one thing for certain. The UK is not alone in providing enquirers with duff electronic information. Good Ole' U S of A can be just as daft! ? Public Transport Experience

So this Sunday Lost Scenes - of a Plymouth B6 in Bude - will very soon be repeated. Many thanks to a commenter on this post which tipped me off - this has now been confirmed. Interesting times ahead from April 1st. Southern England Bus Scene

Simply, once a zonal fares structure is introduced, it is a nightmare to remove - I'd go so far as to say commercial suicide. I don't envy any operator who has introduced one - usually during the Times of Plenty. A Transport of Delight

Not First Class

" passengers decided that the luxury of large leather seats was not worth the increase in price ” dbg Elsewhere... Numberzz 28 Others... JZjr on Flickr Omnibuses2.0 Lost in Translation TGP Squeeze Timeless North Devon It wasnt always like this...

HST Power Car by JZjr (Creative commons) From The Times 21st May we have this: First Great Western has increased the cost of upgrades by up to 150 per cent, with the result that first class carriages are running almost empty on Saturdays and Sundays while there is standing room only in standard class. On Sunday 18th May the cost of a one-way upgrade increased from £10 to £25 for journeys between stations in Cornwall and South Wales to London. On many other routes the price doubled to £20.   More than 90 per cent of first class seats remained empty on some First Great Western trains on Sunday as passengers decided that the luxury of large leather seats was not worth the increase in price. Cheap weekend upgrades were introduced by British Rail as a way of raising extra revenue at the same time as making use of carriages that would otherwise remain empty. A First Great Western spokesman said: “We’ve changed the way Weekend First works to reflect the distance travelled rather than one, catch-all fare, which saw customers travelling from, for example, London to Reading paying the same price as someone going from London to Penzance. Railway Eye are not impressed… So based on the fact that First have milked local passengers at the same rate as long-distance travellers over many years, does this mean that Weekend First prices between Reading and London have actually decreased. Errr... no. They of course remain the same.

Secure Stations

" Rail customers across the South West will feel safer and more secure when they use stations run by train operator First Great Western ” dbg Elsewhere... Numberzz Others... TGP Exeter Riddle TGP 3x3

A SOUTH west train operator has been awarded for high safety levels at more than 170 of its stations. First Great Western has attained Secure Stations status at 171 stations. The status is part of a national scheme, led by the Department for Transport and British Transport Police, which recognises stations that have worked with police officers and other local partners for the best possible security measures. This is Plymouth Photo: Plymouth Station Ticket Hall by Macspite. (Flickr under creative commons) I assume that this news release was more about there being more than 170 (171 in fact!) now  included as Plymouth at least was awarded this status way back in 2005: Rail customers across the South West will feel safer and more secure when they use stations run by train operator First Great Western because all of the company’s stations in the region have now been awarded national Secure Station status by the Government. Plymouth and Totnes are the latest two First Great Western stations in the South West to win the accreditation, which shows that stations meet tough standards of design, management, security and passenger safety. They join Newton Abbot, Exeter St Davids, Tiverton Parkway, Taunton, Bristol Temple Meads, Bath Spa and Chippenham stations, which all received the award earlier this year. FGW 7 Dec 2005 The Secure Stations Scheme is an opportunity for Britain's rail companies to improve security at their stations and display to their customers their desire to reduce crime. Recognising the public's fear of crime at stations, the Scheme provides an incentive to station operators to improve security and provide reassurance to passengers and staff. This national Scheme covers all rail and underground networks which are policed by the British Transport Police [BTP]. It establishes standards of good practice and accredits individual stations which have worked with the BTP and other local partners to implement security measures. Launched in 1998, the Scheme was independently reviewed in 2003 and subsequently revised in order to simplify some procedures and encourage more operators to take part. The Scheme is directed by the Department for Transport and the BTP. More… I guess that Devonport Station has yet to achieve this honour? (There does not seem to be anywhere where you can view which stations are covered by this scheme)

First Great Western say trains linking Plymouth and London to stop at Ivybridge

 

HIGH-SPEED trains linking Plymouth and London are to stop at Ivybridge for the first time as part of a new winter timetable unveiled by First Great Western.

First Great Western say trains linking Plymouth and London to stop at Ivybridge (This is Plymouth)

Extra services are always welcome. This will certainly make life a lot easier for people living in Ivybridge. It seems that three services each way a day will stop at Ivybridge. Great news.

News Round up

Privatise!

MPs are calling on the Government to consider renationalising 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". More

Doesn't stand a chance of happening though so its irrelevant really. One commenter on the story does seem to understand how the system works though:

Using old trains is 100% the responsibility of the Government. They specified a cheap franchise bid with no new trains in the start and also specify what trains FGW can run on their network. The Department for Transport also specify timetables and journey times. Hardly any of the railway's problems in this area are the fault of FGW, it's the Government.

Morons

Police are investigating a spate of attacks on buses across the city which have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage. In the most recent incident, a female driver was left in shock and covered in shattered glass after a thug smashed a window as she pulled into a bus stop.
Police say the number 47 Citybus was approaching a stop in Colwill Road, Mainstone at around 3.50pm on Monday when a large window next to her exploded inwards. More

This is just the latest in a series of attacks on buses recently and its very lucky that no one has been killed yet. As usual police are asking for anyone who has any information to contact them. Sadly if they do catch any of them, its highly unlikely the punishment will amount to much.  Am I being to cynical here?

Change at the top

© Olton (Flickr blog this)

The managing director of rail franchise First Great Western (FGW), Alison Forster, has been moved to a new post after the company's poor performance. She will now become Rail Safety and Performance Director at First Group. Andrew Haines, the group's UK Rail managing director, will take over daily operations at First Great Western. Moir Lockhead, FirstGroup's Chief Executive, said: "In recent months Alison and her team have been addressing the challenges faced by the new franchise and their efforts have resulted in improvements in our performance." He also said that Mr Haines had helped deliver "sustained improvements" at First TransPennine Express, First ScotRail and First Capital Connect, the group's newest franchise. BBC

FGW have certainly taken a battering recently and do seem to among the worst performing franchise. We were promised so much by First, but so far we have seen very little delivered.

We have seen First Devon and Cornwall turned around in spectacular fashion by the arrival of a new man at the top (Marc Reddy) lets just hope that a similar turn around can be performed by Mr Haines.

Laira Depot

Laira Railway Depot as seen in Google Earth

The depot is one of the company's busiest, with 259 staff cleaning, servicing and maintaining the firm's fleet of High Speed Trains.The Laira depot is one of seven operated by First Great Western including the Landore depot at Swansea, St Philip's Marsh at Bristol, Reading, Exeter, the Long Rock Depot at Penzance and the Old Oak Common Depot in London.Plymouth is one of First Great Western's specialist depots. As well as cleaning trains overnight, it also undertakes maintenance work for the First Great Western fleet and Virgin Voyager trains.

In the middle of the site, behind the large sheds, is a large pond. The pond, which is linked to the nearby River Plym, used to be overgrown but was first cleared of foliage by depot workers in the 1970s.A few years later, the company decided to make the pond part of a nature reserve and a team of staff was given the task of clearing the pond of rubbish and overgrown vegetation on a regular basis.A group of between eight and 10 workers now maintains the pond, which has managed to attract fish including mullet back into its waters.First Great Western's Laira depot manager Neil Reed said: "We work closely with Network Rail and our Environment Agency partners. The pond is now really well-established. Canadian geese come down every year to have their chicks; there are kingfishers and herons, too.

RAIL NEWS - FGW cut backs

From This is Plymouth 11:50 - 31 July 2006 [Full story]
Rail travellers in the St Germans area will be hit hard by cuts to local services, a local pressure group claimed today. First Great Western has just published its December 2006 timetable after several months of consultation.It shows that connections between St Germans and the Plymouth area will be cut by a third.The current timetable has 12 trains each way per weekday. The new timetable has eight trains going towards Plymouth and Paddington and 10 going West towards Truro and Penzance.The St Germans Rail Users' Group says those mainly affected are commuters using trains for work, school and college.Three of the busier commuter trains are to be dropped, resulting in:Loss of the early train serving Devonport Dockyard workers.Parents being unable to travel into Plymouth or on half-day or day trips when their children are at school.No replacement of a well-used train for those leaving work in Truro or St Austell after 5 o'clock who want to travel home to Caradon - the alternatives are a wait of over two hours in Truro or switching to road travel.
I think a timely quote from the Saltash Rail Users Group will suffice for my comment on this story

The new franchise was supposed to be let on competitive tender against a baseline specification (which turned out to be quite a detailed timetable) with tendering companies free to make proposals for additional services. In practice the DfT have gone for maximum revenue for the Treasury and refused to purchase any service above the base

Totnes Castle

Looking very smart sitting on at Plymouth Railway Station a couple of weeks ago. I dont really know what this is - I really must get up to date speed on trains in the area!
EXTRA:
Thanks to regular reader Phil Pullen for pointing me in the right direction with these. There are in fact 4 of them based at Laira - 57602-5, Restormel castle, Tintagel Castle, Pendennis Castel and Totnes Castle. For excellent up to date information on these and other locos visit The Junction

Landslide

It seems that the land slide that caused us problems on Sunday was a bigger problem than was first thought.
This is Plymouth: 11:50 - 19 June 2006
A landslide in South East Cornwall has covered rail tracks and halted train travel to Plymouth.About 100 tonnes of earth slipped on to the tracks between Bere Alston and Bere Ferrers at about 11.30am yesterday.Trains on the branch line between Gunnislake and Plymouth are not running and buses are being provided for travellers.The landslide, which Network Rail describe as a 'serious landslip', was reported to the rail service providers by track control staff.Network Rail have said ground engineers are at the site assessing how unstable the area is and when the line will be back in use.A spokesperson for Network Rail said trains would not be back in service for at least six days.A First Great Western spokesperson said: "The lines will be closed for a week while the tracks are cleared."We are working hard to ensure that our customers are inconvenienced as little as possible, which is why we put buses into service immediately. They will be running all week."

When is the next train?

Well we started off with good intentions of exploring the Tamar Valley Line today but all did not go to plan!
We decided against the Dartmoor Explorer ticket as we didnt think our son was up to long bus journeys just yet. Instead we purchased standard return tickets from St Budeaux Station to Gunnislake which came to just under £7 for three adults and gave us unlimited travel on the line between these two points. The Dartmoor ticker would have worked out at £15 - itself a bargain!

We got off at Bere Alston first and had a walk about for about 40 mins and then caught the return train to Bere ferrers where we decided on a longer break of about an hour. Long walk down into the village and a quick picnic by the river and then the long walk up the hill. After waiting a good ten mins past the time the train was due someone phoned through and was told the train had been cancelled due to a small land slip on the line. The train had returned to Plymouth. We were promised a taxi would be dispatched - but up to an hours wait. There are no toilets at Bere Ferrers station! After a while searching a local was found who allowed the ladies to use their facillities. then after almost exactly one hour the taxi arrived and 5 of us set of the Calstock.
A good few hours were spent at Calstock including an excellent Fathers Day pub lunch. Quite a bit of exploring and many photos taken. Then the long walk up the hill to see if the trains were running again.
We tried the message point and got a really confusing message to say that the the 16:18 train to Plymouth had been cancelled. The next train at Calstock would be the 16:18 train to Plymouth! I have recorded the message which you can here on the link below.
Click here to hear the message 'Train-Message' [Link no longer works!]
Just after 16:20 a taxi arrived to pick up Plymouth passengers - there were about 8 of us. He then said he would pick us up from down the path - when a bus arrived and said he was picking us up instead. Confusion all round for a few mins but we all piled into the bus and set off on the long journey home - via all stations on route - but picking up no more passengers. The driver wasnt really sure of the way but didn't get lost although it was a real squeeze with his big Mercedes 'bread van' down some very narrow country lanes - he managed some impressive reversing when we met some large tractors in small spaces.
We arrived back about an hour behind schedule and my son managed brilliantly and really enjoyed the bus journey - he was very disappointed not to get another train ride though.
Great day out for £7! Must have cost the train company a lot more than that though.

Another good news story about First!

Wow - this is the second positive item I have posted today on First. Must be some kind of record. I am not anti-First in anyway - I really want them to do a good job - its just that all to often they shoot themselves in the foot!
Anyway this story from this is Plymouth (full story click here)

Rail operator First has thought again about proposed cuts to services in Ivybridge and South East Cornwall in response to passionate local protests. First Great Western and the Department for Transport have said the December timetable will include four additional services in each direction at Ivybridge - still a reduction on the current service, but not as severe as was originally proposed. There will also be an additional early- morning service from Calstock into Plymouth.
Secretary of the Ivybridge Rail Users' Group Phil Dredge, who had been protesting since FGW originally published a timetable which would have cut services across the region, said: "It's people power, isn't it? We've been fighting cuts for 15 months now and it's been a hard-fought campaign."The timetable will give us 18 trains instead of the 24 we have now, but I see that as very positive compared to how it could have been.
Valley Rail Partnership Ian Kirk said: "I think this is brilliant news, I really do. If it gives people an opportunity to use the train for work that makes a tremendous difference."The Rail Partnership has been fighting for an early morning train ever since it was cut years ago so this is a real triumph.

Most people were expecting First to just stick to their guns and provide the levels of service they said they would. so its good to see that they have listened and responded to some of the requests. Of course it is still a reduction for Ivybridge but at least its not as bad as it could have been. I am also pleased with Phil Dredge's comment
"Our next campaign will be to encourage people to use the railway and keep an eye on future cuts." All to often campaigners against cuts in services forget this vital bit. Surely the best way to stop your service getting reduced is to get more people to use it more often.

Car Park

This blog is just as much about transport infrastructure as it is about transport itself but one area I have not touched upon so far is car parks. This news item has caught my eye:
12:00 - 24 February 2006
A city car park has won an award for being one of the safest in the South West. The car park at Plymouth's train station is one of four operated by First Great Western in Devon and Somerset to win a national stamp of approval for safety and security.Car parks in Taunton, Tiverton Parkway and Newton Abbot have also been granted the 'Park Mark Safer Parking Award'.Kevin Ogilvie- White, First Great Western's group station manager for the West of England, said: "This award is an enormous boost for these stations, and follows closely on the heels of these stations being granted Secure Station Status."
First of all congratulations to the operators for getting this award as safety is something that should be designed into all car parks. The other thing that caught my eye was a comment left on the news page:

The cost to park ones car there I should think it should be safe surely !

This only goes to show that safety features cost money which has to be passed on to the user of the car parks. Isn't this a price worth paying?

Rail Timetables

15 February 2006 Rail Timetables
Two linked items from This is Plymouth today:

12:00 - 15 February 2006
The number of three-hour rail journeys between Plymouth and London could be slashed from four to one under plans unveiled by First Great Western.The new timetable, which is now out for consultation, reveals rail bosses want to have just one three-hour rail journey from December.But today the move sparked a wave of fury from rail users, business leaders and MPs who slammed the plans as 'just not good enough' and 'a kick in the teeth'.
Business leaders say other trains may only be a few minutes slower, but mean that Plymouth cannot claim to have regular three hour links to London - a crucial label as the city tries to market itself to outside investors.Transport lobbyist Neill Mitchell said: "The three-hour journey is the only thing we have. We have lost Heathrow (air links), we don't have a motorway, we have not got a high-speed rail link. The only thing we have left to hang on to is the three-hours-to-London badge."
The Greater Western franchise, which starts on April 1, will run for at least seven years, with an automatic three-year extension if performance targets are met. The current timetable will remain in place between the start of the franchise on April 1 and the start of the new timetable on December 10.
A spokesman for First Great Western said that, while the number of three hour journeys were being cut, overall journey times were speeding up.He said: "This is an opportunity for Plymouth to look at the timetable. We're not going to go into any more detail until it has been finalised."
The timetable is published at http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/franchiseand will be made available to staff and managers in the three companies. Responses should be received by First Great Western by Wednesday March 8.

also
WE'VE BEEN LET DOWN BY FIRST, SAY REGULAR RAIL PASSENGERS
John Callagher, 66, from Truro, has travelled on the Plymouth to Paddington service many times with his wife.He said: "Since road congestion is getting worse we should be getting quicker and better trains to get more people on the trains and ease the pressure on our roads."But First Great Western are doing us out of important three-hour services."And they don't provide a decent restaurant any more."

Railway News

There is quite a bit of Rail News for Plymouth at the moment so a few notes seem appropriate. This is Plymouth report on plans for a new Railway Station for Plymouth. It is at a very early stage at the moment and to be honest I doubt it will happen anyway. Here in Plymouth we have a full and exciting history of seeing wonderful new buildings reported as being planned to built - only for nothing to actually happen. This also links in with the news today that First have won the new rail franchise for the Great Western area and the old Wessex Trains.