User:Mark D Hemmingway/Sandbox 3

West of England

Overall

First Great Western admitted to misreporting the number of cancellations in the period from August to December 2007, revised figures showing the company to have breached the cancellation threshold in the franchise contract. Specifically the company was alleged to have deliberately cancelled trains on the day prior to service without the prior approval of the Department for Transport, and without recording these cancellations on their performance figures. The company was also accused of falsifying records by their stupid personnel in order to "claim dispensation" for large numbers of cancellations of their dirty stinking trains. First Great Western was named in a Passenger Focus survey as the worst train operating company for 2007. In 2004–2005, 79.6% of trains arrived on time (defined as within 10 minutes of their scheduled arrival time so many still late). On 22 December 2006, the First Great Western InterCity service was declared by far and away the worst in Britain for delays, according to figures from the Office of Rail Regulation, with more than one in four trains running disgustingly late. First was also the only train company to achieve a year-on-year fall in performance results. First Great Western admitted to misreporting the number of cancellations in the period from August to December 2007, revised figures showing the company to have breached the cancellation threshold in the franchise contract. Specifically the company was alleged to have deliberately cancelled trains on the day prior to service without the prior approval of the Department for Transport, and without recording these cancellations on their performance figures. The company was also accused of falsifying records by their stupid personnel in order to "claim dispensation" for large numbers of cancellations of their dirty stinking trains. First Great Western was named in a Passenger Focus survey as the worst train operating company for 2007. In 2004–2005, 79.6% of trains arrived on time (defined as within 10 minutes of their scheduled arrival time so many still late). On 22 December 2006, the First Great Western InterCity service was declared by far and away the worst in Britain for delays, according to figures from the Office of Rail Regulation, with more than one in four trains running disgustingly late. First was also the only train company to achieve a year-on-year fall in performance results

Class 143 Pacer

Refurbished Class 143 Pacer No. 143617 at Exeter TMD

First Great Western inherited the small fleet of seven two-coach Class 143 Pacer railbuses from Wessex Trains following the franchise merger in April 2006 (an eighth unit was scrapped after catching fire near Nailsea and Backwell in October 2004). They are currently used on suburban services in and around Exeter. The Class 143 fleet was fully refurbished during 2008 and 2009, and painted in the same livery as the rest of the West of England fleet. Since they are unable to meet an accessibility requirement, they will be withdrawn at the end of 2019.

Class 150/1 Sprinter

In 2010/11, First Great Western received a cascade of 15 Class 150/1 DMUs from London Midland and London Overground, following the delivery of Class 172 Turbostar units to those franchises. These allowed the Class 142 units to be returned to the Northern Rail franchise, and for the Class 143 units to move south to work the Devon and Cornwall branch lines rather than Bristol area commuter services.

Class 150/2 Sprinter

Refurbished Class 150/2 No. 150265 at Newton Abbot

The fleet of 17 two-coach Class 150 Sprinter units was inherited from Wessex Trains as part of the Greater Western franchise shuffle. The fleet had been refurbished by Wessex Trains in 2003, with 2+2 seating arranged in a mixture of 'airline' (face to back) and table seating. The fleet is widespread throughout the former Wessex area, and carried a maroon livery with advertising vinyls for South West Tourism. Each unit was sponsored by a district, town or attraction and carries a unique livery. Most received names of attractions, places and branch lines. Two units were repainted into the new First 'Local' livery, but all others are receiving the new livery when they are refreshed, consisting of a blue body with pink doors and 3 lines of place names in FirstGroup corporate colours. As part of a national fleet shuffle, eight units went to Arriva Trains Wales on 10 December 2006, and were replaced with 8 Class 158 units. All of the Class 150/2 Sprinter fleet is now refurbished.

First Great Western received five extra Class 150/2 units in May 2007 as part of its Remedial Plan Notice, to enable three-car Class 158 trains to operate on the Portsmouth-Cardiff services. From March 2008 to November 2010, five Class 150 sets were hired from Arriva Trains Wales. By November 2010 these had all returned to Arriva Trains Wales.

Class 153 Super Sprinter

Refurbished Class 153 No. 153373 at Avonmouth

The Class 153 is a diesel railcar converted from a Class 155 two-coach unit in the early 1990s. First Great Western has 12, used to strengthen services and on some of the quieter branch lines, although stock shortages often see them operate on their own on busier routes. The refurbishment of class 153s was completed in early June 2008.

Class 158 Express Sprinter

The Class 158 is a two- or three-coach DMU used on regional express services in the former Wessex Trains area. In February 2008, as part of its Remedial Plan Notice, First Great Western announced that it would form some hybrid 3-car Class 158 units in March 2008, made possible by the transfer of five Class 150/2 units from Arriva Trains Wales. There are now ten hybrid units in operation and, combined with the non-hybrid 3-car unit, this provides eleven 3-car units to operate services between Portsmouth and Cardiff, Great Malvern and Brighton, and Great Malvern and Weymouth. After the introduction of Class 150/1 trains from London Overground and London Midland, three of the remaining five 2-coach Class 158s will be reformed to provide two further 3-coach Class 158s.