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ARE there enough train crew?
As at 8th November 2024 16:02 GMT
 
ARE there enough train crew?
Posted by grahame at 08:35, 6th October 2024
 
Discussion point ...

"There ARE enough train crew, so don't worry about it.  And we can cope with the need for catching up on training. We can cope with the requirement of a third of them not to include Sunday in the working week. We can cope with them not wanting to work overtime because they have just received £12,000 gross in backpay. We can cope with the extra crew needed for extra duties because of engineering works. We can cope with crew off sick. And we can cope with little local shortages which are often only 2 or 3 people.”  I am paraphrasing what we were told last week

Problem is - multiples of those issues occur at the same time and when that happens you have demonstrably not been coping unless you consider the degree of cancellations we are getting to be acceptable. On a good day it works.  Here's a selection from Sunday 6th October - there are 18 cancellations as I write and 8 other "train service update" which is a euphemism for "cancelled for part of the journey", a.k.a. cancelled as far as people travelling from, to or through those stations are concerned.  And knowing (and reminded by GWR) that each driver drives multiple trains in a day ...

07:45 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 09:25
07:45 Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington due 09:25 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

09:21 Plymouth to Penzance due 11:08
09:21 Plymouth to Penzance due 11:08 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

10:35 London Paddington to Paignton due 13:45
10:35 London Paddington to Paignton due 13:45 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

12:15 Gloucester to Swindon due 13:03
12:15 Gloucester to Swindon due 13:03 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

18:09 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central due 21:29
18:09 Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff Central due 21:29 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

19:35 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads due 20:20
19:35 Severn Beach to Bristol Temple Meads due 20:20 will be cancelled.
This is due to a shortage of train crew.

Does the odd cancellation actually matter?  Are we at a level where this is realistic or and our expectations are too high? I have a great deal of sympathy with "control" who make the difficult decisions of which services to cut. Do they have sufficient of the right tools in their armoury to do the right job and do the systems that adapt at times slower than the speed of a snail - or not at all - help them?

I was out and about yesterday and from what I saw it was mostly a good day ... but did it really need things like trains at 17:35 and 17:38 to Gloucester from Temple Meads?   2 trains an hour Bristol to Exeter leaving 10 minutes apart?   Staff checking tickets lots of times (and on trains from barriered station) but the first time I saw a catering trolley was at 17:20.

I am able to withstand the odd cancellation where there is another train a bit behind, and I laugh off the lac of catering as I sip from the flask I have brought with me.  I am not averse to persuading someone to let me sit in a seat that was previously occupied by their things, and I am quite happy to help the couple at the remote and unstaffed station of Trowbridge who have found themselves accidentally there because of miscommunication and need to make sure they don't compound the problem going off to and even wronger place.  But I worry when I read "I no longer use my local station because the service is unreliable" from someone who's been a keen advocate and user for many years, or I talk with another ex-regular who in his midlife is learning to drive because his employment requires reliable attendance which has been stretched to put it mildly this year.


Re: ARE there enough train crew?
Posted by fintan_stack at 09:30, 6th October 2024
 
They're aren't enough traincrew full stop.

There will be a large exodus of rail staff of all grades after the back pay is paid.

Time plus 20% for station staff or time plus 25% for traincrew will not get people to come to work on a Sunday when there's "easier" overtime in the week even if it's only flat rate as it is in ticket offices.

There are GWR managers systematically working trains on Sundays for years, wouldn't they be better served recruiting and training new staff ?

Your example about two train in three minutes yesterday to Gloucester though is only because of CrossCountry Plymouth to the north terminating short due to engineering works.

Re: ARE there enough train crew?
Posted by Timmer at 09:59, 6th October 2024
 
I think we have to be resigned to the fact that travelling on GWR on Sundays, Saturdays too at times, is a lottery as to whether your train will be cancelled and it isn’t going to change. It’s been this way ever since I joined this forum back in 2006.

One quick look at SWR’s Journeycheck page shows no cancellations involving train crew shortages and this is often the case whenever I’ve looked.

Today it’s the turn of Weston-super-Mare and the Severn Beach line to bear the bulk of the cancellations and short running, the latter particularly bad later on today unless someone can be found to operate trains on this line.

Re: ARE there enough train crew?
Posted by brooklea at 14:51, 6th October 2024
 
And not a problem unique to GWR.

This taken from the Northern railway website today;

We advise customers to check their journey before travelling in the North West - Sunday 6 October

Short notice cancellations are expected in the North West on Sunday 6 October 2024 – please check before travelling.

Due to train crew being unavailable we are advising customers DO NOT TRAVEL on the following route(s):

Manchester Victoria – Stalybridge
Preston – Colne
Manchester Victoria  – Chester
Manchester Piccadilly – Stoke on Trent
 

We are also expecting high numbers of cancellations on the following routes. We advise you check your train close to the time of travel and don't rely on the last services of the day for these routes; 

Manchester Piccadilly – Crewe
Manchester Victoria - Southport
Windermere – Oxenholme
Wigan - Preston
We encourage everyone to plan ahead and check journeys before travelling, particularly last trains of the day which may be earlier than usual and may be cancelled at short notice.

If you do travel, please leave yourself plenty of time to do so and don't rely on last services.

Trains currently showing may not run, our control teams are working to update the train plan but you should check closer to the time of travel.

Neither is it just a one-off, as evidenced by the on-going ticket acceptance advice further down the page;

Ticket Acceptance

Mutual ticket acceptance is currently in place for routes in the North West, affected by Sunday cancellations.

Ticket acceptance means that you can use your ticket on the next service, even if it’s with another train operator listed below, if;

Your Northern train has been cancelled,
and no other Northern train departs on your route within an hour of the scheduled time.
This agreement is currently only valid for Sunday travel in the North West, beginning 22 September 2024, and will be reviewed.

If you have a Northern ticket and your train is cancelled, you can use your ticket on a later Northern service that day (as long as the route is the same).

Please remember to check if an alternative Northern service departs within an hour of any cancelled services, before attempting to use other operators.

The routes and operators include;

Transpennine Trains:

Liverpool – Manchester
Liverpool – Preston
Manchester – Stalybridge
Manchester – Stockport – Sheffield
Oxenholme – Preston – Manchester – Manchester Airport

TFW:

Manchester – Chester, Manchester – Crewe

Recently, our performance and reliability have not been up to scratch and for that we are sorry. We are working hard to improve service reliability.

Re: ARE there enough train crew?
Posted by Timmer at 15:07, 6th October 2024
 
Indeed, Northern is far worse than GWR. How they rejoiced when Northern became government run. Nothings changed though has it? Hence why I don’t think anything will change when GWR eventually becomes state run. The current problems will just be carried over.

Talking of GWR, I see since my last look at JC around 10am this morning that the cancellation list has grown and the usual cancellations in both directions on the London to Southwest line have appeared. It’s the same every weekend.

There’s clearly a real staffing problem in the Southwest in particular. I keep saying they need to redo the weekend timetables for this line. Be realistic and produce a timetable that you can reliably offer passengers. It’s quite clear GWR cannot deliver the current weekend timetables.

Re: ARE there enough train crew?
Posted by grahame at 15:26, 6th October 2024
 
There’s clearly a real staffing problem in the Southwest in particular. I keep saying they need to redo the weekend timetables for this line. Be realistic and produce a timetable that you can reliably offer passengers. It’s quite clear GWR cannot deliver the current weekend timetables.

That was the bargain we made when we agreed to forgo the two extra round trips on Saturdays. We expressed a community preference for 7 reliable round trips rather than a timetable of 9 which was unreliable because of cancellations on the day.   Sadly, we have been short changed and perhaps taken for fools.  Services were indeed cut to 7 in the timetable, but take a look at the record over the last few months on those 7 are just as unreliable as the 9 were.  I know this is part of a pattern, but this sort of thing makes it very hard to trust what we are told / promised.

Re: ARE there enough train crew?
Posted by brooklea at 08:54, 7th October 2024
 
One quick look at SWR’s Journeycheck page shows no cancellations involving train crew shortages and this is often the case whenever I’ve looked.

It does happen sometimes on SWR; this morning on Journey Check...

Cancellations to services between London Waterloo and Reading
Due to a shortage of train drivers between London Waterloo and Reading fewer trains are able to run.
What's Going On:
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled. Disruption is expected until 13:00 07/10.
What We're Doing About It:
We have been informed of a shortage of train drivers between London Waterloo and Reading. This means that fewer trains are able to run between London Waterloo and Reading.

To assist you with your journey your ticket will be accepted, at no extra cost to yourself, on the following services:
-London Underground Lines from London Waterloo to Paddington.
-Great Western Railway from Wokingham to Reading in both directions.
-Great Western Railway from Paddington to Reading in both directions.
-Elizabeth Line from Paddington to Reading in both directions.
-Reading Buses 3 between Reading and Wokingham
-Reading Buses 4 and X4 between Reading - Earley - Winnersh - Wokingham - Bracknell
-Reading Buses 500 between Reading and Winnersh Triangle
-White Bus Services 01 between Ascot - Sunningdale - Windsor
-White Bus Services 500 between Staines - Egham - Virginia Water - Sunningdale - Bagshot - Camberley - Frimley
-Reading Buses Flight Line 703 between Bracknell - Ascot - Windsor
For further information or onward travel advice please speak to a member of staff or use a station help point.
We are very sorry for any delay that this may cause to your journey.

 
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