GWR Locking out carriages

[CentralTrainer]

Just got on a service at Gloucester heading up to Worcester on old stock (last one of the night) - only to find both the front and back sub sections of carriages (the ones directly next to the cab door) locked with a very terse sticker saying they are “for staff use only”

A manifestation of the Coach K debacle on Avanti?

Caveat - have use this same stock before and sat n the front portion before (outbound journey tonight being the last) without issue.

It’s not a health issue as the “sticker” on the door looks to be well worn with the stickers looking to be something someone has personally printed off (as In they aren’t branded)

 

[The exile]

COVID measures - but they don't seem to be applied consistently. It was particularly annoying when numbers picked up last year and a train booked for 5 cars turned up with two, each with about a quarter (?) of its capacity locked out of use and no staff in either.

 

[CentralTrainer]

This is the sticker by the way

 

[The exile]

There are various different versions - presumably whatever was to hand in March 2020!

 

[NSEFAN]

This is the sticker by the way

Well that hardly looks official

On the GWR IEP sets, the rear doors are marked with a sticker. But there's nothing to actually prevent them being used.

 

[ivorytoast28]

From that alone, I'd just think it was graffiti, very unprofessional

 

[CentralTrainer]

COVID measures - but they don't seem to be applied consistently. It was particularly annoying when numbers picked up last year and a train booked for 5 cars turned up with two, each with about a quarter (?) of its capacity locked out of use and no staff in either.

These stickers on the unit don’t seem to be official - see further up the thread - and no announcements were made.

Strange as out of several dozen journeys I’ve made on this stock during the pandemic - this is the first one I’ve known to lock out sections of carriage.

It also happens to be the old FGW 1st class sections (which are now declassified on this service). Maybe the Coach K infiltrators wanted to preserve their new mess room?

 

[Sean Emmett]

Probably a hangover from covid. End sections taped off for staff only. Seems to have gone from most of the Turbos on the Severn Beach line.

Was on a 319 last June on a Blackpool - Liverpool. Loads of loud youths got on at St Helens. Guard let them into the cordoned off area at the front, much to their delight - and everyone else's.

 

[Kite159]

It's a Covid related thing to allow any staff travelling pass a safe area to travel in, something they don't get if a 158 turned up (as all that has was some seats marked as "staff use"). Some guards unlock the area to allow people to sit in.

Hopefully one day the areas will get reopened as that is the only decent area on the 166s if going any sort of long distance, unless you like the 3+2 seating

 

[CentralTrainer]

Probably a hangover from covid. End sections taped off for staff only. Seems to have gone from most of the Turbos on the Severn Beach line.

Was on a 319 last June on a Blackpool - Liverpool. Loads of loud youths got on at St Helens. Guard let them into the cordoned off area at the front, much to their delight - and everyone else's.

This is first time ever travelling on GWR with this unit that it’s been locked out. And that includes lockdown.

And it’s the first time I’ve seen that poorly constructed sticker on the doors.

 

[Horizon22]

Perhaps there was a fault in that carriage only which meant it couldn't be used for passengers. As many have said, its not at all official looking. GWR has specific sections for staff seating on all fleets - on IETs these are 5/6 red seat resevations in Coach A.

 

[CentralTrainer]

Perhaps there was a fault in that carriage only which meant it couldn't be used for passengers. As many have said, its not at all official looking. GWR has specific sections for staff seating on all fleets - on IETs these are 5/6 red seat resevations in Coach A.

Both front and rear sections of the exact same carriage (opposite ends of the service) with those stickers were locked out - so hardly a fault

 

[Horizon22]

That's odd then as never come across it before, even in the height of the pandemic you wouldn't have had both carriages locked out.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

It was a preposterously ridiculous practice to start with, particularly the locking out of the front as most guards work from the back, and it’s still done today with spite so that off-duty staff can take advantage of the fact the guard won’t move them, and can enjoy a compartment to themselves. I was recently infuriated by an incident my friends and I had on a Cardiff Portsmouth 166 where the guard saw me in the open first class section and banged on the window with his fist at me - yes, I have complained, but the response is taking its sweet time.

 

[Stigy]

It's a Covid related thing to allow any staff travelling pass a safe area to travel in, something they don't get if a 158 turned up (as all that has was some seats marked as "staff use"). Some guards unlock the area to allow people to sit in.

Hopefully one day the areas will get reopened as that is the only decent area on the 166s if going any sort of long distance, unless you like the 3+2 seating

The instruction is that they should now be reopened as pre-Covid. Some staff still keep them closed though….I’ve become accustomed to it closed off if I’m honest

 

[387star]

The two ends of a 166 and one end of a 165 (the obsolete first class door is still there) are usually locked out unless the train is busy.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

Never seen any sections closed off on the North Downs Line Turbos since pandemic started

 

[fgwrich]

COVID measures - but they don't seem to be applied consistently. It was particularly annoying when numbers picked up last year and a train booked for 5 cars turned up with two, each with about a quarter (?) of its capacity locked out of use and no staff in either.

Certainly very inconsistent for sure. Equally inconsistent is the use of that compartment, I’ve still seen some locked out of use like this, but a 166 I took from Parkway to Temple Meads last month had both compartments open and available for use.

Edit - Small point of order, this photo was from a trip last September. Frustratingly though, despite the signs saying Wash Your Hands, the toilet had been out of use since November the previous year.

 

[Mag_seven]

This practice needs to stop - social distancing went months ago and we have all been vaccinated. It can't go on for ever particularly as more and more passengers return.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

This practice needs to stop - social distancing went months ago and we have all been vaccinated. It can't go on for ever particularly as more and more passengers return.

Exactly. It's beyond a joke. I've been told by several staff that GWR have officially ended the practice but many guards are still closing it off. And I know some people won't like me saying it, but it is selfish on journeys such as Cardiff Portsmouth, (the entirety of I make twice a month) especially when they close off both ends. One end would be more understandable.

 

[8J]

TPE get it right I believe. A row of 3 seats in first class that don't have a window view at all are reserved for traincrew use when travelling as a passenger on their 802s.

These seats are not really suitable for fare paying passengers, particularly in first class so would otherwise be redundant.

On 185s, a row of seats next to the cab in standard class are reserved for staff use. No locking out entire sections of carriages and no scruffy hand scribbled labels.

 

[Mintona]

Guards aren’t ‘closing it off’, it’s just been closed off since the pandemic started on every single turbo that I’ve travelled on (and that’s a lot).

 

[43066]

Guards aren’t ‘closing it off’, it’s just been closed off since the pandemic started on every single turbo that I’ve travelled on (and that’s a lot).

To be fair it is long past time for this kind of thing to end. We had similar measures in place, but those ended months ago now. There’s always the back cab if guards really feel the need to isolate themselves. I can’t honestly see how Covid is still a legitimate reason for doing so, though, when everyone who wants to be is vaccinated and we are now basically back to normal.

 

[Stigy]

Guards aren’t ‘closing it off’, it’s just been closed off since the pandemic started on every single turbo that I’ve travelled on (and that’s a lot).

It’s ultimately the guards who close the areas off though.

This practice needs to stop - social distancing went months ago and we have all been vaccinated. It can't go on for ever particularly as more and more passengers return.

I agree we should all get back to normal now, as most of the population has been vaccinated. However, social distancing as far as I’m aware, never went away? If I’m passing on a train and the area is closed off, I won’t be opening it, purely because I’m selfish. If a train was crowded and I couldn’t pass in relative safety, id just get off and request a taxi. It’s not a big issue to be honest.

Having said that, with a lot (most?) TOCs feeling the need to introduce emergency timetables due to staff sickness blamed on Omicron, I’d argue that management demanding that these areas are now opened up again for public use is somewhat bizarre (you’d think they’d want to mitigate against staff sickness as much as possible, surely?).

 

[Fokx]

To be fair it is long past time for this kind of thing to end. We had similar measures in place, but those ended months ago now. There’s always the back cab if guards really feel the need to isolate themselves.

It’s not for the use of the Guard running the aforementioned service, it’s for the use of staff travelling passenger, revenue etc

 

[ValleyLines142]

Oh yes, this old chestnut.

Absolutely ridiculous. I could understand it back in the summer of 2020, but not now. It needs to stop, or at the very least just have one compartment shut, not two.

For me, seeing a single 166 on a Cardiff to Portsmouth service full and standing yet having both compartments blocked off for no staff in the end really boiled my p**s.

We need to move on. COVID is never going to go away anytime soon and we need to learn to live with it.

 

[Towers]

It’s not for the use of the Guard running the aforementioned service, it’s for the use of staff travelling passenger, revenue etc

I believe it's both; there is a logic in that guards on some 'West' services need to operate from the external doors closest to the cabs in order for the train to call at short platforms with 'local door' (one single door) operation. At most stations the driver releases the doors and the guard is able to close them from the cabs if they wish, but at short platforms it's entirely guard operated from the relevant vestibule. Thus the the area was provided to allow the guard access to the doors without needing to pass passengers in the reasonably confined area between the cab and vestibule. This explains why both ends are out of use, and why neither end is out of use on the Reading fleet.

 

[AMD]

Just a point of order - there are still a number of conductors on Individual Health Risk Assessments, those deemed as highest risk to falling ill. It may be one of those people who has done this.

 

[43096]

Just a point of order - there are still a number of conductors on Individual Health Risk Assessments, those deemed as highest risk to falling ill. It may be one of those people who has done this.

If it’s that high a risk to them then they shouldn’t be out working trains. What did they do when flu was doing the rounds pre Covid?

 

[Stigy]

If it’s that high a risk to them then they shouldn’t be out working trains. What did they do when flu was doing the rounds pre Covid?

If the company can make reasonable adjustments, why restrict duties? The comparison to flu is generally flawed as the potential longterm effects of Covid are different to flu. However, the effect of 99% of the population who catch covid is minimal, so why are we worried still?

I’m generally against any restrictions now, as we have to move on. I’m vaccinated and my family is vaccinated. If I catch covid it’ll probably be mild. If I pass it on to someone who isn’t vaccinated, then frankly that’s not my problem. It’s unfortunate if they get seriously ill, but if they don’t have the vaccine through choice, then I have no sympathy.