Title: First Great Western MD reveals how he plans to get the beleaguered train operator back on track | The Independent | The Independent
Headings: First Great Western MD reveals how he plans to get the beleaguered train operator back on track
First Great Western MD reveals how he plans to get the beleaguered train operator back on track
Mark Hopwood says his mission is 'to present a different face for the business'
Best and worst of Britain’s railway

Content: Mr Hopwood, First Great Western’s managing director, says there are good reasons for this. “ All train operators have seen either declining sales from buffet cars or sales that are not growing as fast as passenger volume,” he tells The Independent, which has joined him on a standard-class trip on the service to Swindon. “The station outlets have upped their game and improved their offer. We’re also seeing more and more passengers bringing a lot of valuable possessions like laptops and iPads and they don’t particularly want to lug them down to the buffet section or leave them unattended.” Unions are also angered by an old-fashioned demarcation dispute, however, concerning the staff who stopped those thousands of passengers being able to board their train from Bristol to London. First Great Western’s managing director, Mark Hopwood, blames Network Rail for delays
(Micha Theiner)
Who should push the button marked “doors” on the new electric trains? The train operator insists the driver should take over the responsibility from the guard. The union disagrees vehemently. Though negotiations continue, there is every possibility of further stoppages. The squabble over the rules for a new set of toys for which each man, woman and child in Britain is stumping up £125 on average is exasperating travellers, who believe they are paying too much for a service that is unreliable even when everyone shows up for work.