Too Few Carriages For The Bath Half Marathon

You may remember that I wrote to the Office Of Rail Regulation, asking them to fine First Great Western for the shortage of carriages to take people to the Bath Half Marathon. Here's their reply:

Dear Mr Locke

Thank you for your email of 7 March about the 10:09 train from Bradford-on-Avon to Bath Spa on 7 March which was unable to accomodate all the passengers travelling to the Bath half marathon.

The train operators provide their services under the terms of their franchise agreements with the Department for Transport (DfT). The DfT is responsible for specifying these terms, monitoring compliance and taking enforcement action where necessary. I therefore suggest you address your enquiry to edmund.cullen@dft.gsi.gov.uk.

The usual procedure for making a complaint about the service provided by a train operator is:

  1. Write to the train operator concerned - presumably, in this case, First Great Western whose contact details can be found on its website at http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/ContactUs.aspx.

  2. If you are not satisfied with the train operator's response, contact Passenger Focus which is sponsored by the DfT to represent passenger interests and to act as Britain's rail passenger watchdog. Contact details for Passenger Focus can be found at http://www.passengerfocus.org.uk/contact-us/.

You can post this reply on your blog if you wish but you may want to wait for something more substantive from DfT/First Great Western/Passenger Focus.

Yours sincerely

Office of Rail Regulation
One Kemble Street
London
WC2B 4AN

Web:www.rail-reg.gov.uk

So I've emailed the DfT saying:

Hi, I was given your address by the Office of Rail Regulation.

Hordes of people were unable to board the 10:09 from Bradford On Avon
to Bath Spa on 7th March. The train was crowded because of the
entirely predictable Bath Half Marathon. A four carriage train should
have been put on, rather than the two that turned up.

Please would you fine the operator.

Also, please let me know if it's not okay to post your reply on my blog.

Thanks,

Tony Locke

Again, I'll let you know what the reply is...