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Off the rails

Graham Smith | 13:17 UK time, Thursday, 17 March 2011

If you are a First Great Western train passenger I'd love to know what you think of the idea that it might be cheaper for shareholders to surrender the franchise than to upgrade the rolling stock. FGW emails me thus:

"We have to take a decision before the end of the year as to whether we are going to exercise our contractual right to extend the FGW franchise to March 2016."

Comments

  • Comment number 1.

    Interesting.

    First thoughts (yes pardon the pun)- Can these dear shareholders also redirect some quids towards improving their services in Cornwall? I have to get a Truro College bus to college, and this week in four journeys I've been on this week. On Monday- we had three buses (2 on my route, one on the 985 to Newquay) run into fume/engine related problems- and thanks to the incompetence of the technical outfit at Camborne, a third run out of fuel. It was a problem that was of no fault of the poor drivers who like the passengers seem incredibly fed up of all the shanigans. A friend of mine that has been on the route for two years has said it's the norm.

    Now onto trains- toys out of pram spring to mind. Their HSTs to London (the eight carriages) are very comfortable trains, that despite getting on a bit have been brilliantly refurbished and I thoroughly enjoy my journeys on them. However a lot of the local routes are run by ghastly 3 seats in a row Class 156's (three carriages) (I think) that quite often the seats are damaged and they are very uncomfortable. Unless your a vertically challenged mate of Snow White, its not very comfortable leg room wise either.

    Also fares are highly extortonate down here- It's £5.70 for a single to Truro from where I live in Bodmin, or £5.80 return, a fact that greatly infuriated and bemused a colleague and friend of mine. Yet its £2 MORE just to travel to Camborne which is less than a 10 minute journey away. How does that work?!.

    I feel extremely sorry for the staff of both first bus and first trains- the leadership incompetence is unbelieavable and given the garbage they're given both train and bus wise, it seems like we get the castoffs of up country. I wouldn't miss the greed and incompetence that's for sure.

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