Another public relations disaster

On the day that the Office of Rail Regulation fines Network Rail for engineering possession over-runs at Christmas, the Chief Executive of Network Rail is at Buckingham Palace collecting a knighthood for 'services to transport.' Further irony or worse timing is hard to conceive and of course the media loved making a deal out of this. It unfortunately feeds into this prevalent media-led idea that our railways are mismanaged and unfit for purpose. There is rarely, if ever, any good or positive news about the railways.

At the same time as ORR was slapping its fine on Network Rail it was also warning that the upgrade works to the West Coast Main Line could slip into 2009. Network Rail has admitted that its something like 2 weeks behind schedule and is seeking further possessions over 13 weekends, if I remember correctly, during the summer. This is in addition to the Bank Holiday closures and the major works being undertaken at Easter. It seems that we are still a long way off from that seven days a week railway that Network Rail have recently been promising.

It is not hard to see the amount of work that is going into the WCML upgrade, it can be seen everywhere, especially I note around Milton Keynes Central and Rugby. Both stations and their approaches at the moment resemble building sites and there still seems to be an awful lot of work to be completed before either will be ready for Virgin's Very High Frequency Timetable from January 2009. It is a real concern that the works might not be finished in time as undoubtedly it will make the presumably ever-more weary travelling public wonder when they will see the benefits of these disruptions.

For those living in Milton Keynes the misery is likely to continue a good deal longer. There are suggestions that less rather than more Virgin services will call from the timetable change, although a new through service to Birmingham will be gained on London Midland and also a service via the Trent Valley to Crewe. However, even when the project at Milton Keynes Central is completed, there is still remodelling and signaling works to be undertaken at Bletchley, which are not scheduled for completion until August 2010.

So, it seems like it could be a long drag, to pardon the pun, until we see any real improvements on the WCML and anything like the seven-days a week railway, Network Rail have promised for so long.

Worst Great Western?

I read on BBC News this morning that disgruntled commuters in the Bristol area are staging another 'fares strike' against First Great Western (FGW). The company has been dubbed 'Worst' Great Western or another one I've seen is 'Forever Getting Worse.' Even in the railway media the coverage of FGW seems to be almost universally scathing. I use FGW from time to time and I have never had cause to be outraged or complain about its service, although admittedly I am not a commuter. Part of the problem seems to be the lack of reliable rolling stock available to the company, whether that is due to FGW's penny-pinching or Department for Transport (DFT) interference it is difficult to say. Certainly those pics of off-lease DMU's at Eastleigh last year which FGW had returned to the lessor despite suffering from severe overcrowding on its South West of England services, did the company no favours.

FGW is a company though that seems to lurch from one public relations disaster to another and it has only recently avoided a strike called by the RMT. I am sure that the constant bad news is having a drip-drip effect and even for those who don't use FGW regularly, it must put them off considering using the train or their services. Interestingly the BBC News article attributes one comment to FGW in defence of itself despite giving the More Train Less Strain group and RMT ample opportunity to voice their opinions attacking FGW. It hardly presents a balanced picture and sadly it is indicative of the slanted and unfair reporting often to be found in the mainstream media.