news story

28th April 2008

Train Boss Faces Rush-Hour Commuters

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Northavon MP Steve Webb has taken First Great Western regional manager Andrew Griffiths on a rush-hour train journey from Yate into Bristol, to allow him to hear first hand the concerns of commuters about the poor quality of service that they receive.

Mr Griffiths was able to see for himself the problem of overcrowded trains and late-running trains as the 8.36am was six minutes late and allowed standing room only for passengers getting on at Yate. 

First Great Western is notorious for the poor quality of its service and came bottom of a recent passenger survey of train operators.

At the end of the visit, the First Great Western boss admitted that their performance has not been good enough.

Commenting after the visit, Steve Webb said:

"I was keen for Mr Griffiths to hear at first hand the passengers' frustrations and complaints about the level of service that they have to put up with, and I am grateful to him for coming out with me.

"I regularly hear from commuters on local and mainline services who are completely fed up with the train service that they get and who feel that no one is listening.

"People are paying hundreds of pounds each month to be crammed on to trains which often run late. This service is clearly not good enough.

"I hope that by giving commuters the chance to put their points directly to a senior First Great Western manager, this will increase pressure to get services improved."