From a staff viewpoint things are much improved. Much better morale.The arrogant, aggressive management style of Firstgroup is gone. Not sure what you mean by the delayed 158 refurb - it is in full swing with 6 units now done and the 156 and 170 refurb is also ongoing.The industrial issues were caused by First as well. They banned any overtime as part of the pay deal which Abellio inherited. This years is all done and dusted in an amicable fashion with no industrial relation issues at all. That was unheard of under First. Abellio have had to spend most of their first year contingency planning - firstly for the Winchburgh blockade, the Forth Bridge closure and now the Queen St closure. Both these projects have taken massive organisation and resources and I feel they have done quite well. Until these are done and everything settles down it is hard to judge how they are doing - especially with regards to performance figures as these are all over the place just now. The DMU shortage is ongoing, but that was down to the Department for Transport sending 4 170 to Southern - that wasnt Abellios doing. However they have managed to secure a extra 13 170 units until the end of the franchise so that will help massively.
Interesting you think morale has improved and that you rate Abellio as better than First. I would say it's not seen that way at my depot or in Central. Continuous issues with pay slips, uniforms, lack of maintenance on units all seem to be pointing to Abellio struggling with the basics.
First may have left issues to be resolved but Abellio were well warned of them by plenty of us on those roadshows they did and by the Unions. I would say this year's pay deal was relatively pain free because they can't afford to have industrial action when queen Street is shut. The DRI 2 negotiations will be harder and more prolonged and could cause issues; especially Sunday in the week.
Depot facilities are poor and are getting worse in terms of cleanliness and small repairs seem to be getting ignored.
For me, and alot of other drivers the jury is still out on Abellio. If they continue to penny pinch on the basics then they will quickly fail on the grand projects they promised in their franchise bid.