A thank you to railway staff.

Wivenswold · 25 Jul 2019

I would like to convey my gratitude to the hard working souls of the railway who have endured a day like no other today. They have stood in 37oC heat to face the fury of a section of the travelling public who think it's okay to take out their broken dreams on a complete stranger because their train is late or cancelled.

It was unpleasant for everyone today. It was the hottest July day on record. I have no doubt that those who shouted the most have to do that on a regular basis to compensate for their ignorance.

In the meantime, thank you for working your hardest in the face of adversity. I hope it didn't go completely unnoticed.

RailUK Forums

ac6000cw · 25 Jul 2019

Very well said !!

(I cancelled my own non-essential train journey today to avoid adding any more load to the system)

Master29 · 26 Jul 2019

Agreed. In any extremes you`ve got to feel for staff who all too often remain thankless and keep the network going.

ComUtoR · 26 Jul 2019

Wivenswold said:
In the meantime, thank you for working your hardest in the face of adversity. I hope it didn't go completely unnoticed.

Your welcome.

2x broken aircron (had to keep resetting)
Dropped about 10 minutes per trip
More ESRs than I could count
60mph blanket speed
Red, red, yellow, yellow, yellow, red...
Sent ECS to the wrong place in a unit with no aircon (my only service that didn't run)
GSMR failure

Not a single passenger complaint - So my thanks in return.

I'm home, totally drained, still sweating in the heat, can't sleep, need to work tomorrow. Still love my job.

Louisj30 · 26 Jul 2019

Being platform staff, I've just finished a 9 hour shift which mostly consisted of me (and I'm sure many others too) sweating and being a verbal punch bag lol. It really makes my day when people thank us, so thank you!

185143 · 26 Jul 2019

Louisj30 said:
Being platform staff, I've just finished a 9 hour shift which mostly consisted of me (and I'm sure many others too) sweating and being a verbal punch bag lol. It really makes my day when people thank us, so thank you!

I second this to every letter. Except I (only) had an 8 hour shift.

ssray · 26 Jul 2019

Bhm welcome host here, thank you
It was not much fun, but it was made worse by us not having info, not enough ipads so we were using our own phones and data etc with most info being an educated guess
I did manage to use the pc in first class and get on Darwin but even then it was a muddle
Never mind, back in today

Altnabreac · 26 Jul 2019

I had a 4 hour delay on LNER yesterday including 90 mins with no power, no air con. Staff were fantastic and did a great job in looking after us and keeping us informed.

Heading back to Scotland shortly and hoping for a less eventful journey north!

LowLevel · 26 Jul 2019

I spent 4 hours on a class 156 with no air conditioning and the passengers were to be fair universally very pleasant despite the cancellation of the previous service and some long diversions for some of them. I felt sick when I got off it though and sat in the car with the air con on full for some time before moving.

driver_m · 26 Jul 2019

Lovely to read this. I’m forever grateful that the trains I work have air con and feel for any colleague of mine in a 80s unit without any, or most freight drivers who have to put up with the horror of a 66 cab.

Avoided most of the trouble of the last few days but credit has to also go to go to the passengers that get the issues that the extreme heat can cause.

Socanxdis · 26 Jul 2019

and just to make things worse, some bloke went running after his dog on the tracks outside Waterloo bringing everything to a standstill. Well done mate.

DarloRich · 26 Jul 2019

yesterday was a very bad day on the railway and especially north out of London. Lots of people worked very hard in very hot weather to try and keep trains running and keep people moving and when they couldn't work hard to get them off trains and to a safe place. so it is really great to see people acknowledge that.

It wasn't a good day and I know many passengers had horrific journeys but that wasn't through want of effort by people on the ground and at the coal face ( or in the cliche deployment department!)

hopefully today is better for everyone

kristiang85 · 26 Jul 2019

Yeah well said. I was speaking to the guard on my train last night and she was saying how she'd been getting abuse all day from people, as if she was solely responsible for all the heat and chaos. That just isn't on. I gave her some kind words which I hope improved her night.

Marton · 26 Jul 2019

Agree. My train from KX was cancelled the next delayed so I missed the connection and the next train was cancelled.

A very helpful member of station staff organised a taxi for me and at least 7 others.

Alfie1014 · 26 Jul 2019

Well said mate! A extraordinarily challenging day for all concerned.

Foxhunter · 26 Jul 2019

Yes, my appreciation to all the railway staff who were involved in operations yesterday, particularly customer facing. My own very minor part was to man a signal box* on a heritage railway; I was quite surprised at the number of visitors we had, I thought many would choose to travel on a different day.

I paced myself through the day; for example, taking the token down to the footplate crew was definately a saunter not a purposeful stride. And my bit of rebellion was to write 33.7 C Yuk! in the Signal Register next to the 14:45, so that will be in the archives for the next 10 years or so. And I took my tie off.

Thankfully our only heat related delay was caused by a very large party of elderly visitors all requiring to alight and buy ice-creams from the equally elderly catering staff during the turn round.

*I wasn't even meant to be there, I got suckered by a colleague who had in turn got suckered by his daughter to look after his grandchildren.

alxndr · 26 Jul 2019

Thank you. Not customer facing thankfully, but spent most of the week, including yesterday, stuck out on failures. Water and damp cloths were liberally applied at every opportunity but it was still unbearable. Even the simplest tasks, say tightening a screw, felt like a marathon. My heart goes out to any p-way that were out there and those who had to find the patience to deal with the public.

mythrail · 26 Jul 2019

Agree, a lot has been put up with.
Enjoyed Scotrail electrics yesterday with great air con everytime.
Super info when points out at Gourock.
Condition of gateman at Waverley in that heat was of concerned - hope he got relief soon.
Then next day kept fully informed of delay by staff on Edinburgh to Preston Voyager.
Well done everyone.

northernchris · 26 Jul 2019

Just to echo thanks to everyone yesterday, it must have been one of the most challenging days in a long time. I did contact Northern yesterday to pass on my thanks to one of their conductors who was doing an amazing job despite working a 333 with partially failed air con

leightonbd · 27 Jul 2019

I’d like to thank the crew who worked the (delayed) 1900 Kings Cross to Edinburgh on Wednesday. No aircon in most of the carriages ... if it had been an office people would have been sent home. They were up and down the train, finding extra water for people, must have each lost a few pounds in weight! And managed to put on a full service.

A lot of people on the railway must have worked in similarly uncomfortable conditions; respect for tolerating them and not walking out, which they would have been entitied to do.

Komma · 27 Jul 2019

I came in on my rest day to cover half a guard's turn and due to all the cancellations, I ended up working a train from Bletchley to Milton Keynes at the start of my turn and Milton Keynes to Bletchley at the end. 2 stops in 6 hours.

fairliered · 27 Jul 2019

The vast majority of staff who help us both on the railways and elsewhere do a great, often thankless, job with very few thanks from those of us who rely on their service and professionalism. How often do we thank them? Probably not often enough.

A thank you to railway staff.

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