FIRST Great Western has defended its procedures following a damning Channel 4 documentary this week.

Monday’s episode of Dispatches saw an undercover reporter join the train operator and go to a number of different areas in the company.

The programme appeared to show staff saying FGW would not actively sell split-tickets unless asked.

This is where a passenger breaks a journey into more affordable parts by buying tickets to stations on the way to their destination, Yesterday the company, which runs services from London to the south west, issued a strong defence.

A spokesman said: “The conversations shown regarding split tickets accurately reflect the rules every train operator must follow in terms of offering and selling split tickets as outlined in the Retail Standards Guide, which all train operators must follow.

“We agree that these rules – and many other rules that have their roots in the British Rail era – need reviewing to make the ticket buying process simpler and clearer for customers.

“As part of the Rail Delivery Group, we are working with other train operators and Government on how to progress this further.”

The company was also accused of running multiple timetables, one public and one private, that allowed it to massage the amount of trains which were late and limit the compensation it paid out.

“In regards to compensation, this is not based on achieving performance targets, but on trains delayed by 30 or 60 minutes,” the spokesman said.

“The additional one or two minute margins would therefore have a tiny impact on reducing compensation paid.

“Extending journey times beyond what is operationally required is poor customer service, costs us revenue, and would contravene the franchise agreement which is set and monitored by the Department For Transport.

“There is simply no other incentive for us to do this than to make sure we get customers to where they need to go at the time we have said they will arrive.”

Swindon is home to the company’s control room, which also came in from criticism by a number of First Great Western staff, who said it can often take them an hour to get through, meaning relevant information cannot be passed on, much to the irritation of passengers.

The spokesman said: “Providing accurate and timely information during periods of disruption is an issue the rail industry as a whole takes very seriously.

“We have issued colleagues with smartphones and tablets, as well as providing additional dedicated resources to help colleagues get accurate information to passengers quicker.

“We have also developed a social media team to update customers.”