Shoveller to SWT from EMT

[Oliver]

Tim Shoveller certainly seemed to have an interest in railways, rather than it just being a living . He and his staff were present at the opening of the two heritage lines and has been happy to work with the community groups. EMT have organised a number of enthusiasts specials. He was in addition spotted at Wirksworth on a personal jaunt,

I met him when he spoke at a railway club a while back. He knows a lot about trains and he has his head screwed on.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

This thing about free tea on the old MML (NX) franchise.

During the final negotiations for the franchise , they (NX) were asked about any other Passenger benefits that could be delivered , "free hot drinks for all" was mentioned , and it went down well , along with the timetable recasts etc. Good negotiation play I reckon.

 

[Helvellyn]

And as for Basingtoke Stations ticket que's..Yep, they really are that bad and still remain to be...And sadly, despite the front of the station and ticket office undergoing a pretty hefty and expensive rebuild, the amount of ticket office windows will remain the same - so the que's will continue going on and on, despite the space availible from the long closed former BR Travel Office!...Now which station came up in a report sometime around last year on Network Rails list of stations that will need improvement by year xxxx to cope with the increase of passenger numbers?.....Basingstoke!

(If your wondering by the way what works are actually going on at Basingstoke station, the entire ticket / enterance hall is being refurbished, but the works arn't creating any new space for ticket retail...insted it's all about Retail - Increased space for the likes of Pumpskin, M&S Sort of thing! Any works being done to increase the stations passenger flows from Platforms to enterance / exit? Nope! Gatelines due to stay in the same cramped space it's currently in!) :roll:

Firstly, there are planned to be more TVM's after the rebuilding work, which actually a vast majority of passengers do find meet their needs. Also, by now the Stagecoach Smart cards should have been valid into London, but the DfT have failed to carry out the required upgrades to make Oyster compatible. Once this happens there will be a big push to move passengers to the Smart cards, where the ticket can be bought online and added to the card by touching in at the gateline.

With regards to the ticket gateline, you've obviously not looked through the hoardings outside, or through the sheeting coming down from platform 1. The clock tower has been completely opened up, with windows and walls removed. The pillar between the two spaces from the subway was removed two weeks ago. When it all reopens it will be a straight gateline with more normal gates and two wide gates (the old one was two straight gates; two angled gates and the wide gate also at an angle). From what I've been told it will be a radically different ticket hall, with a clear entrance/exit, the same number of ticket windows, more TVMs and three shops.

With the old booking hall the gateline was cramped, Pumpkin intruded into the space of the gates, and you used to get lots of passengers using the exit as an entrance causing more congestion.


You obviously have a number of issues with SWT, but the majority of people don't seem to as seen by the 7% rise in passenger numbers and its recent success at the National Rail Awards (Passenger Operator of the Year), which apparently makes it the most successful TOC in the history of the NRA - 16 awards in all.

 

[Schnellzug]

You obviously have a number of issues with SWT, but the majority of people don't seem to as seen by the 7% rise in passenger numbers and its recent success at the National Rail Awards (Passenger Operator of the Year), which apparently makes it the most successful TOC in the history of the NRA - 16 awards in all.

Oh come now, who was it decided that? The Industry, wasn't it? Rail Magazine? And how many other operators have also seen - some of them a much larger- increase in passenger numbers? Yes, they're mosly on time, and they've renewed the rolling stock fleet (but then, so also have several other companies), but I'm afraid that they're rather perfunctory with you - their attitude is "we just want to make sure that we get your money off you, and then we lose interest in you completely", other than bombarding everyone with irrittating prerecorded nannying all the time. And how is closing tickt offices and Travel Centres popular? I'm afraid those automated machines aren't very user friendly, and are slow and inconvenient, and aren't any good for answering questions or queries that people might have. No, i'm sorry, but just having a shelfful of awards given you by Nigel Harris does not necessarily automatically mean that they're viewed with a fond glow of affection.

 

[embers25]

You obviously have a number of issues with SWT, but the majority of people don't seem to as seen by the 7% rise in passenger numbers and its recent success at the National Rail Awards (Passenger Operator of the Year), which apparently makes it the most successful TOC in the history of the NRA - 16 awards in all.

*dies laughing* Call it a hunch but I'm guessing passengers weren't that consulted....I suppose all those stuck at Brookwood for 4 hours a few month back would of course agree!!

 

[fgwrich]

Firstly, there are planned to be more TVM's after the rebuilding work, which actually a vast majority of passengers do find meet their needs. Also, by now the Stagecoach Smart cards should have been valid into London, but the DfT have failed to carry out the required upgrades to make Oyster compatible. Once this happens there will be a big push to move passengers to the Smart cards, where the ticket can be bought online and added to the card by touching in at the gateline.

With regards to the ticket gateline, you've obviously not looked through the hoardings outside, or through the sheeting coming down from platform 1. The clock tower has been completely opened up, with windows and walls removed. The pillar between the two spaces from the subway was removed two weeks ago. When it all reopens it will be a straight gateline with more normal gates and two wide gates (the old one was two straight gates; two angled gates and the wide gate also at an angle). From what I've been told it will be a radically different ticket hall, with a clear entrance/exit, the same number of ticket windows, more TVMs and three shops.

With the old booking hall the gateline was cramped, Pumpkin intruded into the space of the gates, and you used to get lots of passengers using the exit as an entrance causing more congestion.


You obviously have a number of issues with SWT, but the majority of people don't seem to as seen by the 7% rise in passenger numbers and its recent success at the National Rail Awards (Passenger Operator of the Year), which apparently makes it the most successful TOC in the history of the NRA - 16 awards in all.

Ah - Thanks for clearing the ticket office issue up then - SWT hasnt exactly published any plans anywhere publicly as to what the overall plans are - only the one exterior picture...

As for the TVMs - Whilst ive used SWT/FGW for almost as long as i can remember, one thing im not as keen on is the overuse of the TVMs in place of the ticket office - Yes TVMs can be quick, but you go back to Basingstoke before the rebuilding works, and you will find that most people still prefer to que up - Stand outside the station now and again, you'll find that most people prefer to use a ticket office over the TVMs - They may be quicker, but can be a pain in the arse to use - somepeople require assistance to find stations that arnt on there, others like me find there money keeps rather supprisingly, given back to me several times, some of them fail fairly regulary etc...People want a ticket office, they want to speak to someone who can get the right ticket most of the time, and for the best price!

Whilst overall i still prefer to use FGW to get into and out of london, SWT arnt that bad, most of their staff is fine, the rolling stock is almost always fairly clean, and any delays are usually out of there control - and, as i found out last wednesday, incredibly quick at sorting problems out with the 159 Fleet (159011 Wasnt playing ball on a Gillingham (Dorset) service, arrived into basingstoke late due to signalling issues, left basingstoke with the first class coach's windows open, centre car engine sounding rather lumpy, and on leaving Overton & Whitchurch, a rather judder juddery slugish start - On my way home several hours later, 159011 Arrives into Salisbury Depot!)...

But, SWT do let themselves down with customer services over the phone, and the added increase in TVMs vs the lessening of ticket offices themselves - Of the fairly lengthy waiting time i had, one person took 9 minutes to orginise and purchase an advance ticket, followed by someone trying to renew their season ticket - And this is what slowed everything down, with only 1 ticket office window open...And this is where the que's begin - down the ticket office, and across the already cramped station area...Not ideal because of the works, but surely something could have been sorted out to reduce some of this by now!
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Oh come now, who was it decided that? The Industry, wasn't it? Rail Magazine? And how many other operators have also seen - some of them a much larger- increase in passenger numbers? Yes, they're mosly on time, and they've renewed the rolling stock fleet (but then, so also have several other companies), but I'm afraid that they're rather perfunctory with you - their attitude is "we just want to make sure that we get your money off you, and then we lose interest in you completely", other than bombarding everyone with irrittating prerecorded nannying all the time. And how is closing tickt offices and Travel Centres popular? I'm afraid those automated machines aren't very user friendly, and are slow and inconvenient, and aren't any good for answering questions or queries that people might have. No, i'm sorry, but just having a shelfful of awards given you by Nigel Harris does not necessarily automatically mean that they're viewed with a fond glow of affection.

Have to agree!

 

[Matt Taylor]

*dies laughing* Call it a hunch but I'm guessing passengers weren't that consulted....I suppose all those stuck at Brookwood for 4 hours a few month back would of course agree!!

Sorry but that is a ridiculous comment to make. What happened on June 10th was one of SWT's darkest days and the experience is being used in a positive manner in order to ensure nothing similar happens again, there are a lot of developments going on behind the scenes that are a result of the experience of that night. SWT got it wrong that night, some poor decisions were made and communication was very difficult but I hardly think that SWT is the only company that has ever had bad situations like that. Mock all you want, but the fact that my employer is currently the best in the field (not for the first time) is something I take great pride in, I love my job and I do whatever I can to help out when the service goes up the spout-sometimes when I'm not even on duty.

Someone was asking about guard's training earlier in the thread-ask away as I am happy to help where I can.

 

[Chris125]

There's an interview with Tim over at Rail Professional - i didnt know he actually started out as a volunteer on the MHR before skipping uni to become a guard. Certainly makes a change from the normal career path of TOC MD's!

Chris