Timetabling could be better in most areas, section timings are somewhat to be desired with some services especially when running back to back, in the past these issues have been flagged up with TRC on my area but they don't seem to have the gumption to want to approach Northern about altering timings so services are delaying each other! When you dismantle the timetable on my area you see that they run non stopping trains behind stopping terminator services this leads to the non-stopping service being checked in the shorter sections.
I also have an outside toilet and find extremely difficult to take a PNB when running trains as the block is occupied the majority of the time, as we all know you can’t just leave the SB with an occupied block for safety reasons, fitting meals in can sometimes be a challenge especially with certain dietary needs meaning regular non processed meals are required.
Hexham is a mixed bag from experience, it has a high volume of through traffic plus terminators in total 100 plus movements on a dayshift if you take in the shunting from down to up for the terminators and passing freight, also it is a regulating point so critical decisions have to be made TRC are worse than hapless!
Currently the shift pattern is non-compliant with the new NRP because it is not 60hr compliant, this is currently being looked at and from what I have been told several new rosters are being considered but none of them offer a good work/home life balance but are considerably better than the management proposal that was put forward, but whatever roster is selected it has to be implemented by Jan24, Hexham is very busy with level crossing use two or three of them are quite prolific with the usage mixture of farm/fishing and residential some days receiving in excess of 100 calls a day on a bad day, in the past it has had three failed attempts at a regrade to a grade 4 everyone agrees it should be except the regrade panel!
There is a reason why it has such a high turnover of staff and why nobody wants to work it!!
Current roster for Hexham
View attachment 140239
Weekends are not 12 hour shifts, box closes Sat/Sun night after last trains
Mon to Fri are 12 hour day night turns.
As stated in previous posting this is subject to change by early Jan 24.