Meet the directors

10th March 2010

The forum gives you the opportunity to post questions to our senior team and get instant answers. Thank you for taking part.

We hold 'Meet the Directors' sessions on a monthly basis at various stations on our network.

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Question number 22

From Miss Jennifer Hillier

I'd like to let you know of the problems that I have been having with your compensation team in Plymouth.

Firstly, on more than one occasion now, I have received a letter saying I am entitled to say 15.00 in rail vouchers only to receive 13.00/14.00 (made up on one voucher for 9.00 and then another for the remainder) worth of vouchers attached to the letter. Is there a basic maths course you can send your plymouth staff on? It is pretty tedious and a complete waste of time writing to complain.

Secondly, despite chasing I have not yet received vouchers I am entitled to since January, I am told you have a backlog; can you not employ some temps to clear that backlog? I have had to struggle into work on the back of lengthy delays and then have to wait over two months for compensation I am entitled to from 11 January is ridiculous.

Jennifer

We canot answer this here as we don't have all your details and reference numbers. The backlog is only seven days at the moment. Please could you readdress through the customer relations team as something may have been misunderstood.

Thank you

Question number 22

From Mr Paul Sparks

I mentioned in a meeting with Neal Lawson & Michelle Smart that the Performance Report for 13 Jan-9 Dec was lacking the all important information that it was based on a 50% reduced timetable. Why has this information not been added to this Report, as, without it, it appears to be a better Performance Report than it actually was (although it was still incredibly shoddy...)

We have freely admitted that the performance was against the reduced time table we published during the disruption not the one we should have run. We will add a note to this effect.

Question number 22

From Mr Sandeep Raithatha

Two things

Why are trains becoming delayed regularly on the Moorgate to New Southgate route.

Also have you considered offering WiFi for trains?

We have been having some difficulty with signalling equipment on this section of the route and only just this morning, Network Rail presented their plan to improve this quickly.

We are not planning to install WiFi on our trains.

Question number 21

From Mr Baldock Commuter

General Disruption and Timetables

Where you introduce emergency timetables is the delay repay compensation still always based on the published timetable? Are there any exceptions?

Delay repay is always measured against the published timetable. The sustained disruption for November was measured against the full timetable as opposed to the revised timetable.

Question number 20

From Mr Baldock Commuter

Christmas

I would like to complain about the Christmas Timetable. In the "old" timetable the 18.15 and 18.45 used to call at Letchworth, Baldock, Ashwell, Royston and Cambridge and the Christmas timetable would include stops at Baldock and Ashwell. Last Christmas the Christmas timetable reverted to trains to Cambridge at xx.15 and xx.45 with stops at Letchworth and Royston. Baldock and Ashwell ended up with just the very slow xx.06 and xx.36 trains plus a semi-fast 17.47. Why can't you schedule the Christmas Timetable so the rush-hour fast trains stop at Baldock and Ashwell? There was plenty of space on the trains! It is not fun waiting at a cold, dark and desolate Letchworth station for the slow connection.

Thanks for the enquiry

Services during Bank Holiday periods tend to reflect the base pattern of the timetable in current operation.

I suspect that the Great Northern May 2009 timetable rewrite took out the Baldock calls in the 1815 and 1845 services ex Kings Cross, and these have then been overlain into the Christmas 2009 timetable.

I've had a work with the GN Bank Holiday timetable constructor and we'll keep a note for Christmas 2010. We'll see if we can find room for the calls back in the xx15 and xx45's or else bisect with requisite semi-fast services to Royston (which might be preferable)

With regards

I