Scotfail

[The_Stig]

So we should cut Scotfail some slack as one of their flasghip new trains has failed ? Rubbish, the temperatures are above freezing just now, I assume these trains have been tested and " run in" ? Scotfail as a corporate organisation is a shambles

So ScotRail are to blame for a brand-new out the box unit fails?

Answer me this if you buy a TV and it fails after 2 weeks are you then to blame for it's failure?

 

[First ScotRail]

Scotfail as a corporate organisation is a shambles

I completely disagree with that statement, they are a good operator, one of the best in the country. The weather has affected performance and although service hasnt been great there has been alot of changes, with the new units being introduced, new lines and units being damaged due to the bad weather which has lead to a backlog of work at depots. To make such a silly statement based on poor experiences over the past few weeks is nonsense.

 

[ayrshire_voyager]

I completely disagree with that statement, they are a good operator, one of the best in the country. The weather has affected performance and although service hasnt been great there has been alot of changes, with the new units being introduced, new lines and units being damaged due to the bad weather which has lead to a backlog of work at depots. To make such a silly statement based on poor experiences over the past few weeks is nonsense.

This is based on travelling 3-4 times on the Ayr Glasgow line for last 3 years and Edinburgh Glasgow at least 2 a month. Scotrail is a monopoly and I , as a consumer have no choice, to me this dictates their treatment of their customers.

 

[90019]

Scotrail is a monopoly and I , as a consumer have no choice

You could use the bus.

 

[Failed Unit]

You could use the bus.

A first operated bus you mean. Many areas it is train or bus but both are operated by first.

 

[ayrshire_voyager]

You could use the bus.

dont go there...........

 

[90019]

A first operated bus you mean. Many areas it is train or bus but both are operated by first.

Stagecoach.
depending where he goes to, there are various routes available.

 

[ayrshire_voyager]

Stagecoach.
depending where he goes to, there are various routes available.

Yes the train is quicker, but thats not my point........

 

[90019]

Yes the train is quicker, but thats not my point........

My point was that the train does not have a monopoly, there are other options available.

 

[Failed Unit]

Stagecoach.
depending where he goes to, there are various routes available.

Yes on the west coast true. But a lot of areas are a first monopoly. That's life I know but when national express held the franchise they had to divest shares in city link. I guess that the areas that first have the monopoly are not significant enough for action.

 

[First ScotRail]

This is based on travelling 3-4 times on the Ayr Glasgow line for last 3 years and Edinburgh Glasgow at least 2 a month. Scotrail is a monopoly and I , as a consumer have no choice, to me this dictates their treatment of their customers.

Whilst I can appreciate the Ayrshire services are overcrowded, ScotRail are trying to resolve this by introducing the new 380s. Why do you think the new train order was put on an existing route and not the new Helensburgh-Edinburgh service? Overcrowding is an issue and where possible 6 car 334s will run, stock shortages occur, yes and when that happens or when a delay occurs you can contact ScotRail and they will investigate or (if a season ticket holder) you may get days back or a goodwill gesture

Why don't you use the Meet the Manager sessions (at stations or onboard) to voice your opinions? ScotRail on twitter? E-mail? Send them a letter?

Do you use JourneyCheck to check your route, get the texts/email alerts?

These are all services which are there for you to use to voice your opinion/get updated on the status of your service.

The 380s are brand new units, and whilst at present, encountering teething problems, they will significantly benefit Ayrshire and Inverclyde and are a major investment from the Scottish Government. Which YOU will soon be seeing.

 

[Failed Unit]

Do you use JourneyCheck to check your route, get the texts/email alerts?

Hopefully they have improved thier communications for the next snow dumping. To be fair from what they are saying it sounds like they have taken it on the chin and will improve. We will find out next week!

 

[Bittern]

You could use the bus.

...Go to your room.

 

[route101]

In my opnion FSR is the best First Franchise in the Country! A lot of inprovements have been made since 2004 , look at even Stations such as Busby I cant say the same about FirstBus Glasgow , Stagecoach are leaps ahead. The 156s are very clean look at Northern examples.

 

[me123]

Scotrail have actually been very good. But the last month or so have made me wonder; can someone really have this much bad luck?

 

[CarterUSM]

In my opnion FSR is the best First Franchise in the Country! A lot of inprovements have been made since 2004 , look at even Stations such as Busby I cant say the same about FirstBus Glasgow , Stagecoach are leaps ahead. The 156s are very clean look at Northern examples.

You are absolutely spot on, station improvements really have been rolled out pretty quickly. Overall, I think it has been a generally successful franchise, there has been much to shout about, but as ever, the negatives, however big or small, is what people focus upon.

 

[ayrshire_voyager]

Whilst I can appreciate the Ayrshire services are overcrowded, ScotRail are trying to resolve this by introducing the new 380s. Why do you think the new train order was put on an existing route and not the new Helensburgh-Edinburgh service? Overcrowding is an issue and where possible 6 car 334s will run, stock shortages occur, yes and when that happens or when a delay occurs you can contact ScotRail and they will investigate or (if a season ticket holder) you may get days back or a goodwill gesture

Why don't you use the Meet the Manager sessions (at stations or onboard) to voice your opinions? ScotRail on twitter? E-mail? Send them a letter?

Do you use JourneyCheck to check your route, get the texts/email alerts?

These are all services which are there for you to use to voice your opinion/get updated on the status of your service.

The 380s are brand new units, and whilst at present, encountering teething problems, they will significantly benefit Ayrshire and Inverclyde and are a major investment from the Scottish Government. Which YOU will soon be seeing.

You have never had it so good. Love the condescending platitudes, you think I am a moron, I have an i phone and keep up to date as much as I can .Its not just me thats unhappy, you recommended twitter, so do I

http://twitter.com/#!/scotfail

 

[CarterUSM]

You have never had it so good. Love the condescending platitudes, you think I am a moron, I have an i phone and keep up to date as much as I can .Its not just me thats unhappy, you recommended twitter, so do I

http://twitter.com/#!/scotfail

I wouldn't say you've never had it so good, but in a few months hopefully that will be the case. Do you have any suggestions about how the service could be improved yourself ayrshire voyager?

 

[ayrshire_voyager]

I wouldn't say you've never had it so good, but in a few months hopefully that will be the case. Do you have any suggestions about how the service could be improved yourself ayrshire voyager?

Toilets that work and better ,joined up communication. This is not a statement based on the last 2 weeks experience. I often find that platform information is contradictory to journey check. Also if a train is late , to maybe ease some peoples suffering, could they provide an explanation ?

 

[Failed Unit]

You have never had it so good. Love the condescending platitudes, you think I am a moron, I have an i phone and keep up to date as much as I can .Its not just me thats unhappy, you recommended twitter, so do I

http://twitter.com/#!/scotfail

I must admit that a few weeks ago, live departure boards, journey check, station monitors were about as much use as a chocolate fire gaurd. Things changed so frequently.

If I look at the E&G line the cancelled the 0.15 and 0.45 minutes past departures fair enough this was well documented. So why did they still put them on the monitors? Likewise the 0000 and 0030 were often not on the monitors at stations such as Linlithgow so you arrived at them and looked at the monitors to see nearly every train listed as cancelled. It is a minor thing but list the 1/2 hourly service at the top of journey check, don't list every train individaully afterwards as you overload information. Don't know how quickly monitors / live departure boards can be modified for emergency timetables as the same happened on East Coast but they did sort it after a few days. Scotrail were confusing and conflicting on that line throughout.

The other thing is the 3 car sets, I wish they could highlight that on the monitors / text messages. If you are going to get the 0730 Glasgow - Edinburgh and it is only 3 coaches at Linlithgow you know their is no point in leaving your house as you won't get on! Again I don't know how difficult that is to implement.

As I said in an earlier comment, Scotrail know on information provided they let passengers down badly, lets see if they have learnt the lessons when batch 2 hits next week!

This was not a Scotrail service but last night at you an XC train had got restarted at Birmingham, on the departure board you had the train appearing 3 times, one as cancelled, one as 45 minutes late and one as 60 minutes late, so the industry has still got some work to do! (This was the 2140 arrival that should have came from Southampton at Waverley)

 

[First ScotRail]

Ayrshire Voyager, we will agree to disagree I think.

 

[CarterUSM]

Toilets that work and better ,joined up communication. This is not a statement based on the last 2 weeks experience. I often find that platform information is contradictory to journey check. Also if a train is late , to maybe ease some peoples suffering, could they provide an explanation ?

With a bit of luck, the 380 toilets will be a hell of a bit better than the. 334's! I would like to think that the communication issue is a high priority also , considering it is usually the focus of such low satisfaction levels. All in all, this has been a turbulent few weeks to say the least, but I hope you get satisfaction more often than not on your regular commute in future!

 

[ayrshire_voyager]

With a bit of luck, the 380 toilets will be a hell of a bit better than the. 334's! I would like to think that the communication issue is a high priority also , considering it is usually the focus of such low satisfaction levels. All in all, this has been a turbulent few weeks to say the least, but I hope you get satisfaction more often than not on your regular commute in future!

I do have great hope for the 380's , I just hope people treat them ok

 

[CarterUSM]

I do have great hope for the 380's , I just hope people treat them ok

That is probably a hope too far!

 

[tbtc]

You have never had it so good. Love the condescending platitudes, you think I am a moron

If you think you have it bad (with shiny new trains, improved frequencies on almost every urban line in Scotland since privatisation, tidy stations etc) please come and ride our hourly Pacers...

Scotrail aren't perfect, no, and more could be done to improve communication, but they are well ahead of equivalent "provincial" operators in the rest of the UK. Partly due to state-investment, partly due to the TRUST requirements, but you could have it a lot lot worse!

 

[ayrshire_voyager]

If you think you have it bad (with shiny new trains, improved frequencies on almost every urban line in Scotland since privatisation, tidy stations etc) please come and ride our hourly Pacers...

Scotrail aren't perfect, no, and more could be done to improve communication, but they are well ahead of equivalent "provincial" operators in the rest of the UK. Partly due to state-investment, partly due to the TRUST requirements, but you could have it a lot lot worse!

There is always someone worse off !!

 

[tbtc]

There is always someone worse off !!

Believe me!

I'm not claiming "you've never had it better", but trust me, you could be worse.

Fair do's - Scotland want to subsidise railways through taxes and see the benefit - I just wish the rest of the UK (outside London) had that approach

 

[MrsH]

I did manage to get to Glasgow and back Thurs/Fri this week (see my earlier post) but it didn’t start well.

Checked Journeycheck at 6am at home. Train running, next one cancelled, so I had some faith that this was accurate info. Got to Aviemore, board says train on time. Didn’t appear. Board still says train on time. It doesn’t help that there is no waiting room at Aviemore at this time. (Meanwhile N bound sleeper appears on Platform 1, prepare to dash over ungritted bridge in case our train sneaks in behind it unnannounced onto Platform 2, it's happened before). Used the Help point c 7.45. Conversation: “We’re at Aviemore waiting for the 7.23.” Well, it left Inverness”. “Well, it’s not got here.” Pause, “I’ll make a phone call”. Some time later there’s an announcement to say the train had broken down, but a replacement was on its way. Once the train appeared, it kept to time and I was only an hour late in Glasgow.

Coming back, I left early, got the delayed 16.11 direct train which had no effective heating. Of course I should know this is the norm and in future I will be taking the winter blanket out of the car with me when I travel.

Home to a flurry of phone calls/emails - are you OK? I made this journey throughout last winter and never had problems or had folk worrying about me. Confidence in the rail service is going to take a long time to restore, largely because people don’t really understand what the problems are.

 

[CarterUSM]

I did manage to get to Glasgow and back Thurs/Fri this week (see my earlier post) but it didn’t start well.

Checked Journeycheck at 6am at home. Train running, next one cancelled, so I had some faith that this was accurate info. Got to Aviemore, board says train on time. Didn’t appear. Board still says train on time. It doesn’t help that there is no waiting room at Aviemore at this time. (Meanwhile N bound sleeper appears on Platform 1, prepare to dash over ungritted bridge in case our train sneaks in behind it unnannounced onto Platform 2, it's happened before). Used the Help point c 7.45. Conversation: “We’re at Aviemore waiting for the 7.23.” Well, it left Inverness”. “Well, it’s not got here.” Pause, “I’ll make a phone call”. Some time later there’s an announcement to say the train had broken down, but a replacement was on its way. Once the train appeared, it kept to time and I was only an hour late in Glasgow.

Coming back, I left early, got the delayed 16.11 direct train which had no effective heating. Of course I should know this is the norm and in future I will be taking the winter blanket out of the car with me when I travel.

Home to a flurry of phone calls/emails - are you OK? I made this journey throughout last winter and never had problems or had folk worrying about me. Confidence in the rail service is going to take a long time to restore, largely because people don’t really understand what the problems are.

Pleased to hear you made it home safely! You are correct about passengers confidence in the service being undermined to say the least. All I seem to be asked is "will the trains be running?".

 

[The_Stig]

Toilets that work and better ,joined up communication. This is not a statement based on the last 2 weeks experience. I often find that platform information is contradictory to journey check. Also if a train is late , to maybe ease some peoples suffering, could they provide an explanation ?

The toilet tanking facilities at depots and effluent tanks on the units are frozen.