First Great Western fares rise again
I was somewhat dismayed, to say the least, to see my First Great Western (FGW) Reading-Paddington ticket all of a sudden jump last week to nearly £400 per month, thanks to their removal of a 10% discount for poor performance . This follows a January 6% fare rise.
According to the Reading Chronicle report, FGW’s spokesperson said:
We’ve still got much to do but we’re pleased we are now delivering a service much closer to what our customers want on a regular basis.
Not close enough. It’s really not close at all. Lib Dem Gareth Epps summed up customer feeling more accurately by saying:
Reading commuters already pay some of the highest fares per mile in the world, so to reduce the discount it should rightly be paying for poor performance is arrogance of the highest order.
Paul Smith goes further, with his colourful (but reasonable) analysis of the situation on the brilliant site Bitter Wallet:
They’re ready to start punching strangers in the back of the head, partly because they can’t sit down during their commute and have to stand like shitty-arsed cattle for hours on end, but mostly because they’re paying through the nose to do so; their season ticket prices have jumped up in price, and not by just a few quid, either.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Commuters are still buying and using the service… …the price as given is sufficiently better than that provided by the competition (Bus, Car, roller-skates).
Is this a monopoly issue? Is FGW the only provider of commuter services on this line? Why aren’t we introducing competition on this route? Is it because no other provider can provide a service of higher quality for lesser cost?
March 6th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Correct. Bottom line (!), this is a monopoly issue. FGW is the only provider of commuter services on this line.
Ed West, commenting in the Telegraph, described the current state of affairs as “mixing the worst elements of socialism and capitalism”:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/4697544/Rail-fares-weve-gone-from-passengers-to-customers-to-mugs.html
March 21st, 2009 at 5:35 am
But FGW are not the only option to get to London, as I’m sure you would know you have the South West Trains alternative to get you to Waterloo…shame it takes an 1hr20mins though.
Reading - Zones R1256* monthly ticket costs £398.60 (which SWT get a share by the way)
I’m not sure if it’s possible to do a routed Staines season ticket now, cannot find any prices.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Hi Ollie, thanks for this.
You’re right, there is an alternative, into Waterloo, but it’s a very long journey (if there are complications on the line, I’d dread to think how long it might take to get to Reading or London).
That’s how much I’m paying for the monthly ticket. I didn’t know about the SWT share. That’s useful to know. I think that is another example of how just how complicated our rail industry is.
Would you know what FGW are doing exactly to address the overcrowding problem? It does seem to be getting worse, despite the downturn (or perhaps because of it), and it’s pretty stressful. There’s a fair bit of pushing, shoving and cursing that goes on. I do think customers deserve better.
June 17th, 2009 at 1:32 am
Hi Matt,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
Useful thing to note is a lot of FGW tickets revenue will be shared to other operators as most of our tickets are “Any Permitted” so for the Reading - London example, going via SWT is a permitted route (albeit unlikely to do due how long it takes) but SWT still get a share.
In terms of overcrowding, I don’t see the problem going away anytime soon. (My opinion)
Reading - London and vice versa has a frequent service (sometimes not frequent enough) but at the same time I’ve been in cases where I will travel from Reading - Paddington, train comes in, everyone piles on it leaves full and standing, I get the next one about 5 minutes later, which is relatively quieter. It is always hit and miss. Hopefully when the reading development is done to add extra capacity through the station, and then new stock which will hopefully turn up should help ease the pressure.
Feel free to contact me via e-mail if you have any issues Matt, more than happy to give you a personal e-mail which will guarantee a faster response.