A meeting was held on February 27th between OxRail Action and FGW’s Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Haines, and other members of FGW. Read all about it here.

OxRail Action group met at the Waterman’s Arms on February 19th. The minutes of the meeting are here.

 Ox Rail Action is now stronger than ever with new members joining all the time as dissatisfaction with First Great Western’s peak-time service between Oxford and London Paddington grows. The continued poor punctuality remains top of our concerns and while performance may have improved from the disastrous service provided during December 2007 and early-January 2008, there is still a very long way to go.  Early-morning services regularly arrive 15 minutes late and sometimes delays are up to 30 minutes, with little information given. Cancellations still regularly occur with no guidance offered from station staff as to what alternative routes can be taken. 

Ox Rail Action’s latest meeting was held just days before we were due to meet Andrew Haines, FGW’s chief operating officer, and we used the meeting to consult members on what they wanted us to ask Mr Haines.  Councillor Susanna Presselm who represents Jericho and Osney Ward, came along to the meeting to find out more about the campaign and offer her support.

 All members reported consistent delays on their morning services with many being forced to catch earlier trains in order to ensure they reach their desks on time. They wanted to ask what concrete steps were being taken to change the situation and ensure that trains ran according to the timetable. Other issues put on the agenda included: 

• Performance of newly-refurbished High Speed Trains
• Network Rail’s responsibility for poor performance
• May and December 2008 timetable changes
• Passenger representation
• Oxford station’s renovations – when are they due to be completed?

 The meeting with Andrew Haines took place on February 27, at First Great Western’s offices, at Paddington station. Minutes of the meeting will be posted on this site once finalised. 

The Ox Rail Action meeting was attended by several new members who have volunteered to help support the running of the campaign. The extra help is much-needed if we are to maintain our momentum and there is still a real need for members to get involved.

 Responsibilities we would like members to take on include:

·         Monitor your trains – fill in the monitoring sheet – click here for more on this

·         Being media spokespeople – we need people to be available to talk to the media at short notice

·         Attending consultation meetings with First Great Western

·         Report writing – we will put together a report on the performance of services on a quarterly basis

·         Writing for the website – and taking pictures/short videos to use online – send all entries to saveourtrains@googlemail.com

·         Writing to First Great Western whenever services are not up to scratch – write direct to Andrew Haines, at andrew.haines@firstgroup.com

·         Liaison with other passenger groups, MPs, the city council

Anyone who would like to get more involved should drop us a line at our email address saveourtrains@googlemail.com   

Oxford passengers are joining in Britain’s second fare strike Monday January 28 in protest against First Great Western’s high fares and poor service. 

Passengers travelling from Oxford to London Paddington in the rush hour will be joining those travelling from Bath, Frome, Yatton and Yate by taking part in the fare strike.  

Commuter pressure groups Ox Rail Action (Oxford) and More Train Less Strain (Bath) are calling on FGW’s chief operating officer Andrew Haines to improve the appalling service delivered each day by FGW and withdraw the unjustified fare increases introduced on January 2 2008.

We are urging all travellers to show their support for the strike by refusing to show a valid ticket and instead presenting the alternative FARE STRIKE ticket to First Great Western officials. 

 Fare strike tickets will be handed out outside Oxford station on the morning of the strike. MPs across the region have already pledged their support for the fare strike and are expected to turn up at train stations on January 28 to show their backing for the campaign. 

Tickets will also be available in advance of the strike via this website.

The service has gone from bad to worse in recent months. 

And while we have endured the deterioration of service, FGW (controlled by First Group) continues to generate significant profits.

Indeed, in the final quarter of 2007, FGW’s passenger revenues increased by a further 10 per cent. Moreover, First Group’s UK Rail operating profits were up 36.7 per cent to nearly £110m.   

We are calling on the Secretary of State for Transport Ruth Kelly to take action and put pressure on First Great Western to improve its punctuality and reliability and deliver a better-value service.

If First Great Western cannot run the franchise to the satisfaction of the travelling public, it should be re-negotiated and awarded to someone who can. 

Notes: 

1. The FARE STRIKE tickets will be issued from stations including Oxford station (between 6.30am and 8.30am) and are intended for use by anyone travelling  on First Great Western services; we are not encouraging passengers to travel without a valid ticket, but we are encouraging them not to show it
2. For more information on the strike contact Ox Rail Action member Zahra Akkerhuys, in Oxford, on 07974 313566 or More Train Less Strain campaign organiser Tony Ambrose 07816 588287
3. The first fare strike took place a year ago on Monday January 22 involving 2000 commuters travelling from Bristol and Bath

Sorry for the lack of updates to this website - it’s really because there has been not much news. We are still waiting to be shown the new December 2007 timetable, which we were promised mid-summer. We’ve been told it will be available to view on the FGW website in a couple of weeks so keep an eye out for it. Hopefully FGW will have taken on board our many concerns and issues over the draft timetable, but we shall have to wait and see. Meanwhile, in other news…..

Court threats

London passenger group TravelWatch have accused FGW of breaching their franchise agreement, and after sending a letter to Tom Harris, the Rail Minister, they were threatened with being taken to court for libel. After a series of meetings, this threat has now been withdrawn but it just shows how campaigns such as ours can turn a bit nasty.

A Poet

You may have seen the recent press coverage of FGW’s attempt at customer care with the appointment of a ‘platform poet’. Sally Crabtree, a Cornish poet, performed at selected stations with her copper tree, including a session in Oxford last week. When asked for a quote about this for the newspaper reports, an Ox Rail Action spokesperson (i.e. me) said “It made me laugh when I heard about this. If trains are delayed while this poet is performing, I don’t think passengers will be too impressed”. Actually, I laughed a lot more at The Times journalist Alan Hamilton’s own poetry about FGW:

Waiting, waiting, fulminating
‘Gainst announcements once more stating
That the 8.15 from Reading,
Which for London should be heading,
Won’t be here for half an hour;
There’s been a failure in the power.
Signals stuck at stubborn red;
We could have laid awhile in bed,
In ease and warmth to contemplate
That First Great Western’s running late.
Excuses shower down like rain
For why the train’s delayed again.
Driver shortage, leaves on line,
Breakdown, letdown, bad design;
Snow in engine, sun on rails,
Carriage shortage down in Wales.
The cheek of calling itself ‘First’
When figures show it’s now the worst
And underline the harsh reality
Of quite abysmal punctuality.
Yet always the commuter suffers,
As taut-stretched patience hits the buffers.
To customers they surely owe it
To do far more than hire a poet.

If you liked this, there is more at www.timesonline.co.uk/poetry

Several things to update you about today:

1. Passenger Focus survey results

You may have seen in the press that Passenger Focus, the independent national rail consumer watchdog, have recently released their 2007 passenger survey. It shows that satisfaction levels have dropped again this year to just 72%, and that FGW is the second worse performing company in terms of customer satisfaction - not at all surprising. The full report is available from the Passenger Focus website. It is interesting to note that the bottom three worst performing rail companies are all FirstGroup franchises.

The reaction in the local press can be read here (The Oxford Mail), and the reaction of FGW in the national press can be read here (The Telegraph).

2. New RingGo parking system

Those of you who drive to Oxford station will have noticed the new RingGo paying system, designed to keep the car park free for rail passengers. After some initial doubts, most people seem to think the new system is an improvement (no trying to find those pesky pound coins!) but there has been a hike in the prices to £4.50 per day, which seems to have sneaked in without comment. We’ve been contacted by Cobalt Telephone Technologies who provide the technology behind the new system, who advice that if people are worried about giving out their credit card details over the phone on the platform or the train, you can pre-register at the RingGo website. The company wish us luck with our campaign. I’m sure if there are any comments or suggestions for making the system easier to use, Cobalt would be pleased to hear
them and we can pass them on.

3. Campaign progress

There are several meetings on the horizon at which Ox Rail Action organising members will be again representing the views of Oxford passengers and attempting to get a better service. Firstly, we have been invited to meet the Secretary of State for Transport, Douglas Alexander, in mid-June. We hope to raise the profile of our campaign and talk directly to him about the issues facing Oxford passengers. Secondly, we are hoping to have a date soon for a meeting with FGW to discuss the draft December timetable. Updates on both meetings will be forthcoming.

The minutes of the meeting with FGW are now available from the meetings page.

Some of you may have seen the posters advertising timetable changes in May. Will this mean an improvement in services for Oxford commuters? Well, don’t get too excited - there are very few changes that will affect you:

Early services at 0400 from Oxford to London Paddington are subject to slight change, whilst the 0546 Reading to London Paddington now starts from Oxford at 0506.
The 0725 Banbury to Paddington leaves Reading earlier and now calls at Langley, Iver and West Drayton.
The 0752 from Oxford to London Paddington has been re-timed to depart Twyford at 0844 to provide an additional connection from Henley on Thames.
Some Oxford services now feature High Speed Trains – with greater capacity than the previous Adelante trains - which will also add seat capacity at stations en route.
The 2050 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington will call at Didcot Parkway.

If you need more information, the new printed timetable booklets are available from the station now.