Cross Country Cancellations - Emergency Timetable

[Nicholas Lewis]

So is the full timetable being restored from this weekend?

 

[dk1]

So is the full timetable being restored from this weekend?

No, of course not. Maybe next May if we are lucky,

 

[duffield]

So is the full timetable being restored from this weekend?

The timetable as it was before the current emergency timetable (arguably not "the full timetable") is still scheduled to be restored as from Sunday, according to publicly available information (e.g. advance ticket sales are open for the restored services on the Nottingham to Cardiff route). A cynic might say that we will find out at around midnight the day before if it's actually going happen since that's when the cancellations have been posted in the past.

Personally I'd expect they will actually attempt to run the "pre-emergency" timetable; and we've had some posts here a while back saying the necessary extra drivers were actually being trained, so maybe it will even be successful this time. Maybe.

 

[WAB]

The timetable as it was before the current emergency timetable (arguably not "the full timetable") is still scheduled to be restored as from Sunday, according to publicly available information (e.g. advance ticket sales are open for the restored services on the Nottingham to Cardiff route). A cynic might say that we will find out at around midnight the day before if it's actually going happen since that's when the cancellations have been posted in the past.

Personally I'd expect they will actually attempt to run the "pre-emergency" timetable; and we've had some posts here a while back saying the necessary extra drivers were actually being trained, so maybe it will even be successful this time. Maybe.

Hmmmm

We've been here before, and the traincrew shortages just reared their head time and time again. Until there is a sustained increase in the numbers being trained which gets matched to the attrition rate, then we're going to keep finding ourselves in this situation.

 

[vicbury]

Since the emergency timetable was implemented, my usual CrossCountry service from Lydney has operated 98% of the time, whereas before it was commonly cancelled multiple times per week. So whilst the cuts to the Cardiff - Nottingham service have been disappointing, my day to day frustration has decreased immensely. I really hope that they can operate a reliable service once the timetable is restored.

 

[duffield]

My sister's coming to visit from Exeter to Nottingham on the emergency timetable tomorrow and going back on the "restored" timetable on Monday, so we'll see how it goes. Before the emergency timetable started her split advances usually had a change at Cheltenham to/from the Nottingham service which was very often cancelled. Tomorrow she's got a very convenient same platform short connection at Burton, not sure what the setup is on the way back.

 

[WAB]

As if by magic, the reduced timetable is being further clobbered this Saturday due to traincrew shortages. It looks like Birmingham-Cardiff and Leicester-Stansted are well and truly knackered, with problems on the NE intercity route too. And this is before the full extent of the disruption is known.

Disappointingly, CrossCountry don’t seem to be letting people travel on other days, which given the lack of strengthening on the remaining services and the convoluted diversionary itineraries offered, seems a bit off.

 

[dk1]

As if by magic, the reduced timetable is being further clobbered this Saturday due to traincrew shortages. It looks like Birmingham-Cardiff and Leicester-Stansted are well and truly knackered, with problems on the NE intercity route too. And this is before the full extent of the disruption is known.

Disappointingly, CrossCountry don’t seem to be letting people travel on other days, which given the lack of strengthening on the remaining services and the convoluted diversionary itineraries offered, seems a bit off.

I don’t see too much wrong with Leicester-Cambridge/Stansted today apart from a couple of cancellations. Looks hourly for the most part unless I’m missing something.

 

[1D54]

Started panicking when i read that one myself as I'm heading out to Peterborough from Leicester with XC. Doesn't seem to be anything to really concern myself about.

 

[Snow1964]

As today is last day of the temporary reduced timetable it is worth quoting Cross Country

By the end of the temporary timetable, CrossCountry will have more fully-trained drivers able to work across the network and will have reduced its training backlog – providing a more reliable service for customers, with fewer cancellations.

note they refer to few cancellations, that is fewer than at date of the quote 29th July (about week and half before temporary timetable introduced)

Bethan Jelfs, CrossCountry’s Regional Director for West and Wales, said: “This is a difficult decision, but by taking proactive action now we are investing in building a more resilient and dependable service for CrossCountry customers for the future.”

CrossCountry announces temporary changes to timetable between Birmingham, the South West and Wales | CrossCountry

Train operator CrossCountry will introduce temporary resource-led reductions to its timetable from Saturday 10 August until Saturday 9 November to address performance and reliability issues that have inconvenienced passengers with on-the-day cancellations.

www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk

Although The Secretary of State reluctantly agreed to the temporary reduction, her letter to Directors of XC is pretty blunt

If you fail to deliver the Remedial Plan, I will not hesitate to take further action under the contract.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66b65ef3fc8e12ac3edb0d95/sos-transport-letter-cross-country-aug-2024.pdf

 

[Envoy]

Saturday 9 November 2024 - Cancelled 7.06 from Nottingham to Cardiff and 10.45 from Cardiff to Birmingham due to “an issue with the train crew”.

Will this company ever get their act together?

 

[father_jack]

20 part or full cancellations at present https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/travel-updates-information/service-updates

 

[1D54]

Saturday 9 November 2024 - Cancelled 7.06 from Nottingham to Cardiff and 10.45 from Cardiff to Birmingham due to “an issue with the train crew”.

Will this company ever get their act together?

On that particular route the answer is probably a resounding NO. It's been going on for a couple of years now with promises that time and again are not kept. Okay, there are things that are beyond the control of XC but the punter has long gone past caring and changes at Parkway to get to Cardiff are norm these days.

 

[WAB]

I don’t see too much wrong with Leicester-Cambridge/Stansted today apart from a couple of cancellations. Looks hourly for the most part unless I’m missing something.

I was going by this quote from the XC website which seems to differ a bit from the reality:

There will be a very limited service between Leicester and Cambridge on Saturday 9 November. Services that are running are expected to be very busy. Please only travel if it is absolutely necessary.

 

[Bald Rick]

There is a substantial reduction in volunteers for rest days etc now that the back pay has landed, particularly at weekends. This is partly because wallets are full, and partly because many drivers - especially those who are more likely to do rest days - will now be over the £100k pay for the tax year, and be paying an effective 62% marginal tax rate on any future rest days.

This is not just a problem for cross country. It will get better.

 

[Snow1964]

There is a substantial reduction in volunteers for rest days etc now that the back pay has landed, particularly at weekends. This is partly because wallets are full, and partly because many drivers - especially those who are more likely to do rest days - will now be over the £100k pay for the tax year, and be paying an effective 62% marginal tax rate on any future rest days.

This is not just a problem for cross country. It will get better.

But again, this was predictable (unlike an illness), when they knew they would be likely to pay back back in a lump sum (3 years ago ?), anyone with common sense would have realised there would be less enthusiasm for volunteering for overtime after back pay lands.

I don't know if others are thinking same, but excuses like it's half term, or there is an FA cup final to watch, or everyone got big bonus or back pay last month etc., are not freak once in a blue moon events. Totally predictable, they are in the calendar months/years ahead, so setting rosters requiring volunteers on these dates is just poor control & management. Requiring on bit of overtime when people are not busy is ok, but assuming it will magically fill every duty is insanity.

 

[dk1]

I was going by this quote from the XC website which seems to differ a bit from the reality:

All running well if very busy here at Cambridge as I await my 10:20 back to Norwich.

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Seems more the usual Cardiff-Nottingham route that's affected along with Leicester terminators later.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

But again, this was predictable (unlike an illness), when they knew they would be likely to pay back back in a lump sum (3 years ago ?), anyone with common sense would have realised there would be less enthusiasm for volunteering for overtime after back pay lands.

I don't know if others are thinking same, but excuses like it's half term, or there is an FA cup final to watch, or everyone got big bonus or back pay last month etc., are not freak once in a blue moon events. Totally predictable, they are in the calendar months/years ahead, so setting rosters requiring volunteers on these dates is just poor control & management. Requiring on bit of overtime when people are not busy is ok, but assuming it will magically fill every duty is insanity.

and of course when they don't deliver Passenger in Chief Haigh will shovel it off to OLR and tell us she is fixing things fast but nothing will change. The industry is at an inflexion point and Haigh needs to acknowledge that this is an ongoing problem and make a policy decision whether she wants a 7 day railway or not. Yes that will cost more opex and will take 3 years+ to sort but at least everybody from passengers to staff will know what to expect.

 

[Snow1964]

and of course when they don't deliver Passenger in Chief Haigh will shovel it off to OLR and tell us she is fixing things fast but nothing will change. The industry is at an inflexion point and Haigh needs to acknowledge that this is an ongoing problem and make a policy decision whether she wants a 7 day railway or not. Yes that will cost more opex and will take 3 years+ to sort but at least everybody from passengers to staff will know what to expect.

Does it cost more though, paying staff at standard rate is cheaper than overtime. And if all trains run the compensation and delay repay bill falls too.

I have yet to see any evidence that the cost of employing extra staff and training them is more expensive than constantly paying out delay repay for cancelled trains. ORR data shows about 7m compensation claims per year, so am guessing could be £50m+ (possibly much more)

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/iclbyk4n/delay-compensation-claims-factsheet-2024-25-rail-periods-1-4.pdf

I'm aware that under management contracts all costs ultimately go back to DfT so agree it's really a decision of Secretary of State

 

[Envoy]

Just what is the problem? Is that Cross Country do not employ enough staff or is it that staff can’t be compelled to work a roster that includes weekends?

The situation this morning meant that anybody turning up for the cancelled 10.45 from Cardiff would more than likely catch the 11.08 TfW service to Cheltenham - which arrives around 10 minutes after a departure to Aberdeen. TfW can’t be too happy as in addition to their own passengers, this service was only a 2 coach 197 and I guess that many passengers will blame TfW for the overload not realising that other people were let down by the non running of the Cross Country train.

GWR can’t be too happy either as they might have conveyed some of the passengers on the 11.19 from Cardiff top London as far as Bristol Parkway - also arriving around 10 minutes after the Cross Country train to Aberdeen has left.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Does it cost more though, paying staff at standard rate is cheaper than overtime. And if all trains run the compensation and delay repay bill falls too.

I have yet to see any evidence that the cost of employing extra staff and training them is more expensive than constantly paying out delay repay for cancelled trains. ORR data shows about 7m compensation claims per year, so am guessing could be £50m+ (possibly much more)

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/iclbyk4n/delay-compensation-claims-factsheet-2024-25-rail-periods-1-4.pdf

I'm aware that under management contracts all costs ultimately go back to DfT so agree it's really a decision of Secretary of State

Precisely Haigh needs to make a policy decision that the railway has to be resourced to run 7 days a week the solution then flows from this which will take time of course but the goal will be set

Just what is the problem? Is that Cross Country do not employ enough staff or is it that staff can’t be compelled to work a roster that includes weekends?

Yup but SoS Haigh needs to give direction

 

[Bald Rick]

But again, this was predictable (unlike an illness), when they knew they would be likely to pay back back in a lump sum (3 years ago ?), anyone with common sense would have realised there would be less enthusiasm for volunteering for overtime after back pay lands.

What would you have done, out of interest?

 

[Watershed]

What would you have done, out of interest?

Avoid a protracted pay dispute in the first place, but I suppose that wasn't an option under the circumstances!

 

[Bald Rick]

Avoid a protracted pay dispute in the first place, but I suppose that wasn't an option under the circumstances!

Thats a given, but im interested to know what Cross Country could have done differently in the circumstances they had. I can only see four options…

 

[Class 170101]

Thats a given, but im interested to know what Cross Country could have done differently in the circumstances they had. I can only see four options…

And would one of those options be an hourly service on each of the key routes
So no Birmingham to Leicester or Birmingham to Nottingham short services
No services via Doncaster
Perhaps even reduce the rest of the service to every two hours

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People don’t know they’re born these days

No later milk / postal or newspaper trains under BR then?

 

[Trainman40083]

Certainly been some non passenger Cross Country workings between Central Rivers and Chesterfield, via various routes. Maybe more drivers are being trained.

 

[WAB]

This is not just a problem for cross country. It will get better.

And then it'll get worse again in close order the next time something else goes slightly wrong. It has been clear for some time now that XC's traincrew position is not adequate for sustaining the reduced timetable, let alone any restoration of the full service.

 

[Harpo]

Sunday 10, already 5 southbounds terminating at New St including 3 Nottingham - Cardiffs.

XC’s information doesn’t help itself by listing pined trains in cancellations, needing a further click to establish (for example) that the 1508 Edinburgh -Plymouth isn’t fully caped as it might appear, but is still running as far as New St..

 

[duffield]

Sunday 10, already 5 southbounds terminating at New St including 3 Nottingham - Cardiffs.

XC’s information doesn’t help itself by listing pined trains in cancellations, needing a further click to establish (for example) that the 1508 Edinburgh -Plymouth isn’t fully caped as it might appear, but is still running as far as New St..

To make it clear to the general travelling public, I think they should have both a "Cancelled throughout" and also "Partial Cancellation" category on journey check. Any other terms will potentially mislead. For example, as they have done previously, using the "Other train service updates" to cover a Cardiff to Nottingham service starting from Birmingham isn't very helpful, since as far as anyone expecting to use this service between Cardiff and Birmingham is concerned, it *is* cancelled. But putting everything under "Cancelled" is, as you say, also misleading.

Anyhow, it's really not a great start to the "restored timetable", but on the other hand, Sunday is Sunday, and I guess tomorrow and the rest of this week will be the more representative test of whether they can actually run the "restored timetable" or not.

 

[Bald Rick]

And would one of those options be an hourly service on each of the key routes
So no Birmingham to Leicester or Birmingham to Nottingham short services
No services via Doncaster
Perhaps even reduce the rest of the service to every two hours

I wasnt suggesting that detail, bit one option is a reduced advertised service, yes.