I very much think the location is a big part of staff attitude and knowledge. I think it's reflects on on train staff too, and is also found in other customer service in the area in general. I don't want to sound racist, but I do find that areas where "none natives" make up a large portion of the customer facing workforce the quality is typically lower. For all the talk of "customer care training" and the like, language and cultural differences do seem to come into it. I think culture is the main issue really, which is why it's not really racist as it's not a matter of race as much as culture. Some cultures take great pride in customer care, others don't see it as important, British culture is probably somewhere in the middle. Oviously "natives" also can refer to the area as much as the country, as someone who has lived in an area for many years is going to have more knowledge than someone who has recently moved there, regardless of if they have moved from the other side of the country or the other side of the world.
I think the size of stations also comes into it. When employing staff for a small station you want well rounded types who can do a variety of jobs (at my local station it's not uncommon to see staff emptying bins or sweeping the platforms between dispatching trains). At a large station though staff are likely to be much more specialised, and there will be many who are not involed in or trained for dealing with the public. That doesn't stop passengers asking them questions though. The average customer does seem to expect to be able to ask any question of anyone who looks like they "work here" and even if they don't know they will no someone who does. Especially with a large station, the chances are a lot of the staff won't even work for the railways, but a company contracted by the railways for that particular job. Cleaners, security etc are all good examples. I think we all do fall into that trap too of seeing someone in a uniform and expecting some great knowledge of things well beyond their normal work. Then again, I think another important point is that in the past it was much safer to assume that someone who "works here" also "lives around here", yet these days it's not the case, so local knowledge is more often lacking.
The 21:30 XC service to Bristol TM apparently did not exist, and disappeared off the timing screens at 21:32 (with them having displayed it as "arrived" from five minutes beforehand. And guess what... No ATW staff at all. What a surprise. Hub station? Ha!
