GWR train services are ‘unacceptable’ despite new stock
PASSENGER groups say the quality of Great Western Railway’s Welsh services has become “unacceptable” since the company introduced new trains.
While some problems are down to incidents outside the rail industry’s control, many relate to faulty trains, staffing issues, or Network Rail’s delayed electrification works.
Chris Grayling, the UK Government’s transport secretary, promised passengers “faster, more comfortable trains and better journeys” when he launched the first of the £5.7bn InterCity Express Trains (IETs) in October but passengers now complain that trains between Wales and London Paddington are sometimes cancelled, late, or half the length they should be.
GWR also has new electric trains for London commuter services and has moved to the Bristol area some of its older diesel trains, now used on some services to Cardiff. However, delayed electrification prevents GWR from sending more diesels west, where trains are often overcrowded.
Campaign group Railfuture Wales criticised the service quality between Carmarthen and London via Swansea and Cardiff in recent weeks.
Chair Peter Kingsbury said: “Many services were cancelled on either side of the Christmas holiday for engineering works but no, or very limited, advance publicity was given to this at the stations. Other cancellations were for train availability and staffing reasons that were within the control of Great Western.
“This has been followed since the New Year with the number of shortnotice cancellations being far higher than normal, with only one day during the week commencing January 8 seeing all services between Swansea and London complete a full journey.
“On some of the services that have run passengers have experienced trains being formed of fewer carriages than usual, toilets being out of use, and scheduled catering not supplied. The overall experience passengers have faced is considered to be unacceptable by Railfuture.
“It is appreciated that some of the problems have resulted from the introduction of new bi-mode trains which have the potential to provide passengers with better quality journeys but Railfuture regrets that their rollout has not been better managed.”
The Severn Tunnel Action Group, representing Severn Tunnel Junction station users, said problems arose from the Department for Transport’s planning and Network Rail’s over-running infrastructure improvements. Chair David Flint also said the local trains were too short “an awful lot” of the time because of rolling stock faults.
He said: “The 5.25pm from Bristol is very often two carriages and it’s the most popular train of the day.
“There have been cancellations as well – most seem to have been in the middle of the day, thankfully. From what I see GWR are trying their hardest but they’ve got failing rolling stock.”
He praised GWR for arranging for a London train to call at Severn Tunnel Junction whenever a key morning commuter train to Bristol has fewer coaches than usual.
A GWR spokesman said: “The new trains are actually performing well but they are not immune to the infrastructure and track issues that affect other trains. The major causes of delay in January have actually not been anything within the control of the rail industry – including a fatality in Slough, police incidents near Nailsea and Backwell and Stoke Gifford, a person hit by a train in the Bristol area, and a tree hitting a train.”
He said neither the DfT nor Network Rail were paying GWR compensation for the consequences of electrification delays.
Faults on IETs are addressed by manufacturer Hitachi rather than GWR’s engineers. IET engineers are positioned at strategic locations to meet any faulty train.
IET teams are also embedded in GWR’s control room for rapid responses to faults.
The spokesman also said the reason south Wales had only twohourly trains on the London line on Christmas Eve was engineering work, with trains being diverted to London Marylebone. Asked why GWR had not run a normal service as far as Reading or Swindon, he declined to comment.
According to the Recent Train Times website, which collects railway data, the 7.30am from Carmarthen to London, which leaves Cardiff at 9.26am, arrived at Paddington station 29 minutes late on average on weekdays over the last 12 weeks and was cancelled on 14% of weekdays.
GWR said this service was under 15 minutes late on 48 days out of 64.
Last Wednesday the 3.45pm from Paddington to Swansea had only five IET coaches, with fewer seats and toilets than in an InterCity125. One passenger said the aisles were full of standing passengers and one of the five toilets was already locked and out of use before the train left Paddington.
The GWR spokesman said Hitachi had no record of a faulty toilet on that service and the train had only five coaches due to “staff absence” and would have been cancelled had an IC125 been booked instead of an IET.
A GWR manager told rail users that five coaches were removed from that service for driver training.
GWR said reasons for Swansea receiving a full service on only one day of the week beginning January 8 included cable theft, a fatality on the line, a train crew issue, and engineering works.
A 50m section in the centre of each 10-coach IET comprises unused driving cabs and two First Class doors, forcing some standard class passengers to move along the platform and join the cluster around the nearest standard doors.
The GWR spokesman admitted customers take slightly longer to board when an IET replaces an IC125, but added: “This quickly gets back to normal as customers get used to the layout of the new trains, helped by additional signs and staff and PA announcements at the station telling people where to go.”