Why SWT will never get any better...... (South West Trains)

Member Name: cmh4135

Product:	South West Trains
Date:	18/12/01 (236 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: it gets me to work!

Disadvantages: eventually

Let me take you back to a day last August:

"The 0730 semi-fast service from Woking to London Waterloo left on time this morning. The guard proudly announced that the service would be calling at West Byfleet, Byfleet and New Haw, Weybridge, Walton on Thames and London Waterloo arriving at 0808. Most unusual to get an announcement.

But hang on, there is more. "I would like to inform you that we have on board today some of the board of management from South West Trains who will be passing down the carriages. If you have any questions please feel free to ask them." Ah-ha, so that is what they are up to.

Then again, at our first stop, West Byfleet, "Good Morning and welcome to those passengers who have joined the 0733 semi-fast service to London Waterloo calling at….." and then they again told us that there were South West Train managers on board.

Shortly after Walton-on-Thames the train stopped. Almost immediately there was an announcement from the driver that the signal was against us as we were waiting for a train to clear the signal ahead. Normally we wait at least 10 minutes before anything is said and even then we are lucky if we hear anything at all.

We arrived at Waterloo a minute early, the guard announcing which platform we would be arriving at and which side of the train it would be. He then thanked us for travelling with South West Trains and wished us a pleasant day.

Despite being told that there were managers on the train (and seeing them at Woking station) they did not make it far enough up the train to get the chance to speak to them. South West Trains had actually managed to run a 12 carriage train (as per the timetable) rather than the usual 8 carriages that turn up most mornings."

Is it any wonder that the train companies will not get any better. That morning's service achieved two things. First, it showed us the great-unwashed-travelling public
that SWT can run trains on time and can use the intercom to give us information. That can only be good. Second, and rather disappointingly, it showed the managers of the company that there really is no problem with their rail service and that the train using public are just a bunch of moaners who don't know when they have got it good. If train companies really want to see what kind of service commuters put up with day after day they need to indulge in a bit of mystery-shopping. Send managers on trains out of uniform and unannounced. Make them get on the trains during the rush hour like everyone else rather than allowing them to board at the depots. Let them see how good their service really is.

SWT operate routes in and out of Waterloo service Surrey and Sussex with trains covering a very wide area. Woking is one of the main stations as it is at the intersection before the train lines split to serve the West Country, Oxfordshire and Sussex and as such it benefits from a larger than average number of trains passing through the station. In fact a poster at the station proudly declares that there are up to 13 trains an hour off-peak from Woking to Waterloo….shame their peak figures are not that good!

The timetabling looks good on paper but should appear in the fiction bestsellers list - a greater work of fiction hath no man seen. Last night, a rail journey that should have taken 26 minutes (I was on time for a fast service) in fact took 74 minutes (unfortunately just short of the hour delay that is required to claim the cost of the journey) and involved two cancelled trains, a "signal failure", a "track maintenance problem" and "staff shortage"!

The rolling stock that is used is, in the main, rather outdated. The old slam door trains with corridored first class compartments seem to prevail over the electric door modern trains although I must say that I prefer the slam doors as there is much more vent
ilation. The trains tend to be dirty and rather tatty with graffiti and gum all over the place.

Ability to carry luggage is limited unless it is small enough to fit into the overhead racks as space between the seats and aisles is very limited. The older rolling stock is also far from ideal for the less able. The doors are very awkward to open from the inside (that is provided that the inside handle has not been blocked up) and when you lean out of the window to open the door from the outside you are likely to get dirty. Once open, the step down from the train to the platform is quite high. There is a step in between the train and the platform but this requires considerable agility to be able to use it as it is a matter of inches wide and too close to the side of the train to stop it being awkward.

You may recall that it was the SWT guards who kicked off the last round of rail strikes, supposedly over their refusal to wear red waistcoats and display name badges. They are currently being ballotted over more strikes. After an incident that appalled me earlier this year I can see why they do not wish to wear name badges. It is because they do not wish to be identified in complaints. I travelled home in the same carriage as a blind man. To give the station staff their due they spotted him as he left the train and a guard promptly came along the platform to, announced who he was, and then started to lead the man towards the exit. As the guard passed the guards van on the train he clearly spotted his friend in the guards van and left the blind man to go ahead on his own. Not only must a station be a very dangerous place to try to navigate if you have no vision (and Woking does not yet have the raised paving slabs indicating the edge of the platform) Woking station is not easy to get out of. From the platform we were on the gentleman would have had to walk along the platform to locate the steps up (set going back towards the direction he had just come f
rom), at the top of the steps you then walk across the train lines to the left or right and down another set of steps onto the opposite platform from where you have to identify the exit to your left or right about 20 metres down. Not exactly simple. I led the man out of the station, having seen what had happened and he confirmed that quite often he did not get any assistance at all. I was disgusted.

On another occasion this year I had to travel with a computer, not a laptop, but a full size desktop (in a box). When I came to go out of the station I asked whether I could pass through the big gate rather than the ticket barrier as the box would not fit and I did not have a hand free to pass my ticket through (I had my ticket out though). I was told to wait. The inspector was just chatting to another SWT employee, totally ignoring her duties and the conversation was not about work - it was about Eastenders. After a couple of minutes I asked again and got the response "Oh, OK" whilst she was still chatting. I moved towards the barrier and she told me to go through the ticket gate and gave me a blank ticket to operate the barrier. Clearly she was not paying attention!

Ancilliary services at woking are advertised but not provided. Woking won a "safe station" award last year - this is the station where one pays £500 to park a car in the station car park that is ten minutes walk from the station, five of which are through an alleyway. The lights that show the way are dutifully switched off at 0723 every morning. For those of you who are lucky enough still to be tucked up in bed then, it is still dark at that time. There are no attendants in the car park and no one at the station free to escort you to your car as they proudly boast. Two complaint forms, one web email and three man to man visits to the station supervisor and the problem still persists (and nothing back from the web email or forms at all - not even an acknowledgement
).

I pay over £2500 for a ticket to travel on SWT and the level of service I get for that is zero. Ok I am harsh, there is one nice ticket inspector (by whatever name they are now known) who will always say "Sir" and "Mam" when inspecting and I acknowledge that it is grossly unfair to tar all rail employees with the same brush that comes from the poor show of the others.

I am going to forgo my now customary Bottom Ten Tips for readers in favour of a Bottom Ten for SWT - let's hope they read it:

CLAIRE's BOTTOM TEN TIPS for SWT

1 - You constantly fall behind on reliability and punctuality targets. If you can do it when the managers are on board….

2 - Train your staff in politeness and customer service. There is no point in employing them otherwise.

3 - Please do something about the level of graffiti, ripped seats and rubbish that is left of the trains, even those that are running their first service of the day are appallingly dirty.

4 - Please sort out the heating - it is not necessary to have the heating on in August and when it gets cold in December having some heating would be good.

5 - Ventilation - the Aircon in the new trains is woefully inadequate in the hot weather especially when the train gets stuck at a signal. The old style trains seem to have had the window apertures restricted - why?

6 - Give us information when we are being held up, the technology is there and when managers are on board you have proved it could be done.

7 - Look at the passenger usage of the services to match train length and frequency to the needs of the travelling passengers. I feel sorry for anyone at Walton on Thames, an infrequent service and the train is always packed by the time it gets there.

8 - When something does go wrong get creative with your response. Simply cutting out stations to make up time is not constructive and angers passen
gers who have already waited ages.

9 - Standardise ticketing, my husband had to buy daily tickets to Reading as it works out cheaper than a season ticket despite him travelling every day. This is ridiculous. He uses the service as much as I do but is not entitled to any compensation for poor service that is offered to season ticket holders.

10 - LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE WHO USE THE SERVICE.

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