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SWR: Guards/RMT Industrial Action. Next strike dates: 30/31 August, 1/2 September 2019

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Goldfish62

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Dougal2345 said:
Not a bad idea thanks, although I'm going London-Berlin starting at 10:54, arriving 21:06, so if things did go wrong, taking a later Eurostar might leave me unable to get to Berlin at all the same day, which would then mess up my Sunday and Monday train bookings... I'm planning to use a free SWT 'Gold Card' weekend ticket to get up to London (hope they are still being accepted by SWR!), so I've decided travelling up to-night and £50 Travelodge in London is the safest plan...
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Yes, the free tickets are still valid. Used my last ever one recently. :(

I've done London to Berlin starting out on the 1054 several times. Have a great trip!
 
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DY444

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XDM said:
Just possibly the GWR reading Gatwick service which runs east west at the foot of Boxhill.

If it is not at the Southern edge of his constituency it is very close.
It is certainly only 6 miles from his home south of Ashtead.
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The North Downs line is not in Grayling's constituency at any point. It's about 3 miles away at its closest point around Betchworth. So as I said originally GWR do not operate any trains through Grayling's constituency.
 
Fiyero

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Dougal2345 said:
Presumably they chose those dates (31st August to 2nd September) as it's the Bournemouth Air Show, when the trains are packed at the best of times... Huge loss of revenue for SWR...
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Very annoying as I want to go, already go early to (try and) avoid the rush, just hope there is a train back after the fireworks!
 
Matt Taylor

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Goldfish62 said:
Yes, the free tickets are still valid. Used my last ever one recently. :(

I've done London to Berlin starting out on the 1054 several times. Have a great trip!
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The Free Gold Card Weekend tickets cease to be valid this weekend, they were only valid when presented with a valid annual season ticket issued by SWT, the last of which was issued on August 19th 2017.
 
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Goldfish62

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Matt Taylor said:
The Free Gold Card Weekend tickets cease to be valid this weekend, they were only valid when presented with a valid annual season ticket issued by SWT, the last of which was issued on August 19th 2017.
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Depends which source you rely on. SWR stated on their "forum" a while back that they would remain valid for as long as people still held them. That has always been the case and unless SWR clearly publish information to the contrary then that must surely still stand.
 
Dougal2345

Dougal2345

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Goldfish62 said:
Depends which source you rely on. SWR stated on their "forum" a while back that they would remain valid for as long as people still held them. That has always been the case and unless SWR clearly publish information to the contrary then that must surely still stand.
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Going a bit off topic for this thread perhaps, but is there any way to confirm this for certain? Given that there must be a risk of prosecution if one tries to use one and it turns out they're actually invalid, it would be good to be sure...
 
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Goldfish62

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Dougal2345 said:
Going a bit off topic for this thread perhaps, but is there any way to confirm this for certain? Given that there must be a risk of prosecution if one tries to use one and it turns out they're actually invalid, it would be good to be sure...
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Last update from SWR was, "we have not yet set an expiry date... You can use them as far (sic) as you have a valid annual season ticket".
 
3141

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I travelled from Basingstoke to London for a concert yesterday. The train to Waterloo had come from Bournemouth and had twelve coaches. My return train was for Salisbury with nine coaches. SWR seem to have made an effort to ensure that their reduced service provided plenty of capacity, though neither train was busy, perhaps indicating that some people had decided not to travel. As far as I could tell, the reduced timetable was working well. As we arrived at Waterloo the guard thanked passengers for travelling with SWR, so when I saw him on the platform I thanked him for having made it possible for me to do so.
 
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XDM

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A gang of us traveled to Bournemouth on strike Sunday yesterday.
The ten cars were mostly full, except at the front & the guard was brilliant.

Superb announcements, he told the train he would check how many seats were free in the first two Coaches & then he announced the result a couple of minutes later.

At Bournemouth one of our group told him he had never heard such good, clear & relevant announcements.
Apparently several other people lined up to thank this temporary guard.

One odd thing noted by a more suspicious than most gang member, a veteran railwayman.
A regular user of the line, he said it was unusual that there was
a large number of individual wheelchair passengers getting on & off travelling one stop. For example Eastleigh to Southampton Airport, Brockenhurt to New Milton, using stations with no platform staff to assist so the Manager guard did it.
Due to his efficient work we only lost a couple of minutes.
And everyone, wheelchair users too, had a good trip to the sea.
 
Helvellyn

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Goldfish62 said:
I strongly believe that if privatisation had never happened (I'm not a fan, incidentally) average salaries would be lower and there'd be a lot more DOO.

Until recently the private TOCs have been extremely risk averse when it comes to industrial relations. This has greatly benefitted staff in improving pay and conditions. BR was far from risk averse in this respect, utterly ruthless at times in fact, because it had nothing to lose.
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Exactly. The South Western route was very lucky to escape DOO because of privatisation, at least for the suburban routes. There are still the odd station with the remains of installed but never used equipment, such as platform 1 at Walton-on-Thames with the large DOO mirrors.

Goldfish62 said:
Last update from SWR was, "we have not yet set an expiry date... You can use them as far (sic) as you have a valid annual season ticket".
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Is that online somehere? I tried to find a link.
 
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Goldfish62

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Helvellyn said:
Exactly. The South Western route was very lucky to escape DOO because of privatisation, at least for the suburban routes. There are still the odd station with the remains of installed but never used equipment, such as platform 1 at Walton-on-Thames with the large DOO mirrors.


Is that online somehere? I tried to find a link.
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It's on the forum. If you do a search by subject. However, it is just one person at SWR stating it so I wouldn't 100% take it as read.
 
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pompeyfan

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My understanding was that they’d be valid as long as a customer continued to hold a valid gold card, no matter who issued it.
 
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387star

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My train from Chichester to Victoria was a rare 8 before attaching at Barnham to become a 12

Was it longer due to the strike
 
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theironroad

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XDM said:
A gang of us traveled to Bournemouth on strike Sunday yesterday.
The ten cars were mostly full, except at the front & the guard was brilliant.

Superb announcements, he told the train he would check how many seats were free in the first two Coaches & then he announced the result a couple of minutes later.

At Bournemouth one of our group told him he had never heard such good, clear & relevant announcements.
Apparently several other people lined up to thank this temporary guard.

One odd thing noted by a more suspicious than most gang member, a veteran railwayman.
A regular user of the line, he said it was unusual that there was
a large number of individual wheelchair passengers getting on & off travelling one stop. For example Eastleigh to Southampton Airport, Brockenhurt to New Milton, using stations with no platform staff to assist so the Manager guard did it.
Due to his efficient work we only lost a couple of minutes.
And everyone, wheelchair users too, had a good trip to the sea.
Click to expand...

When did you and your gang travel to Bournemouth?
 
kristiang85

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3141 said:
I travelled from Basingstoke to London for a concert yesterday. The train to Waterloo had come from Bournemouth and had twelve coaches. My return train was for Salisbury with nine coaches. SWR seem to have made an effort to ensure that their reduced service provided plenty of capacity, though neither train was busy, perhaps indicating that some people had decided not to travel. As far as I could tell, the reduced timetable was working well. As we arrived at Waterloo the guard thanked passengers for travelling with SWR, so when I saw him on the platform I thanked him for having made it possible for me to do so.
Click to expand...

As a regular traveller from BSK to WAT, I can confirm on strike days I'm getting the best service I can remember from SWR - maybe the staff are cheerier as the trains are quieter, or maybe its those generally happy with their jobs who are still working.

I also haven't seen any picket lines -are there any? I thought one of the conditions of strike was that you still turned up to picket? (rather than giving the impression you're simply taking an unpaid day off on a summer weekend).

But generally this hasn't been as disruptive as I feared. However, I can see why they are doing it at weekends for once and not the week as that's a lot more lost revenue in single tickets rather than targeting the commuters who have paid for it anyway.
 
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pompeyfan

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There has been some picket lines, in answer to your comment about better service, fewer trains and fewer passengers means trains recover from disruption quicker and there’s not as much of a domino effect on late services.

Also worth noting that most staff working trains aren’t doing revenue duties and so there’s less conflict, and staff can pass through the train much quicker, so they give the impression they’re more visible.
 
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SteveP29

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387star said:
My train from Chichester to Victoria was a rare 8 before attaching at Barnham to become a 12

Was it longer due to the strike
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Saturday 4th August:
Waterloo to Bournemouth was 8 carriages
Bournemouth to Weymouth was 5

Saturday 18th August
Weymouth to Bournemouth (10:08) again 5
Bournemouth to Waterloo (11:18) was 10
NB Bournemouth were playing West Ham away and Poole Town were playing Basingstoke Town, so the 11:18 was rammed
 
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theironroad

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SteveP29 said:
Saturday 4th August:
Waterloo to Bournemouth was 8 carriages
Bournemouth to Weymouth was 5

Saturday 18th August
Weymouth to Bournemouth (10:08) again 5
Bournemouth to Waterloo (11:18) was 10
NB Bournemouth were playing West Ham away and Poole Town were playing Basingstoke Town, so the 11:18 was rammed
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Not sure what this has to do with Chichester/barnham, but for Bournemouth/Weymouth that's pretty much a normal Saturday, except the 8-450 which should probably have been a 10-444 but a couple of 444 are awol.
 
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theironroad

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kristiang85 said:
As a regular traveller from BSK to WAT, I can confirm on strike days I'm getting the best service I can remember from SWR - maybe the staff are cheerier as the trains are quieter, or maybe its those generally happy with their jobs who are still working.

I also haven't seen any picket lines -are there any? I thought one of the conditions of strike was that you still turned up to picket? (rather than giving the impression you're simply taking an unpaid day off on a summer weekend).

But generally this hasn't been as disruptive as I feared. However, I can see why they are doing it at weekends for once and not the week as that's a lot more lost revenue in single tickets rather than targeting the commuters who have paid for it anyway.
Click to expand...

If there were less trains running every day of the week and less passengers then the network would run a lot more smoothly a lot more often. The capacity for overcoming delays would be available, but the travelling public rightly want to be able to travel on frequent trains. At peak, Waterloo runs at 98% capacity and even a 1-2 min delay on one train can ripple through the timetable . If less passengers travelled then most would get a seat.

As for the staff who are working, most are in management grade and aren't under daily abuse about delayed trains and ticket issues in addition to understanding the reality that their jobs and livelihoods are under threat, despite the pr spin machine of swr/DfT.

I bet a lot of people travelling on strike days are not bothering to buy a ticket for their full journey as they no there are no on train ticket checks in force on strike days.
 
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pompeyfan

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theironroad said:
If there were less trains running every day of the week and less passengers then the network would run a lot more smoothly a lot more often. The capacity for overcoming delays would be available, but the travelling public rightly want to be able to travel on frequent trains. At peak, Waterloo runs at 98% capacity and even a 1-2 min delay on one train can ripple through the timetable . If less passengers travelled then most would get a seat.

As for the staff who are working, most are in management grade and aren't under daily abuse about delayed trains and ticket issues in addition to understanding the reality that their jobs and livelihoods are under threat, despite the pr spin machine of swr/DfT.

I bet a lot of people travelling on strike days are not bothering to buy a ticket for their full journey as they no there are no on train ticket checks in force on strike days.
Click to expand...

Absolutely spot on. I challenge anyone to to find fault/inaccuracies with this post.
 
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