FixMyTransport: Only have the heaters on their trains turned on when they are actually needed

Description

Paul Lenz

Hi there

I am currently on the 9.31 from Oxford to Paddington. Amazingly, it is not yet running late. However (and despite the fact it is a lovely sunny day) the heater under my seat is on *full blast*

This is:

a) Pointless
b) Incredibly uncomfortable
c) Wasting energy

Can you please tell me what your policy is for operating train heaters and how one can get them switched off, mid journey, if they are being used without reason?

Thank you

Comment

Problem History

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1 Paul Lenz reported the issue on FixMyTransport. close 10:25 13 Jun 2012 #
2 Paul Lenz wrote to First Great Western Railway close 10:25 13 Jun 2012 #

Here is the letter that Paul Lenz wrote.

Heaters on the 9.31 13/7/2012

Hi there

I am currently on the 9.31 from Oxford to Paddington. Amazingly, it is not yet running late. However (and despite the fact it is a lovely sunny day) the heater under my seat is on *full blast*

This is:

a) Pointless
b) Incredibly uncomfortable
c) Wasting energy

Can you please tell me what your policy is for operating train heaters and how one can get them switched off, mid journey, if they are being used without reason?

Thank you
3 First Group Response responded to Paul Lenz close 10:36 13 Jun 2012 #

Thank you for contacting First Great Western. We confirm receipt of your e-mail and aim to forward a full response within 5 working days. If you have a more urgent issue that needs resolving please telephone on 08457 000125 where we will try to give a faster resolution.

Please note that you will not be able to reply direct to this email, however if you wish to contact us further by email then please use the address below.

[email address]

Thank you for contacting First Great Western. We confirm receipt of your e-mail and aim to forward a full response within 5 working days. If you have a more urgent issue that needs resolving please telephone on 08457 000125 where we will try to give a faster resolution.

Please note that you will not be able to reply direct to this email, however if you wish to contact us further by email then please use the address below.

[email address]
4 FGW Customer Relations responded to Paul Lenz close 23:48 22 Jun 2012 #

First Great Western
Customer Services Team
FREEPOST
SWB40576
Plymouth
PL4 6ZZ

Tel: 08457 000 125
Fax: 08456 008 363
[First Great Western Railway problem reporting email]

www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk

Ref: FGW 6599022

Dear Mr Lenz

Thank you for your recent correspondence. I was sorry to learn that you had such an uncomfortable journey on our 09:31 Driver Only Service (DOO) from Oxford to London Paddington on 13 June due to the heaters being on.

The service was operated by Turbo 165 102, which was fully tested overnight at our Reading Depot and I have received a full report from the Maintenance Team Leader who conducted the tests.

The nighttime temperature made the tests a little difficult. The heaters were fired up and running and although a little noisy they were all working. To test that they shut off at the correct temperature, the coaches were heated to the shut off point and the inherent system slows the heating down to half speed as it nears the shutting off temperature. This does have a drawback in as much that it is time consuming and not an exact science on a cold evening.

With all windows shut and after about 2 hours, the first of the heaters shut off correctly and after further testing, it was found that 3 aspirators on 2 coaches within the train formation were defective and not shutting off the heaters in the relevant saloons. These faults have now been addressed.

Thank you for bringing the matter to my attention. I hope that your future journeys with First Great Western will be more comfortable.

Yours sincerely

Mark Webber
Customer Relations Senior Officer

*** Your feedback is really important to us so we would be very grateful for a couple of moments of your time to complete our customer satisfaction survey. If you would like to participate, please click on the link below. ***

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1M...

First Great Western Limited. Registered in England & Wales No. 05113733.
Registered office: Milford House, 1 Milford Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 1HL.

First Rail Holdings Limited. Registered in England No. 5154485. Registered office: 50 Eastbourne Terrace, Paddington, London W2 6LG.

This message is confidential. It may not be disclosed to, or used by, anyone other than the addressee. If you receive this message in error, please advise us immediately.

Internet email is not necessarily secure. First does not accept responsibility for changes to any email which occur after the email has been sent. Attachments to this email could contain software viruses which could damage your system. First have checked the attachments for viruses before sending, but you should virus-check them before opening.

For more information on our range of services or to book your tickets online, please visit:- http://www.firstgroup.com

First Great Western
Customer Services Team
FREEPOST
SWB40576
Plymouth
PL4 6ZZ

Tel: 08457 000 125
Fax: 08456 008 363
[First Great Western Railway problem reporting email]

www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk

Ref: FGW 6599022

Dear Mr Lenz

Thank you for your recent correspondence. I was sorry to learn that you had such an uncomfortable journey on our 09:31 Driver Only Service (DOO) from Oxford to London Paddington on 13 June due to the heaters being on.

The service was operated by Turbo 165 102, which was fully tested overnight at our Reading Depot and I have received a full report from the Maintenance Team Leader who conducted the tests.

The nighttime temperature made the tests a little difficult. The heaters were fired up and running and although a little noisy they were all working. To test that they shut off at the correct temperature, the coaches were heated to the shut off point and the inherent system slows the heating down to half speed as it nears the shutting off temperature. This does have a drawback in as much that it is time consuming and not an exact science on a cold evening.

With all windows shut and after about 2 hours, the first of the heaters shut off correctly and after further testing, it was found that 3 aspirators on 2 coaches within the train formation were defective and not shutting off the heaters in the relevant saloons. These faults have now been addressed.

Thank you for bringing the matter to my attention. I hope that your future journeys with First Great Western will be more comfortable.

Yours sincerely

Mark Webber
Customer Relations Senior Officer

*** Your feedback is really important to us so we would be very grateful for a couple of moments of your time to complete our customer satisfaction survey. If you would like to participate, please click on the link below. ***

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=1M...

First Great Western Limited. Registered in England & Wales No. 05113733.
Registered office: Milford House, 1 Milford Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 1HL.

First Rail Holdings Limited. Registered in England No. 5154485. Registered office: 50 Eastbourne Terrace, Paddington, London W2 6LG.

This message is confidential. It may not be disclosed to, or used by, anyone other than the addressee. If you receive this message in error, please advise us immediately.

Internet email is not necessarily secure. First does not accept responsibility for changes to any email which occur after the email has been sent. Attachments to this email could contain software viruses which could damage your system. First have checked the attachments for viruses before sending, but you should virus-check them before opening.

For more information on our range of services or to book your tickets online, please visit:- http://www.firstgroup.com