How local is a local station group?What if they manage a local station group ?
I'm not sure that every single station should have their own local Manager.
How local is a local station group?
Just wondered after reading an article on the Hull Daily Mail website which quoted a councillor saying the Hull Paragon manager is based in Huddersfield.
From my experience of working as a contractor at various stations around London, you have a station supervisor for the day to day running on stations, and a main manager for looking after a group of stations. At Network Rail managed stations you normally book on at the station reception, along with all visitors, contractors, retail staff. They also deal with other day to day things like correct documentation of contractors, fire alarms, security etc. TOC managed stations like Marylebone and Fenchurch St contractors book on at the information desk on the main concourse, who also seem to deal with most things station-related.
Rightly or wrongly, the lack of a local manager has been linked to issues at the station such as the really poor state of the (virtually new) toilets and waiting room, the the fact that two of the four new retail units have been empty since they were built.
What would a resident manager at a station, even a relatively big one like Hull, do that they can't do from somewhere else or by being mobile?
The station manager who manages my local station also manages Didcot Parkway, Oxford (and the stations between), and the Cotswold Line. Quite a large area! If that is good for her/GWR, I think she should stay there. Seems to work - all the stations work well and look somewhat presentable. ()
-Peter
I don't think I was complaining in my post... And I don't see the point in your post. Just saying that there is a manager who manages (as is her job title) the Cotswold Line, Oxford, Radley, Culham, Appleford, and Didcot Parkway.But there is a deputy, whose main focus is overseeing the Cotswold Line stations, and there are all of 10 miles between the two big stations at Oxford and Didcot - slightly different from 75 miles between Huddersfield and Hull.
I think the empty retail units add to the perception that nobody cares about the station, or that it isn’t a priority. Perhaps a locally based manager would be in a better position to raise these issues centrally? I’m not sure one way or the other, just reflecting the local debate.I would have thought that a local manager would be responsible for the state of station facilities, but not for finding retail occupants - that sounds to me like something that would be more centrally managed.
Presumably there's some kind of duty manager at any given time in a station the size of Hull, even if there isn't a dedicated local individual with the job title "Station Manager"? There must be somebody who's expected to step up and co-ordinate a response in the event of some kind of incident?
But they are adjacent on the NRE alphabetical list of stations.... The position of Huddersfield and Hull sharing the same manager does sound daft though.
Hull used to have a dedicated station manager based in Hull. When he moved on a year or two ago, the current share with Huddersfield position came in. There’s been much criticism of it locally, not least during the locking of one of the entrances earlier this year.
Rightly or wrongly, the lack of a local manager has been linked to issues at the station such as the really poor state of the (virtually new) toilets and waiting room, the the fact that two of the four new retail units have been empty since they were built.
I don't think I was complaining in my post... And I don't see the point in your post. Just saying that there is a manager who manages (as is her job title) the Cotswold Line, Oxford, Radley, Culham, Appleford, and Didcot Parkway.
-Peter
OK.My point, which I though was pretty obvious, was that the titular 'station manager' has precious little actual day-to-day involvement with what happens at station along the Cotswold Line. Same applies elsewhere on GWR as well.
There is, of course, a local 'duty station manager' at all stations, at all times, whilst they are open.
I would love to know where these ever-present duty station managers have been hiding at any number of open stations I have been at over the years.
No there isnt.There is, of course, a local 'duty station manager' at all stations, at all times, whilst they are open
I must tell the single member of staff on duty at my local station of his (and it's invariably a him, although there are several of them) promotion.No there isnt.
As somebody from outside of the railwasy that was my reaction. I know that I have worked in companies where "manager" means that you are on a particular pay grade and others where it simply means that you have some supervisory responsibility. Nobody who has posted seems able to answer the underlying question, is there normally somebody on site at Hull, and at similar stations, who can take ownership of issues and direct other staff regardless of actual job title?I suspect there will be a miscommunication. I bet one person means the person with day to day responsibility for the staff while the TOC means the person who "owns" the station