Twyford

As you may know I held a meeting with Alison Forster, Managing Director of FGW today. In fact I had two – I met with Alison Forster and her FGW team to discuss specifically the needs of Maidenhead and Twyford and the branch lines; and after that I joined a group of Thames Valley MPs in a meeting with FGW on wider issues. Both meetings were robust with FGW being left in no doubt about the strength of feeling among passengers and MPs

In both meetings Ms Forster spent a great deal of time reiterating that FGW are investing a great deal in new trains which (fingers crossed) we should benefit from after December 2007. Obviously I am concerned that commuters will have to wait 11 months to see these benefits. Once again FGW tried to shift the blame by commenting that reduced services were due to Department of Transport specifications. Undoubtedly the Government has played a role as its specification did reduce services, but FGW can offer enhanced services and indeed Alison Forster commented that if there was a commercial case to extend services, the DFT would not be likely to stand in FGW's way. Well, what could be a better business case than answering the needs of your customers?

A number of you have asked why they can't simply go back to the old timetable. They explained that they could not reinstate the previous timetable because it would be too complex as it affects other companies' services e.g. they had been prevented from making a particular change because of the insertion of a freight train into the timetable for the track.

In my personal meeting, apart from raising the general points about overcrowding, lack of enough fast and semi-fast services and the problems of delays and cancellations, I spent a great deal of time explaining that the changes to the timetable coming in next Monday would not benefit Maidenhead and Twyford. However FGW are convinced that by providing another service to Oxford at 07.33, fewer people will be tempted to take the earlier trains at 06.45 (07.26 at Twyford and 07.35 at Maidenhead) and 07.05 (07.40 at Twyford and 07.50 at Maidenhead). Personally I do not think 06.45 passengers will use a service at 07.33, and therefore the 07.26/07.35 is now bound to face the same overcrowding as other services. Hopefully there will be some benefit for the slightly later service - do let me know if the 07.40/07.50 is any less crowded. If not, I shall be sure to get back to Ms Forster. They also believe that cutting some stops out of the 06.42 from Twyford (06.49 from Maidenhead) will mean there will be more seats at our stations on this train.

With regards to the punctuality of the 07.26 now it starts at Oxford, FGW say that as it comes from Oxford already (albeit without passengers) there is no reason why it should be less reliable.- again, please do keep me informed of whether the 0726 is any less reliable.

I also raised the problems in the evening services. No change was offered here, indeed FGW still seem to think that there are sufficient services at peak times. They are prepared to look at this in the longer term.

In the second meeting Ms Forster expanded on the process for the January 2007 timetable. As we know the cut off date for the consultation process is 18th January. This is in fact the date when FGW are presenting their proposals to Network Rail. She admitted that FGW already have an idea of what the December 2007 timetable will look like, and when pressed she commented that it will not be ‘radically different’ from the 2006 timetable.

However, it is not all bad news; Ms Forster later agreed to look into letting MPs see the draft of the December 2007 timetable so we can add our comments, and furthermore conceded that minor changes to both the 2006 and 2007 timetables could be made at later points in the year.

As you can expect, I will be continuing my campaign to improve services to Maidenhead and Twyford. I am working with other Thames Valley MPs to secure a meeting with FGW, Network Rail and the Transport Minister. With all three present they will no longer be able to simply point the finger of blame and avoid taking any action. We will also be writing to the Health and Safety Executive to urge them to look into the crowding on FGW trains. (There are currently no guidelines for crowding on commuter trains – however there are rules on overcrowding of chickens on trains!). And we have asked FGW to provide us with capacity numbers for peak non-stop and stopping trains as well as the volume of complaints for each area FGW cover. I am sure these will bring to light FGWs appalling record of responding to customer needs.

Furthermore I have secured a debate in the House of Commons where I shall personally raise the issue of FGW trains to Maidenhead and Twyford; this will take place in a couple of weeks and I am looking for more opportunities to debate FGW incompetence in Parliament.

I’d like to that all of you who have sent their comments to FGW. I urge you all to keep them coming to FGW (fgw.feedback@firstgroup.com) and to myself (mayt@parliament.uk). We need to make them see that the services to Maidenhead and Twyford are simply no good. To add some pictorial proof to your emails, if anyone has a camera phone, why don’t you to take photos of the overcrowding and send them with your emails. I showed a few pictures of the current overcrowding to Alison Forster today and, as they say, a picture says a thousand words!

As I final note a study of the FGW Passenger Charter shows that FGW claim that passengers should not normally have to stand for more than 20 minutes (or more than one station stop if this is longer). They are clearly not upholding this part of their Charter. Unfortunately they do not offer any compensation to standard class ticket holders who have to stand longer than 20 minutes, but they do offer a part refund for First Class travellers – do take advantage of this opportunity. FGW do not offer the service that their towering prices suggest, and the more we can make them realise this, the more likely we are of finally getting the train service we deserve.

Yours Sincerely,


The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
January 12, 2007