Substantial package of benefits including £29 million investment agreed for First Great Western passengers

After discussions with the Department for Transport (DfT), First Great Western (FGW) has today agreed a comprehensive package of passenger benefits to address poor performance in relation to cancellations and the subsequent contravention of the Franchise Agreement.

FGW acknowledges that its performance has fallen short of its own standards and the expectations of passengers. FGW is committed to improving performance and taking the necessary action to ensure that cancellations and delays are minimised. Following discussions with the DfT, FGW has agreed to make additional investments to provide an enhanced service for passengers and agreed a plan to improve operational performance.

FirstGroup has invested more than £200 million in FGW since the start of the franchise. Today’s announcement commits a further £29 million to deliver customer service and performance improvements including:

· Increasing rolling stock by leasing five additional Class 150 units to release Class 158 units for use in strengthening the Cardiff-Portsmouth service from May 2008 which will increase capacity by 40% on most services on this route.

· A further £7m investment to enhance the Customer Information System (CIS) at stations. This will bring our total investment in CIS to £15 million and provide improved consistency of systems, coverage of more stations and a greater capacity to provide information during times of disruption.

· Additional investment of £5m on improvements to the London and Thames Valley fleet. A total of £6.1m will be invested in this fleet, including £1.1m already committed.

· A further commitment has been made to increase the amount of compensation available under the Passenger’s Charter by 50 per cent for claims arising between 27 January 2009 and 26 January 2010. This is in addition to the doubling of the amount of compensation available to customers during 2008, announced in January.

· The provision of an additional 500,000 FGW tickets at the most discounted rates to popular destinations for off peak travel. We will actively participate in the study and development of fares simplification proposals involving single journey pricing.

· A £4m enhanced customer service training package for FGW’s passenger facing employees.
In addition, we have developed and agreed a comprehensive plan to improve performance and minimise delays and cancellations, including:

· Recruit new drivers, guards and technicians to improve customer service and reliability. In addition, we have established a new performance directorate to improve management of disruption alongside Network Rail.

· We have developed a package of additional fleet and depot improvements to enhance reliability. In addition, to ensure resilient operating performance, we will provide an additional high speed train.

Moir Lockhead, FirstGroup Chief Executive said: “Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to improving performance and customer service in our First Great Western franchise (FGW). This additional investment of £29 million will directly benefit FGW passengers and underpins our plans to improve the quality and reliability of services we provide.

“We have already put in place actions to address performance at FGW. We are encouraged that during January 2008 performance improved and cancellations were at their lowest level for 18 months and this trend has continued during February. We are committed to the long-term development of railways in the UK and look forward to sustained performance improvements at FGW in line with our other three rail franchises.”

Andrew Haines, FGW Chief Operating Officer said: “We’ve put together a robust and realistic plan that sets out our broader vision to re-establish the First Great Western franchise as delivering good performance and benefits to all its customers, stakeholders and the wider regions, which it serves.

“There is a considerable momentum to transform the business and taken together with the management changes we have made, we are confident of our ability to improve performance.”

ENDS

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