Bella Cowler

Said the following about Bristol Temple Meads Fitters:

“Great Western Railway (GWR) is one of the biggest rail franchises in the UK, part of the First Group of companies, operating the Western network since 1996, rebranding ourselves as GWR in 2015. We employ over 6000 people across our network and we carry more than one and a half million customers over two million single journeys on 10,000 services every week. People are at the heart of our business and our ethos is that we are 'greater together'.

The team have supported me around the station and saved me time and money, where I may have had to organise private companies to attend. They have fixed a padlock for me in less than a minute which 3 other people tried to fix with no luck. This padlock was for a secure area, and a replacement would of took a week to arrive. With the fitters temporarily fixing the padlock, it meant the area was secure again until a new padlock arrived. Even after they fixed the padlock they would still check with me nearly every day that the padlock was still ok, and the area was still secure. This attitude showed me that they never just fixed it because I had asked, but that they had a genuine concern that the area was constantly secure for the safety of everyone.

I have also approached them about squeaky doors in the office, again asking if they could do anything to help so that the noise isn't going on for days till a contractor can come and sort it. A bit of WD40 and the squeak was gone (and they let me keep the rest in the can in case the squeak came back). Even though it is a little thing for them to help me with, it is a great relief to me as I didn't have to listen to the squeaking for days on end. Again, it was no problem for them to help me out. I would also like to nominate them for "dedicated to safety" in this category as well as everything they fix is to make sure us as staff and our passengers are kept free from danger and injuries.

Every day the station fitters work together in an ever changing and challenging environment. Nothing is ever to much a problem to them and they make everything they do look like a breeze. They always answer their phone promptly and courteously and are always on hand at a moment’s notice whether it is to fix a train, deal with accidents or just generally help me or other staff members out with issues around the station. I spoke to Bristol AOMs about how the station fitters help them on a day to day basis. The answer they gave me was “we are grateful that we have station fitters available at a drop of a hat and that us AOMs would struggle providing a service without them as trains would end up being cancelled”. The AOMs also commented that the station fitters are amazing at dealing with passenger injuries which frees them up to deal with the station train operating issues. I have spoken to some guards to see how the station fitters impact on their roles. The reply was “without the station fitters, trains could travel around with toilets out of order and trains heating/cooling systems not working properly for the whole service. When the station fitters can meet the train coming in and fix the problems in a few minutes this can elevate the pressure of angry passengers, which makes our job easier.”

The fitters are a small team but between them do an outstanding job. Without them trains may have to be cancelled and passengers delayed, yet they try their upmost to make sure this doesn't happen and to keep trains and passengers moving. The station is glad we have this wonderful team we can trust in, to help in any way they can, even if they don't see it as above and beyond their role, we do and are greatly appreciative.“