Official Minutes from the 7 July Meeting.

Many people will remember that I attended a meeting at Portcullis House on 7 July with MPs and bosses from AGA, I also posted a blog which was written from my point of view of the meeting. But here is a copy of the official minutes of the meeting.

Greater Anglia Passenger Feedback Meeting

Held on 7 July 2014 in Westminster

Notes of Meeting

In attendance:

Chloe Smith MP

Ben Gummer MP

Sir Bob Russell MP

David Leaf, Parliamentary Assistant to Priti Patel MP

Jamie Burles, Managing Director, Abellio Greater Anglia

Jonathan Denby, Head of Corporate Affairs, Abellio Greater Anglia

Jackie Gibbs, Head of Service Quality Standards, Abellio Greater Anglia

James Ager – Twitter team, Abellio Greater Anglia

Hannah Briggs – Public Affairs Manager, Network Rail

Marie Finbow, Strategy Manager, New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership

Annabelle Dickson – Political Editor for the EADT and EDP

Ian Edwards

Grant Lee

James Elmer

Imogen Dempsey

Sandra Garvey

Daniel Collins

Introduction

Chloe Smith MP welcomed all attendees to the meeting, the aim of which was to provide passengers with the opportunity to express the problems they experience on the GEML and provide Abellio Greater Anglia and MPs with the opportunity to outline how these problems will be addressed.

Problems with the GEML

The following is a summary of the issues raised by passengers - focusing on four key areas: comfort, cleanliness, reliability and value for money.

·           There has been a steady increase in rail fares with no noticeable improvements in the quality of service, cleanliness, timing or reliability - why do rail fares continue to rise, when the quality of the service reduces?

·           The internal maintenance of trains has deteriorated significantly over recent years, does this apply to exterior maintenance and if so, should there be concerns about passenger safety?

·           The service is not reliable – when trains require maintenance there is a shortfall of carriages, leading to overcrowding.

·           Our area has suffered from underinvestment on our railways for many years – although the GEML is one of the most profitable lines in the country for the Department for Transport – where is this money being spent as it is not being reinvested in our railways?

·           Passengers still have to hang out of the window to open the door – this is not safe practice.

·           Abellio Greater Anglia rely on customers to report faults i.e. seats/heating/broken windows, etc.

·           Trains themselves are dirty and untidy – with discarded newspapers, filthy carpets, blocked toilets, etc and it is clear that only emergency maintenance is being carried out. 

·           In terms of reliability, the question was raised as to why it takes so long to resume a normal service after interruptions and there is a distinct lack of communication between the service provider and passengers - passengers rely on Twitter for information, as drivers do not keep passengers informed.

·           In terms of disruption management – when there are issues on the rail lines, there are no alternative means of transport for passengers, i.e. a replacement bus service or arrangements with the local bus company for ticket acceptance.

·           Waste continues to be dumped onto tracks – what is being done to prevent this practice?

·           It was strongly recommended that GA invests in rolling stock and improves communications for passengers when there are issues on the line.

·           Passengers want clean trains, arriving on time.

Abellio  Greater Anglia response:

Abellio recognises that the trains are uncomfortable; with carriages over 25 years’ old.  The current franchise was let on a lowest-cost basis.  If Abellio, or any other service provider, had bid for new rolling stock, it would not have won the franchise.  The specification for the franchise is governed by the Department for Transport (DfT) and is outside the control of Abellio Greater Anglia.  However, the emphasis on this is changing - the recent franchise awarded for Thameslink and the West Coast have seen an introduction to ‘higher quality’ thresholds.  Although cost and efficiency are still important, DfT recognise that there is a need to improve the quality of the rolling stock and the service providers are being measured against trains running on time.

With regard to fares increasing – this is due to a national fares policy and outside the control of Abellio Greater Anglia. 

Abellio recognise that there is an urgent need to improve on a number of fronts.  Statistics show that since the start of franchise performance generally has been better than the last franchise and customer surveys have also improved – but Abellio recognise that this was because they were starting from a low base and there is still a long way to go before the provider is able to bring the service to an acceptable standard.  The statistics show 92% performance (which is ahead of the national average), but this is not as good as Abellio wants to deliver on a daily basis.  However, Abellio recognises that performance on the GEML is much lower.

With regard to the recent disruption, Abellio and Network Rail are in a difficult position as the infrastructure is not where it needs to be from a reliability perspective.  Abellio have formed an alliance with Network Rail and this has been particularly beneficial for customers i.e. during Olympics when trains were running on time and response times were improved. 

Following the issue at Liverpool Street two weeks ago, a route/branch review is currently being carried out, with recommendations and resources required for improvements to be submitted to Abellio.  Abellio are working on increasing resilience by monitoring assets through an electrical system which anticipates failure and enables Abellio to put in preventative maintenance and prevent faults from happening.  Abellio are also reorganising their maintenance delivery unit at Liverpool Street to be proactive in dealing with issues.

With regards to cleanliness on the carriages, Abellio recognises that there is a long way to go – over the years their predecessors suffered financial difficulties and investment went on the franchise itself, rather than on maintenance. This franchise was won on a lowest-cost basis and then, due to the financial crisis, Abellio themselves did not make any profit on the franchise during the first two and a half years.

In order to improve cleanliness on the trains, additional cleaning staff have been appointed, three wash plants are being replaced and hand-cleaning is being improved.  There is a management restructure taking place in Abellio and responsibility for cleanliness for both the interior and exterior of trains will come under one engineering director.  Abellio are currently consulting with unions on the proposed restructure.  The aim is for this new structure to come into effect in September.  Passengers can expect to see an improvement in cleanliness in the next few months.

With regard to the toilets, the Mark 3s are being replaced with controlled-emission toilets. To replace the remainder of the fleet with controlled-emission toilets would cost in the region of £15M and Abellio are working with Network Rail to see what funding is available.  Currently, passengers are not allowed to use toilets on stations.  Unfortunately approximately 5% of passengers do not adhere to this rule and although Abellio have tried a number of different ways to prevent passengers from using toilets on stations, installation of controlled-emission toilets is the preferred solution as they allow passengers to use the toilets at any time.

As well as installation of controlled-emission toilets, the short-term franchise includes a full refurbishment on the Mark 3s which includes new seat covers, carpets, lighting, installation of socket points and interior and exterior repaint.  This refurbishment is costing £13M.

With regard to the Class 321s, the specification for the longer-term franchise needs to ensure either a major refurbishment or replacement rolling stock.  There is currently a demo unit in circulation, which Abellio are keen to get customer feedback on.  Consultation on the specification closes in March 2015. It is extremely important that the specification for the new long-term franchise specifies the appropriate investment needed and the outputs required by passengers, including new rolling stock.

With regards to passenger communications – an information steering group has been set up between the train operator and Network Rail and a list of 67 actions emanating from this group are currently being investigated; some of the solutions include upgrading systems and employing additional resources for double manning – these will have an impact over time, but are not ‘quick wins’.  With regard to the incident two weeks’ ago, the incident was reviewed and procedures have been updated to ensure that it is not repeated.

It was noted that information relating to the incident at Liverpool Street two weeks’ ago has been removed from the Abellio website and passengers asked that the information relating to the incident, including the original statement made is put back onto the Abellio Greater Anglia website. 

Action: Abellio Greater Anglia

MPs response

Our region has suffered from poor investment on our railways since nationalisation.  There is a significant backlog of investment required and we recognise that it will take time to get right.  For the first time, MPs along the GEML route are working together to influence Government to get the much-needed investment for our region. 

Abellio will have the opportunity to bid for the long-term franchise in two years’ time – this franchise will be for a seven to ten year period – if we do not see urgent improvements between now and then, Abellio will not be awarded the long-term contract.

It is extremely important that the specification for the longer-term franchise reflects the investment needed and improvements required for both the Mark 3s and the Class 321s.

The Great Eastern Main Line Taskforce are striving for improvements on the GEML – campaigning for better, faster trains from Norwich to London, Liverpool Street and the campaign reflects the issues that passengers have raised today.   A campaign website is currently being developed for launching on 25 July and we need as many supporters as possible to join the campaign.  A report including recommendations for investment on the GEML will be delivered to Government in November, with a view to influencing the specification for the longer-term franchise.

The meeting closed at 7:50 pm.