First Great Western's campaign thanks customers for their patience
First Great Western is planning to take out full page adverts in key local and national media to thank customers for their patience after train services in the south west were affected by severe weather.
First Great Western is planning to take out full page adverts in key local and national media to thank customers for their patience after train services in the south west were affected by severe weather.
During the past week, Network Rail has had to close four areas of track on the Great Western network: at Dawlish extreme high tides washed away parts of the track foundations, and in Somerset, flooding at Athelney and Taunton as well as a landslip at Crewkerne made parts of the network impassable. Crewkerne has since re-opened with a 5mph speed limit in place through the affected area.
The adverts, which are expected to run from Tuesday, highlight where train travellers can go for the most up-to-date information and outline some of the steps taken to ease the inconvenience for customers as much as possible. This includes bringing in additional staff from other areas of First Great Western and other First Group companies, as well as ordering hundreds of additional coaches to help get customers to where they need to go.
First Great Western Managing Director Mark Hopwood said: "We appreciate customers' patience while Network Rail works for fix the damage caused by the heavy storms over the past week in the south west.
"We will be ready to run services once Network Rail confirms the routes are safe to run train through, but until then we know our customers want to know what we are doing to make it easier for them, and where they can get the latest information. This campaign Is designed to do just that."
The campaign replaces promotional adverts originally scheduled for the week ahead, which first Great Western have cancelled given the current disruption. Unfortunately it has been too late to stop a small number of the original adverts appearing, but all are expected to be replaced by the new campaign as soon as possible.
During the past week, Network Rail has had to close four areas of track on the Great Western network: at Dawlish extreme high tides washed away parts of the track foundations, and in Somerset, flooding at Athelney and Taunton as well as a landslip at Crewkerne made parts of the network impassable. Crewkerne has since re-opened with a 5mph speed limit in place through the affected area.
The adverts, which are expected to run from Tuesday, highlight where train travellers can go for the most up-to-date information and outline some of the steps taken to ease the inconvenience for customers as much as possible. This includes bringing in additional staff from other areas of First Great Western and other First Group companies, as well as ordering hundreds of additional coaches to help get customers to where they need to go.
First Great Western Managing Director Mark Hopwood said: "We appreciate customers' patience while Network Rail works for fix the damage caused by the heavy storms over the past week in the south west.
"We will be ready to run services once Network Rail confirms the routes are safe to run train through, but until then we know our customers want to know what we are doing to make it easier for them, and where they can get the latest information. This campaign Is designed to do just that."
The campaign replaces promotional adverts originally scheduled for the week ahead, which first Great Western have cancelled given the current disruption. Unfortunately it has been too late to stop a small number of the original adverts appearing, but all are expected to be replaced by the new campaign as soon as possible.