Recent poor performance on Tyne & Wear Metro

[jkkne]

Well this has been a week so far reminiscent of the DB Regio days!

Train failures all over the shop resulting in service suspensions and withdrawals, I’m guessing the heat may be blamed but since Newcastle hasn’t topped 23 yet, I’m guessing that’s a generous reason (along with some NR failures and an unfortunate bridge strike)

Yet again it’s the communication that has been woeful, from lack of announcements, incorrect email alerts, no communication to customers (or apparently gate line staff) to just general...lack of proactive or reactive Comms which just infuriates people.

 

[MetroCar4058]

Well this has been a week so far reminiscent of the DB Regio days!

Train failures all over the shop resulting in service suspensions and withdrawals, I’m guessing the heat may be blamed but since Newcastle hasn’t topped 23 yet, I’m guessing that’s a generous reason (along with some NR failures and an unfortunate bridge strike)

Yet again it’s the communication that has been woeful, from lack of announcements, incorrect email alerts, no communication to customers (or apparently gate line staff) to just general...lack of proactive or reactive Comms which just infuriates people.

I think sometimes you just have one of those days, regardless of who operates the system (as many appreciate now). It’s been an unlucky day.

I feel for staff on the system today, during periods of disruption it’s often difficult to get communication to work effectively, especially when staff don’t have signal on their company issued phone when underground and control are busy trying to execute the contingency plans and resolve the issue.

 

[ModernRailways]

I feel for staff on the system today, during periods of disruption it’s often difficult to get communication to work effectively, especially when staff don’t have signal on their company issued phone when underground and control are busy trying to execute the contingency plans and resolve the issue.

A lot of people forget DB actually performed better than Nexus are doing. DB were trying to pull off a full timetable, Nexus quickly sorted that out to make things look better for them when they took back over - as was also evident in the last month or two of DB's reign where the new timetable had been implemented.

Staff do have signal underground, if they don't then this needs taken up with IT.

The situation was changing quickly hence why staff had no idea what was happening. They didn't expect to suspend service MMT-HEW, but the faulty train wasn't able to be moved as quickly as they had hoped. As such the poo hit the fan and the call was made for the line suspension and for ticket acceptance on all GNE buses. They managed to move the train, but because of it being the middle of the peak, in the main core, and a service suspension around The Coast loop 30 minutes earlier it meant a messed up timetable just got worse. And when you've got trains stacked all trying to turn at Monument it just makes matters worse. Once the faulty train was clear of the line, trains were able to start running again but this was with major delays because they were all bunched up together. Thus leading to 20+ minute delays whilst trains made there way through and turned around early.

 

[Tetchytyke]

A "shortage of driver resource" tonight. On a warm sunny evening with England playing in the football.

Aye, who'd have seen that coming

 

[jkkne]

Another dismal performance this evening blamed on a few failures and erm... driver resources.

Struggling for drivers during an England World Cup game in a heatwave... surely a cynical coincidence *cough*

 

[jkkne]

The communications failures continue.

The Metro Twitter feed is not being monitored until further notice due to 'unforeseen circumstances'

Surely there's a Comms Manager or a Customer Director who can get off their backside and do something like any normal business?

 

[MetroCar4058]

The communications failures continue.

The Metro Twitter feed is not being monitored until further notice due to 'unforeseen circumstances'

Surely there's a Comms Manager or a Customer Director who can get off their backside and do something like any normal business?

Not a long term issue, staff shortage and training happening this week is the reason behind it.

Edit:
Looks like cover has been found now - honestly the social media team is amazing compared to only a year or so ago.

 

[jkkne]

Severe delays today across the network. 50 minutes on the Sunderland line due to... lack of trains.32 minute waits between trains at Monument at noon.

Di hope the 'trains" enjoy the England gane

Conical. Bring back DB Regio

 

[ModernRailways]

Severe delays today across the network. 50 minutes on the Sunderland line due to... lack of trains.32 minute waits between trains at Monument at noon.

Di hope the 'trains" enjoy the England gane

Conical. Bring back DB Regio

Staff morale is at its lowest it’s probably ever been. Nexus are all about the money and it shows. Drivers have no incentive to work extra hours and and help out and as such when there’s a match on drivers don’t want to come in on overtime, because they want to watch the game.

All CS grades are being shafted too, hence why there is a massive staff shortage on the network. Staff are leaving quicker than Metro can get new staff in. So they’re now starting to rely on Casual zero hour staff.

There’s also a new roster for the CSAs which no one is happy about, mainly because Metro require more staff to be able to run this new roster but Nexus aren’t wanting to recruit new staff.

 

[Frankfurt]

Lack of trains = Lack of drivers. Union's rightly complained that it isn't right to blame drivers and place them directly in the firing line of understandably p*ssed off passengers. Drivers work their contracted hours and as said above with no incentive why would they wish to work overtime, especially when they are utterly fed up.

Drivers are growing more and more bemused and as a result are now leaving in their numbers, a few retiring and the majority off to other tocs & focs. They are losing many years of experience and are set to lose a lot more in the coming months. More than a dozen drivers currently having received job offers, or in a holding pool awaiting a possible start date, not to mention the many dozens applying elsewhere and actively seeking to get out.

A stagnated salary, being the worst in the country for train drivers by some margin, not the greatest of conditions to match either compared with many other tocs/focs. The constant pressure, added to by constantly failing trains and infrastructure. Directors and managers lacking in leadership, totally incapable and clearly inept at proactively sorting out the problems on the system - of course hindered by lack of funding. Anti social behaviour rife on the system as well having a negative impact.

The service will get worse for passengers unfortunately.

 

[jkkne]

I do feel for the drivers. It’s obvious sometimes they just don’t know or don’t have the answers and Metros social media direction is...shall we say coy and not overly defensive for its employees.

More failures over the past few days
- the recurring Gateshead track circuit problems (I believe a forum member on here in another thread has raised this one a few times)
- overhead wire issues between Wallsend and Monkseaton

NECA and the local rag pummelled DB for months but Nexus seem to be getting away with it. Anti social behaviour is on the rise, failures on the rise, communications getting worse, key stations looking awful (Monument is an embarrassment) and apparant staff malady.

Still...new trains....

 

[ModernRailways]

I do feel for the drivers. It’s obvious sometimes they just don’t know or don’t have the answers and Metros social media direction is...shall we say coy and not overly defensive for its employees.

NECA and the local rag pummelled DB for months but Nexus seem to be getting away with it. Anti social behaviour is on the rise, failures on the rise, communications getting worse, key stations looking awful (Monument is an embarrassment) and apparant staff malady.

Metros social media moved into Gosforth Control Centre whereas they were based at the depot originally - it's mainly all part of a massive change coming - so they have one of the top managers breathing down their neck the entire time they are there. I don't get into control often, but from the rumours in the depot is that the social media team will be going, but in the process social media will begin 24/7.

Nexus are public. Therefore they don't have as much pressure. DB were considerably better than Nexus at running the show. Nexus don't have a clue what they're doing and are starting to get too involved with day to day running of Metro again. A lot of the issues you raise are simply down to staffing. Anti-social behaviour is because, as mentioned, there are more staff leaving than Nexus are hiring. Failures is down to the age of a lot of things and in some cases poor maintenance, communications again is staffing, stations looking awful is just not enough funding to modernise/refurbish them, but Monument is likely going to be last station to be refurbished from what I know due to the amount of asbestos.

 

[MetroCar4058]

rumours in the depot is that the social media team will be going, but in the process social media will begin 24/7

Merging with another desk into a 24/7 desk but not a fully confirmed start date.

I’d say Gateshead was also a strong contender for the amount of asbestos.

 

[ModernRailways]

Merging with another desk into a 24/7 desk but not a fully confirmed start date.

First week of August is the rumour. Not sure what is public of this, but the first weekend of August will be a system shutdown whilst the control centre is replaced and upgraded.

 

[MetroCar4058]

First week of August is the rumour. Not sure what is public of this, but the first weekend of August will be a system shutdown whilst the control centre is replaced and upgraded.

I’d heard about that, although I’m unsure if any appointments have been made to the new role. Should all be interesting with the upcoming changes!

 

[142094]

I do feel for the drivers. It’s obvious sometimes they just don’t know or don’t have the answers and Metros social media direction is...shall we say coy and not overly defensive for its employees.

The way the organisation is set up, you often have only two or three controllers (in NR terms signallers) to look after the whole system. One train fails, that means that is one controller busy talking to that driver to sort it out. Soon as trains start backing up behind, as per the rule book drivers have to contact the controller to find out what is going on. So that means the other one/two controllers are now busy, every other driver who cannot contact control has no idea what is going on apart from the fact that they are stuck at a red signal. Then of course Facebook and Twitter gets updated and the announcements and boards on the platforms change, so there the driver is twiddling their thumbs knowing nothing about what is happening whilst the rest of the train has already been told that service is suspended etc. Been happening for years and won't change, even with a new traffic management system in place.

As Frankfurt has said, you now have a lot of experienced staff retiring or going elsewhere, and that includes staff at the depot. So the ones left are either coming up to retirement age anyway, ones who couldn't move across to other companies due to their safety records, and ones who have joined in the past couple of years who still aren't experienced enough. Plus the fact that most of the people they promote to management level are incompetent and only move up the ladder due to family connections or being mates with other managers.

 

[jkkne]

At the risk of becoming parrot-like

Another service suspension due to a failed train this morning from Gateshead Stadium to Jesmond. Queues for the Go Ahead buses at Heworth were extremely long and the only route that has acceptance to Jesmond was the 33 Nexus Bus which is operated by a tiny Solo minibus (and rather full!)

nexus have said they are now testing the area before resuming service? Guessing the train may have damaged something? All rather cryptic.

 

[GeordieO]

Staff morale is at its lowest it’s probably ever been. Nexus are all about the money and it shows. Drivers have no incentive to work extra hours and and help out and as such when there’s a match on drivers don’t want to come in on overtime, because they want to watch the game.

All CS grades are being shafted too, hence why there is a massive staff shortage on the network. Staff are leaving quicker than Metro can get new staff in. So they’re now starting to rely on Casual zero hour staff.

There’s also a new roster for the CSAs which no one is happy about, mainly because Metro require more staff to be able to run this new roster but Nexus aren’t wanting to recruit new staff.

Hello, I have just stumbled across this - and my enthusiasm of being offered a job as a Customer Service Advisor (is that what CSA is above?) has been somewhat diminished by this less than positive view. I think from the outside, Metro seems a great place to work! I can't wait to get started really

 

[jkkne]

Hello, I have just stumbled across this - and my enthusiasm of being offered a job as a Customer Service Advisor (is that what CSA is above?) has been somewhat diminished by this less than positive view. I think from the outside, Metro seems a great place to work! I can't wait to get started really

Tbh, the CSAs always seem happy enough (though not particularly Customer focused) but imagine the amount of frustration they take and the lack of Comms must be hard.

I’m sure you’ll love it. It is what one makes of it. Like every job really.

Saying that, in terms of performance and the service, as far more knowledgeable folks on this thread have already said and predicted, things are getting worse.

More CSAs however is positive. Deploying them onto the system would be nice....

 

[ModernRailways]

Hello, I have just stumbled across this - and my enthusiasm of being offered a job as a Customer Service Advisor (is that what CSA is above?) has been somewhat diminished by this less than positive view. I think from the outside, Metro seems a great place to work! I can't wait to get started really

First up, congratulations! Staff morale across all grades is at rock bottom, a lot of it now seems to be Nexus vs Metro. Nexus is all about the money. However, what jkkne says below I'd also agree with. All of the CS staff stick together, and from the CS staff I know they all tend to get along well and try and keep high spirits even when getting shafted. The CS management all seem to be alright with one or two exceptions. Ultimately, it's a great team you work with, it's just a shame about the management - Nexus management more specifically, most of Metros management is fine with one or two exceptions.

A CSA is a Customer Service Advisor, you'll then have your CSS, and CSM which are Customer Service Supervisor, and Customer Service Manager respectively. You'll then have all the control room staff (I forget the abbreviations as they keep changing their job titles but these are what I've always used), Station Desk, Power Desk, System Desk, and then the MDM (Metro Duty Manager).

Saying that, in terms of performance and the service, as far more knowledgeable folks on this thread have already said and predicted, things are getting worse.

More CSAs however is positive. Deploying them onto the system would be nice....

Train faults are getting ridiculous and there simply isn't enough staff in the depot to cope, but Nexus aren't wanting to spend the money to fix these issues and try and help out. Even the RHTT failed yesterday.

There aren't going to be more CSAs, they're just trying to replace the exodus of staff leaving hence why it's the fourth intake of CSAs in under a year (and one of those was an intake of 17). Same with the drivers, there are so many leaving, the issue is you can't push through a driving school with just two weeks of training like you can CSAs.

 

[GeordieO]

Thanks both for the comments. From a user point of view, there always seems to be something wrong... faulty metros, or most recently, faulty display boards!

However, I am glad to hear that CSA's are a good team to be involved with, and certainly I found my interviewers to be receptive, nice and genuine. Let's hope my positivity continues once I start in January... new year, new beginnings and all that!

Train faults are getting ridiculous and there simply isn't enough staff in the depot to cope, but Nexus aren't wanting to spend the money to fix these issues and try and help out. Even the RHTT failed yesterday.

There aren't going to be more CSAs, they're just trying to replace the exodus of staff leaving hence why it's the fourth intake of CSAs in under a year (and one of those was an intake of 17). Same with the drivers, there are so many leaving, the issue is you can't push through a driving school with just two weeks of training like you can CSAs.

 

[jkkne]

A complete systemwide shutdown today due to a signalling and communications failure. No replacement services operating, local buses struggling under the strain.

According to the Sort out the Metro Facebook group, this fancy new control system has been responsible for 21% of delays since August.

Nexus...wow

 

[14xxDave]

The system was designed and installed by Resonate, formally DeltaRail. I hope Nexus included a clause in the contract to reclaim the losses when things went wrong but I'm not holding my breath!

 

[Paul_10]

A complete systemwide shutdown today due to a signalling and communications failure. No replacement services operating, local buses struggling under the strain.

According to the Sort out the Metro Facebook group, this fancy new control system has been responsible for 21% of delays since August.

Nexus...wow

Another early system shut down within a year, for different reasons of course but yet more embarracing and sad news really for the Metro system. The new system is really poor though, I'm sure we will see the long term benefits eventually but it just looks embarracing when you constantly see the platform boards displaying the wrong information, coded destionations such as PWSS and Depp appearing which means nothing to the general public and imo, we don't need peak train destinations appearing before they leave any sidings(e.g Pelaw/Regent Centre) because it seems to make the platform boards even more daft with trains showing as due before they even leave the sidings. More than ideal just to have them at stations outside the core area.