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Dominic Utton emails First Great Western for each delay | Dominic Utton emails First Great Western for each delay |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A train commuter became so angry at regular delays - he has pledged to write a complaining email every time his service is late. | A train commuter became so angry at regular delays - he has pledged to write a complaining email every time his service is late. |
And Dominic Utton, who travels from Oxford to work in London, has vowed to make the length of his rant correspond to the time he spent waiting. | And Dominic Utton, who travels from Oxford to work in London, has vowed to make the length of his rant correspond to the time he spent waiting. |
In one instance, he turned a 30-minute delay into a 1,000-word diatribe against First Great Western (FGW). | |
The rail firm's managing director said the line is being improved. | The rail firm's managing director said the line is being improved. |
Mr Utton, who has put all his emails together on a blog, said he began to write after becoming frustrated with the delays on his commute to work as a journalist for the News of the World. | |
Now working for The Sun, Mr Utton said he has been using the service for about a year and said he was being delayed by FGW about three times a week. | |
He said: "Every day the trains are delayed, I just got increasingly frustrated and so I thought I'd do something about it." | He said: "Every day the trains are delayed, I just got increasingly frustrated and so I thought I'd do something about it." |
So since the end of June Mr Utton has been writing to the managing director Mark Hopwood and the director of communication Sue Evans. | So since the end of June Mr Utton has been writing to the managing director Mark Hopwood and the director of communication Sue Evans. |
He said: "The length of my email would reflect the length of the delay and the idea is that I would waste their time just like they are wasting my time." | He said: "The length of my email would reflect the length of the delay and the idea is that I would waste their time just like they are wasting my time." |
'Completely amazed' | 'Completely amazed' |
Colleagues at work encouraged him to post the emails on a blog and after receiving some interest on Twitter his site has had more than 4,000 hits in the last couple of weeks. | Colleagues at work encouraged him to post the emails on a blog and after receiving some interest on Twitter his site has had more than 4,000 hits in the last couple of weeks. |
In one sarcastic email to Mr Hopwood he began: "Three minutes. 'Oh come on!' you're thinking. 'Give us a break! Cut us some slack! Three minutes? What's three minutes?'" | In one sarcastic email to Mr Hopwood he began: "Three minutes. 'Oh come on!' you're thinking. 'Give us a break! Cut us some slack! Three minutes? What's three minutes?'" |
The longest he has been delayed since June is 35 minutes when he wrote about 1,000 words. | The longest he has been delayed since June is 35 minutes when he wrote about 1,000 words. |
In total he has sent 11 emails and had nine responses from Mr Hopwood himself. | In total he has sent 11 emails and had nine responses from Mr Hopwood himself. |
"I was completely amazed I got a response. | "I was completely amazed I got a response. |
"I just thought I'd keep it up forever. For as long as I'm being delayed I thought I would just keep sending these letters. It's a kind of don't-get-mad-get-even situation." | "I just thought I'd keep it up forever. For as long as I'm being delayed I thought I would just keep sending these letters. It's a kind of don't-get-mad-get-even situation." |
Mr Hopwood acknowledged the Oxford-to-London line needs to improve saying the company was working hard with Network Rail. | Mr Hopwood acknowledged the Oxford-to-London line needs to improve saying the company was working hard with Network Rail. |
He added that work on the Cotswold line to put back double track removed in the 60s would see improvements to the service in September. | He added that work on the Cotswold line to put back double track removed in the 60s would see improvements to the service in September. |
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