Letters


(Train of thought, March issue). Those who imagine the 450 is sub-standard should try commuting in the north on Pacers!


Barry Doe FCILT Bournemouth


Where was my compensation? My FGW train from Taunton to Paddington arrived 50 minutes late, due entirely to being held behind a CrossCountry train with problems near Exeter. FGW declined to offer any compensation as its train wasn’t 60 minutes late – but all the CrossCountry passengers got compensation, as the CrossCountry charter requires just a 30 minutes delay. I’m sure that FGW


itself received seriously substantial compensation from CrossCountry for delaying at least two of their busy Sunday evening trains – but there’s nothing there for me! Let’s hope that the new franchises are a bit more joined-up, and that things become a bit more standard across the Tocs in the future.


David Fisher


Bonus culture is misguided The issue of bonuses will remain contentious, although, obviously they are defended by those who receive them, and mostly argued against by those who are not so advantaged (Rail Professional opinion, March 2012 issue). Now retired, I began work


on the old Southern Region of British Railways when the concept of bonuses for rail employees was unheard of. We were paid weekly or monthly remuneration for the work we had done. Free and concessionary travel were, in some measure, looked upon as a supplement to the relatively low level of salary but, in fact, were always a perquisite


and, of course, overtime was readily available and relied upon to supplement the wage. The system has become so


distorted that an executive will get a large bonus for saving an overall three jobs and imposing the combined workload of those jobs on one or two remaining people, often for no extra pay. The savings thus achieved


are not passed down to the customer or anywhere else but to the bonus pot to line the pockets of those who already have much. It should be further noted that the executive doesn’t work the detail out himself; that is left to some hapless human resource manager who will not share in the bonus. Let staff at all levels be


paid an attractive wage commensurate with their skills and roles and leave the souring bonus culture behind. It will be cheaper in the long run for everyone when we don’t have to find provision for these iniquitously high payments.


Graham Davis


Asking the impossible The model for the railways was set by the previous administration-plus-1. It cost a fortune in legal and consulting fees and has produced a very busy railway, but one that costs the taxpayer and users (these are the same people in some cases) dear. The bipolar view from the


politicians that surfaces in the command paper just makes the point that they don’t get it. I hardly think the minister (how long before she is moved on to bigger and better things? 18 months?) can stand up and demand changes which are the result of the structural weaknesses imposed by her politically motivated predecessors, including the almost unconstrained involvement of her department in meddling and micro-


Class 450s are not intercity trains


Whilst I have every sympathy with Steve Hyde (Train of thought, March 2012) about some northern rail services, his complaint centres on short formations and dirty carriages. In contrast, passenger concerns about the inadequacy of


Class 450s on half the Portsmouth mainline express service are based on narrow seating and lack of armrests, tables or luggage space. Overcrowding on this route is a non-issue on more than 96 per cent of services, and then only on the 25-minute section between Woking and Waterloo. The manufacturer’s specification, a recent government report


and SWT’s own literature clearly show that Class 450s were never designed for long distance intercity journeys, and have been deployed incorrectly.


David Habershon Founder No450 Campaign


managing the railways at all levels. What does privatisation


mean if the railways are still effectively being tinkered with? Selling rail freight services is a difficult enough battle already. Reductions in grants for terminals flies in the face of a recent report compiled by the FTA, where the major supermarkets are pressing for more of them, available 24/7 and with an operational railway that functions in a similar way. The weekends are the busiest days for the supermarkets and they need to be replenished. Working nine to five Monday to Friday reflects the rail sector’s supply side positioning, business, operational and technical


models with the weekends protected. Things have changed but the recognition of this does not seem to have percolated down. Comparisons with Europe


are odious and misplaced. Transport is seen as an essential integral part of a civilised country. A visit to Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland would be a good place to start. Why our benighted politicians seem to want to make transport (public transport in particular) a commercial entity escapes me. Do we charge users for their consumption of street lighting?


Phil Mortimer Bognor Regis


APRIL 2012 PAGE 15


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