Agreed, but the same can be said for those within the M25 that seem to think trains in Devon just carry farmer Palmer and his sheep dog, when in reality some of the biggest passenger growth over the past 20 years has been regional routes in the West.
I was quite surprised the lawyers put in reasonable endeavours, as that means can't ignore the problem, or try once and give up, its a continuous process
Tail wagging the dog. In the meantime I imagine they are in breach of contract by failing to provide appropriate first class accommodation (marked as such) when advertised in the timetable, and still charging passengers first class fares. The problem is that there is no pride in the job today - it's all scraping along with what they can get away with, legally/contractually and financially.
1150. 5Q74 Still waiting to leave Wolverton - signalling problems south of Watford J.
So cannot change seating capacity (including classes), cannot reduce journey time capabilities (eg isolating an engine), doesn’t even appear to be allowed temporarily anymore. It also kills off any temporary declassification of first class.
Any unit not available for 3 reporting periods has to be advised to Secretary of State, presumably so can’t have unrepaired units that DfT doesn’t know about, and therefore can’t decide if they need a replacement.
Trains can be modified, an by agreement additional trains can be sourced, so those who have said can’t have extra rolling stock are wrong, just means the GWR team are feeble at negotiating.
They can. they just can't do it without asking. You latter go on to argue the exact same wording means they can do something.
No one every said they were blocked in the contract from getting extra rolling stock, but as you yourself have said they require permission to do so, and it has been made very clear that they will not be getting that. It has been mentioned numerous times TOCs have been given almost unrealistic targets on budgets to cut, and we have heard some TOCs have had to propose entire lines being cut. That GWR has managed to get away with persuading the government to let them drop the Class 769s to make make up a fairly significant amount of the cuts they need to make is pretty good negotiating I'd say. With the current political climate you could have the best negotiating team on the planet and you wouldn't be getting new rolling stock.
Do you know which numbers please?
Yes, obviously dark colours show less (dark) dirt, but the fact is that anti-slip properties require indentations (roughness) by definition and, also by definition, rough surfaces are harder to clean. I'm not saying they can't be cleaned; it's just harder/more time-consuming.
The station is adjacent to the south terminal though since there is north station it is not proper to call it the south station.
I've been on the North Downs a few times this past year and I've never had a refurbed 165.
Other operators sell first class tickets even on a route where stock may turn up without first class. You would be able to get a refund of the difference and tell GWR that first was declassified or not provided on the unit you travelled on. If they say it was refurbished with first class you can say the guard did not enforce it and that you want a refund but my problem with GWR is it's too ambiguous and there is a chance they can be petty about it if they aren't willing.
I think there's a big difference between an occasional train appearing without first class where it's advertised and a whole dedicated fleet being turned out from refurbishment and put back into service with no labelling, and therefore effectively no first class. The problem is that too many TOCs appear less concerned about clear signage than a 'designer' livery. GWR's green livery is good, but their design philosophy was to avoid 'spoiling' it with, for example, bold yellow stripes for first class (used universally for decades before) until they apparently saw sense with their 769s, which do have the bold yellow stripes, but which won't see service! Instead the 'Turbos' (and others) have a pointlessly-faint grey pencil line above the wndows and a '1' on a door, partially obscured by the grey vinyl on the door window. The refurbishment should have seen the "Turbos' given the class 769-style external treatment and proper, clear internal signage. The ridiculous saga of first class being advertised in one timetable then removed in the following one, and then re-instated again, has just added to the mess GWR have created.
GWR does need to be consistent. Anything not intercity or IET operated should have no first class (or declassified) and that's that. The anomaly of the North Downs having first class as a local service is stupid unless there is a core of passengers that will pay for first on the route and it's not overcrowded.
There is a core that will going to and from Gatwick, but there needs to be; a) a reasonable first class experience, and b) consistency in provision (i.e. not removed in one timetable, back the next, ad infinitum. It really is not hard to provide proper labelling, especially when carrying out a refurbishment. FGW/GWR have been awful at this for many years.
