• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

GWR Shortage of Traincrew Weekend and During Week

Status
Not open for further replies.

cactustwirly

Established Member
Joined
10 Apr 2013
Messages
7,447
Location
UK
Anyone prepared to defend the complete horlicks of a service being served up by GWR/Network Rail today?

A new low on the level of service on the GW mainline. My sympathies with anyone trying to get to London or Twickenham today.

Agreed the service between London & Reading is an absolute joke this weekend, could SWR not having ran a limited stop Reading - Waterloo shuttle?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Shaw S Hunter

Established Member
Joined
21 Apr 2016
Messages
2,912
Location
Sunny South Lancs
If that was known it wouldn't have been so last minute for GWR. Last minute changes are frequent. But this seems to have been quite a change

While the need to make late "adjustments" to planned engineering arrangements is not exactly a purely recent phenomenon it does appear that the overall situation in that regard has gradually got steadily worse since Network Rail was declared a public sector body by the Treasury. Or is that just a matter of perception due to a greater public awareness of issues meaning they are being discussed more, especially here? Any thoughts, especially from those "stuck in the middle"...?
 

PHILIPE

Veteran Member
Joined
14 Nov 2011
Messages
13,472
Location
Caerphilly
While the need to make late "adjustments" to planned engineering arrangements is not exactly a purely recent phenomenon it does appear that the overall situation in that regard has gradually got steadily worse since Network Rail was declared a public sector body by the Treasury. Or is that just a matter of perception due to a greater public awareness of issues meaning they are being discussed more, especially here? Any thoughts, especially from those "stuck in the middle"...?

Network Rail Train Planning requires experienced staff and they could be lacking in numbers to be able to keep up to date with the work involved. Remember too that there are so many major Engineering Operations ongoing which only add to the volume of work.
 

Shaw S Hunter

Established Member
Joined
21 Apr 2016
Messages
2,912
Location
Sunny South Lancs
Network Rail Train Planning requires experienced staff and they could be lacking in numbers to be able to keep up to date with the work involved. Remember too that there are so many major Engineering Operations ongoing which only add to the volume of work.

But were things better when Network Rail was considered to be in the private sector? Has being in the public sector hindered the maintenance of proper staffing levels within the planning offices? I am simply curious to know whether the change from "private" to "public" had any effect. Are Network Rail staff having their focus diluted by the need to be more accountable to the DfT/Treasury? Or is it just about there being too much happening at once? If the latter that is arguably the fault of a previous group of politicians for over-committing on improvements, a suggestion that has been made at various times in recent years.
 

The Planner

Veteran Member
Joined
15 Apr 2008
Messages
15,838
Any last minute change is going to cause us problems and Im not sure experience would have made a huge amount of difference.
 

PHILIPE

Veteran Member
Joined
14 Nov 2011
Messages
13,472
Location
Caerphilly
HSS services not affected today, strange to say, just a couple of relatively minor issues. However, on the other hand, many Regional services cancelled or truncated in the Bristol, Westbury and Gloucester areas with the Golden Valley and Severn Beach routes particularly affected.
 

cactustwirly

Established Member
Joined
10 Apr 2013
Messages
7,447
Location
UK
HSS services not affected today, strange to say, just a couple of relatively minor issues. However, on the other hand, many Regional services cancelled or truncated in the Bristol, Westbury and Gloucester areas with the Golden Valley and Severn Beach routes particularly affected.

Probably because the HSS service is reduced, because of the Slough blockade.
 

Wilts Wanderer

Established Member
Joined
21 Nov 2016
Messages
2,463
Last weekend the HSS wasn't bad and I wrongly predicted this weekend would be carnage. Perhaps a corner is gradually being turned.
 

ATW158Xpress

Member
Joined
6 Dec 2016
Messages
287
The mess was really on regional services around Bristol especially on the Severn Beach line the worst hit.
 

jimm

Established Member
Joined
6 Apr 2012
Messages
5,230
Though in those cases all it takes is to be one or two people short for a shift and, for example, a lot of Swindon-Cheltenham trains have to be cancelled at one fell swoop.
 

tiptoptaff

Established Member
Joined
15 Feb 2013
Messages
2,983
Though in those cases all it takes is to be one or two people short for a shift and, for example, a lot of Swindon-Cheltenham trains have to be cancelled at one fell swoop.
Exactly. A typical diagram may have 2 full return trips GCR SWI CNM GCR and up to 4 or 5 Severn Beach/Avonmouths. Doesn't take a lot to uncover a lot of branch work
 

Wilts Wanderer

Established Member
Joined
21 Nov 2016
Messages
2,463
That is a throwback to the way in which traincrew are traditionally diagrammed for Sunday work, or rather, the timetable is written to squeeze every last drop of use out of the limited diagrams. Branch lines in particular tend to have timetables planned around using a single set of crew for an entire shift, as there areas opportunities to change crews between routes at hub locations (such as Bristol or Exeter) due to the thinner service. ‘‘Twas always thus.
 

Thunderer

Member
Joined
29 Nov 2013
Messages
429
Location
South Wales
The 16:55 Carmarthen to Paddington was cancelled between Swansea and Paddington last Sunday (13th May) because of a lack of an 800 trained driver - unit was 800033. On arrival at Swansea it coupled up with 800015 and they both formed the next service to Paddington (18:51 off Swansea)
 

davetheguard

Established Member
Joined
10 Apr 2013
Messages
1,807
It looks like the first train of the day (and of the 2018 Summer Sunday service) from Exeter to OKEHAMPTON has been cancelled this morning. According to realtimetrains it is "due to an issue with the train crew". We've already got day return tickets to Okehampton, and had been planning to travel on the second train of the day, with a reservation for lunch in a Dartmoor pub. I wonder if we're going to get there?
 
Last edited:

PHILIPE

Veteran Member
Joined
14 Nov 2011
Messages
13,472
Location
Caerphilly
It looks like the first train of the day (and the 2018 Summer Sunday service) from Exeter to OKEHAMPTON has been cancelled this morning. According to realtimetrains it is "due to an issue with the train crew". We've already got day return tickets to Okehampton, and had been planning to travel on the second train of the day, with a reservation for lunch in a Dartmoor pub. I wonder if we're going to get there?

Later re-instated but starting from St Davids
 

Kite159

Veteran Member
Joined
27 Jan 2014
Messages
19,156
Location
West of Andover
Shocking day on Journey Check so far, 21 cancelled trains & ~ 14 part cancellations

Enough is enough, time for the ORR to act, a nice big fine for First Group will probably get them to pull their boots up
 

Mag_seven

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Global Moderator
Joined
1 Sep 2014
Messages
9,994
Location
here to eternity
14 part cancellations

A lot of these "part cancellations" are in effect full cancellations as its the key part of the service that is cancelled e.g.

13:30 London Paddington to Carmarthen due 17:45 will be started from Swansea.
It will no longer call at London Paddington, Reading, Didcot Parkway, Swindon, Bristol Parkway, Newport (South Wales), Cardiff Central, Bridgend, Port Talbot Parkway and Neath.

16:32 Cheltenham Spa to Swindon due 17:33 will be terminated at Gloucester.
It will no longer call at Stonehouse, Stroud, Kemble and Swindon.
 

50031

Member
Joined
28 Aug 2013
Messages
168
Gloucester-Swindon is decimated today. Hardly anything until mid to late evening
 

jimm

Established Member
Joined
6 Apr 2012
Messages
5,230
Shocking day on Journey Check so far, 21 cancelled trains & ~ 14 part cancellations

Enough is enough, time for the ORR to act, a nice big fine for First Group will probably get them to pull their boots up

Please explain how "a nice big fine" is going solve anything.

The issues over Sunday working are well understood, as are the delays to the programme to train GWR crews on new/cascaded rolling stock - see back up this thread. In a number of the cancellations, e.g. Swindon-Gloucester shuttle and Plymouth-Gunnislake, that can be down to just one person, be it a driver or conductor, not being available for a shift, as was noted last weekend.

Things are improving on GWR - there were swathes of weekday cancellations as well earlier in the year due to crew issues - these are now increasingly rare unless some bit of infrastructure has broken and services and crews are all over the place as a result

There are currently 6 full cancellations and a dozen part-cancellations on Northern - which has not been immune from similar problems to GWR recently.

See https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/northern-rails-problems-in-lancashire.163590/

Should Northern get a not quite so big fine, so that they pull their socks up?

And there are 99 cancellations on Thameslink Great Northern at the moment....
 
Last edited:

davetheguard

Established Member
Joined
10 Apr 2013
Messages
1,807
Later re-instated but starting from St Davids

Pleased to say the train ran, we got our walk from Okehampton station up to Belstone village on Dartmoor, and lunch in the pub as planned. Always nice to wear a bit of rust off the rails on this line.
 

wbm00

Member
Joined
16 Oct 2012
Messages
29
Please explain how "a nice big fine" is going solve anything.

It will give them an incentive to provide even a basic level of customer service.

GWR are taking around three months to process delay compensation claims and issue cheques. They're also making silly mistakes where they initially claim there was no delay and thus no compensation due. They give nothing extra for their incompetence. Yet passengers who make an error with ticket purchases are penalised with immediate effect.

My view - it's time for GWR's franchise to be put out to pasture.
 

JN114

Established Member
Joined
28 Jun 2005
Messages
3,346
It will give them an incentive to provide even a basic level of customer service.

But the “basic level of customer service” wasn’t what the QP was referring to with fining them - they were suggesting they should be fined over ongoing traincrew issues; which as jimm has eloquently put multiple times - isn’t really under GWR’s control.

What is it actually going to achieve to rectify the situation? Not a lot. You say it incentivises inprovment - but things on the customer service side of things have improved vastly from the 9, 12 month waits exeperienced a year/18 months ago when customer services first migrated. The DfT have to be very careful getting the big stick out when an operator is quantifiably improving. Stripping them of the franchise over perceived customer service issues is unprecedented; and again I’m not really sure what it will achieve. A lot of GWR’s problems are rooted in the massive changes underway on their infrastructure. Avoiding the chaos of changing operator during serious infrastructure changes is precisely why, in the wake of the West Coast franchising fiasco the DfT chose a direct award. Any new operator would need to clear First group’s backlog; AND get their own customer service department up and running. Plus it could all very well trigger a legal circus.
 

wbm00

Member
Joined
16 Oct 2012
Messages
29
Stripping them of the franchise over perceived customer service issues
Your points make good sense - but for the avoidance of doubt - these are verified customer service issues. Not "perceived" customer service issues.
 

JN114

Established Member
Joined
28 Jun 2005
Messages
3,346
Your points make good sense - but for the avoidance of doubt - these are verified customer service issues. Not "perceived" customer service issues.

While I don’t doubt the timescales you state; good or bad customer service is a subjective matter. Certainly no guaranteed timescales for getting your refund to you appear in their passenger charter.
 

jimm

Established Member
Joined
6 Apr 2012
Messages
5,230
Your points make good sense - but for the avoidance of doubt - these are verified customer service issues. Not "perceived" customer service issues.

And for the avoidance of doubt, I wasn't talking about the operation of the delay compensation scheme - which has nothing to do with the availability of drivers and guards.
 

Furryanimal

Member
Joined
4 Jun 2018
Messages
156
Location
Cwmbran
Yesterday ,3rd June,staffing problems continued on GWR.Fortunately the first Newport to Swansea train is an Arriva-I remain frustrated i can't board a Cardiff bound from Cwmbran until nearly 11 on a Sunday-but there were already several GWR cancellations to and from Swansea.
My 1851 return service was cancelled but reinstated by the time I got to the station but the rear unit was locked due to a conductor shortage but only after we'd been allowed to board it causing a delay as we were forced to walk to the front of the train!
 

Mag_seven

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Global Moderator
Joined
1 Sep 2014
Messages
9,994
Location
here to eternity
Yesterday ,3rd June,staffing problems continued on GWR.Fortunately the first Newport to Swansea train is an Arriva-I remain frustrated i can't board a Cardiff bound from Cwmbran until nearly 11 on a Sunday-but there were already several GWR cancellations to and from Swansea.
My 1851 return service was cancelled but reinstated by the time I got to the station but the rear unit was locked due to a conductor shortage but only after we'd been allowed to board it causing a delay as we were forced to walk to the front of the train!

With all the attention on Northern and GTR GWR have managed to hide this issue in plain sight, though to be fair to GWR yesterday wasn't as bad as some recent weekends.
 

Kite159

Veteran Member
Joined
27 Jan 2014
Messages
19,156
Location
West of Andover
A brief look at journey check and it appears to be another bad Sunday. So far 65 outright cancelled trains (majority seem to be High Speed) with 14 part cancellations...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top