I wrote to my MP Robert Key (Salisbury) about my concerns and complaints about First Great Western’s service in my area. He on my behalf wrote to Tom Harris MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, from the Department for Transport. Here is a summary of the reply. It seems to me that the assurances given to the Government by FGW were empty when you consider the outcome of the meeting held between the More Train Less Strain campaign and Alison Forster of FGW on 13 March.
I would like to thank Robert Key for his assistance with my complaint.
Summary (letter dated 2 March 2007)
-When seeking bids for the franchise DfT issued a Service Level Committment specifying the minimum service requirements.
-It is the operator’s responsibility to plan the timetable and deployment of rolling stock “in accordance with passenger needs.” (my emphasis)
-FGW has accepted responsibility for underestimating the capactiy required for the 10 December timetable and “has subsequently made a number of changes.” (my emphasis)
-When the poor performance of FGW was raised in the House of Commons on 24 January, Ministers were given assurances by FGW “that appropriate measures are now being taken.” (my emphasis)
-DfT will continue to monitor the FGW franchise to ensure they meet their committments to Ministers and the public.
-On the question of fare rises, while commuter and long distance Saver Return fares are DfT regulated, other fares are unregulated and train operators can set them on a “commercial basis.”
There are several points in this letter that are incompatible with Alison Forster’s responses yesterday. A couple of instances, she said:”we are not going to have any new trains during our franchise.” This may meet their slippery promises to Ministers but certainly not to the public. FGW also say they have, “sufficient rolling stock capacity to meet demand,” but clearly current performance shows that this is not “according to passenger needs” which Tom Harris cited in his letter, and also not true since they themselves admitted that they underestimated stock after timetable reductions on 10 December 2006.
So exactly what is FGW’s Service Level Committment and why is the committment to the Government and not to passengers/customers? I will do some digging on the FGW website and the DfT website and try and find out more.
The last bottle of HP Sauce was manufactured in the Birmingham factory where it had been made for over 100 years early this morning. US company, Heinz, who bought HP two years ago are now going to have it manufactured in the Netherlands. West Midlands MPs have protestested both against the closure of the factory (with the loss of 125 jobs) and its move to the Netherlands while retaining the trademark image of the Houses of Parliament (thus the name HP). Heinz say they will not be removing the image but some MPs want it banned from the cafeterias and restaurants at the Houses of Parliament. This recent HP advertisement also markets its ‘Britishness’ (although its more unsophisticated elements).