Eurostar duty roster

[jaapstam]

I just returned to Germany from London by train. Once again being fascinated by the short journey time of just two hours between Brussels and London I wondered, what a duty roster of Eurostar's train crews might look like.

Do they work Brussels-London-Brussels-London-Brussels for example? Are they staying overnight away from their home depot?

Does anybody have information on that?

 

[warriorofrovac]

I always thought Eurostar had English and French train crews, so I assumed they would end up at their home base at the end of the day.

 

[jaapstam]

I always thought Eurostar had English and French train crews, so I assumed they would end up at their home base at the end of the day.

Which might be possible warriorofrovac, I don't know. But then I am wondering if they finish their work after, for example, Brussels - London - Brussels, or if they are doing a second round.

 

[flash]

I just returned to Germany from London by train. Once again being fascinated by the short journey time of just two hours between Brussels and London I wondered, what a duty roster of Eurostar's train crews might look like.

Do they work Brussels-London-Brussels-London-Brussels for example? Are they staying overnight away from their home depot?

Does anybody have information on that?

Drivers and train managers normally only go uk - continent - uk, although there are crew bases at London, Paris, Lille and Brussels so continental crews would do the reverse. Some duties involve lodging away from home.

 

[onein37]

Last time I spoke to the driver I know it was one return trip.

 

[jaapstam]

Thanks a lot for your clarifying responses. Do you also know how long the break between the outbound and the inbound trips are? Only working for example Brussels - London - Brussels including some preparation time before the first train and some sort of debriefing after the last... to they get enough working hours??

 

[duncanp]

There are definitely occasions where Eurostar staff have to stay away from their home base overnight.

I have walked past the Premier Inn Kings Cross on the way to work in the morning, and have seen Eurostar staff in uniform coming out, with a small suitcase on wheels.

Similar arrangements are in place for Caledonian Sleeper staff, who get put up in a hotel overnight and then return home the next day. Except on 23rd/24th December, when there is a changeover of English and Scottish based crews at Preston.

 

[plastictaffy]

Except on 23rd/24th December, when there is a changeover of English and Scottish based crews at Preston.

Not this year,there isn't!

 

[duncanp]

Didn't realise there was a strike.

Presumably they will be making some similar arrangements tonight then, so that the Scottish crews aren't stranded in London, and vice-versa.

 

[Taunton]

I don't know whether the current detail is still the same, but a while ago one round trip was it for a day's work on Eurostar. This goes along with the notably poor utilisation of the rolling stock, which seems to spend longer on layovers at each end than on travelling.

Although there are crew bases at London and Paris/Brussels, a significant proportion of the staff employed at London were French/Belgian nationals, living in London. Among other things they have the multi-lingual skills that are much harder to find in Britain.

In Belgium it is the law that every train must have a crew member who speaks French, and one Flemish, which given that only a small proportion of the country are bilingual (or will admit to it), despite often being excellent in English and German etc, means one crew member for each language on the Brussels service. You certainly will not easily find British employees who speak Flemish.

 

[reb0118]

You certainly will not easily find British employees who speak Flemish.

Spreekt u vlaamse?

 

[jaapstam]

I don't know whether the current detail is still the same, but a while ago one round trip was it for a day's work on Eurostar. This goes along with the notably poor utilisation of the rolling stock, which seems to spend longer on layovers at each end than on travelling.

Although there are crew bases at London and Paris/Brussels, a significant proportion of the staff employed at London were French/Belgian nationals, living in London. Among other things they have the multi-lingual skills that are much harder to find in Britain.

In Belgium it is the law that every train must have a crew member who speaks French, and one Flemish, which given that only a small proportion of the country are bilingual (or will admit to it), despite often being excellent in English and German etc, means one crew member for each language on the Brussels service. You certainly will not easily find British employees who speak Flemish.

Thank you Taunton,

for the interesting insight. At Deutsche Bahn we have train crews operating to Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. Apart from English they need to speak the language of the destination's country quite fluently.

And of course we only have very little who speak Dutch before starting to work with us.

 

[matt_world2004]

If there is an cancellation or curtailment how do they get home, may seem like a stupid question.

 

[jaapstam]

If there is an cancellation or curtailment how do they get home, may seem like a stupid question.

Eurostar's or our's? For our's it depends. If there is a cancellation of their train, they might take the next train to Germany and go "off duty". If there is a bigger problem on the line, they might also have to work on the next available service back to Germany as the scheduled staff for this service might not be able to come to Amsterdam or Brussels because of the disruption.

 

[flash]

If there is an cancellation or curtailment how do they get home, may seem like a stupid question.

Lodge, travel home the next day.