Govia get Thameslink Franchise

[cle]

Interesting routings this Sunday due to closures.

Victoria to Swanley, calling at Denmark Hill, Shortlands, Bromley South, Bickley, St Mary Cray and Swanley. 465, 2tph.

I wonder if semi-fast services like this could utilise the Catford route a bit better. It could remove stops on the Orpington (via Herne Hill) slows at Shortlands and Bickley from 2 of the 4tph? And St Mary Cray/Swanley do seem to get a lot of longer distance stops.

Equally if it went to Orpington or Sevenoaks and terminated, Petts Wood could be dropped from 2 of the Herne Hill slows, and help to accelerate that route.

The slows stopping on the inner lines at Shortlands must be especially desirable to reduce...

 

[petersi]

Unions protest against Govia and the franchise award
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27890889

 

[Bald Rick]

(Paraphrased slightly - think of the Life of Brian)

"The passengers might see flashy new trains, more carriages, more frequent services, quicker journeys and more direct connections, but what are they going to do for us?"

It would have been the same protest whoever won.

 

[PowerLee]

Oh wonderful, Govia, well that's flashy new trains followed by a worse service for customers coming up then. :roll:

 

[CockneySparrow]

Unions protest against Govia and the franchise award
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27890889

They look rather foolish to be honest, really they way off the mark, like the bit where revenue from tickets will be sent to France when Govia won't get any revenue only a fixed amount for managing the service

Also the government will have issued a tender for this and there will be guidelines the winner would have to meet like staff levels at stations whether it is selling tickets through a window or just showing their face

I work with tenders and they are very detailed in the fact you oblige to meet certain requirements

 

[A-driver]

What is wrong with the unions having their say? Everyone else is entitled to put forward their views on political decisions so why not the trade unions? Their comments are no less welcome or less surprising than any politicians or political party/movements comments after any other big announcement.

And there is no more misinformation in their protest than in any one sided newspaper article or political statement.

 

[GatwickDepress]

What is wrong with the unions having their say? Everyone else is entitled to put forward their views on political decisions so why not the trade unions? Their comments are no less welcome or less surprising than any politicians or political party/movements comments after any other big announcement.

And there is no more misinformation in their protest than in any one sided newspaper article or political statement.

Nothing is wrong about unions having their say. I never said that.

I however, disagree that just because the Daily Mail or some spin doctor has put out misinformation, it does not mean a union can freely do so as well. I feel unions have a public duty in doing that.

Accusing Govia of using British fares to subsidize their own (presumably First would've subsidized Scotland's...), is absolutely not true as the fares are going to the government with Govia being paid a fixed sum to manage the franchise.

 

[jon0844]

I oppose DOO, but I can't say I'm exactly supportive of that protest and the scaremongering misinformation in it - "claimed fares in London will go to subsidise fares in France", for example.

Damn the likes of First Group and Stagecoach that dare take revenue from people overseas where they operate services! Best stop that right now too!

 

[Greenback]

I've deleted a lot of posts that are off topic. Please keep discussions on topic, which in this thread means directly related to Govia taking over the Thameslink franchise. In the unlikely event that anyone wishes to discuss (yet again) DOO operation, despatch or TVM's please start a new thread.

 

[Skimble19]

Quick question for anyone who is currently a Govia employee.. Do you get unlimited free travel on Southeastern High Speed services or is it boxes? Thanks in advance.

 

[Aictos]

Quick question for anyone who is currently a Govia employee.. Do you get unlimited free travel on Southeastern High Speed services or is it boxes? Thanks in advance.

I've been told by a Govia employee it's a single pass permitting free travel on ALL Govia services, now as that does include Gatwick Express I can only hazard a guess it also includes HS1 services as well.

 

[Skimble19]

Ahh brilliant, thanks for that! Looks like we're in for a bit of an upgrade then (from my point of view anyway!).. Whilst having the possibility of using FGW etc. is brilliant in practice I very rarely use them. Southern, SouthEastern and London Midland on the other hand will get used a lot!

 

[theageofthetra]

Also includes Tramlink if thats in your area.

 

[ert47]

As far as Im aware, people who are an TOC Priv holder can travel on Tramlink for free - you have to have your pass with you in order to travel.

 

[Aictos]

Ahh brilliant, thanks for that! Looks like we're in for a bit of an upgrade then (from my point of view anyway!).. Whilst having the possibility of using FGW etc. is brilliant in practice I very rarely use them. Southern, SouthEastern and London Midland on the other hand will get used a lot!

From my point of view I think it's silly to have a staff pass and a separate pass with boxes which is why I think the Govia approach with just a single staff pass is the way to go as it's more economic, the only improvement I would like to see and I'm sure it will happen one day is to issue staff passes using Smartcard technology as Scotrail has done so as part of their franchise committments.

This could be done in the shape of The Key with the Govia staff having their staff passes put onto their issued smartcard much like TfL staff have a Oyster card with a staff discount applied.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Govia have planned especially as their way of doing things will be different to First that I'm def sure of.

 

[Deerfold]

This could be done in the shape of The Key with the Govia staff having their staff passes put onto their issued smartcard much like TfL staff have a Oyster card with a staff discount applied.

I don't think the TfL one works as well as it could. The staff pass is only valid in the areas you'd expect. However you cannot add tickets or PAYG credit to it, so many TfL staff have a second Oyster Card for when they use rail outside of the main pass validity (with the fun of having to go touch out and in again when passing a boundary instead of one card working it out).

 

[talldave]

All Govia staff should have to relinquish their passes for one or two months a year as a means of experiencing the life of a real passenger buying tickets from websites, crap TVMs and ticket offices with long queues.

It's only by forcing management to see the customer's experience that we have any hope of any improvements being made.

 

[Deerfold]

All Govia staff should have to relinquish their passes for one or two months a year as a means of experiencing the life of a real passenger buying tickets from websites, crap TVMs and ticket offices with long queues.

It's only by forcing management to see the customer's experience that we have any hope of any improvements being made.

If you're wanting management to see the customer's experience why are you making all staff relinquish their passes?

 

[talldave]

Because all staff should experience the customer viewpoint. It's only management who can make changes but their staff are there to provide feedback for free (less repayment of their ticket costs of course).

The best experience I ever had was to be put on front line customer phone support for two weeks - an eye opener but invaluable for someone in R&D.

Southern's meet the management events are a step in right direction but I bet they still get there without queueing for a ticket and using one of their infuriating TVMs to buy it.

 

[Deerfold]

Because all staff should experience the customer viewpoint. It's only management who can make changes but their staff are there to provide feedback for free (less repayment of their ticket costs of course).

The best experience I ever had was to be put on front line customer phone support for two weeks - an eye opener but invaluable for someone in R&D.

Southern's meet the management events are a step in right direction but I bet they still get there without queueing for a ticket and using one of their infuriating TVMs to buy it.

Oh I'd certainly support management and system developers seeing how systems are used first hand.

However if management ignore feedback from ticket office staff I'm not sure how much more notice they'd take of drivers/conductors etc.

 

[talldave]

...
However if management ignore feedback from ticket office staff I'm not sure how much more notice they'd take of drivers/conductors etc.

Sadly, you're probably right. It seems to be a culture thing. In Southern, there seems to be no concern about the little things, that together, are very annoying. And that permeates through the whole organisation to the frontline staff who, despite being very polite and helpful, aren't even properly trained in understanding their own ticketing system.

 

[physics34]

From my point of view I think it's silly to have a staff pass and a separate pass with boxes which is why I think the Govia approach with just a single staff pass is the way to go as it's more economic, the only improvement I would like to see and I'm sure it will happen one day is to issue staff passes using Smartcard technology as Scotrail has done so as part of their franchise committments.

This could be done in the shape of The Key with the Govia staff having their staff passes put onto their issued smartcard much like TfL staff have a Oyster card with a staff discount applied.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Govia have planned especially as their way of doing things will be different to First that I'm def sure of.

I work for southern and we have a staff 'Key'. Works like an oyster card.

 

[Fincra5]

All Govia staff should have to relinquish their passes for one or two months a year as a means of experiencing the life of a real passenger buying tickets from websites, crap TVMs and ticket offices with long queues.

It's only by forcing management to see the customer's experience that we have any hope of any improvements being made.

Trust me, I don;t need to be giving up my pass to know that! I get enough complaints from Passengers about the TVM's etc. Take Preston Park, the one on the platform (next to the ticket office) is painfully unresponsive. Yet the one on the entrance (down side) works a treat! I agree they should all work fine, but they are overused, not that it should be an excuse.

I constantly report TVMs, like East Worthing and Fishersgate that often don't work... but I don't think its noted!

 

[talldave]

Trust me, I don;t need to be giving up my pass to know that! I get enough complaints from Passengers about the TVM's etc. Take Preston Park, the one on the platform (next to the ticket office) is painfully unresponsive. Yet the one on the entrance (down side) works a treat! I agree they should all work fine, but they are overused, not that it should be an excuse.

I constantly report TVMs, like East Worthing and Fishersgate that often don't work... but I don't think its noted!

I don't understand the concept of a ticket machine being overused - it's job is to issue tickets to whoever wants to buy them, one after another! The problem is that they were designed with a crap touchscreen that's not up to the job - end of story.

That fact that Southern do nothing in response to reports is unsurprising - they do nothing in response to most inputs; other than wait a week and give an irrelevant response.

I wonder how many shares one has to buy to get a voice at the AGM? They're cheaper than Gatwick Express tickets!

 

[GatwickDepress]

Thankfully, Hastings has a Southeastern TVM, with a touchscreen that isn't like trying to push melted butter from one side of an ice rink to another. So I'm never frustrated when using ToD. The new Brighton ones are fairly good for Southern TVMs, mind.

 

[RJ]

Quick question for anyone who is currently a Govia employee.. Do you get unlimited free travel on Southeastern High Speed services or is it boxes? Thanks in advance.

I had that pass when I was a Govia employee. Free travel on the High Speed sections was unlimited, but had peak time restrictions. Seeing as the Priv restrictions were removed a year or two ago, I'm unsure if this is still the case.

From my point of view I think it's silly to have a staff pass and a separate pass with boxes which is why I think the Govia approach with just a single staff pass is the way to go as it's more economic...

Yes, but you can't go from one end of the UK to the other on a Govia staff pass! First TOC benefits are very generous and even if you use up your boxes, you can use First My Rewards to buy day rovers for £6, which is a bargain. Given a box is worth more than £6, it's often more economic to just buy a rover!

 

[Class377/5]

All Govia staff should have to relinquish their passes for one or two months a year as a means of experiencing the life of a real passenger buying tickets from websites, crap TVMs and ticket offices with long queues.

It's only by forcing management to see the customer's experience that we have any hope of any improvements being made.

What a stupid suggestion. I've got experience of all of those and didn't need my pass taken away.

 

[user15681]

Thankfully, Hastings has a Southeastern TVM, with a touchscreen that isn't like trying to push melted butter from one side of an ice rink to another. So I'm never frustrated when using ToD. The new Brighton ones are fairly good for Southern TVMs, mind.

I've only ever had a problem with 1 Southeastern TVM in a long time (someone said it wasn't working and I had to practically hammer at the screen to register a touch), but it was reported and fixed within a few days. They are far better than the Southern ones as you say!

 

[Fincra5]

I don't understand the concept of a ticket machine being overused - it's job is to issue tickets to whoever wants to buy them, one after another! The problem is that they were designed with a crap touchscreen that's not up to the job - end of story.

That fact that Southern do nothing in response to reports is unsurprising - they do nothing in response to most inputs; other than wait a week and give an irrelevant response.

I wonder how many shares one has to buy to get a voice at the AGM? They're cheaper than Gatwick Express tickets!

Thats what I was getting at! The touch screens on the older TVMs are poor. The new ones don't seem as bad.

Overused is the abuse they suffer from people basically ramming there fist on it... it damages the screen etc!

 

[talldave]

What a stupid suggestion. I've got experience of all of those and didn't need my pass taken away.

So if employees and management of Govia have such fantastic first hand experience of their service - why are so many aspects of their service still crap?

The impression I get as a Govia customer is that they don't care.

My latest interaction with Southern runs along the lines of "there's an error XX on your website with regard to ticket YY". More than a week goes by - then they 'phone me "we can't find what you're talking about on our website".. I politely tell them where it is and re-confirm why it's wrong, whilst thinking to myself "even if you couldn't find the "Tickets" page I referred to on your own website, surely you can use Google to search your own website?".

So they say they'll pass it onto their web team. Nothing's happened and probably never will.

The error doesn't affect me but it's wrong for everyone else who looks at it - but how much effort do I put into trying to get them to fix it? As usual with virtually all interactions with their customer services department, one rapidly loses the will to live....