MD of TOC on the train today

[ffcphone]

Boarding the 1747 fTPE to Manchester Airport at Preston station tonight, who should be stood in the small standard class section between first class and the driving cab (as this was the rear 185 of a 2 x 185 service) but Vernon Barker, Managing Director of First TransPennine Express.

Never one to pass up the opportunity to speak to the "powers that be" I found Mr Barker to be very engaging and in the 10 minutes or so we spent chatting, we touched upon the current economic climate (fTPE passenger numbers still growing), eco-mode (each month ftPE saves the equivalent carbon found in a 40 truck coal train thanks to running on reduced engine power), the failed 4th carriage (QSK19 engines no longer meet new EU emissions targets so a 4th carriage could not be added but had they been ordered a couple of years ago, it wouldn't have been an issue), train cleanliness (fTPE have to try and appease both commuters and long distance travellers and one way is with cleanliness which is prioritised), profitability (fTPE "still profitable"), priorities (to run clean, reliable trains on time).

I found Mr Barker to be very engaging, interesting to listen to and once he realised I knew more about his TOC than the average passenger, he was happy to expand.

Mr Barker was apparently returning from a meeting in Glasgow and used his TOC to travel to/from as you'd expect. At no time did he sit down (thus taking a seat away from a fare-paying customer) and apparently at Lancaster when a passenger medical problem further delayed the train following trackside technical problems earlier, he himself came over the PA to apologise for the delays and to advise the reason for these.

Anyone else had experience of Mr Barker or other TOC board members.

F

 

[adc82140]

Quite often sit opposite Mark Hopwood (FGW Managing Director) on my morning commute. He seems to want to keep himself to himself, and I don't think any worse of him for that- the commute is my downtime, it's probably his as well.

 

[ukrob]

Vernon Barker is quite often out and about on fTPE, and as you noted yourself, friendly approachable and open

 

[mathmo]

Pleasing to hear

 

[charley_17/7]

First time I met Vernon Barker, I thought he was a driver, he was wearing fTPE uniform, and just happened to talk to him!

I have had him as a passenger on my train a few times. He is very pleasant, knowledgeable, a keen listener, qualities which I admire. He seems genuinely interested in people, everyone, not just passengers. He also gives feedback which is constructive.

For my first couple of years, I'd met/spoke to him more times that I had the MD of my own company.

It would be an awful shame for him to be lost back 'outside' the industry should TPE/Northern franchises be merged.

 

[1D53]

I've met him too and found him very interesting to chat too. Also found Heidi Mottram interesting to talk to as well. Also met a couple of other railway senior management who were also interesting to chat to.

 

[glynn80]

Met Tony Collins on the last week of Cross Country services via Kensington Olympia (even though it had moved over to Arriva by this time). He was also pretty engaging and it was quite interesting discussing the fact that one or two Brighton Cross Country staff were going to be moving to Virgin at Euston under a deal done when the new franchise was leased to Arriva.

 

[djw1981]

Mary Dickson / Grant (formerly of FSR) was a daily commuter Edinburgh-Glasgow, and was often to be found calling control when problems occurred, and talking to passengers This was in addition to the monthly meet the managers sessions where the SMT traveled on 2 or 3 services as a 'clinic' and also had 'surgeries' on main stations to hear passenger opinion.

 

[HSTfan!!!]

It's not uncommon that's for sure, I know ATW's Tim Bell frequently travels by train to and from Cardiff. I heard Chris Gibb used to be more than happy to answer questions if he was on a train as well.

 

[TDK]

It's not uncommon that's for sure, I know ATW's Tim Bell frequently travels by train to and from Cardiff. I heard Chris Gibb used to be more than happy to answer questions if he was on a train as well.

Chris Gibb when he was the MD of Wales and Borders was an excellent MD,he would always speak to the staff and passengers asking if any improvements could be made and also work the doors when the guard was busy, the only other hands on MD is Andy Hamilton from WSMR who kicks all the others in to touch with his hands on attitude.Tim Bell when he was the Operations Director with ATW was the only approachable director within the company so Tim Bell was by far the best man for the job with ATW.

 

[37401]

I heard Chris Gibb used to be more than happy to answer questions if he was on a train as well.

ive heard hes a Train Enthusiast himself, so talking to him would be no problem

 

[merlodlliw]

Our Managing Director, Andy Hamilton was on the platform when I arrived. He was working the 09.07 train in the buffet car (in uniform!). Various other family and friends of staff were helping out, including my boss’s husband was working in the kitchen. Don’t worry – he is a professional chef! We also had the entire management team working.

In order to ensure we didn’t run out of food we had bought in:

• 1,000 extra bread rolls
• 600 extra sausages
• 270 extra loaves of bread
• 23 extra boxes of salad
• 720 bottles of water

In fact, we’d rather overdone it. We spent the first few minutes of the journey clearing all the boxes of food from around the buffet counter (when we got on they surrounded it on all sides) instead of serving anything!).

However, once we’d got everything sorted, we were able to start serving. We got through more than ever before. I’m told Andy did a great job (I’m not just saying that!) though he did keep forgetting to ask people if they wanted butter on their bacon sandwiches. On my train we had the chairman’s secretary working in the kitchen (volunteering for the day).

about the Shrewsbury Football W/S specials and the MD in uniform.

 

[F Great Eastern]

Met Dave Kaye a couple of times and Bob Breakwell when First Great Eastern was running, also bumped into Elaine Holt on FCC - all great people,

Dave's since gone on to become COO of First UK Bus, and Bob Breakwell until recently was a director at FGW and FCC, Elaine as we all know has left.

 

[Pumbaa]

Met Tony Collins on the last week of Cross Country services via Kensington Olympia (even though it had moved over to Arriva by this time). He was also pretty engaging and it was quite interesting discussing the fact that one or two Brighton Cross Country staff were going to be moving to Virgin at Euston under a deal done when the new franchise was leased to Arriva.

When you say last week of services, and particular day? I did the last runs in and out on the Saturday before the TT change; lots of personnel onboard, including crews transferring to VT at Eus, HMRI inspectors and senior management figureheads. Trouble is, I only recognised the senior management figureheads until I got home!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Stephen Banaghan runs a mile when he's down this way, maybe because if any commuters spotted him, they'd lynch him for running such a ****e service, and the Meet the Managers sessions at Euston are usually held at platforms 14/15, which are used for a few services in the peaks, whilst all other services arrive/depart at 8-11...

 

[glynn80]

When you say last week of services, and particular day? I did the last runs in and out on the Saturday before the TT change; lots of personnel onboard, including crews transferring to VT at Eus, HMRI inspectors and senior management figureheads. Trouble is, I only recognised the senior management figureheads until I got home!

IIRC it was the Monday before it finished.

Certainly on the last day which I travelled on as well, there were HMRI Inspectors that I saw and were also pretty interesting to talk to.

 

[BOSCH]

Our MD Tom Clift is regularly on our service from Northallerton of a morning,usually you can see him do the "meet & greet" at thirsk and york !!

 

[CosherB]

In the early years of the Virgin WCML franchise when Chris Green was in charge, I once saw him (complete with name badge) walk through the first class Mk3 coaches to the DVT cab (the 87 was pushing from the back, as we were an 'up' train). He may have been pre-occupied, busy, or there may have been other easons why he was looking staright ahead and clearly didn't wish to engage with passengers.

 

[nedchester]

ive heard hes a Train Enthusiast himself, so talking to him would be no problem

Oh yes......

http://railwayeye.blogspot.com/2008/06/spot-crank-1.html

 

[mathmo]

Certainly on the last day which I travelled on as well, there were HMRI Inspectors that I saw and were also pretty interesting to talk to.

Do you know why were there inspectors on board? Any particular reason?

 

[martyn29]

Our MD just waved at me as he came through the station..

 

[Jim]

Quite often sit opposite Mark Hopwood (FGW Managing Director) on my morning commute. He seems to want to keep himself to himself, and I don't think any worse of him for that- the commute is my downtime, it's probably his as well.

He has been spotted skip bashing before - Severn Tunnel - Bristol was the best move IIRC!

 

[Bungle]

Tim Shoveller and a few other important-looking people were at St Pancras last Thursday morning. They seemed pretty busy and didn't really have time/seem interested in talking to the many passengers standing around waiting to board, and quite a bit of their attention seemed to focus on the new ticket gates.

Speaking of which, not wanting to drag this off-topic, that Thursday morning was two days after they came into operation and the teething problems were pretty evident. I reckon about 1/3 or so of the tickets put into the machines actually worked; the gates remained closed for the rest creating a massive pile-up at the gates every time a train came in (bear in mind this was about 10am, so still pretty busy.) The number of gates seems inadequate for boarding/disembarking a busy train in rush hour (2 banks of 6 gates, 3 entry/3 exit on each.) Also, staff kept having to open them manually for each individual passenger using a key inserted at about knee height, before someone cottoned on and opened them all from the control desk. All pretty chaotic.

 

[Mojo]

Was that the fault of the gates, or silly people who can't use them?

 

[Bungle]

The gates. People put their tickets in, the gates didn't open. Staff checked tickets, watched them try again, ended up opening gates manually. Repeat ad nauseum.

It's not always the passengers' fault!

 

[jon0844]

The gates (if they're the usual CTS gates going up everywhere) are pretty crap. Unlike the old ones that open/close quickly, these are slow to open and incredibly slow to close - so it's DEAD easy to double up. Even more so on the wide gates.

While they may stop fare evaders at off-peak times when doubling up would be noticed, it's actually easier to get through in busy times - yet the genuine ticket holders have to put up with being held up!!

I am totally for gates, but not the s**t we've ended up with. Clearly there are other manufacturers of gates/barriers around the world, so why did we end up with these?

 

[Mojo]

Completely agree. I remember addressing my concerns on uk.railway and to Chiltern Railways back when the gates were installed at Aylesbury, which was some time in 2004 or 2005.

The new style Cubic gates take an age to accept and read a ticket, and as you say are generally slow. I note that Northern have installed ones by a different manufacturer at places like Leeds. The problems with these were well-documented, but are they as good as the old-style Cubic gates?

 

[ffcphone]

Returning to my original topic, it's pleasing to read of other senior figures engaging in customer feedback rather than hiding themselves away in their ivory towers. It seems common sense that consulting with customers on a frequent basis should lead to improvements being made where necessary rather than relying on staff/management/board members to spot the problems and address them.

So respect to those execs where respect is due.

F

 

[charley_17/7]

Some more praise for fTPE people.......

.......I observed their Engineering Director picking up litter at a south Manchester suburban station this morning.

Credit where its due.

Give the man a silver trowel, as well as a silver 'spanner' (for the 185s)!

 

[The North Briton]

Couldn't let this thread go without paying tribute to Christopher Garnett of GNER. He made a point of leading from the front, always talked to the staff on board and could be seen dishing out newspapers to passengers on down services from the 'Cross. This style of leadership does not appear to have rubbed off on the NXEC top team however...

 

[metrocammel]

On the note of MDs, I spotted Heidi Mottram (of Northern), complete with a pink spotty umbrella, and matching suitcase, walking out of Huddersfield station last Friday!