November strike action on National Rail suspended - impact on next week's service

[CentralTrainer]

Avanti also said the published restrictions timetable will remain for tomorrow:

Avanti West Coast
@AvantiWestCoast
·
We are pleased that the RMT has called off its strike action for Saturday 5, Monday 7, & Wednesday 9 November. Due to the short notice, it’s not possible to make changes to our timetable on these days & we advise customers to check their journey before they travel. - Sama

 

[Graham H]

Nothing in RTT at all for my local station tomorrow. We get a zero service on strike days. Not sure the "employers 'see sense'" comment is helpful in negotiations assuming that was really said and isnt media hype.

 

[cambsy]

I have read on BBC website, that both Sat 5th and Mon 7th strike timetable, will be running, so only travel if necessary,but great news strike suspended.

 

[CentralTrainer]

LNER: We need to review our plans in reaction to this announcement, please bear with us at this time whilst we review what this means to our timetables and service levels. ^Sam

East Mids - no change to tomorrow:


EMR
@EastMidRailway
Unfortunately it is too short notice to reinstate our full timetable tomorrow as the announcement from trade unions that strikes are suspended is very recent, our amended timetable will still be in place as originally advertised ^PB

 

[HamworthyGoods]

Really? On the GWR service I’m on they TM just announced all GWR services will run as usual. Wrong information?

Just before we got off we were talking to him and he told us he’s been told he has to work tomorrow now.

He’ll be booking on to work as usual but that’s probably about as far as it’ll go.

Tim Shoveller, Network Rail’s chief negotiator, said: “It’s welcome news that the RMT has called off its strikes but the very late notice means that services for tomorrow cannot be reinstated and will remain extremely limited, and while we, and our train company partners, will work without pause over the weekend, there will be limited ability to change the ‘strike timetable’ for Monday.

 

[SJ21]

GWR still has a very limited service tomorrow, with no service for quite a few areas still. Also claiming 'significant disruption will last until Sunday, though I must admit I have travelled the day after a strike before and haven't found it too bad

 

[Thirteen]

I presume the Tube strikes on the 10th will still be going ahead. Are they different negotiations?

That's a different dispute over jobs, pensions and conditions with TfL.

 

[londonbridge]

Presumably all tomorrows Grand Centrals will still be cancelled.

 

[CentralTrainer]

Presumably all tomorrows Grand Centrals will still be cancelled.

On their Twitter account:

"As yet we have not been advised. I am sure the Train Planning Team are currently looking into this. The website will be updated once information is available. ^JM"

 

[yorksrob]

For passengers, if you've made plans for tomorrow, probably wise to stick with them, but enjoy the prospect of a potential resolution !

 

[Mojo]

The TfL strikes I assume are still going ahead as that dispute is not Government related.

There’s no TfL strike; it’s just London Underground, and yes that still is going ahead.

 

[Thirteen]

There’s no TfL strike; it’s just London Underground, and yes that still is going ahead.

London Overground are involved with the 10th November as well IIRC.

 

[Huntergreed]

Avanti also said the published restrictions timetable will remain for tomorrow:

Avanti West Coast
@AvantiWestCoast
·
We are pleased that the RMT has called off its strike action for Saturday 5, Monday 7, & Wednesday 9 November. Due to the short notice, it’s not possible to make changes to our timetable on these days & we advise customers to check their journey before they travel. - Sama

Tomorrow I understand, but Monday and Wednesday is just a lack of effort!

 

[MikeWM]

Well, that's good news, and understandable that it is rather too late to change much tomorrow.

I'd hope something could be worked out for some reasonable improvements for Monday's service though - closing everything down at 1730 as on previous strike days would seem rather unnecessary. Even if it was a significantly reduced service from the norm, it seems reasonable to expect that *something* would be running into the evening.

 

[zwk500]

Tomorrow I understand, but Monday and Wednesday is just a lack of effort!

NR publish the timetables at around 1600 daily Mon-Fri, with upload then done overnight into the rest of the systems. Reverting a timetable is quite a lengthy process as there's thousands of changes to be processed and so you'd need to find enough of the appropriate planning and Systems support staff to come in on Saturday at 12 hour's notice and fix the timetable to change it for monday. Bear in mind many of the staff have already been putting in overtime on weekends to try and get DEC22 fixed.

Wednesday should be possible though. I expect control are going to be very busy from now until Wednesday putting schedules back in.

 

[SWT_USER]

Out of interest, why is it too late to run a normal service tomorrow and Monday?

Presumably a normal service is running today, and now there is not strike it could just roll in to tomorrow like it does any other week.

 

[gazzaa2]

I cant imagine anything but a strike timetable for tomorrow, maybe even next week?

So the staff will get paid but the rail industry is effectively ground to a half anyway through next week? Crafty from the unions to call it off this late.

Not that you can tell the difference between a strike time table and a normal one anymore.

 

[Bald Rick]

To confirm:

Saturday - strike timetable for all TOCs

Monday - strike timetable for all TOCs, with a handful of exceptions who may be able to run more services

Tuesday - late start (as per normal after a strike timetable), with some exceptions

Wednesday - intention is to be back to normal timetable, but again there may be some operators who are unable to do this.


Interesting that RMT left it so late to call it off, when TSSA and Unite called off on Tuesday.

 

[Watershed]

Thanks. Appreciate this is new news. Is it likely that just a strike timetable will run anyway?

I'm wondering what my chances are of making it from London to Nottingham via Peterboro and back which wasn't possible under the strike service.

Tomorrow (Saturday)? None, the timetable will be the strike timetable.

How do the TOC use the staff turning up for work when there are few or no trains?

They won't. And so the RMT has ensured a huge deal of disruption without staff losing any pay, and whilst getting positive press out of it.

Cynic, me? Never!

 

[Bantamzen]

It's a clever, if somewhat cynical move by the unions. Call off the strikes at the last possible moment, send all the crews in to work as normal knowing full well that it won't be a normal service.

So the staff will get paid but the rail industry is effectively ground to a half anyway through next week? Crafty from the unions to call it off this late.

Not that you can tell the difference between a strike time table and a normal one anymore.

Just seen your post after posting above, it is crafty and most or the public won't se through it

 

[gazzaa2]

Interesting that RMT left it so late to call it off, when TSSA and Unite called off on Tuesday.

That way they cause maximum disruption but their members don't lose any pay.

Sick of this nonsense now.

 

[zwk500]

Out of interest, why is it too late to run a normal service tomorrow and Monday?

See post #46

 

[Failed Unit]

NR publish the timetables at around 1600 daily Mon-Fri, with upload then done overnight into the rest of the systems. Reverting a timetable is quite a lengthy process as there's thousands of changes to be processed and so you'd need to find enough of the appropriate planning and Systems support staff to come in on Saturday at 12 hour's notice and fix the timetable to change it for monday. Bear in mind many of the staff have already been putting in overtime on weekends to try and get DEC22 fixed.

Wednesday should be possible though. I expect control are going to be very busy from now until Wednesday putting schedules back in.

I think that is something us outside the industry don't understand. Are they just putting back the original rota's that would have happened on Monday (if there wasn't a strike) but they can't just "revert" to standard or operationally you will get choas?

Some areas of the UK will be getting no service (Lincolnshire) but the signal boxes will be manned (now we have no strike) and train crews will be ready to run the service (as they were not in dispute) - Is the problem that the signal boxes won't be manned as they haven't decided who will man them?

 

[Iskra]

I bet the train planners are delighted

Good news though, but passengers are still going to be inconvenienced and many won't understand why there's a limited service when the strike is called off!

 

[Snow1964]

NR publish the timetables at around 1600 daily Mon-Fri, with upload then done overnight into the rest of the systems. Reverting a timetable is quite a lengthy process as there's thousands of changes to be processed and so you'd need to find enough of the appropriate planning and Systems support staff to come in on Saturday at 12 hour's notice and fix the timetable to change it for monday. Bear in mind many of the staff have already been putting in overtime on weekends to try and get DEC22 fixed.

Wednesday should be possible though. I expect control are going to be very busy from now until Wednesday putting schedules back in.

I thought recent ticket disputes have mentioned a cut off of 22:00 previous night as the time applicable to if a service is cancelled or not.

So surely there are a few more hours before anything is finalised

 

[urbophile]

Tomorrow I understand, but Monday and Wednesday is just a lack of effort!

What do you expect from Indietro? What's the opposite of nominative determinism? Like Non Arriva for the buses, or the late unlamented PM Ms Truss(t).

 

[Bald Rick]

Out of interest, why is it too late to run a normal service tomorrow and Monday?

Because the rolling stock diagrams tonight have been amended to finish with the trains in place for the strike service tomorrow, and the drivers diagrams for tomorrow (and next week) have all been amended for the strike timetable tomorrow (And next week). Getting hold of about 9,000 drivers now to tell them to revert to their previous rostered work is a stretch too far!

Also, for some operators, nobody will have been called into to work overtime / Rest Days tomorrow as they were not needed (and wouldn’t do it if they were asked, so no pint asking) which would automatically scupper the plan.

 

[yorksrob]

Tomorrow (Saturday)? None, the timetable will be the strike timetable.


They won't. And so the RMT has ensured a huge deal of disruption without staff losing any pay, and whilst getting positive press out of it.

Cynic, me? Never!

Fair play to em.

As long as it's a genuine step forward towards a functioning train service, I'm deliriously happy.

 

[43096]

It's a clever, if somewhat cynical move by the unions. Call off the strikes at the last possible moment, send all the crews in to work as normal knowing full well that it won't be a normal service.

It’s not clever at all, as it just worsens the railway’s revenue problem. The staff all get paid but there’s next to no revenue coming in.

 

[Bald Rick]

I bet the train planners are delighted

They are not. Similarly, I expect anybody who is on early turn tomorrow and was planning to strike, but now has to get up before the birds is less than happy with the notice given.