Now the point is this. First Capital Connect will go into their meetings with ministers and quote their latest "performance figures". These will show a dramatic "improvement" in performance. The ministers and the regulator will say "well done" and agree that they've done such a marvellous job that they will let them keep the franchise and continue to rake in profits.
The cause of the problem is that train lateness is measured by arrival at final destination. This gives dodgy operators such as First Capital Connect a massive incentive to indulge in dodgy practices such as train swapping, station skipping, etc. For the actual passengers affected, this is a nightmare.
In this day and age we need more accurate statistics. What we should have is a different measure of lateness. We should have "average lateness per passenger journey". In response to an email to First Capital Connect about the practice of shutting train doors at Mill Hill, before all of the passengers have left the train, they told me that their trains have sensors to say how many passengers are on the train. This is logged so there is no reason they can't tell us what the average delay per passenger is. I believe that this would give us all a far more accurate picture and would end this abuse. I would also like to see them fined for every time a train skips a station.
The bottom line is that the figures they provide for lateness are completely untrustworthy and give no real indication of how many trains are late at stations across the network. The Transport Minister Lord Adonis really should be made aware of the fiddling of figures and the massaging of statistics before any decision is made. Strangely enough I don't enjoy sitting by my PC watching train journeys on the display boards, but it is the only way to prove that the fiddling goes on. Please can I ask that everyone keeps an eye on these and if you see any "dodgy" fiddles go on, use the Facebook page to let us all know. The more evidence we get, the better. If possible save the train details and the time the message was posted. A simple way is to check the train before you start your journey. If it's late save the details (with intervening stops) and then check it after you get there. If it magically returns to being on time, post the details. This may seem like a hassle, but if we keep the pressure up, then we may actually get a decent service from a decent operator and then we really wouldn't have to be so obsessed with this awful operator.
Original Message displayed on the Noticeboard
Dep19:11 _ On time Preston Park
Dep19:17 _ On time Hassocks
Dep19:21 _ On time Burgess Hill
Dep19:23 _ On time Wivelsfield ... See more
Dep19:32 _ On time Haywards Heath
Dep19:37 _ 19:39 Balcombe
Dep19:42 _ 19:44 Three Bridges
Dep19:46 _ 19:49 Gatwick Airport
Dep20:02 _ 20:04 East Croydon
Dep20:15 20:42 _ London Bridge
Dep20:24 20:49 _ London Blackfriars
Dep20:26 20:51 _ City Thameslink
Dep20:30 20:54 _ Farringdon Underground
Dep20:34 20:58 _ London St Pancras (Domestic)
Dep20:41 21:05 _ West Hampstead Thameslink
Dep20:55 21:19 _ St Albans
Dep21:02 21:26 _ Harpenden
Dep21:08 21:32 _ Luton Airport Parkway
Arr21:10 21:34 _ Luton (Your station)
Dep21:11 21:35 _
Arr21:14 21:38 _ Leagrave
Arr21:20 21:43 _ Harlington
Arr21:24 21:47 _ Flitwick
Arr21:36 21:57 _Bedford (Your station)
This suddenly changed to this
Brighton Dep19:07 _ On time
Preston Park Dep19:11 _ On time
Hassocks Dep19:17 _ On time
Burgess Hill Dep19:21 _ On time
Wivelsfield Dep19:23 _ On time
Haywards Heath Dep19:32 _ On time
Balcombe Dep19:37 _ 19:39
Three Bridges Dep19:42 _ 19:44
Gatwick Airport Dep19:46 _ 19:49
East Croydon Dep20:02 _ 20:04
London Bridge Dep20:15 _ 20:18
London Blackfriars Dep20:24 On time _
City Thameslink Dep20:26 On time _
Farringdon Underground (Your station) Arr20:30 On time _
Dep20:30 On time _
London St Pancras (Domestic) Arr20:33 On time _
West Hampstead Thameslink Arr20:41 On time _
St Albans Arr20:55 On time _
Harpenden Arr21:02 On time _
Luton Airport Parkway Arr21:07 On time _
Luton Arr21:10 On time _
Leagrave Arr21:14 On time _
Harlington Arr21:20 On time _
Flitwick Arr21:24 On time _
Bedford (Your station) Arr21:36 On time _
The train mysteriously "made up" 27 minutes of lost time
As well as the two Labour MP's in the London Borough of Barnet (but sadly not the Conservative), the following MP's have signed Parliamentary EDM 623, calling for First Capital Connect to be stripped of their franchise. If your MP hasn't signed it, email them to ask them why. If they have, please email them to point out the fiddling of figures (put a link to thios blog if you like).
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