ANNUAL STAKEHOLDER REPORT 2013-14 Page 02 CONTENTS Foreword: Mark Hopwood 03 Welcome: Network Rail 05 Customer Service Improvements 06 Great Western Investment Projects 10 Station Improvements 12 Flooding 14 Performance 16 Meeting Our Corporate Responsibilities 18 Awards 20 Passenger Focus 21 Community Rail Partnerships 22 Investments 27 Page 03 FOREWORD Welcome to this our first annual report to stakeholders in our new franchise. This report is a new initiative, and Dawlish to keep our customers moving and introduced to bring you more to rebuild the railway more quickly than we believe information about our plans and our even Brunel could have envisioned. progress. It is an open and transparent document including feedback from This document will tell some of the story of the you, our partners and stakeholders. floods. It will also tell you more about how we work It also includes contributions from as a business, how we value our staff and how we Network Rail, a key partner in our are committed to delighting our customers. delivery of an improved service for our This document is not your usual annual report. customers. Within it you will not find financial reports, or lists of It is also an opportunity for us at First Great KPIs. What you will find is an honest assessment of Western to say thank you for your support in what how we have done, and what we plan to do next. has been a very interesting, and challenging, year. I hope you enjoy it, because without you, our partners, we could not have made it possible. The new franchise began in October 2013 and got off to an encouraging start. We were able to meet First Great Western thrives on our partnerships with our promises to provide new services, more seats the communities it serves. We believe in working and better stations. We’ve also signed contracts together and again I want to personally thank you and started work on introducing free WiFi on all for all the help and support you have given us and our High Speed Trains, a further 3,000 Standard our customers this year. Class seats, consultation on a revised timetable for services from London to the South West for Best wishes December and refurbished First Class carriages. All this happened while we also dealt with the worst flooding and storm damage seen by any part of the UK railway since it was built. Mark Hopwood Managing Director You will no doubt have noticed our new Greater West campaign featuring the indomitable Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Together with Network Rail we invoked his spirit at Maidenhead, Oxford, Somerset Page 03 Page 04 WELCOME FROM PATRICK HALLGATE There’s no such thing as a “quiet year” on the railway, but the last twelve months have been busy, even by our standards. The storms of February thrust us into to find any trace of the cramped, dark environment the public eye for reasons we would it once was – but hundreds of other projects across happily have avoided – Dawlish, the region are also making themselves felt. Bridgwater and Maidenhead all made the headlines. However, as an All this £7.5 billion-worth of work has to be done industry we rose to the occasion and around a running railway which sees passenger accomplished a recovery to be proud numbers rising daily. The passenger experience of, and confounded the doomsayers. is still not what it should be, and here again teamwork is vital. Neither Network Rail nor the That recovery was only made possible by the kind train operators can solve the problem on their own, of teamwork which has become a hallmark of which is why we have agreed a ten-point plan with the relationships between Network Rail and Train First Great Western to take action. The transfer of Operating Companies across the country, and First management of Reading and Bristol Temple Meads Great Western is at the forefront of this process. to Network Rail further allows each organisation From managing passenger displacement in Devon to play to its strengths – Network Rail to manage and Somerset, to brainstorming answers to flooded major stations and First to focus on customer signalling, we have worked very much as one team, experience. with positive outcomes for passengers and UK PLC. The year just gone gives us many reasons to be Sometimes it takes a disaster like Dawlish to proud, and to welcome the challenges that lie remind people just how much this country relies ahead in CP5. I look forward to working with on the railway. Complaining about the railway is First Great Western to transform the railway almost as much a British pastime as complaining across the region. about the weather, but when it’s taken away, the sense of shock is palpable. The current historic level of investment in improvements reflects that importance, and in the past twelve months we’ve started to see very obvious changes on the route. Reading Station is the most prominent – having Patrick Hallgate Route Managing Director, Western Route opened the new building at the very start of the Network Rail year, the new platforms are now in use and it’s hard Page 05 CUSTOMER SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS The last 12 months have seen many positive customer service improvements – all with the aim of delivering better, faster and more efficient services to our customers. MORE STAFF We have made a significant investment in hundreds of new staff to help us deliver more punctual services and improve customer service. Between January and April we recruited around 300 people for roles in Operations, Engineering and at our Headquarters. They included 71 new drivers, 45 conductors and 32 customer hosts as well as more ticket examiners, technicians and gateline assistants. In May, 32 new Customer Ambassadors We have recruited more staff, introduced new completed their training and began offering a services and increased capacity with more more personal service to customers. It follows Standard Class seating. the success of 16 colleagues whose roles were There is much more to do and we are determined to created in 2011 when customers told us they keep momentum on improvements throughout the wanted to see more staff who could assist them at current franchise period. This includes provision of some of our busiest stations. WiFi on our long distance services. Something our Now, thanks to the increased recruitment, we have stakeholders have told us is essential for customers increased their locations from three stations to 12. using the train for business or for pleasure. On his first day, one Ambassador, Kenny Bucchaan, We were pleased to maintain our National was praised by a customer who completed a ‘Tell us Passenger Survey satisfaction score of 80%, but your view’ card. Linda Gough from Swansea said: would have liked to see it increase. Performance, “This is an excellent service for passengers. It makes the biggest driver of customer satisfaction, was the journey so much easier and saves time trying to affected by the very severe weather conditions in find the correct information. I would like to mention spring and last winter. Infrastructure challenges Kenny who has been particularly helpful today.” have also been an issue and we have worked hard, As well as employing more people, we have alongside Network Rail, to improve punctuality and continued our support for apprentices. We reliability. believe in giving young people a chance at a We are determined to raise service standards long and fulfilling career. We were the first train further, by continuing to improve and invest in the operator to offer apprenticeships to 16-18 year service we offer our passengers. olds which complements our existing engineering Page 06 “ The apprenticeship opened the window to my future. Without it I wouldn’t be stood here today, but thanks to the wonderful colleagues behind the scheme, we all are.” Former apprentice, Liam Hutchison, now a Train Manager apprenticeships. We know we are getting it right Duncan Hames MP Chippenham selling tickets to a passenger - first of the new TransWilts weekeday services by the number of apprentices who complete the programme and take full time work with us, creating well-trained, highly-motivated individuals that we don’t want to lose, and who don’t want to leave us either. NEW SERVICES To keep that level of satisfaction we are enhancing Partnership working really works. In Wiltshire the programme by putting our apprentice scheme we have this year introduced eight additional forward as FirstGroup Trailblazers in the Transport services a day for the TransWilts route, linking sector, developing further learning opportunities for Swindon to Westbury via Chippenham, Melksham both new and existing employees through NVQs and Trowbridge with trains running every two and Institute of Railway Operator (IRO) qualifications, hours on weekdays and weekends. Launched in employing more apprentices this year than last, and December the services were only possible through continuing that trend in the future and creating an a partnership between First Great Western and amalgamated framework across our schemes. Wiltshire Council, ably supported by the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership and the Being a good employer is a big part of our ethos. TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. Working That means operating safely, investing in staff with together on a bid that covered rail services and excellent training and empowering our people station improvements, Wiltshire were able to to play a full role in the business - helping us to secure a Local Sustainable Transport Fund grant of help customers, and to promote the communities £4.25m from the government which will keep the we serve. We work with Investors in People and service running for three years.