Penalty Fare Appeal Support

Posts Tagged ‘First Capital Connect’

Major overhead wire equipment problems are causing misery for rail passengers travelling on the East Coast Mainline today.

According to our internal industry sources and the internal train tracking and monitoring systems it seems that the problems have been occurring since the first FCC train of the morning from Peterborough at 03:44 this morning. This train lost 44 minutes between Peterborough and Huntingdon.

Subsequent trains were either cancelled from Peterborough, instead starting from Huntingdon or ran with major delays upwards of 2 hours late.

EastCoast Services are being affected and some trains are being terminated and started at Peterborough.

Grand Central trains both to Sunderland and Bradford Interchange; and First Hull Train services to Hull, and return to London Kings Cross are being affected with delays upwards of 90-120 minutes.

East Coast are advising passengers not to travel at all, or if you must travel to travel via an alternative route.

Alternative routing / Ticket Acceptance

Grand Central and Hull Trains customers may use East Coast trains.

Customers travelling between Peterborough and London may use CrossCountry trains to Cambridge, to connect with First Capital Connect trains to London Kings Cross. Alternatively customers may use CrossCountry or National Express East Anglia trains to Ely, to connect with National Express East Anglia trains to London Liverpool Street. Customers may also use CrossCountry trains to Leicester to connect with East Midlands Trains to London St Pancras.

Customers travelling between York / Leeds / Doncaster and London may use CrossCountry or First TransPennine Express trains to Sheffield, to connect with East Midlands Trains to London St Pancras.

Customers travelling between Newcastle and London may use Northern Rail trains to Carlisle, to connect with Virgin Trains to London Euston. Alternatively, customers may use CrossCountry trains to Sheffield to connect with East Midlands Trains to London St Pancras.

Customers travelling between Edinburgh / Glasgow and London may use Virgin Trains to London Euston.

East Coast and Hull Trains customers with Advance Tickets who choose to travel today should travel on the next available train, or travel via an alternative route. Customers who choose not to travel today may use their ticket on Wednesday 1 September, travelling on the same time train as their booking for today.

FCC statement:
** Line problem in the Peterborough area. – Train services between Hitchin and Peterborough are being disrupted due to overhead wire problems in the Peterborough area.
Engineers are working as fast as possible to restore services to normal. Short notice alterations, cancellations and delays of up to 30 minutes can be expected.
**CSL 2**. Trains on the move @ Holme Lodge CCTV south of Peterborough but with severe delays. Some FCC services will terminate at and start from Huntingdon. **

East Coast statement:
East Coast are advising customers not to travel to / from London Kings Cross today if possible. Customers who do need to travel should use an alternative route where available.

The following East Coast trains are cancelled:

• London Kings Cross to Leeds, departing from London Kings Cross at 10 minutes past each hour.
• Leeds to London Kings Cross, departing from Leeds at 40 minutes past each hour.

Grand Central statement:
Overhead wire problems are causing disruption between London Kings Cross and Doncaster / York.

Because of this, there are delays of up to 90 minutes between London Kings Cross and Doncaster / York. These delays are expected to last for the rest of the day.

First Hull Trains statement:
Due to overhead wire problems between Stevenage and Peterborough, some First Hull Trains services are being delayed this evening. A full schedule of services is in operation.#
Customers are advised to report to departure stations and obtain updated information from station staff.
Customers who choose not to travel today may use their First Hull Trains ticket for travel on Wednesday 1 September.
We apologise for any delay caused to your travel today.
======
An internal FCC and Network Rail document titled DMP 41 or Disruption Management Plan 41, states the following [some information has been edited for obvious reasons]:
All Lines Blocked: Trains Unable to Access Peterborough
What has happened?
Trains are unable to run between Huntingdon and Peterborough. Services to Peterborough from London are starting and terminating at Huntingdon. All other FCC GN route services are unaffected.

How will this affect our customers?
Customers travelling to or from Peterborough will experience delays to their journeys of 50 minutes or more and will need to take a rail replacement bus service between Peterborough and Huntingdon.

What stations does this affect?
Huntingdon: No northbound FCC services from this station. A rail replacement bus service is in operation between Huntingdon and Peterborough. Southbound services starting and terminating from here;
Peterborough: No FCC service from this station. A rail replacement bus is in operation between Huntingdon and Peterborough. National Express services also likely to be affected, and are likely to provide a rail replacement bus service from Peterborough to Stevenage; and
Stevenage: National Express may operate a rail replacement bus service between Peterborough to Stevenage if their services are also affected.

What do we tell our customers?
“Customers are advised that owing to Electrical Power Supply Problems between Huntingdon and Peterborough, FCC trains are unable to run between Peterborough and Huntingdon. Services between London and Peterborough will terminate and start at Huntingdon. A rail replacement bus service is in operation between Huntingdon and Peterborough. Peterborough customers should allow an additional 50 minutes to their journey time. All other FCC GN route services are operating normally. We are sorry for any problems this may cause you. Staff can provide further information and assistance.”

Train Plan
3 trains per hour to and from King’s Cross and Huntingdon; and
Taxi service provision for FCC drivers between Huntingdon and Peterborough.

What alternative routes are available to our customers?
[...] to advise East Midland Trains so that customers can use the Peterborough to Ely Line should they wish to but FCC will not direct customers to this route due to journey time (an additional 1.5 hours)

Rail Replacement Bus arrangements will be:
First Rail Replacement Priority.
20 buses between Huntingdon and Peterborough.

Does this affect other operators?
National Express East Coast: At FCC stations where NXEC trains call [...] will advise of the NXEC contingency plan and advice for customers. [Its called EastCoast now - Ed]

Ticket validity
Our tickets will be accepted by:
National Express East Coast
and East Midlands Trains.

Disabled mother, Diane Holyoake,  was told by First Capital Connect staff she could not board the train with her scooter.

Diane was meant to catch a First Capital Connect train from East Croydon to London Bridge on her way to Norfolk for her summer holiday.

However when her son rang FCC to order a ramp for his mother so she could wheel her scooter on to the train and have some assistance he was told in no uncertain terms she would not be able to board the train without a permit.

First Capital Connect demanded that Diane needed a permit that included a passport photo of her and one of her scooter, including details of its size, weight, colour and technical details.

Mrs Holyoake said:

“It’s discrimination, it’s ridiculous and it makes you feel self-conscious, They are actually going to forbid people on scooters from getting on the train unless they have a pass. What if you forget it? What if you don’t know you need one? The train company said if I didn’t show one I’d have to get off at the next stop. I’d be booted off the train.”

Because Mrs Holyoake did not have the required FCC permit, she had to catch a later train with another train operator who do not have such a draconian and discriminatory policy to reach her intended holiday destination.

Rodney said:

“My mum will have to carry this pass about all the time, just in case she needs to use a First Capital Connect train, It’s not even properly advertised. The only reason we found out was because I asked about a ramp.”

PFAS has asked FCC to comment, but to be honest we doubt we will get an official comment from their External Communications Manager, Gareth Beazant.

Penalty Fare Appeal Support – Advance notice of FCC Rail Offer.
First Capital Connect have decided to try and get more passengers travelling on their filthy grubby trains by bribing passengers with lower fares during the summer holidays.

During the school holidays (which FCC deems to be from 14th August – 5th September 2010), the current Super Off Peak weekend tickets will be extended to be valid in the week.
The offer will be available in the same areas as the weekend Super Off-Peak offer – the outer stations for journeys to London and for journeys from London to Brighton.

The catches that normal weekday restrictions will apply, such as you cant travel on trains arriving London before 10am or leaving London between 16:30 and 19:01.

During the same period, we are also offering customers the opportunity to travel to Brighton from ALL Thameslink and Great Northern route FCC-served stations North of London for 20% less than the normal Off-Peak Day Return fare (CDR). Again, this offer is only valid for travel on FCC services only.

Official customer notification will be made via local press, online advertising, posters at stations and email marketing from the 9th August, so you heard it here first!

Before the new ConDem government was voted in by nobody that we know, a petition was created which attracted just over 5,800 signatures demanding the Government strip FCC of its franchise.

The new government has taken it upon itself to finally respond!

However the response is pathetic, and stinks of someone from First Capital Connect actually writing it for the Government. The response acknowledges the unacceptable service late 2009 – early 2010. It then goes on to claim that because the action was concerted it was a force-majeure event!

You can read the full petition plus response on the HM Government website.

Major delays on East Coast mainline until around 20:00 tonight.

Due to major overhead wire damage in the Welwyn North area, all services are being severely disrupted and cancelled.

Delays of up to 120 Minutes can be expected

An internal notice, which we have had emailed to us, has stated the following:

“Customers are advised that owing to overhead line damage at Welwyn North, the majority of GN FCC services to and from London are being diverted via the Hertford Loop. FCC services are severely disrupted and subject to alterations. A limited service is still operating between Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City. Trains are currently not calling at Knebworth and Welwyn North. A replacement bus service is in operation to and from Welwyn Garden City and Stevenage calling at these stations but severe delays of 120 minutes or more can be expected for travel to and from these stations. A further rail replacement bus service is in operation between Stevenage, Watton-at-Stone, Hertford North and all stations to Alexandra Palace. We are sorry for any problems this may cause you. Staff can provide further information and assistance.”

The following alterations will apply:

East Coast

• A reduced service will run to and from London Kings Cross. These trains will call addtionally at Stevenage, and will be diverted between Stevenage and London Kings Cross via Hertford North causing extended journey times.
• Some trains will start from and terminate at Peterborough, and customers should use the next available train between Peterborough and London Kings Cross.

First Capital Connect

• Trains will run between Cambridge / Peterborough and London Kings Cross via Hertford North, causing extended journey times.
• Trains will run between Welwyn Garden City and London Kings Cross / Moorgate.
• Buses are replacing trains between Stevenage and Alexandra Palace via Hertford North, and also between Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City.
• Customers should use alternative routes and services where available (such as National Express East Anglia services between Cambridge / Hertford East and London Liverpool Street, and London Underground Northern Line services)

Planned Train Times From Kings Cross

• xx:06 & xx:36 past each hour calling: Finsbury Park, Stevenage, Hitchin , Letchworth, Baldock, Ashwell & Royston and Cambridge. Customers for Foxton, Meldreth and Shepreth change for Bus service from Royson (Shuttle)
• xx:22 past each hour to Peterborough. Calling: Finsbury Park, Stevenage then all stations to Peterborough.
• Kings Lynn to Cambridge – Shuttle Service. xx:56 from Kings Lynn and xx 35 from Cambridge
• All inner services are running as normal.

First Hull Trains / Grand Central

• Trains will be diverted between Stevenage and London Kings Cross via Hertford North, causing extended journey times.

This disruption is expected to continue until approximately 20:00.

Ticket acceptance

Customers may travel via any available train (either East Coast, First Capital Connect,First  Hull Trains or Grand Central) to make their journey between Peterborough and London Kings Cross.

East Coast customers only, may also use:

• East Midlands Trains between Sheffield and London St Pancras
• Virgin Trains between Edinburgh / Glasgow Central and London Euston

First Capital Connect customers may also use:

• National Express East Anglia trains between Cambridge and London Liverpool Street, and between Hertford East and London Liverpool Street
• London Underground and London Buses on all reasonable routes.

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.

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.

So your the Prime Minister in London and fancy a trip to Stevenage, what do you do? You get a train of course.

“Ah but what a seat as were travelling at peak time Mr Brown?” your special advisor whines at you.
“No problem Jeeves, I’ll just take over a whole carriage on the 09:52 from Kings Cross”.
“But it’s peak time and it will be busy.” he whines back at you.
“Sod them, I’m the PM, I can do what I like.”

So there’s the senario, except it’s not fiticious it’s real (we dramatised the conversation).
Gordon Brown, the current Prime Minister, caught a train from London Kings Cross this morning at 09:52 to go to Stevenage to speak against Tory plans to delete DNA off the biggest database in the world, after 3 Years.

He was joined by a few press reporters and photographers. The Home Secretary was also present.

We have been told that the carriage that was taken over had only a few people in it. The rest of the train was full and standing!

An average train carriage (class 365) has 56 seats excluding First Class (add 12), (if anyone knows the exact number please add a comment below). So did Gordon Brown have a ticket? Did anyone pay for their own ticket? Did First Capital Connect get any money?
What percentage of that carriage was actually full (around 10% full we’ve been told)?

We have also been told that 5 managers were involved in the run up to Gordon Browns visit to Stevenage. Five!! Somedays it’s hard to find just one!!!

PFAS would also like it to be known that we knew about Gordon Browns visit to Stevenage at 18:00 Thursday night and his demands to take over a whole carriage, however in the interests of security we have choosen to publish this story at a later date.