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Home > Contact us > Web Chat > Web chat transcript

Live web chat transcript

If you have any feedback about these events, please contact our contact our Customer Service Team.

Question: 180

Can you explain the rationale of season ticket holders compensation for extreme delays? E.g, on the evening of the 12th of Jan I took a train from CLJ to GLD which should have taken just 30mins. Due to a track default near Surbiton this journey took nearly 3 hours, a significant delay of over 2 hours.

As an annual season ticket holder I receive no direct compensation for or recognition of the extent of the inconvenience. As this was outside of peak, a void period was not called and will be lost into the passenger charter factor. If I had been a weekly ticket holder or a daily user then I would have had direct compensation. I understand the principle of the charter, but I'm not sure in situations of such extreme delays it adequately recognises the inconvenience caused.

I'm also surprised given the late time of arrival in Gld, no offer of onward travel was provided.

Posted by James Faulkner 25/03/2013 10:03:41

Answer:

We will consider all claims made dependent on the incident that has occured, and irrespective of whether it would qualify under the terms of the Passenger Charter.

Question: 179

Please can you review the number of benches on the up platform at Godalming, since there new shelter was constructed this has reduced from 4 to only 2. They need not necessarily be under the canopy but an increase would be welcome.

Posted by Anon 25/03/2013 15:45:26

Answer:

Thank you for your request. We will investigate the reduction in station facilities you refer to, and adapt our plans to reinstate any loss of seating at the station.

Question: 178

Will the Wi-fi be free or chargeable?

Posted by John Smith 25/03/2013 15:25:18

Answer:

We will publish details of the Wi-fi facility and how to access it later this year, and this will include any charges.

Question: 177

Why have a live web chat at 2pm when everyone is at work?

Posted by Tim Andrews 25/03/2013 07:09:09

Answer:

Thanks for your question.

We do try to provide a variety of ways of commenting and speaking to members of the management team, not least the 'meet the manager' sessions, live on stations.

Regards

Tim Shoveller

Question: 176

Why not have a slightly cheaper standing ticket price (maybe for peak times only)?

Surely this would free up some seats and ensure that the people who wish to sit down are more likely to get a seat?

Posted by Chris 25/03/2013 15:22:03

Answer:

I appreciate your suggestion, but as the purchase of a rail ticket does not guarantee a seat, I don't think this is something that we could adopt.

Our services in the London and the surrounding area are already incredibly busy, making it impossible to police the use of such a ticket on our trains.

Question: 175

Please could you explain what training your staff go through? The majority of staff at London Waterloo are quite rude and unhelpful when a delay happens. How do you ask your staff to communicate when there are delays? As customers we usually receive very little information. What are you doing to address communication problems?

Posted 25/03/2013 14:18:49

Answer:

I am sorry to hear of your experiences with our staff at Waterloo. How we communicate with our customers is incredibly important to us, as is the quality of the information we provide particularly during disruption.

We are currently about to embark on a training programme which specifically addresses how we manage communication with our customers. We are also introducing some additional technology in the next few weeks, which should really assist staff on the concourse to access information particularly during disruption.

Question: 174

Why is the refund process so cumbersome for gold card ticket holders? Do we have to wait until our cards are due for renewal to get a refund on the void days?

Posted by S Butterworth 25/03/2013 13:43:06

Answer:

No, the new automated process should enable you to claim your void day refunds from the ticket office, once we have published the details on the website.

Question: 173

Ok. So your service has been shocking so far this year. The price of my season ticket went up to £7200 plus £1000 parking. In any other industry where the supplier doesn't have a monopoly, the two things would not happen together.

I know you've just issued a nice glossy newsletter about all the good things you are doing, but nothing is changing and the service is actually getting worse. What are you actually doing to improve your service?

Can you guarantee your service into London will improve, or should I work from home more, cancel my season ticket and only travel into London when I have to and by car?

I guess home working now means I have a choice to not use your shoddy service to earn a living.

Posted by Andy Gunn 25/03/2013 07:26:43

Answer:

Thank you for your question, I am sorry for the disruption you have suffered.

I am afraid we have been hit by a series of events, some of which are unrelated to each other. You may have seen the letter we gave out last week which covers the details - it is also on our website.

The letter also details our plans and the investments we are making to improve the position, but ultimately, we need to significantly increase the amount of maintenance and renewal work on the track and key systems, which are intensively used and sometimes very old.

The challenge is how to do this whilst keeping the railway running safely, every day.

Everything possible is being done. I am frustrated we are in this position, but my team and I are working literally 24/7 to repair the network as quickly as possible.

Regards

Tim Shoveller

Question: 172

Why is Kingston still in Zone 6, when most stations that far from central London, even with faster or more frequent services, are in Zones 4 or 5? The following excuses have already been tried and refuted:

- you need to agree it with the other operators (there are none at Kinsgton)

- it would be incompatible with the bus zones (London buses have had a flat fare structure for decades)

- it is up to TfL (no it isn't, it's up to the operator)

- you've reduced fares elsewhere (so what - I'm here - I can't choose to travel from another station: train services are not like cornflakes)

- it would affect your profits (ah, now where getting somewhere)

- we are a captive market and you can do what you like because nothing you do can have any effect (positive or negative), on your market share - it will always be 100%.

It remains the case that Kingston is in the wrong zone. The fact it has been so for a long time does not make it

Posted 25/03/2013 15:20:28

Answer:

It is true that I have provided you with answers to this request on many previous occasions, but I don't recognise some of those that you've annotated in your question as answers provided by me.

The zonal location of each station was set to recognise their location, proximity to other stations and aimed to achieve as even a spread of stations across each of the zones as possible. We have no plans to move Kingston into Zone 5 and yes, such a move would impact on the revenue we secure for journeys to/from Kingston. We do not think it would be equitable for those travelling from other locations to pay higher fares to meet this shortfall.

Question: 171

When was the last time you used a SWT service? When was the last time you used one at peak time? How about in standard class?

Posted by Anon 25/03/2013 14:51:34

Answer:

I travel across the South West Trains network on a frequent basis, both in the peak and off-peak times, and often in standard class.