Penalty Fare Appeal Support

Archive for June, 2010

BBC to film on the Kings Lynn to Ely mainline.

The Kings Lynn to Ely train line is to be shown in the new 2nd series of the popular BBC Two series, Great British Railway Journeys. This historic line serves stations from Kings Lynn to Ely and Cambridge. Downham Market and Ely will feature prominently in this episode.

We have been informed that the BBC will be filming on the following dates, and the presenter Michael Portillo will be in attendance on the July listed date below.
21st June and 16th July:
13:48 Train departs Ely and arrives 14:04 at Downham Market.

22nd June  and 17th July:
09.10 Train departs Downham Market 09.25 at Train arrives Kings Lynn.

23rd June and 18th July:
08.59 Train departs Kings Lynn 09.29 at Train arrives Ely.

In what can only be described as heaven for most Thameslink commuters, Connex has been reported as expressing an interest in taking over the Capital Connect franchise, reports are saying.

Connex has approached the newly formed Department of Cockups, Railways and Passengers (DCRaP)

A spokesperson for Connex told us “If First can get away with the delays, driver shortages, lack of information, ignoring customers and major screw ups that they currently are getting away with, then we thought we might as well have a go as well.”
When asked about Connex South Eastern and Connex South Central the spokesman replied “We weren’t as bad then as First is now, yet we were stripped of our franchise, and First gets away with it! Hardly fair you think? We at Connex think the reason First are allowed to get away with it, is because a lot of back handers are being given to various people!”
“We will pretend to listen, will come up with some slogan that we think the passengers will want to hear. We will tell the drivers to work or else they will find themselves out of work and we will replace them with our European drivers.”
“We will actually run to a timetable, it may not be one that you’ll like but at least our trains will not be late.”
“We will pretend to claim that we are investing in whatever is the best thing at the time, but actually we wont.”

PFAS thinks that if Connex is allowed to take over the running of the Capital Connect franchise it wont do any further harm to an already poorly run franchise.

The new National Railway Passenger Survey was released today and makes interesting reading.
Overall most passengers are getting more satisfied with their rail journey. 83% of the 31,000 rail users questioned were happy with their rail journey this is a 2% rise since spring 2009.

The worst train company in the UK ‘award’ went to London overground with an Overall satisfaction of 72%.
First Capital Connect had the second worst satisfaction of 76%. Every other train company bar London Overground scored better. The average score for London Train Companies was 82%.

First Capital Connect performed worse in 19 categories.
Ticket buying facilities, Provision of information about train times/platforms, The upkeep/repair of the station buildings/platforms, Cleanliness, The facilities and services, Overall environment, The availability of staff, How request to station staff was handled, The frequency of the trains on that route, Punctuality/reliability (i.e. the train arriving/departing on time), Connections with other train services, Sufficient room for all passengers to sit/stand, The comfort of the seating area, The ease of being able to get on and off, Your personal security whilst on board, The cleanliness of the inside, The cleanliness of the outside, The availability of staff and How well train company deals with delays.
The worst category, which they lost 7 percent was, How well train company deals with delays.

FCC’s Customer Service Director Michelle Smart, has already released an internal misleading document, which says that they have only performed worse in 17 categories and then goes on to explain how they think that by giving select staff new blackberry phones, improving their website and improving their own internal website, it will help improve their figures next time. Truth is it wont, as passengers are getting sick and tired of FCC.

We have asked FCC to comment, but based on their past history of ignoring us, we don’t expect any response soon.

Get out of London with Oyster.

Some of the train companies in and around London & South East area in association with Oyster have come up with a great promotion for the forthcoming summer months.

PFAS has got a hold of this offer early and before it has been released to the General Public. The offer starts on Saturday 26th June 2010.

Participating train companies in the Oyster card holders ‘Get Out of London’ Adult Return promotional ticket offers are: c2c, Chiltern Railways, First Capital Connect, First Great Western, London Midland, National Express East Anglia, Southern, and South West Trains.

No other train companies are involved and the following are excluded: East Coast, East Midlands Trains, Grand Central, Gatwick Express, Heathrow Connect, Heathrow Express, Hull Trains, London Overground, Southeastern, Virgin Trains, Wrexham & Shropshire.

The Oyster card Adult Return promotional fares are valid for travel in Standard accommodation from London Terminal stations and are based on £5, £10, £15 and £20 price bands.

Each participating train company has decided on the destinations available on their lines of route and the price they will charge, plus whether it is available as an Adult Off-Peak Day Return or an Adult Off-Peak Return (one month return validity). Many Train Companies are additionally offering First Class Adult Return promotional fares (price and conditions also determined by the participating train company).

The Oyster card promotion will run between Saturday 26 June 2010 and Sunday 25 July 2010. Normal Off-Peak fare restrictions will apply – so available for travel on Sat-Sun any time and Mon-Fri outside of rush-hours as applicable.

Customers using the promotional Off-Peak Adult Return (one month return validity) may return within one calendar month subject to usual Off-Peak Return restriction, i.e. tickets issued for outward travel on 25 July 2010 are valid for return up to and including 24 August 2010.

Oyster card holders must visit www.daysoutguide.co.uk/oyster to get a detailed overview showing where and when they can travel and to download a voucher.

The promotional rail travel voucher from www.daysoutguide.co.uk/oyster will act as the customers entitlement to buy their ticket at the special Adult Return promotional rail fare. They must carry their Oyster card with them at all times and must produce both the voucher and card for ticket inspection.

The full internal briefing document can be downloaded here.

Full Terms and conditions:

1. The following types of Oyster card/Freedom pass are valid: Standard Adult Oyster card; 16+ Oyster photocard; 18+ Student Oyster photocard; Veterans Oyster photocard; Elite Athletes Oyster photocard; Visitor Oyster card; OnePulse Barclaycard; Staff Oyster photocards; Freedom pass (all versions).
2. To book your promotional ticket please present this voucher and your Oyster card/Freedom pass at a National Rail staffed station ticket office, either in advance (recommended) or on the day of travel. Bookings open on Monday 21 June and can be made at any time until Sunday 25 July 2010 inclusive. Please note that tickets cannot be bought from ticket vending machines, online or over the phone. We strongly advise customers to book ahead for their convenience and to avoid queuing on the day of travel.
3. Travel is available from Saturday 26 June 2010 to Sunday 25 July 2010 inclusive (date of outward travel as shown above). Normal Off-Peak fare restrictions apply to all promotional fares. This means you can travel any time on Sat-Sun and outside of rush hours on Mon-Fri as applicable. If you are using the promotional Off-Peak Adult Return (one month validity), your return journey can be made within one calendar month, e.g. tickets issued for travel on Sunday 25 July are valid for return up to and including Tuesday 24 August 2010.
4. Promotional tickets are only valid for journeys departing from London terminus stations. Customers may also join or alight at the intermediate stations where their train from/to London calls. Customers must make their own travel arrangements to travel to and from the London terminal station.
5. There are no specific Child discounted fares for this promotion. Children (aged 5-15) accompanying the Oyster card or
Freedom pass holder will pay the normal child fare (including child flat fares where available). Where the normal child fare for the journey costs more than the adult promotional fare, the child may be issued with the adult promotional fare instead (max. 4 children per adult and must travel together) – this will not require a separate downloadable voucher. There are no further discounts for Railcard holders.
6. You must present your voucher and your Oyster card/Freedom pass to train company staff. Only the following train companies are participating in the Oyster card/Freedom pass promotion: c2c, Chiltern Railways, First Capital Connect, First Great Western, London Midland, National Express East Anglia, Southern, South West Trains. Travel is not permitted on train services provided by any other train company or transport provider.
7. Promotional tickets are issued subject to the National Conditions of Carriage and normal refund and break of journey
conditions apply.
8. For a list of the destinations covered by the Oyster card/Freedom pass promotion, please visit www.daysoutguide.co.uk/oyster.

The RMT have announced strike dates for RMT maintenance members who work for tube lines (Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee Lines) and also for staff on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).

Staff on the DLR will not book on for shifts that commence between 04.00 hours on Wednesday 23rd June and 03.59 hours on Saturday 26th June, nor to work overtime between 00.01 and 23.59 on Monday 28th June.

Maintenance workers on the Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee Lines and workers who operate the Tube Emergency Response Unit will not book on for shifts between 19.00 hours on Wednesday 23rd June 2010 and 18.59 on Friday 25th June 2010, and between 19.00 hours on Wednesday 14th July and 18.59 hours on Friday 16th July.

PFAS exclusive.

Update: Based on our sources and rosta contacts, we belive that we have identified the member of staff, however pending comment from FCC we will keep this information private for the time being. We will however release the name of this member of staff if we do not get an decent response from FCC.

We have been sent a screen shot of an internal website where First Capital Connect employees discuss many things from why they haven’t been told of major disruption (just like us the customers) or ideas such as having a fancy dress day.

It is on that last point, that we have been shown a disgusting statement from a member of FCC staff, we can only assume based on the user name is located at, Royston Platform.

The member of Royston Platform staff states

People who have a negative view to a huge group of proffesional people working hard and raising money should be lined up and hung personally.

Is this how FCC trains its employees to react to any negative comments? We were always told by FCC spokespersons over the years that FCC is a customer focused company! We our continuously told its “Your Journey, Your Choice, Your Railway”. So why do we still get abuse behind our backs from employees who obviously hate us the customer!

First Capital Connect’s internal Rules of Conduct policy states:

4.1. Personal Conduct

Employees must:

….

4.1.2. Relate to/treat colleagues, other employees (and customers) with respect, dignity and professional courtesy irrespective of race, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion, background etc. or any other inappropriate distinction.

The rules of conduct policy clearly has not been followed and as such this employee needs to be located, taken away from public facing duties, re-trained or at worse dismissed.

We have published the screen shot below, however we have obscured the user names and names of unrelated people.

We have asked FCC’s spokesperson Gareth Beazant to respond, but as seems to be normal they have ignored us.

Copy of an RMT press release.

Senior Conductor Heather Turner has found herself dismissed for using a piece of equipment which is known to be unreliable. The RMT union believe that Heather is being used as a scapegoat to hide management failings in dealing with a problem that they are fully aware of and which now poses a threat to every member of staff across the railway industry who is forced to use the discredited Avantix machine.

Having endured months on investigatory suspension, managements case was based on nothing more than a belief that she had done something wrong. Their ‘evidence’ was that she had more partial print tickets than the norm. They accepted that a large number of staff who have to use the Avantix mobile machine also suffered the same problems. In fact this problem is now recognised throughout the rail industry. Many Train Operating Companies have now upgraded the Avantix software, but not EMT. Instead they resort to their usual bully boy tactics of using the disciplinary procedure against the staff rather than admitting to their own failings.

You would have thought that after months of investigation management would have been able to table some pretty hard evidence but no, they couldn’t even produce the tickets, which had been thrown away.

Conversely, Heather’s highly experienced representatives at both the Form 1 and appeal hearings produced a wealth of supporting evidence highlighting the failings of the Avantix. The union’s evidence and weight of argument was so strong that management kept adjourning the hearings in order to bolster their case and try to dig up more dirt but not once would they admit that the failing was theirs and that Heather had been the victim of their incompetent working practices.

In fact at the first hearing management confirmed three times that there was “No evidence and no smoking gun but they had a belief” That’s not good enough. Someone’s livelihood should depend on more than a manager having a belief. If there is no proof then throw it out.

None of the underlying issues have been resolved by management despite us raising the concerns in writing so in the meantime everyone using this machine could potentially fall victim of EMT’s draconian measures. Avantix operators have frequently complained about this machine but EMT members are still being forced to continue to use it under threat of possible discipline.

RMT also questioned the paying in process which doesn’t allow for partial tickets to be checked and verified. Again management acknowledged the problem but has still done nothing to resolve the various issues. It was clear that they were going to make their decision regardless of what was said.

The General Grades Committee has now had opportunity to consider this matter and has made the following decision:

“That we note with dismay the actions of East Midlands Trains in dismissing Sister Turner, a local staff representative for our Senior Conductors, over ‘Auto Non Issues’ of Avantix Machines. Therefore in line with the resolution from our East Midlands Central Branch and the Lead Officer’s report, we instruct the General Secretary to conduct a ballot for strike action and industrial action short of a strike of our Senior Conductor Members employed by East Midlands Trains. Branches & Regional Councils to be advised”

In line with the General Grades Committee decision I have now arranged for our Senior Conductor members based at Boston, Derby, Lincoln, Nottingham and Norwich to be balloted for strike action and industrial action short of a strike. Ballot papers will be dispatched to member’s homes on Tuesday 15th June 2010 and the ballot will close on Wednesday 7th July 2010.

Our friends over at miseryrail they have come up a complete list of what UK train companies use what ticket booking systems.

http://www.miseryrail.co.uk/2010/04/how-to-avoid-using-the-trainline-when-buying-a-rail-ticket/

We have always had problems with TheTrainLine.com and their incompetent customer service, and judging on searches on google so does the rest of the population.

Trainline charge a ridiculous £2.50 for paying by Credit Card and then charge you an extra £1 for sending the tickets by post or 50p for picking them up at a station. Yes that’s right they charge you for picking up your own tickets!