1981/2 timetable start date delayed - anyone remember this?

[Bald Rick]

Peter Parker was IMHO the best Chairman BR ever had, and the fact that he proposed such a drastic measure shows how serious the situation was; BR was alienating and losing both passenger and freight customers due to the strikes, putting the whole industry's future in jeopardy.

quite. A number of freight customers in particular found out how easy it was to use alternatives, and they didn’t come back.

"As I remember it" (I am sure someone will tell me I am absolutely wrong) 1982 was a period of rolling stock shortage as BR were trying to switch from first generation DMU's to Pacers etc.

Pacers were 2 years away; the first 141s arrived in 1984.

 

[Efini92]

Your dad is right. In 1982 there was a prolonged strike by ASLEF (the drivers’ union) about the introduction of flexible rostering.

The strike escalated, IIRC to three days a week, and after long talks at ACAS resulted in stalemate ASLEF called drivers all out indefinitely.

BR then pressed the big red button, printed redundancy letters for all drivers (possibly all employees, I forget), and let ASLEF know this. The union quickly back tracked and accepted the proposal. Had it not done so, the network would have closed.

There was a bit more to it than that. The NUR were also involved in the dispute over flexible rostering, they settled for a pay rise and the TUC refused to support ASLEF.

 

[nw1]

quite. A number of freight customers in particular found out how easy it was to use alternatives, and they didn’t come back.




Pacers were 2 years away; the first 141s arrived in 1984.

Was there an issue though where some first-generation DMUs were having to be withdrawn due to asbestos, before the Pacers were ready?

 

[hexagon789]

Was there an issue though where some first-generation DMUs were having to be withdrawn due to asbestos, before the Pacers were ready?

I believe that was later on - 1986 or so that asbestos started either being removed from vehicles or those with it were removed from traffic. I believe nevertheless that vehicles with asbestos survived in traffic into the 1990s at least.

 

[Magdalia]

Th


Was there an issue though where some first-generation DMUs were having to be withdrawn due to asbestos, before the Pacers were ready?

Asbestos in 1st generation DMUs was first identified as an issue in the mid 1970s. All of the refurbished DMUs had asbestos removed either during refurbishment or subsequently. Asbestos removal was the main work at Cambridge railcar shed in the period immediately after GN electrification.

The rolling stock shortage starts to kick in back then, not in the 1980s.