Ox Rail Action is a campaign group set up by Oxford passengers - for Oxford passengers - fighting for passengers before profits. In short, we want:
* An adequate supply of seats and services to and from Oxford in peak hours.
* Proper passenger consultation and representation.

You can find out more about our group, how to sign up to our e-mail distribution list, and see our progress at our website: http://oxrailaction.wordpress.com. We also need you help - please get invovled! Monitor delays, tell us about incidents and problems. Also if you have any questions or comments please e-mail us at saveourtrains@googlemail.com

At present, we are putting together a monitoring report on Oxford morning trains, based on a sample two weeks in Jan/Feb. We asked members and volunteers to take notes on the number of free seats, the number of people standing and delays for all morning peak trains (6-8am). We then used this data to put together a report, showing the level of service post the slight timetable alterations on 15th Jan. I'll post a link to this report as soon as it is up on our website so you can see what we've been doing.

Anyway, no need to write more here about Ox Rail Action as all updates and past updates are on our website for you to browse!

Susan
Ox Rail Action

Whats wrong with the service Oxford gets! A 180 what every 30 mins calling at Reading only in some cases, Melksham is lucky if it sees 4 trains!

Hi there,

Thanks for your comments. Yes - we have focused just on the morning services at the moment. This is not to say that the afternoon peak services are adequate, just that these didn't really change on the 10th December. I for one catch the same train now in the evenings as I have always done, and it hasn't changed in terms of chances of getting a seat etc. Not half so many people have complained to us about the afternoon changes as the morning ones.

The bus is an alternative. However, it does have an average journey time of 100mins, rather than the train times of roughly 60mins - that's quite a difference twice a day. I think that's the main reason people don't use it for regular commuting. Like me, I'm sure they are tempted by the price difference, but it would mean giving up your entire weekdays to work and travelling.

What's wrong with our service? The fact that we have only have four fast trains to London (by fast I mean those that stop only at Didcot and Reading - all the trains stop at Reading I'm afraid) between 6-8am. Two of these trains begin before Oxford and so are at least half or two-thirds full. Two are turbos (one a three-carriage), one is a High Speed Train (HST^▸ (High Speed Train)) and one is an Adelante. Add that to the fact that there must be 500+ people travelling every day and you can see why we're overcrowded and frustrated!

Susan

Edit: VickiS - Clarifying acronym

From Ox Rail Action :

May timetable changes
Some of you may have seen the posters advertising timetable changes in May. Will this mean an improvement in services for Oxford commuters? Well, don't get too excited - there are very few changes that will affect you:

Early services at 0400 from Oxford to London Paddington are subject to slight change, whilst the 0546 Reading to London Paddington now starts from Oxford at 0506.
The 0725 Banbury to Paddington leaves Reading earlier and now calls at Langley, Iver and West Drayton.
The 0752 from Oxford to London Paddington has been re-timed to depart Twyford at 0844 to provide an additional connection from Henley on Thames.
Some Oxford services now feature High Speed Trains ^ with greater capacity than the previous Adelante trains - which will also add seat capacity at stations en route.
The 2050 Worcester Shrub Hill to London Paddington will call at Didcot Parkway.

If you need more information, the new printed timetable booklets are available from the station now.

Ox Rail Action meeting with FGW^▸ (First Great Western)
Many of you will know that Ox Rail Action put together a monitoring report in early March this year, demonstrating the continued problems for Oxford commuters, particularly our morning services. As a follow-up to this report, representatives were invited to meet FGW to discuss our findings and recommendations. This meeting, attended by three Ox Rail Action members, Chris Bates (FGW Customer Panel representative), Richard Rowland (FGW Regional Director), Glenda Lamont (FGW Customer Services Manager) and Adrian Ruck (FGW External Relations), happened on the 20th April.

The minutes from this meeting will be soon be available to read in full on our website but here is a brief summary of the main points:

1. ORA members expressed disappointment that the changes in May would not improve travelling from Oxford in the short-term. Apparently large-scale changes will not be made until the December timetable.
2. The changes in December 2007 will not involve a complete re-draft of the present timetable (FGW is keen not to repeat last December's fiasco) but will involve some significant changes. FGW will have a draft timetable by early summer 2007 and wishes to consult with ORA when it has this - we will arrange another meeting at this time.
3. FGW is aware of the performance and timekeeping issues that it has with all trains. Some of this (e.g. the 7.33am) is due to trains that were squeezed into the timetable. There are some long-term solutions to this ( i.e. major investment plans for both Oxford and Reading stations) but few short-term apart from the December changes.
4. Complaints about the state of the turbo trains have meant that FGW have brought forward an interior 'refreshment' program to next year. In the meantime, if there are specific problems on a turbo train ( e.g. window keeps flying open, smelly toilets etc) passengers have been asked to make a note of the problem, the specific carriage and the train number (on the front, usually starts 165...) to Chris Bates, who will pass this information on to the appropriate engineers - his e-mail is chrisjbates@btinternet.com
5. FGW is investing in customer service training for its staff and setting minimum standards of service. In particular, the issue of the electronic boards not working at Oxford station was raised, and the suggestion of ORA that the station should use wipeboards to give service information when they are working was taken on board.

Hello
Would the members of OxRail be interested in adding my badges to their protests?
I'm handing out "I Hate First Great Western" badges to disgruntled commuters, as it seems that protests and petitions are getting us nowhere, so I'm now trying to embarrass them into submission with a visual protest.
Please visit my blog if you'd like more information: www.ihatefirstgreatwestern.blogspot.com, or e-mail me at IhateFGW@yahoo.co.uk to order some badges - at the moment they're free so let me know if you want to order in bulk and I'll make a special order for you. I'd like to get thousands of people wearing them over the next few months, and your support would really help.
Let me know if you're interested.
Many thanks
Helen (IHateFGW)

^4.50! Why is it becoming so expensive to park at a station!

Latest Ox Rail Action update :

Representatives of Ox Rail Action have been busy having meetings with important people, and so here is an update from us. Look out for the story, hopefully in the Oxford Times tomorrow.
 
Meeting with FGW^▸ (First Great Western)

We met with Richard Rowland and one of FGW's timetable people last Friday, to discuss the proposed draft timetable for December. FGW are not going to consult widely on this timetable, (they initially stated that they would not consult at all) but they have agreed to consult with campaign groups such as ourselves, after much pressure. Unfortunately I cannot give specific details of the timetable here as it is in such draft form that individual train times may still change. Suffice to say that the timetable is largely the same for the 7.33 and trains after this one in the morning and the same for the afternoon trains as now. The difference comes in the earlier morning timetable, about which we have concerns. There is still a lack of HST^▸ (High Speed Train) trains, and there is a real gap between 6.30ish and 7.30ish, filled by only one three-car turbo, which we predict will have similar problems to the present 7.05 with overcrowding.
 
We made clear to FGW that this was a particular part of the timetable that we had clearly campaigned about, and that we had expected that they would take our views on board to increase capacity at this key time of the day. FGW said they would try to put another train in but they're not promising anything. We made clear that this was the key problem with the timetable, and that we expected them to resolve this problem.
 
Meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport

Last Monday, representatives from Ox Rail Action met with Douglas Alexander, the Secretary of State for Transport; a meeting arranged by Oxford MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Andrew Smith. Coming at an ideal time, we told the minister about our concerns for the new draft timetable as outlined above. He made it clear that he knew that FGW are the worst performing train companies in the country and was quite frank about how bad the situation was. He has been having regular (twice monthly) meetings with Moir Lockhead, the head of FirstGroup to resolve the problems, and promised to bring up our concerns with him at the next meeting the week after next.
 
Overall, we feel dissappointed that FGW have not taken our concerns about the early morning timetable on board, and are hoping that our input into the consultation, together with pressure from Douglas Alexander may go some way to help resolving the issue. The December 2006 timetable will be published in mid-August on the FGW website.
 
Cycles on trains

Just to confirm that although the timetable booklets state that cycles are not allowed on any peak-time trains, this is NOT true. Cycles are allowed, but only with a reservation.

Excelent Poems!