The Ticket Collector

TheTicketCollector is on Holiday

Sorry people but I am on a holiday for a few weeks. Where I am going, the internet is very limited and extremly expensive so I wont be able to post any updates to this site.

On another matter I have had an email telling me the sites spelling is bad and the grammer is even worse. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. If you do find any errors please do email the site and I will update on my return from holiday.

Adios!

National Passenger Survey - FCC responds

“We have not done well, and are very dissapointed with the results as we know that many people have worked hard to deliver improvements in the last year.
“All this hard work is not wasted as we know that if we continue to address the issues of performance, safety and capacity as well as making investments in customer facilities the results will improve.
“We believe we have the right plans for this business and you have a role to play in helping implement our plans. We want all our customers to know about the improvements we are making, please ensure you are up to date with these improvements for your area.”

“We acknowledge that the results do not meet our expectations and that we are dissapointed. It is clear that customers are telling us that they expect more improvements quickly and we are committed to meeting these expectations
“First Capital Connect has been working hard over the last 12 months to improve reliability, capacity and train and station facilities for our customers, Our franchise is for 9 years and our plans will deliver over time - there are no instant answers.
“FCC has always listened to our customers, and it is very clear to us from these results the areas where our customers want improvements. We are happy that our plans will deliver improvements over time.
“We will be continuing our programme of investment and improvements going forward. By 31st March 2007 we had invested £16.3m across our stations and trains and in this coming year we will be spending a further £27.9m.”

“It is worth remembering that at this time [the time the survey was done] we were experiencing some very poor performance on the routes, the winds at the end of January, problems with overhead wires on GN and some very poor Network Rail performance on the TL route. All of which could have impacted customer views.”

FCC is the worst Operator - National Passenger Survey

The National Passenger Survey was released yesterday and it comes up with some bad reading for many of the Train Companies mentioned.

The latest survey compared the passengers satisfaction levels for individual train operating companies with the survey carried out in Spring 2006. Since 2006 four Train Companies satisfaction levels have declined significantly (First Great Western, First ScotRail, First Capital Connect and Northern Rail), and three have significantly improved (Midland Mainline, Arriva Trains Wales and Heathrow Express). Fourteen have had no statistically significant changes in their overall satisfaction results compared with Spring 2006.

• The lowest ratings for overall satisfaction were given to First Capital Connect [First Group] (71%), First Great Western [First Group] (72%), One [National Express Group] (72%), Southeastern (74%), and Silverlink [National Express Group](76%).

• The highest ratings for overall satisfaction were achieved by Heathrow Express (94%), Gatwick Express [National Express Group] (92%), Chiltern Railways (90%), Midland Mainline [National Express Group] (90%), c2c [National Express Group] (89%), and TransPennine Express [First Group] (89%).

Rail Watchdog refuses to investigate ‘excessive’ fare rises.

Arrivia Trains Wales (ATW) and South West Trains (SWT) have recently increased their unregulated fares by as much as 34%.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) said the increases were unwelcome to the travelling public but it was “not appropriate to open an investigation”.

Examples of SWT’s increases, which were first announced in March, include a cheap-day return from Alton, in Hampshire, to London rising from £15.80 to £19 - a 20.25% increase.

A Bournemouth-to-London cheap-day return will go up from £36.40 to £43.70 - a 20.05% rise.

The real reason for these increases is the fact that the South East is getting so overcrowded that the only way to decrease passengers is to increase the fares.

In other news FCC have very quietly increased their fares from stations in the London Zones, apparently according to a Letter from Customer Services the original price increase in January was incorrect and now they are adjusting them to the correct prices.

Feet on Seat? Get a Criminal Record.

Merseyrail, who serve Liverpool with a train service (belive it or not) have gone and prosecuted a passenger for having their feet on the seats.

The man appeared at Chester Magistrates’ Court charged under the 1889 Railway Regulations Act with behaving in a disorderly, indecent or offensive manner that interfered with the comfort or convenience of a person on the railway. He pleaded guilty and was given a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £50 costs.

Belive it or not it is a criminal offence to put your feet on the seats, and hopefully more people will get prosecuted for it.